Bear with me.
The people we met during our week on those flat, corn-filled plains of Nebraska were awesome (HG especially,) as is always true in my experience with TCW trips. I've been on three now, and each has brought me into contact with truly interesting people I always end up learning from. TN had Janice and Jerry, AZ had Elroy (bless his heart) and Waco, Nebraska had 256 people and a whole high school staff of dedicated teachers to learn from.
As a future teacher, it has just been personally interesting to see different academic settings after a year of education classes as I anticipate getting a call someday where I will have no control over the type of classroom in which I will work. I worked over spring break at St. Marcus, an inner-city Milwaukee school that faces such a high demand that they are doubling the size of their school and hope to have two full classes per grade level in the coming years, which stands in sharp contrast to Trinity Lutheran School in Waco. I forget the exact number, but I want to say there 30 students in grades K-8 in Trinity - quite the difference from St. Marcus.
Nebraska Lutheran High School is also located in Waco, Nebraska, and we hung out a lot with the teachers there last week. I used to think when I attended Wisco that I went to a small high school, but NELHS teachers and students alike were baffled when we talked about the size of Wisco; I think I remember one teacher commenting "they have more teachers there than we have students here!" Again, the number is a little shady in my head, but I'm pretty sure NELHS serves about 70 students.
Could you live in a town of 256 people?
I've been in small towns before and I thought I knew a lot about them, but I realized I knew nothing of small towns until this TCW trip. Waco made New Ulm look like New York! :) There's one restaurant in town called Hunter's , but aside from that the only other businesses in town seemed to be a small hair salon and the post office. Unlike in Wisconsin where I know of train tracks but rarely see trains on them, the tracks in Waco get a LOT of use - a train seems to rumble by ever 5 minutes, honking their horn. Loudly. Even at 3am.
It was great though. I would really like to live in the country someday, but Waco would be a little too small for me unless I had a family - it would be an excellent place to raise children. Where would they go to get in trouble? The next town over that has 7,000 people and a Walmart? Ooooh, I'm scared of what they'll get into there... not. As a single person, however... not a lot going on. It might work for some people, but I could only live in such a small town long-term if my family was located there.
However, the sense of community was really endearing in Waco, and that's something you definitely lack in a city. Sure, in a city you can still find your niche, meet your own people, discover your personal sense of community through your activities or groups or what have you, but you're still one meager social bubble bouncing around with many other social bubbles and differing communities. You're one of many. You don't know your neighbors. And it's not always safe. But in Waco you always leave your doors unlocked, you can feel free to go over and pick some of Cory's rhubarb to make your special strawberry-rhubarb pie (Thanks again, Lois!!), and can tell where everyone is by where their cars are in town. You stop in the middle of streets, know everyone by name, can recognize when two girls go for a run that they are "strangers" to Waco, and do you know what? I hear you might even meet a girl in Waco, Nebraska...
(please watch that video hahaha... I don't know why but the guy's hat makes me laugh)
We met lots and lots of nice ladies in Nebraska, (based off this trip, I'm inclined to think there are actually ONLY ladies in Nebraska because we very rarely saw menfolk of any kind,) and MAN - CAN THOSE LADIES COOK! This TCW trip almost didn't happen because of a mixup at the Kingdom Workers offices, so the congregation didn't have much notice at all that we were coming - only a day's notice, actually. They did not let this stop their food though, no siree - Bethel Lutheran church came through with a "Tour de Force" of hot dishes, enchiladas, and all manner of amazing home cooked meals for us four all week long. I seriously always gain like 15 pounds on these TCW trips because we're fed so nicely, and this was no exception. Everyone's generosity and hospitality feeding our hungry little mouths for a week was phenomenal and makes me rather sad at the prospect of eating only Camp and Caf food for the majority of the rest of the year (not that either one of those places has bad food... it's just not home cooked, you know?)
One thing we did notice about the food though was that we only ate beef all week. Now, this is NOT a bad thing by ANY means - but sometime around Thursday when we were regaling all the great food we had crammed in our stomachs up until that point, we realized we had not one meal with chicken, pork, or fish - every meal consisted of some kind of beef! Even at Runza's, the only options had beef in them. No other meat. Just beef.
beef.
I mentioned this to my mom once I was home and she said, "Well Katie, what do you expect? On the plains everyone grows corn, then they let the cows EAT the corn, and then the people eat the cows. It's the way of life out there. Duh." To which I responded, "Mom! Geez, when did you get to be such an expert on the Nebraskan agriculture system?" "I just... know things," she said airily as she left the room. "But they don't even have one chicken out there to peck the corn?" I called after her. She just blew me a raspberry from the hallway. (I love my mom, have I ever mentioned that?)
I guess I'm just ignorant, but apparently Nebraskans are known for liking their beef... which we all got hearty helpings of last week. But last week, I also got some hearty helpings of some major spiritual beef.
A lot of us on this TCW trip were feeling troubled by some reason or another, and it was freaking us out. I know I personally haven't been sleeping well the past couple weeks because of strange dreams, and it was not only emotionally frustrating, but spiritually frustrating. I just felt plagued and didn't understand why God wouldn't just hurry up and protect me already - why wasn't this weird bad stuff stopping? Hadn't I prayed about it enough? Didn't He say He would make my life good all the time? Isn't He my Staples "Easy" button? What's the deal, God?
While God CAN do anything, He never said life would be easy. And He definitely is far more than just a quick fix when I'm in a bind, something that the girls on the trip with me really reminded me of again last week. I feel really blessed to have friends I can go to with problems and receive such level-headed spiritual support; I don't know what I would do sometimes without that reminder to turn to God and His loving promises in the Bible.
"No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, He will also provide a way out so you can stand up under it"
I Corinthians 10:13
"Even in darkness, light dawns for the upright... surely he will never be shaken... He will have no fear of bad news; his heart is steadfast, trusting the LORD. His heart is secure, he will have no fear; in the end he will look in triumph on his foes"
Psalm 112:4,6,7-8
The only real truth lies in the spiritual beef of God's promises.
As we knocked on doors this week, it was both saddening and encouraging to hear people's responses to "do you have a church home?" Some said, "Yep, we're Methodist," and politely shut the door. Others shuffled their feet, shifted their eyes and said, "Well, I should, but..." And worst of all, some said, "Save your literature - church isn't for me." It was saddening to think that perhaps some of these people who shut the door on us were literally shutting the door to heaven on themselves as they chose to ignore God's saving Gospel message, choosing instead to embrace the darkness of unbelief... but it was also encouraging when we ran across people who didn't have a church and seemed receptive to the idea of coming to Bethel. God's Word is powerful and effective, and who knows if all it takes to get someone into heaven is a brochure stuffed in their screen door?
All that time spent walking up driveways gave me time to think, and I was reminded of something MB (who ironically at Camp has given me the nickname "beef" and delights in calling me that ad nauseum)told me as I asked him for advice on whether or not to transfer to MLC. When I asked if he thought transferring was a good idea, he said "Katie, there's one thing needful. I'm not going to tell you to go to one or the other, but there's only one thing important in this world, and I think you know what that is."
"'Martha, Martha,' the Lord answered, 'you are worried about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better [listening to God's Word], and it will not be taken away from her.'" - Luke 42:41-42
The only thing we need in this world is beef. Not chicken, not pork, not even spiritual fish can take it's place - all we need is the saving message of Christ's life, death, resurrection, and subsequent redemption from hell. That's it. A job, marriage, dreams, travel - those are just things we do to fill up our time on earth as we wait for heaven. Our main goal should be telling as many people about Jesus as we can while we enjoy our time of grace on earth - all else is just superfluous. When you start pulling a Martha and worrying about many things, just remember - there's only one thing needful:
BEEF!
Thank the LORD for Waco, NELHS, and SG, AZ, and KC - they're just the re-focusing I needed before summer starts for real. One week! AHH!! :)
One thing's needful; Lord, this treasure, teach me highly to regard. All else, though it first give pleasure, is a yoke that presses hard. Beneath it the heart is still fretting and striving, no true, lasting happiness ever deriving. This one thing is needful; all others are vain. I count all but loss that I Christ may obtain." - CW 290
Tooxa!
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