Free Choice 4: Nicaragua Mission Trip Letter

April 25, 2008

 

 Hey Guys,

  I’m graduating this year! On June 26^th this summer (my first summer out of high school!!), I am going to be taking a week-and-a-half mission trip to Nicaragua along with other members of the Summerville Church of Christ with the international Mision Para Cristo group heading us up. I am really looking forward to traveling to Nicaragua and meeting with people from a totally different culture than my own. It will be an enriching experience to encourage and show love to people in God’s name.

            Since this will be my first mission trip, I only have a rough idea of what to expect. I have talked to some people who went on the trip last year, and they filled me in with some of their experiences. On one trip, there was a small feeding program that they worked in, feeding large families for only a couple of U.S. dollars. On another trip, they took a school bus full of kids and treated them to lunch and much-needed play time.  There are many different ministries to work in while we’re there, so I’ll be busy the whole time. A couple of ministries that I’m really looking forward to helping with are the ‘Hope for the River’ ministry and the ‘Smile for a Child’ program. We will also be able to help in the schools, churches, and medical centers in whatever ways we can.

            To go on this mission trip, I need to raise $1,550 by June 10^th, and to do that I need donations from anyone who is willing to give them. Checks can be made out to Summerville Church of Christ. If a money donation is just something that you cannot fit into your budget, then please donate in a different way. We can use anything that you can give, whether it’s clothes, blankets, or a product that can go into action to raise money. Any contribution you could make will be appreciated. This is a chance for you to help. Thank you so much for reading this letter, and I hope you have a great day!

 

Love Ya,

                                    Jordan Washington

Free Choice 3: Poser

This goes with Picture 2 at the bottom of the screen.

I helped this little fella get out of a scrap with my cats. I guess they were chasing him for a couple of minutes before he finally found a place to hide. When I found him, he was cowering between two creases in a towel, waiting for the perfect moment to head back outside. I picked up the towel and I realized I had exposed him. So, because of the guilt I felt for ruining his getaway and the strong sway of human duty, I put him back outside into our wisteria bush. He thanked me by posing for my picture. He didn’t even blink when the flash went off.

It would be fun to indulge myself by pretending I have a little Snow-White fantasy relationship with the animals of the wild south, but I don’t. Sure, I can help them out, but they won’t remember or pay me back. One time we brought a hurt bird home and helped it get better, but it didn’t come back after we let it go. The same thing happened with this lizard. While I was taking him back outside, he was squirming in my hand, trying to get out. I think he was just watching me take this picture because he thought that I might try to eat him.

Free Choice 2: "Budding Future"

This goes with Picture 1 at the bottom of the screen.

I’ve had an orchid plant for two years. These flowers are investments that you have to take care of with more effort than a regular houseplant. This flower is not only sensitive to the amount of water you give it, but also to it’s surrounding temperature and the amount of nitrogen and acids in the soil. The care that is supposed to be given to this plant would be year round, even though there is no flowery yield in the winter.

I was sitting at our kitchen table one springy Sunday morning and I saw a bloom like the one in the picture. The look of the bloom scared me. If you look at it, it looks like the face of a medieval sea-creature with slit-like eyes and a tiny sucking mouth with very sharp teeth. To make the picture look a little more intimidating, I took a picture of the bloom in front of darker glass, messed with the focus, and played around with the colors and sharpness level.

In this picture, I see my fears of the future. I have invested many years in my future. I am a senior in high school who is still debating on which university to attend. I am behind in everything, and I (like most everybody) am unsure about where I am headed. This bud is scary, just as my unknown, ‘unopened’ future is. After all the work I have put into helping this flower, my future, will it start to open? Will it be a pretty blossom? I am sure now, though, that once the bud is open, it won’t be scary at all, and I won’t be able to help but enjoy it. At least, that's how I felt when the orchid bloomed last year.

Free Choice 1: Awake

This has been happening for a couple months. I wake up, turn to my window, and just glare at that stupid blue lamplight that keeps me from going back to bed. It must not have been there when they built the house. If it was there, it’s funny to me to think that the guy who drew the plans never took into consideration the most uncomfortable feature of the house. That’s the only thing that bugs me in this whole place. He totally ignored the streetlamp, and now I can’t.

            But I'll be fine. Tonight’s been a little different. I still woke up too early, but when I turned to look out the window, I saw that beautiful blonde head lying on her hand that’s spread out on my chest. It’s been so long since I’ve seen her, and there she was, just laying on me with her unconscious face facing mine. I start to look at her.

            She’s got the prettiest face I’ve ever seen, even with her eyes closed. Her symmetrical features looked so adult and refined in the blurry light we were in. Her womanly brow kept furrowing every half-minute or so. It was weird watching her in this state, having not seen her for so long. I got to look at what her insides were feeling without her even knowing it. What should we do tomorrow? I couldn’t just leave a note for her in the morning telling her I’d call when I had the chance.

            Work is going to be so busy tomorrow. With all the blueprints I have to draw between the meetings and the sight I have to oversee for the new condo building. How would I be able to focus now at work, just knowing that she was back to see me, maybe for good?  What would she be okay with? I’ve asked myself these questions before. I guess I’ll have to ask her. It’s pretty clear to me, especially since last night, that what little I remembered about her has changed. I know I still love her though.

            I still love her. That decision has been one fact that hasn’t changed. All the others have. There is no rule, no absolute except for my love for her; not one thing that has been half as true. My marriage was factual until it became false, but I guess that was my fault. My job, I have always questioned it, in every aspect, and come up with unreliable rebuttals to ease my piece of mind. My dog decided that he wasn’t even mine. I can’t even say that she’s been mine, all I know is that I’ve loved her all this time, and I am so glad she’s lying here.

            I attached so many wishes to this house. When I drew it, I thought it was a fact that I would be living in it forever with my wife. My dreams were faulty, just like my plans. Ever since that big change, my sleep has been interrupted by the blue light from that streetlamp. But now my little lady's back, and when I helped her carry her hello-kitty bags into the house yesterday, she smiled. After I read to her last night, she hugged my neck and gave me a kiss on the cheek, and she wasn’t scared to ask me for my company after she had a nightmare.

            Her blonde hair hits her small, round shoulders when she’s standing up, but right now its fanned it’s way across my chest like her fingers have. I get to sit here and watch her. Her tiny head moves up and down with my breathing. As she moves, her skin shimmers beautifully in that blue lamplight that's kept me up. If it wasn’t for that light, I wouldn’t be able to see her glowing now, in the most natural and gorgeous state she’s ever been in. Her little ears were lulled to sleep by that strong drum-pulse that comes from in between my ribs. She doesn’t know yet that she’s the drummer.