turkey sloppyjoes

so i know all my vege-friends will find this utterly disgusting, but last night I ate something that took me back to every mission trip I ever did as a child or youth...sloppy Joes. I switched the beef for a healthier alternative (turkey), but it still tasted so good.

Isn’t it amazing how the taste or smell of something can bring us back to early memories? I was eating my sloppy Joe thinking about our mission trip to the reservation in New Mexico (i think red rock). Some of you will remember the one i was thinking about. Let me jog some memories….The trip where we were climbing the coppery red plateaus and Jacob’s sister pushed a huge sharp rock off onto his head and blood went everywhere, and Ryan and I had to carry him for about a mile back to camp. Crazy...... The same trip where we had our own church services because the church had some odd things going on but some of went to both services (a true lesson in differences within the same faith tradition)... the same one where I got in bad trouble for sticking ketchup covered maxi pads all over the girls tents (ya I know horribly immature). the same trip where we stood on top of the plateaus and showered in freezing water with the cold air ripping across our wet bodies… its amazing what we remember. I can still feel the cold air, the tiny church class rooms, the huge dirty white tent in front of the church with the fake grass carpet covering the stage, my dad and his two brothers singing songs for about and hour, the precious kids that wanted as much love as we could give. Fun times!

As I start this week of VBS, I remember countless VBSs done over the years. One thing is certain children need love. they need to be hugged, nurtured, cared for and about, they need to know that they matter.

Nothing like a sloppy joe to bring back good memories.