Seattle storms have nothing on NOLA.

Hi Y'all! (oops the southerners are rubbing off on me...)

We've been so busy having fun that we had no time to blog about yesterday! Actually, it was because we got back to the hotels around 11:30, soaking wet...

So yesterday morning a few of us got up early and tried to go find a grocery store to get snacks and breakfast foods...with a little bit of difficulty. It worked out in the end and we had a speedy breakfast in the hotel room before heading off to the convention center for a small(er) worship service to start our Peacemaking day. We were then released to the huge area full of booths and activities. Girls were having their hair cut to donate to Locks of Love, kids were donating blood, there was an art walk with different projects to make, tons of charity organizations educating us about their causes, and opportunities to learn how we can make a difference (while having lots of fun!)

After wrapping up a game of mini-golf (all in the convention center!) we headed to a nearby restaurant in the pouring rain to fill our tummies with everything from alligator po-boys to chicken gumbo. Our group then split, some returning to the excitement of the convention center and others taking some downtime in the hotel.

We went to the SuperDome for the whole Gathering....gathering...we heard some more amazing bands, and listened to some very moving speakers. Shane Clairborne stood out especially to us (look him up!) After the SuperDome stuff, we headed to iHop for a late dinner. Because they were so packed, it took a long time to get our food, which was totally fine by us. We made tons of friends with other youth that were eating, and enjoyed watching Paul take 10 half-and-half shots (pictures on facebook.)

We headed back to the hotel in pouring rain, and fell asleep by 1, which didn't give us enough sleep time for our 6am wakeup this morning...

we woke up so early this morning because it was our practice Justice day. It began with some music and discussion about what justice is, and how we can make it happen. The service projects that the Gathering did ranged from building houses to sorting books to going to cooking school. Lucky us, we went to the New Orleans Cooking School (not actually an institute) and learned all about the history of New Orleans from an amazing chef while she cooked jambalaya, bread pudding, pralines, and corn & crab bisque (we all got copies of the recipes....yum.) Then we got to dine on the amazing food. We had to grasp the concept that this WAS a service project, even though we felt like we were being served. As Laurel put it, if we don't understand a culture, how can we help them?

After an important debrief about hunger in society and brainstorming ideas of what we can do in our home congregations to bring justice, we headed to the Jackson Square int he French Quarter to admire the Saint Louis Cathedral and do a little shopping. However, this didn't last long because it was truly pouring...the roads were beginning to flood. We waded through shin-deep water in the sidewalks back to our hotel. Rain was coming down at a rate of 3 inches an hour, and a flash flood warning was in effect. We (along with many other groups) ordered pizza delivered to our hotel for our dinner.

We feared that the SuperDome gathering would be cancelled tonight, but praise Lord, they were able to drain the streets. Which was amazing for us, because tonight's large Gathering was personally my favorite. There's nothing like hearing 30,00 other Lutherans softly sing Jesus Loves You to the simple melody of a saxophone, or the rousing song of Hallelujah. We heard from more inspiring speakers, on bullying and making a difference and the strength of God in us. We are the hope for this world, and we can make a difference if we reach out and love like Jesus.

Now we're back in our hotels, winding down for the night. The rain has ceased (for now) and we're all looking forward to a good night's sleep in preparation for tomorrow, practicing discipleship. Thank you for all your prayers and notes, we have thoroughly enjoyed them.

loooovveeeeee,

Zoë