Christian by choice

Hope your week was a good one. Hope God was there, by your side as you traveled along your journey.

Another great weekend of visiting with our friends. Mr Scott reported everybody was doing good. No major drama. Richard is seeing a little better in his bad eye. Dale and Tim had new friends in their camp. Smokey and Leroy were visiting with a police officer when we got there. The officer was telling them they were about to close the bridge and to be careful with all the construction about to happen.

Ms Patty and Momma T worked all morning in the garden. Spreading dirt, watering, pruning, pulling. Garden is looking the prettiest I have ever seen it.

John S continues to work every Saturday in the kitchen. The remodeling is coming along.

Following our friends visits, we walked 68th street and met more neighbors. We met the candy lady. We talked about how nice all the yards look on this street. One house was vacant and the grass was tall, we talked about mowing the grass. This week, Ms Dawn is planting flowers in some of the tiny flower pots from the greenhouse and we will take them to our neighbors. Isn't that cool!

With Krysten out of town, we had Ms Lisa and Momma T come by in the afternoons to help Joey with the kids. Monday and Tuesday activities were done outside. Wednesday with the hot temperatures, Joey moved the fun inside to the friendship room. Movies, popcorn, games and "limbo" fun was going on.

Monday, John met the plumber in the kitchen and the plumber worked all day running water lines, setting up the new sink and getting a lot of work done. John Williams our electrician has come by every evening after work and run all the electrical conduit through out the kitchen. In a few short weeks, we will have receptacles that actually work! What a blessing to have these men share their gifts and compassion with us. Please tell them when you see them at church or around the center how much we appreciate all they are doing for us.

Tuesday evening at our mens Bible fellowship, Matt was out of town celebrating his son's birthday, so Joey and mr brian led the discussions. We read from James Chapter 2, talking about lvoing others and faith without deeds is dead. A reminder to us all, no matter who God sends our way, we need to lvoe them as much as Jesus lvoes us. Our works, our deeds, need to be to celebrate that lvoe, not to make us look good or impress others.

Tuesday evening, Beth sent a link showing a fire going on under the bridge where Dale and Tim use to be. Smokey was at Bible study at the time, so we do not know what went on or how it got started. We will find out Saturday and let everybody know what happened.

Wednesday afternoon, Dr Phil, Dan Poole, Momma T met to talk about the first phase of construction on Building Common Ground. Very exciting to hear about what is about to take place. How dreams from many years ago are about to happen right before our eyes. To be honest, it is hard for me to grasp the reality of it and what we are about to experience. God is about to show us, how lvoing He is!

Thursday we had a treat during chapel, Spencer played his guitar and led us in some singing and then Matt shared a few words with us. Joey took time out of work to come and operate the projector, which gave us some fits, but God worked it out and it came on. We need help in getting the chapel cooler, so we need to turn on the a/c earlier in the afternoon. Can someone do that? We can get keys made for you. Also, got to thinking if someone could be sort of the director of chapel, helping those who come in first to sit down in front, so those who come in late have a place to sit. We need some thought about how to handle those who do not go into chapel, instead of standing outside in the heat, where can we seat them, fellowship hall? friendship room? There are some adults and a lot of children.

Willie Jackson came by for a visit. He went out to the New Room and visited with them on Wednesday. I twisted his arm, so on the first Thursday in June, the 7th, Willie will sing and preach for us. Spencer will play the keyboard and sing along also. You don't want to miss this, so make your plans now. Hopefully this will be the beginning of a new friendship.

We had a nice surprise as one of our family members came home, Zigzag. Allison is back with us for the summer or as much as she can with all her other responsibilities. We talked about her experiences on her trip to Philly and how much she has become to realize she is right where she needs to be, among the least of them.

TJ and his Brookwood group prepared our meal of lasagna. With a big crowd, I was late in line, so by the time I got up to the food it was gone! Thanks guys for everything you do for us, great job.

Ms Abbie and her ladies had all the grocery bags packed and handed them out to everybody.

Thursday is full of activities, full of noise, full of lvoe, thanks to all for helping make it such a special day.

Following our meal and clean up, we had Bible study by talking about some of the history of our relationships with Faith and the neighborhood. One of reasons our visits each week is so important is to meet our neighbors is let them know, who we are, because the church did not have a good relationship.

Prayer concerns expressed for the family of a friend of Grace, Charles McCreary. For Gus and his safe return to us. For the upcoming mission group going to Haiti, Ms Sarah is leading it and Krysten. For Charley and his upcoming tests. Praises for good health reports. Prayers for Catfish as he continues to deal with his addictions. For Mary as she continues her adventures in India. Lomax as he concludes his time in Haiti and heads back to California.

Monday, don't forget to stop for a moment and remember the sacrifices our people of the military have made for our freedom. Those who did not come home, their families and those who have come home and struggle with life.

Read something this week, that we talked about at our mens fellowship. As we first turn our lives over to Christ, we have that feeling of euphoria. We can do anything. But as time goes on, that feeling, slowly subsides, our lives become routine. We go to church on Sunday because that is what we have always done. We teach Sunday school because that is we are use to. We sing the same songs, because that is what we have always done. Our friendships and relationships are with those around us because we feel comfortable in doing so. We think of church as a building, as a place where we go to on Sunday.

When we met our significant other for the first time, we get so excited to be around them. We want to do anything for them, because that love is so strong. But as time goes by, sometime we loose that joy and life becomes routine. We take our wife, husband for granted. We go about life the same way everyday, doing the same thing.

What if we start today, by taking the phrase Christian by choice into our hearts. For whatever reason, we chose to follow God, why don't we celebrate that in our lives! To be a lover of Jesus is an honor. To be a friend of Jesus is a joy. To have a part of God within us, unbelievable! Lvoe those who God brings into our lives unconditional. As James said, If someone is hungry, feed them. Those who need a coat, give up ours. Our acts, our deeds will be done not because we are suppose to or it will make us look good, but because we lvoe our Lord so much. Nothing will be done out of habit, nothing will be done because of traditions, but because of the royal law, Love your neighbor as you love yourself. Everyday will be adventure. Everyday will be something new. Everyday we will have the privilege of showing others, how amazing our God is. Christian by choice, oh my, what a way to live.

Have a great week. Amen.

The Glory of God

It seems like I just sat down and wrote this note. Can't believe it has been a week. Wow, hope your journey this week was full of joy and blessings. God is good!

We will start our adventure this week with a rainy Saturday morning. It seems like the last several U2 Saturdays, the weather has not cooperated. But being adventurers, Momma T and her gang were troopers and went with the flow. Ms Lisa led a group of folks from Airline, Brookwood and our community in setting up in the fellowship hall. Tables were full of activities, prizes and fun things to do. We had a good group come from the community to participate. Ms Lisa has added pictures of the morning on CG's Facebook page.

Mr Scott drove us around as we tried to miss the rain showers on our visits. Unfortunately we got soaked a couple of times, but we all survived. Turner is back. Richard was not there. Smokey and his camp continues to grow, so lots of folks joined us there. With Dale and Tim leaving from under the bridge, other guys have moved in and they meet us at Smokey's camp. Smokey was concerned about Catfish. Catfish showed up Friday night at Smokey's camp feeling no pain. Smokey tried to keep him at the camp, but Catfish ran off. Dale and Tim were doing ok. Staying dry for the most part. Another tree had fallen on part of the covering, but Tim was able to get it off and get the tarp back up before all the rain hit.

After we went by Big D to see Dave and Travis, who were not there, we talked about going out to Danny's old camp to see if Catfish was there. So we drove out to the west part of Shreveport and found Catfish and his dogs. Catfish's demeanor was not good. He was embarrassed he had started drinking again. He had been sober for over a year. We tried to reassure him, we all fail everyday. We just have to pray to God to help us get back on track and move on.

As we were heading home, Mr Scott noticed from the interstate, there was Richard sitting at his gas station. So Mr Scott drove Ms Dawn and I and we visited with Richard. Richard had been beaten up a couple of weeks ago. He had stitches over his right eye. He said he could not see out of it. He was doing the best he could but had nothing. We gave him some clothes and a some food we had left. Ms Dawn and I took it inside to his bed area. I had been inside before, but not when it was raining. The roof of the station has holes all in it and it was as wet inside as it was outside. The only saving grace for Richard is the sheet rock over his bed area was still hanging protecting him from the rain. Terrible, terrible conditions.

With us making two more stops than normal, we were late in arriving back at the center, so we decided to postpone our neighborhood walks. We will continue that tradition Saturday at 11:30. Come and join us.

We again had two more graduations on Saturday. We had Lauren graduating from University of Arkansas and Allison graduating from Hendrix College. Ms Lauren joined us several years ago one summer. Her joyful smile, her unlimited energy was a magnet for the children. They all lvoed Ms Lauren. Lauren continues to come by when she is in town and hopefully will be able to join us a little this summer.

Ms Allison, aka Zigzag as the children call her, totally rocked our world when she joined our family. Her smile, her undying energy, her huge heart for the least of them has transformed us all. Allison is in Philadelphia at the moment helping the inner city youth. Hopefully she will be able to be around a little this summer. She is preparing to leave us in the fall for her pastoral studies in Atlanta. You never know, but maybe one day, she will come back to us and be our resident pastor? Two special ladies, that God has brought to our community and will always have a special place in our hearts.

Tuesday evening was another special night for our men. We continue to have new faces join us and share their stories with us. We read from 1st Peter talking about living a life of God. Peter pointed out to us, how Jesus made sacrifices for us, we should do the same for others. We talked about, how lonely it is sometimes when you turn away from your friends or even your family, when you start living a life for Christ. Peter reminded us, it is ok to suffer because if you suffer for doing good, and you are patient, then God is pleased.

Also on Tuesday evening we got to experience the smile of one of our long time friends, William. I will say, I am not sure William came to Bible study to read, but to smile and smile and smile. A picture is up on Face book of his smile and his new set of teeth.

To finish off our Tuesday evening of remarkable events, we got to see and talk with Gus. Gus spent the night as he has finished with school and was headed down to south to spend time with his parents. He will be back with us at some point this summer after spending time with Lomax in California.

Early Thursday afternoon, I get a phone call from our construction person, Dan Poole. Dan is working with Dr Phil to get the Building Common Ground up and running. Dan and his company have gone beyond what we asked of them and have worked tirelessly to make this dream a reality. Dan attended a city meeting on our behalf, several months ago to get two pieces of our property rezoned. This whole process takes time and lots of patience. Dan called to tell us, after talking with all the city agencies, we have been approved and we are good to go in the starting of building new homes and giving new life to our neighborhood. Can I have an Amen!

What a Thursday afternoon we had. I guess we can call it, A Picnic in Garden! Ms Patty and her crew, Joey and his guys, Ms Abbie and her ladies, moved food, juice, tables and chairs and we had our meal in the garden. It was great. mr brian grilled hamburgers and the smoke and smell attracted new friends and neighbors to join us. Ms Patty brought flowers for the tables and everybody seemed to have a good time.

As I was cooking the hamburgers, I got a tap on my shoulder, turned around and you will never guess who appeared, . . .  Willie Jackson! Pastor Jackson was the pastor appointed to Cedar Grove United Methodist church back in 1998. The Methodist conference changed the name of the church to Faith United Methodist church when Pastor moved there. Pastor Willie has a heart for missions and has been gone too long from where he is destined to be. I turned over the grilling to David Leeth and we showed him what God has been doing with the center since he has left. More about our visit.

Also on Thursday, Beth, Charley and Hat attended a graduation of one of our outdoor friends, Robert. Beth has put pictures on Face book. Robert has been studying for over a year and has persevered to accomplish the task of getting his GED. What I find remarkable is Robert did not pass all of parts of the tests and had to continue to study and retake the test. Robert did not give up, like so many of us do when obstacles get in front of us. Through the encouragement of many of you and others, Robert was able to go forth and now can say he is a high school graduate. Praise God!

One more event on Thursday that will thrill those you who have been working on the kitchen our plumber and his helpers showed up and began the process of running new water and gas lines.

Prayers for Catfish as he deals with life and how to best handle his demons. Prayers for Krysten as she travels. Prayers for Mary and her adventures in India. Prayers for Lomax and his group in Haiti. Prayers for family relationships. Life is too short to be mad at each other. Lvoe, lvoe, lvoe.

Walking through the center with Pastor Willie was very emotional for both of us. Showing Pastor, where his office use to be is now a library. We walked into the room where the old library use to be. Where the leak in the roof had caused mold and mildew, now it is a room, bright with color, where children are learning how to read. You forget. Walking into the fellowship hall where it was dark and depressing, is now bright and full of life, you forget. Walking through the second story with Willie, remembering what use to happen and what is going to happening, you forget from where it all started and how far we have come.

Ms Lisa was looking through the pictures that we use to have hanging in the Bright House. She was asking who is this, don't remember them, seeing the dedication of the garden with Rob and Pastor Willie praying for us, you forget. Dealing with the obstacles of today, you forget about the journeys we have taken already.

The one thought Pastor and I said over and over in our walk through the center, God is good. Look what God is doing. Isn't God amazing. God is at work here. God is Good!

As we move forward in our journeys, we need to remember, it is not about us but about God. It is about God working in and through us, that all of what we have accomplished so far. We talked about Tuesday night, how do we share with others, it is not about us but about God. Especially when we have the opportunity to share our story with others, folks will come up to us and say, man you are doing great things over there. That phrase almost most me sick, because I have not done my job in expressing to others it is not me but the Christ that lives within me.

As we continue to reach out to our neighbors, it is not about us but it is about sharing the lvoe of Jesus with others, giving God all the glory. As we start building a new community of home owners, it is not about what we do, but about God receiving all the praise He so richly deserves. As we talk about funding for our future, we need to talk about how do we do so in that God receives the glory. God has blessed our community in ways that defies description. All that we do, all that we are, all that we hope to be, all accolades, all praises, needs to go to God. As Paul said so many times, it is not me but the Christ within me.

If we focus on God, it takes the focus of us. We will become less selfish, more giving. We will become less prideful more humble. We will become less jealous more compassionate. We will have less stress and more peace. May our week and the weeks ahead of us, be filled with the grace of God, the joy of knowing Him and humbleness of realizing it is not about us but about Him. Amen.

Wonder part two

How did everybody like "wonder" part one? I will admit, I was not very Christ like this morning about 8am. I go to click send and lost the note. After much fowl language, kicking the dogs(not really), ranting and raving, I have given up trying to find it and will attempt to retype the note. What if I told you, as my frustration has subsided during the day, I have thought of things I needed to say in the first note that I now have the opportunity to say. Wonder if I was suppose to send part one?

We had a great Saturday last week. By the time I arrived at 8:30, John S and his crew had dust flying everywhere in the kitchen. The 3 - 17 foot beams were cut, hoisted and nailed to the ceiling in preparation of the installation of the exhaust fan and new a/c unit. John W, our electrician, was there, beginning the process of rewiring the entire kitchen. Lots of good work was done.

Ms Patty and Momma T was in the garden all morning, moving dirt, weeding and getting the garden ready for this weekend for U2 Saturday. A couple of the neighborhood girls came by and helped them out for a little while. Amazing what is going on in the garden.

Mr Scott led the way on our visits. No drama was reported which makes for a good weekend of visits. Mr Matt did get a call from Tim this week, a tree has fallen on the canopy of their camp and will need help getting the rest of the tree down. We will attempt to do that this Saturday.

Following our return from our outdoor friends, we gathered and prayed for our first official Community neighborhood walk. Ms Dawn, Mr Noel, Mr Matt, Mr Scott and myself left the center visiting Isidora first and then walked up and down 69th St. We got to meet old friends, made new friends, gave out hugs, Ms Dawn gave out lollipops to the children, Mr Matt talked to the men about bible fellowship, Mr Scott picked up trash and wrote down the names of our new friends, what a morning. It was great, very uplifting. We plan to meet every Saturday at 11:30. Can't wait to see our new friends again. Come and join in on the fun.

While all of this was going on around the center, we had two of our family members graduating from college. Macy and Mary walked across the stage without tripping and are now Centenary alumni! Congratulations ladies. Macy was one of our first interns over 4 years ago. She and her group came as much as they could for tutoring. Macy has also helped with our summer camps. Mary joined us last year during the summer as one of our interns. She has come every week this year helping with tutoring. Mary will again join us this summer for our camp. Mary is in India at the moment. Her blog is, http://realworldubuntu.blogspot.com/, if you would like to keep tract of her adventures. Both ladies will be leaving in the fall to pursue more educational  opportunities. Macy and Mary, you two have been a blessing to us and our community and will always be a special part of the common ground family.

On Wednesdays of each week, there is another opportunity to serve. A ministry in West Shreveport called the New Room opens up their doors to serve a meal, hand out clothes and groceries. There is also a free medical clinic going on called the Pool of Siloam. Terry Strain and her crew of doctors and nurses treat many of our outdoor friends. Terry started the Pool at the center when the building was part of a congregation. Unfortunately they did not support Terry so Terry moved to her current location. Maybe one day we can a small satellite office of the Pool. Several years ago, with leftovers from the meal Sione and Catfish, took them to the camps. They also would make stops downtown in the alley ways and park benches serving the homeless. Michele and Pat still do that part of the ministry in a parking lot behind First Methodist Church. They are always looking for help. Last week they fed over 80 people. Remarkable group of servants.

We had a big group of men joining our Tuesday Bible fellowship. Mr Matt led our reading of First Peter. Peter was talking to the church, telling them they would have struggles in church. Pride, selfishness, greed would make things messy in the church. He told them there was a way to correct their mistakes and get on the right path. They needed to turn their thoughts, to Jesus Christ. Your faith with protect you. Your purity of faith will bring you praise and glory and honor. You will be filled with a joy that cannot be explained, a joy full of glory.

Thursday, we again had the opportunity to meet in the chapel and sing and hear about the word of God. Heather, Derrick and Richard shared their gifts with us. Following our chapel time, we made our way to our meal of spaghetti and salad, delicious. We had an old friend, Mark Williams, his wife and another from North Point Methodist church help us serve our meal. Following our meal, Ms Abbie and Ms Dorothy handed out groceries and clothes to the community. What a blessing these ladies are.

After our meal and clean up, we had our Board meeting. Ms Lisa walked us through the numbers and her agenda. Amazing to see on paper what we get to experience each week. Krysten gave us dates for summer camp. They are June 18th through August 2nd. Lots of planning and thoughts have been going on for the camp, amazing to hear it all.

We talked about and voted to go forth and explore the possibility of obtaining one lot next to the two lots we already own for the Building of common ground village. We also voted to have Ms Lisa move forward in acquiring the house and land next to the Bright House.

We approved the suggestion of Ms Patty to make a gate in the fence along Southern Avenue. Ms Patty feels with a gate there, it will make it more inviting for the community to come into the garden area, hopefully encouraging them to take an interest in the planting. Ms Patty suggested we have a community meal there, so next Thursday we will. Cooking hamburgers, chips and Kool-Aid, in the garden doesn't get any better than that!

We decided to take on the tasks of mowing the garden area ourselves. The cost of our yard crew to mow both the center and garden area was becoming too expensive. So if you are looking for something to do this summer and would like to help out, let Krysten know, so she can put you on the schedule.

We again will be blessed to have several churches and organizations coming this summer to help us around the center. More information will be coming on the specific dates and groups.

One of our last discussions was the topic of a fundraiser. As Ms Lisa has shared with us before, we can get funding for projects and events, but not for our expenses of operating the center. Paying the electric, water, gas bills. Internet expenses. The costs of doing business is not covered by grants. So we need to come up some sort of fundraiser to help with these costs. October 20th is the date at the top of the list right now. A couple of ideas that were expressed was to have a dinner and silent auction going on in the center. Another idea was to have a cook off with celebrity chefs. Be thinking of ideas, no one idea is too crazy. Email Ms Lisa with your thoughts. It was suggested we need to send out notes shortly allowing folks to put the fundraiser on their calendars, so now is the time to think and be creative!

We will have U2 Saturday this Saturday. Lots of special surprises will be happening for Mother's Day. Momma T and Ms Patty will gone due to a death of a family member at Grace, so we will have substitute helpers. Please come if you can to lend a hand.

Happy Mother's Day to all our moms and those of you who are not moms yet. You are very special to us and our community.

This past week one of the authors of the Common Prayer devotionals wrote this, I do not pray for success I asked for wonder. What a great way to think about God's amazing blessings in our life. We all too often want to put God in our box, asking for something we think we want or something we think we need. But thankfully God is bigger than all of that and we get to enjoy His wonder in our lives. he is more interested in our hearts, in our lvoe.

I saw "wonder" in our Board meeting last night. I am blown away by the thought of having young interns coming to our community and spending the summer with us. My heart is filled with joy when we have our older interns come back to us and spend time in our community. Seeing Ms Patty and Momma T talk about their hopes and dreams and their ideas for the garden. I am filled with awe at their amazing hearts. Listening to Ms Lisa talk about numbers, making phone calls, running down leads, working behind the scenes to make all of this stuff happen is truly an act of servant hood. Watching Ms Dawn plan a tea party with her new friends, listening to Mr Matt talk about his passion for Christ is "wonderful" and inspiring.

Reading the ministries God has blessed us with, summer day camp, garden, greenhouse, community meal, chapel time, food pantry, outdoor friends, tutoring, adult education, U2 Saturdays, building common ground, lawyer clinic, mens bible fellowship, community neighborhood walk, mission groups coming, kitchen remodeling going on, is hard to comprehend the magnitude of it all. It is so wonderful and so full of indescribable joy.

May we all have the opportunity this week and the weeks before us to live the life God has given us, to "wonder" in the awe of His majesty and grace. Amen and amen.

Lvoe

How has your first week of May gone? Saturday night at 10:30, the fullest the moon will ever get for the year will be happening. Enjoy God's amazing gift to us.

Mr Scott led us around on our visits last Saturday. Did you see some of our pictures of the morning? Our first stop was to see Turner. Turner has not been there for a couple of weeks, but we know he is ok. He leaves us a cardboard sign, Turner's version of "flying the sign". The sign has requests he needs for the coming week. Priceless! No Richard. Smokey and Leroy have finished their new entrance to their camp, so we park in another area to greet them. That is where I noticed this ministry has gone to the dogs! Noel has Little Bit, Matt has Rosey, Catfish has his three. More dogs visiting the guys then we had people. The guys love the dogs and seem to enjoy their company. Tim was back at camp after spending 10 days in jail. Unfortunately Tim lost his job. But what a spirit Tim has, He said, that's ok, I can always find work, there is a job out there for me. Dale was doing ok. Tim found a little dog and brought it to camp. It is Tim's dog, so Dale says, but everywhere Dale walked the little puppy followed him around. Dave is working some with Big D and finding odd jobs. 

A bunch of children all week. No matter what the temperature, what is going on in their lives, they make their way to the center. They come and hang out, play games, get up a game of basketball, ride bikes, get their snacks, have a good time. I hear from customers, I will be so glad when this year is over with, so my children won't have to do so much homework. Our kids have not come with work to do in months? Wonder what's going on? As we wind down for this year, be praying and thinking about our roles in their lives for next school year. What are we called to do? What do you feel led to do? Where is God calling you?

Tuesday evening, Matt led us in the reading of the passage, "I am the vine and you are the branches". Reminding us, to remain in Him and He will remain in us. All of this is bigger than anyone of us can handle. We are being asked to go beyond what we can do by ourselves. Only through us abiding in Him will we be able to deal with life and the building up of God's Kingdom.

Thursday was an enjoyable supper. Being the first of the month, our numbers were smaller allowing many of us to sit and talk with our neighbors. It was great to see Pete sitting down, eating supper and enjoying conversation. It was great to have Ms Judy Livingston back with us again. She has been out for several months. Mr Tom was back preparing our meal. With the kitchen out of commission, we are making due and everybody is working together to have a good time.

We had a special treat after supper, our Lomy joined us and we listened the whole evening to his adventures. He looks good, seems relaxed, his spirit is beaming and he seems to be in a good place. We asked questions about his favorite things to do, people he has met, the communities he has lived with and his adventures along the way. He pulled out his camera, put his disk in Joey's computer and we got to see some of his trip. He won't be here for long, leaving for San Antonio Sunday, so if you weren't able to see him Thursday try to do so before then. He is off to Haiti and then back to California for more exploring and adventures. He won't be home until the end of summer.

Our electrician, John Williams toured the kitchen with John this week and they have worked out a plan of attack for rewiring the kitchen. It will be quite a change, having receptacles that work, none of them have worked sense we moved in. Our plumber, Josh was suppose to work last weekend, but got sick, so we are hoping he will be here this weekend. The contractor for the vent hood and the new air conditioner will be starting next week. John Sauls will be working this Saturday as he always is. He needs help hoisting up the large beams into the ceiling to hold the weight of the new appliances. Come if you can.

Prayers for William as he continues to struggle with his addictions. So sad, he gets his check at the first of the month and by day 6 of the month he is broke. What else can we do to help him through his struggles.

Prayers for Ms Sarah and Mr Scott for this weekend as they deliver the message at the grown up side of Grace.

Prayers for this Saturday at 11:30 as we begin our first journey into our community walk. Ms Dawn has agreed to be the point person for us, so prayers for her as she leads us as we follow the path God has set before us. Very exciting.

Prayers for Pete Bollinger as he prepares to led a new ministry at Grace and beyond. God is preparing Pete to lead people through prayer and then reaching out to the poor. With the exposure Pete has had through Common Ground, he feels like we will be a valuable part of this new ministry.

Hate to be redundent, but folks, exciting times are a head of us. It seems God is preparing people to come and be a part of our community. We have been obedient, we have listened, we had faith, some of us has had patience and now God is preparing something truly special beyond what we could have only imagined. Continue to pray, continue to listen, continue to lvoe as we travel along our journeys. Amen.