Amazing Weekend, Part 2...

I had never participated in 30 hour famine until this year. To be honest, it kind of seemed like a programmatic form of a bad cliché…

Several of our teens really wanted to do this event, though, because they had done it in the past and really enjoyed it. So… Phil, working collaboratively with another YP, jumped right in and planned the event.

We kicked it off with the previously mentioned Caedmon's Call concert. My original plan was to go to the concert and then to return home… and I wasn't really going to do the famine thing… and I certainly was going to eat…

But, as it turned out, our amazingly faithful babysitter was able to stay the night with the kids, so I figured I'd stay the night for famine… And as long as I was going to stay the night, I figured I might as well take in the whole event… fasting and all… And thus began my first experience with 30 hour famine…

It was really… well… wow…

There were definitely some very funny moments…

The best one was probably when the teens were carrying garbage cans full of water through the streets at night and my group (which was the first group to go) was stopped by the police. This officer pulled up, stopped his car, got out, and just looked at us. I found this rather irritating, because I think that if a police officer has a problem with something you're doing, he should at least acknowledge that you are there and state his issue. At any rate, he didn't. So… I walked right up to him and said, "These teens are participating in 30 hour famine to send money to World Vision to help feed hungry kids." To which he replied, "Well, you just don't see people carrying garbage cans through the street at night all the time." And I said, "No, you sure don't". He asked if we were going to be out all night, and I told him that we weren't and that we were just headed to the firehouse (which was about 10 feet away). And then he never said I could leave or anything, but I just did… and I shouted back to him that there were a couple more groups on the way…

And you know… I never realized how outrageously funny it was until Phil started cracking up, but I never bothered to explain what walking through the streets at night with a garbage can full of water had to do with famine… or World Vision… or anything. And, the guy never asked! At any rate, I guess it was probably the seemingly drunk people in the drug store parking lot who were yelling at us that made the complaint. I wonder if the police picked them up?

There were definitely some frustrating moments…

The most obvious one was that my now infamous no show guitar and piano player continued to add to his record of… well… not showing. I could go on a tirade about this, but for the moment I'll refrain. I am left wondering, however, what direction I want to go with SWAT, because it's getting old real fast to practice our rears off for something and then end up not being able to do it due to lack of musicians. The SWAT members who were there did a fine job with the resources we had, but it wasn't fair to them… at all… that it panned out that way, and I don't intend to put anyone (including myself) in that position again. We will certainly continue to practice and work through the issues we currently have, but we will not be available for performance of any type until I know that we have enough committed people to do it right. And I mean it… I don't care how "ready" anyone else thinks we are or how much they beg. We'll be ready when I say we're ready… and more than that when I feel like God is saying we're ready… and not a moment before…

And there were definitely some amazing moments…

The thing that will probably stand out in my mind for the rest of my life is the 300 candles illustration. We started with 300 lit candles, and Phil and Aaron took turns blowing them out… one at a time… every 3 seconds, to represent the number of children who die every 15 minutes because of hunger. It was very moving, and I think I'm a little more focused now on finding ways to make a difference in the world at large. I have felt this way before, but in recent years I have become so consumed with myself that it's often easy to forget there is a picture far bigger than me…

In the end, our group raised something like $12,000.00 (in combination with matching funds, grants, etc.) to feed hungry kids. And that's going to feed a lot of kids for a long time…

My view on 30 hour famine has changed… drastically…

Lisa

PS Click play below for a short highlights slideshow… L.