Tex-Mex....yum!

Today was the first Saturday spent out in the neighborhood and to be honest I was a little worried how it would go. It's been a long time since I was the newbie in a place and had to introduce myself to complete strangers who may or may not like me. I kinda forgot what an intimidating situation it can be- it helped to remember what it was like during my mission year so I could better understand my team and what they must have been thinking and going through. We had a good time playing football, hanging out with kids and talking to spider and his crew.

Oh Spider..such a funny boy. He is either always sitting on a picnic table at the park or leaning on a car in front of his house. He has introduced us to so many people and he gives in all the 411 on each of them. I mentioned that my car is making this weird noise and he called this guy over who works on cars and he told me what was probably wrong with it. He has lived in our neighborhood all his life and knows everything that goes on. I feel like him and his brothers kinda rule the neighborhood, at least the few streets that surround us, and that we are definitely cool by association because they talk to us. I had an interesting conversation with him and his brothers about race and if I was offended by them calling someone black or saying that I was white. I explained to them that I was in fact white and it wasn't really a secret so they could call me that and I wouldn't be offended. The conversation continued and then one of them said, ' oh yeah, you from the Atl....you straight then.' Wasn't quite sure what that meant but I didn't ask because we started talking about something else.

I made Tex-Mex for dinner-it's a favorite of mine and the team loved it! This evening we looked at a ton of my pictures and they ran across some gross and rather embarrassing ones from when I was younger(my ugly years) and that gave them a good laugh! I am really thankful for my team. I am thankful for their eagerness to dig in and build relationships with neighbors as well as growing deeper in their walk with Christ.

Before I go to bed I wanna give a shout out to the coolest mamaw in the whole world-Happy Birthday Mamaw.....I love you!!!