When you go on mission trips (particularly where you are
chaperoning a bunch of teenagers) you accept a few things. You accept that your
time will be dictated to you almost down to the minute. You accept that you won’t
be eating the fanciest of foods. You accept that “alone time” consists of those
few moments when you wake up and forget why you’re sleeping on the floor. You
accept that you will have to work hard to set a good example (I’m not a “setting
a good example” kind of guy. I’m more of a “what can we get away with” kind of
guy) You also accept that you will not be staying in the best accommodations.
What is
difficult to accept is having a shower facility that is 25 minutes away from
where you are staying with a bunch of teenagers that are working and sweating
all day.
Twenty.
Five. Long. Minutes.
For
this particular trip we stayed in a church. I mean, it was a nice church. It was a nice
big room that we stayed in, on the floor. All in all, I won’t lie that I was
grateful to have a place to stay at all, rather than a tent in the woods as I
know some mission trips provide. There was minimum air conditioning. And the
carpet was ok to sleep on. Not the best, but I’ve slept on worse. But let’s
talk about sleeping in a room full of 30 teenage boys. Let’s talk about how
that really starts to smell by the end of the second day.
And as
I’ve mentioned, the showers were 25 minutes away. That’s an episode of Parks and Recreation minus the
commercials. If you’re not a fan of Parks
and Recreation, that’s an episode of Community
minus the commercials. If you’re not a fan of either of those, then I urge you
to develop some good taste in television shows.
It’s
important to note that we are all tested at some point. Personally, I was
tested by trying to determine the logic of getting 60 teenagers together and
telling them they couldn’t shower. Well, they could, but when you dangle “free
time or shower “ in front of them, you might as well be asking them to be a
mopey teenager in Washington State choosing between a werewolf and a vampire. (Obligatory
Twilight reference for the week…
check.) The shower, of course, is the vampire.
Granted,
I’m a creative person. You see, they did have showers at the facility we
stayed, the kids were asked just not to use them when the church was open,
which was pretty much when they were in the church. However, hypothetically you
could set your alarm for a certain time when no one is awake, and you could
easy to slip down and sneak into said shower. Then you could have a few moments
of peace and quiet, a break from the unique aroma of non-showering teenagers, a
door that locked, and some hot, hot water.
This is
all hypothetically speaking, of course. Far be it from me to break any rules.
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