Chicken & Gumbo

Friday marked the completion of my first week of YouthWorks! programming in Lincoln County. WOW! It was amazing. On Sunday right before they came I was SUPER nervous but right away I connected. Some girls liked High School Musical so I KNEW I was in. :)

Sunday night went really well with Orientation and CLUB. The best part was when Lindsay and I wore beards and came out to introduce ourselves and Lincoln County. Mark has a HUGE beard so it was just funny to see us acting like him. I said to everyone, “Welcome to Lincoln County!” and then Linds goes, “Home of Abraham Lincoln!” I stopped and just went…. “No its NOT!” It was HILARIOUS, and I knew…. It was going to be a great week.

All the rest of the nights, the CLUB’s just seemed to get better and better. I was truly amazed to see God work through me. It’s hard to put it into words. My experiences and my willingness to share myself TOTALLY paid off. Through out the week I had more and more teens approach me and talk about what God was doing. There were times when I didn’t know what to say, but I tried, and I felt like that was all God was asking me to do. Take myself out of the picture and let Him work.

On Thursday, we had our final CLUB, and being up front facing the teens, I had to fight off tears. God had allowed me to get to know so many of them, and I knew that they were going to leave changed. WOW! We then did a foot washing service all to empower them to return home and serve others in their communities. I just could not thank God enough for the ways that He showed up and gave me the courage to be bold in my statements.

The teens left of Friday morning and all I was thinking was…. How can I do this week after week? This group was so great… How can we repeat? I guess that will be the challenge… we have another group coming in today. This time they are families so the programming will look a little different. I am excited to see how although the format is going to be new, God is still going to show up.

After the teens left, we all went to my new favorite place… M&R Restaurant. This is where the story began. 

Our first time in there, Lindsay asked about the special…. “What exactly is in Chicken & Gumbo?” 

Mark piped in, “Chicken….. and Gumbo.” The waitress thought this was a hoot! Her laugh filled the entire tiny restaurant. 

So, she thought about the question and said, “Well… Chicken…. And Gumbo.” Again her laugh exploded. :) Then she says, “Hold on, let me ask.” 

NO JOKE… she turns right where she is standing, and yells into the kitchen. “What’s in the Chicken and Gumbo?” The cook in the back hollers out, “Chicken and Gumbo.” 

At this point we were dying. Finally, the cook just brings some out to us to taste saying, “Just try it cause that’s WAY easier than explaining.” The experience was something else and for all these reasons, M&R Restaurant has a spot in my heart. 

Now this phrase has a whole new meaning. “Chicken & Gumbo.” :)

 The pictures are of this past weeks group, and of course, M&R Restaurant.