The Battle.

The week has been hectic, gathering up students and paperwork for our river trip that leaves Sunday. It's my last responsibility in the Arlington office, so I'm definitely wanting everything to go well. Of course, "going well" is always a loose definition the week before a trip.

i.e. Something as minor as "final numbers" shouldn't be as difficult as it always is. Here's a hypothetical example of what normally happens in the days preceding a trip:

Bronco: "How many students do we have today?"
Me: "Well. We have paperwork from 2. I have 6 verbal confirmations with no deposits. I just talked to Karlie's mom, and I think she's interested in going, but I haven't seen a deposit yet. We have medical forms from Jack and Jenny, but we have no deposits. And I just talked to YD Adventures, and they need to know a concrete number tomorrow for prepping the gear."
Bronco: "Have you talked to Bobby?"
Me: "No. Does he want to go?"
Bronco: "I saw him at school today, and I think he's interested."
Me: "Okay, I'll call him. Can you track down Jimmy and Jon? I think I saw them hanging out by the bus stop earlier. We need their paperwork."
Bronco: "Okay, I'll try to get them on MySpace."
(enter Stuart)
Stuart: "Hey, I just talked to Jimmy, and he's decided not to go."
Me: "Why?"
Stuart: "Because he just started dating a girl in Marysville, and he doesn't want to leave her for the week."
Me: "Wasn't he dating someone a different love of his life last week?"
Stuart: "Yeah, but apparently this girl has a car, so I think it's going to last. He gets really mad if you refer to her as 'sugar mama.'"
Me: "So is Jon still going to go?"
Stuart: "Only if we let Ben go."
Me: "Ben's graduating this week. He's not even our target demographic anymore. Do you think Jon would still go if Alex goes?"
Stuart: "I don't know. I'll call Alex and see if he's up for it. Last I heard, he had his grandma's birthday party next week and couldn't go."
Me: "Okay. Thanks. And if you can think of any girls, we need some. So far we have 1 1/2. "
Bronco: "Who's the 1/2?"
Me: "Bethie. She says she doesn't know yet, because she won't make any decision any further than 48 hours before we're leaving. I'm going to show up at her mom's office this afternoon and say that we have to have them today or she can't go."
(phone rings. Stuart answers.)
Stuart: "That was Jesse. He says he can't go because he just got a new job and they want him to start on the Saturday we get back. Apparently, they can't wait to let him start on Sunday, because they'll give the job to someone else."
Me: "That's ridiculous. We'll be back by 3:30p."
Stuart: "Yeah, but it's apparently some construction deal and they're going down to Tacoma and camping all week, so he has to leave with the group on Saturday morning because his car's not fixed yet."
Me: "Lord. You know. You know this trip is going to be powerful and amazing. Please show us who to invite and please open the hearts of these kids who need to hear Your Truth."

In real life...we leave in 72 hours. We have 8 kids confirmed and 2 vacancies. Pray for our 8 kids to follow-through...pray for the 2 potential...and pray that the Lord will reign victorious in the lives of these kids this week and next.