Boston Strong

Going on a mission trip to Boston this year came somewhat as a surprise and when I finally did decide to be part of the team, I still wasn’t quite sure what to expect. As we drew nearer to our departure date, I knew some of the details but I didn’t have an abundantly clear idea of EXACTLY what we would be doing. There was talk about deck work and completing other projects at a sober house in Weymouth, Massachusetts. We knew there would be a family fun opportunity and worship nights, yet much of it remained a mystery. There was also a time when who I was going to be rooming with was a question mark which only added to the unknowns. I like to think that I'm an easygoing person that can roll with whatever comes, but the truth is that deep down I want to know what things are going to look like before I take a step, and that it is a trait that does not always mix well when it comes to living by faith. But even so, as all these things whirled around in my heart, I tried to simply hold fast to the advice that our leader gave us in preparing for the week, which was to be flexible and available for whatever God wanted to do.

So even though I had no idea how to fix a deck or who my roommate was going to be or what I would even be called upon to do over the next seven days, I took a deep breath and tried to push aside my need to know all the answers before making a move. I knew the first step was simply to go, but what met me on the other side of that yes was far different than I ever expected. The act of trusting would serve as a catalyst for fresh revelation as the week unfolded.

Our first day was filled with early morning travel, check-in at the college dorm where we were staying, and our first taste of the worship nights that would occur over the next several evenings. We were also met with non-air-conditioned rooms and the joys of community bathrooms. It felt a lot like missions meets camp meets conference and I could tell it was going to be an interesting experience.

The next three days followed similar routines. We met for breakfast in the cafeteria, gathered our pre-packed lunches, hopped into our vans affectionately known to us as “Bella’s iPhone” and “Bullet” and headed to our site for the day. Our group plus two church members, Bobbie, and Julia, gathered for morning devotion and prayer and then set about working on various projects until lunchtime. Lunch was a break to rest, eat, and gather briefly before heading back to work. We’d usually pack up mid to late afternoon and return to the college for showers, dinner, and worship nights. The day would end with our group gathering at picnic tables underneath hanging lights as we discussed the day and what God was showing us.

Our free day came on Friday and my group headed to a little place called Salem. We spent the morning there exploring and visiting the city and learning about life during the Salem Witch Trials. Later that afternoon we traveled to the city of Boston and did some more exploring. This included a trip to the famous Mike’s Pastry where we all bought sweet treats including different flavored cannoli and chocolate rolls. The following day we took a ferry ride into the harbor and had lunch. Saturday afternoon and evening were spent at a family fun night promoted by the church that was sponsoring the week. Our team ran the dunk tank and raised around $ 1,000 dollars for the local food bank. It was wet and wild and work like I had never done before but in the end, tons of kids were dunked and we were able to do some good for the community. Throughout the week I was able to see the birthplace of Abigail Adams, the Witch House, the Boston Common complete with a Paul Revere Statue and the Old North Church in the distance, Faneuil Hall, the Old State House and Boston Massacre site, the Paul Revere House, and the Harbor where the Boston Tea Party took place. It was amazing to see and walk in a lot of the places that I had only ever heard about and studied in history class, and it was cool to be so near where such important things in our country’s past took place.

But as impressive as it was to stand among those famous historical sights, the most incredible thing was the history being brought to light in my own life through the Holy Spirit. While we were working on-site at the sober house, I did several different jobs including staining the deck, putting mulch in flower beds, sweeping, pulling weeds, and handing out invitations to the family fun night. It didn’t seem like much, but as the broken places started to be mended around the house and the deck started to be transformed, I felt the Holy Spirit at work. Working at the sober home was tangible proof that restoration was possible and that new life could come from broken- and worn-down things. As I helped to make things new for those men at the sober house, God wanted to do something new in me. There were things in my heart and life that had been chipped away at, forgotten, broken, and left unattended. I had let weeds of insecurity, fear, bitterness, and doubt grow wildly to the point that they were becoming overgrown and starting to choke out new things trying to take root. I had broken places that needed mending and some areas that were in desperate need of transformation. This took me somewhat by surprise but the deeper I dug into the flowerbeds of my heart, the more I saw things that had become lodged in the soil that were never meant to be there.

Along those same lines, I was humbled by the phrase, “You have stayed on this mountain long enough” from a devotion called Stay in the Story. It was a phrase that had come from Deuteronomy 1:6 when the Israelites were getting ready to enter the Promised Land after being stuck in the wilderness for forty years. Again, I felt as if the Holy Spirit was poising the question, “Aren’t you tired of staying in that same thought pattern, that same place, that same circumstance? You have stayed there long enough. It’s time to move on…it’s time to pull up some of the weeds you’ve let grow wild and to look to the new thing that I am doing.”

Everywhere I looked that week, it seemed the Holy Spirit was trying to get me to see that same message of restoration and a sense of bringing old things back to life. One of the things I loved the most during our work time and what served as a visual for all that God was showing me was that the couple who did most of the major landscape work uncovered some stairs that had been overgrown by brush and growth. None of us had any idea that those stairs were even there and that they led to a lower garden area. If they had not cleared out the old and dead overgrowth, we would have never found them. And what a visual for our own lives. We never know what hidden treasures are waiting to be uncovered in our stories. We never know what clearing out the old and the dead and allowing God to restore us will allow us to discover. Those hidden steps remind me that new life does not come from neglect, but rather an intentional cultivating of the harvest and a clearing out of the old and dry places.

I was surprised how doing simple staining and yard work could unveil so much to me that week, but how sweet to walk away with a sense of renewal and unloading of the things weighing my heart down. The word I got from the Lord was abundantly clear. He was saying to me, it’s time to let broken places be mended. It’s time to move on from that mountain. It’s time to let different things grow. And it's time to clear away the old and dead to make room for the new. I hope the things I learned encourage you to do the same. Be brave, grab the garden tools, and go to work. I believe in you, and I can’t wait to see what is uncovered in the process for both me and you!

-Only Hope

Cherie, Andrew, Barry, Kellie, Chris, Steven, Sarah, Emily, and Jordan—what a week! From our early morning travels to the Lobster Stop, to being movie stars for Jordan and everything in between, thanks for such a fun experience. I enjoyed the many laughs, the moments where we got real about Jesus, the sightseeing, and getting to know each of you. It was also really cool to see the impact of your work from the previous year show up in the present. Thanks for letting me be a part of it!