Even though it's actually the second Wednesday in September...

Here's my third brown bag.

Hey AIMers and AIM-related persons.  Welcome to the first Wednesday in September.  Can you believe you've been in AIM nearly a month now?  Let me just warn you - time is going to fly this fast for as long as you're in AIM.  So get ready!

I just wanted to share a quick story with you this week, but let me start by saying that our team has changed in some crazy ways since December.  We've lost 3 teammates - two girls, one guy.  When a teammate decides to leave, for whatever reason, it changes things in big ways.  Relationships within the team change and grow, and you adjust - because you have to.  Life changes, and a new normal establishes itself.  It's one of those "sad good" things, you know?  Like graduation or getting a new pair of Converse because your favorite pair have just worn out.  It just has to happen, even though it's sad.

So, needless to say, our team has been through some crazy times.  We've gone up and down, and I can say pretty confidently that I am closer to them now than I ever thought possible.  Sasha and Diana are like the sisters that I never thought I would have.  We live together, we work together, and we grow together every day.  We've had some very scary times together, and some frustrating times together.  But most of all, we've had a lot of crazy times that we will never forget.  Which brings me to the story!

A few weeks ago, we went grocery shopping.  Now, this wasn't just a trip to the store to buy a few things - this was a trip to the store to stock up for our new apartment.  We spent over 125 American dollars on groceries!  On the way back to our flat, we were thinking about how many trips it was going to take us to get all the groceries up...and we knew it would be ridiculous.  Four trips, at least!  Luckily, when we got here, we saw that there was a grocery cart in the parking garage of our apartment building...how convenient!  So we loaded that thing up and pushed it in the building.  But then the craziest thing happened.

Sasha got the grocery cart stuck in the doors of the elevator.

The elevator in this building has a tendency to stop a little too early, so it doesn't line up properly with the floor.  Because of that, we had to actually lift the grocery cart into the elevator - which took a while.  We had a LOT of groceries.  :)

So the doors started to close and Sasha couldn't stop them...and they shut on the cart.  We laughed so much!  I don't remember how we opened them again - I think someone just reached in and pushed a button.  We finally got the cart in there, and made a solemn vow to never have that many groceries again!  Oh, the crazy times we've had in South Africa.

You know, one thing we've always prayed about as a team is to be able to laugh through anything.  I'm a firm believer that you'll be okay if you can just laugh, you know?  Through it all, we've been able to laugh.  I love that God has blessed us with each other, and with these situations that always crack us up.

So this week, notice yourself laughing and be thankful.  Be grateful to God for blessing you with that specific moment of happiness, with that specific person or group of people.  He cares about us being happy.  Isn't that an amazing thought?

We're praying for you guys here, every day.  Hope you had an amazing trip to Mountain View...that one was one of my favorites.  Take care of each other, learn a lot, and keep praying for us too.  We love you!

-Tara

[Shout outs]

To Mr. Kris Smith - Didn't your parents ever tell you that having an injured foot is not a valid reason for making hateful picture comments on Facebook?

To Pat Sheaffer - I'm rereading Luke, and remembering what you taught me.  Thank you.  Know that you made a lasting impression!

To Barb - Do you remember when you drove me home from school one day when I was sick?  I'm not sure if I ever properly said thank you for that.  So, thank you for always going above and beyond.

To Lily - Hey, remember that time you gave me a minor concussion right when we were leaving for our Mountain View trip?  That was fun.  So was when our Hart Area Church group made omelettes for everyone!

To Logan - I'll never be near an ablution block and not think of you.

To Sarah Beth Hall - I saw those crazy pictures.  Looks like someone had a good time at Mountain View!

To Brent - Hello Buddy!

To Thomas - Have you ever heard a song called "Moment of Truth" by a band called FM Static?  I think you would sound nice singing it.  It's way cool.  I'm praying for you today!