Over my Spring Break, I was fortunate enough to go, for a second time, with a group from Lipscomb to Ft. Worth, TX.  We partnered with a church there named Siempre Familia (“Always Family,” for you non-Spanish speakers).  We painted a little inside the church building, and spent a lot of time in fellowship with families in the church.  It was a great experience! I learned a lot, so I thought I would just share some of my takeaways from the week. They are as follows:

1. Always, double, triple, even quadruple check your backpack for knives before trying to go through airport security.
2. There is a place at the airport that can store said knife until you return, BUT it costs $10.
3. The first time around, it takes 4 or 5 people to inflate an unfamiliar air mattress.
4. Quinceaneras (what hispanic girls have on their 15th birthdays) are INSANELY FUN.
5. When in doubt, DANCE.
6. Sometimes it is ok to make a fool of yourself, encouraged even.
7. Getting a good group picture with a mariachi band is more difficult than you would think.
8. When you don’t know where to start, do something (anything is better than nothing).
9. When you think you have been to Home Depot enough, you haven’t.
10. Having music playing makes every activity more enjoyable.
11. Always double check paint colors before slapping them up on the wall.
12. You can save a lot of money on paint colors by mixing the ones you already have.
13. Tamale making is an all day job.
14. Most people end up being way cooler than you originally thought.
15. Speaking another language is tough.
16. A smile means the same thing in every language.
17. Ask people for their input. Two heads are better than one.
18. A lot of times our comfort zone is not the zone we need to be in.
19. Find what other people’s passions are, and listen to those people talk about them.
20. Share your passions with others.
21. When you see something awesome happening, get out of the way. You don’t have to be the at the center of everything.
22. Do more of what you’re good at and less of what you stink at.
23. Sometimes God drops opportunities for Kingdom conversation out of the sky, and right into you lap.
24. When #23 happens, don’t freak out. Pray and trust that God will speak through you.
25. Just when you start to think about how awesome you are, God shows you otherwise.
26. God uses broken people to make things whole.
27. Wherever you are, God has a purpose for you there.
28. God puts things on our hearts. let the Spirit lead you.
29. Relationships built in a week don’t have to be one-week relationships.
30. God provides.

Those are just 30 little nuggets that I learned from my experiences last week.

Above all else, God is.