Mr Brian Common Ground Community Inc.

church, where is it?

2012-02-25T06:26:00.001-08:00

Another week has flown by, wow. Hope everybody has had a blessed time this week. What struggles have you turned over to God? Or are you still hanging on to them.

Momma T reported she had a good turnout for breakfast last Saturday. You just never know what each day will bring. Momma T's help did not show up on time, but God brought a new person and they cooked breakfast together. It was a blessing.

Matt said the visits with our outdoor friends went well. Unfortunately, Dale's camp has been told they will have to move. Turner's camp is also moving. Railroad people and state people are moving the camps. Joey has tried to find out why, but as yet has not been able to get any answers.

Sunday afternoon, Krysten and Joey brought several of the community kids to the Highland neighborhood to watch one of the Mardi Gras parades. By the look of the smiles on the children's faces and all the beads around their necks, everybody had a great time. Pictures are on our face book page.

With the spring like temperatures this week, our afternoon tutoring has taken on outside play time. In fact, Ms Lisa was a trooper as she was the only one to show up Tuesday. She had 15 kids running relays and keeping them busy for an hour. Way to go Ms Lisa.

Matt, his son Eric and a friend Blade, Joey and mr brian were involved Tuesday afternoon moving Dale's camp. Really moving Tim and David, Dale was still reluctant to move. Under the bridge has been Dale's home for over 5 years and he was struggling with the fact he was having to move. Matt and Joey went back Wednesday to persuade Dale to move and got him to spend the night at their new camp but Dale was still not sold on the idea.

Tuesday evening, the men of the community met and shared what was on their minds and hearts. Matt read about how we need to humble ourselves, lift others up, and all use the gifts God has given us to glorify His name. In so doing, we all will be blessed beyond our imagination.

Thursday afternoon at our meal time was awesome. We had the pleasure of having Spencer Keller, a long time friend of ours from Brookwood come and share his gift of song with us during our chapel time. We have purchased a new portable sound system which we used for the first time. Mr Scott from Grace let us borrow his projector and Joey displayed the words on the brick wall. The chapel was filled with God's people praising God, it was awesome. A video will be coming. Thank you Spencer, Mr Scott and Joey for using your gifts.

Ms Sarah brought some of the youth and young adults from Grace as they helped serve supper. Supper was supplied by one of our churches. Pete shared ashes with us and we received the mark of Christ. We had Ash Thursday, hope God doesn't mind we missed it by a day. We all had a great time.

Ms Sarah and the young adults will cook, serve and lead worship on the third Thursday in March. Very exciting.

We continued our mountaintop experience from chapel into our Bible study as Joey led us in the reading in Ephesians. I am still amazed that God lvoes us so much, He provides away for us to be a part of Him through His Spirit who lives with in us.

Prayer concerns, William as he continues to recover from his addictions, Ms Abbie and Joe. She took Joe to the hospital Thursday morning for congestive heart failure again. Fluid is building back up and he was having a hard time breathing, Dr Phil recovering from sickness. Prayers for those who struggle with depression and dealing with life issues. Prayers for Dale, Tim and David as they are having to deal with a change of a new camp and new surroundings. Lomax on his travels in California. Beth's dad, at the age of 93, dealing with the sickness of his wife and becoming the care giver, Pat, one of the teachers of our adult education class, deals with sickness in her grand children. Ms Sarah and Momma T as they lead the youth in a retreat this weekend.

This weekend, Brookwood is having their Mission Fair. It will be Saturday night and Sunday morning. Common Ground will have a booth set up. If any of you would like to come and stand by the booth and meet and great, please feel free to do so. Ms Abbie and mr brian will be there around 5:30 Saturday night. Ms Lisa, Joey 8'ish Sunday morning and not sure who will be there for 11.

Church, where is it. For many months I have been thinking about church. I am in my truck all day every day riding around the city and country side. The one common theme I have noticed with churches is that they are closed all week. Most have gates across their driveways, fences around their property, and doors locked. Usually I do not get out on Sundays, but I was this past week. I noticed as I drove around, the parking lots that sit empty all week, that are gated and closed up Monday through Friday, are filled with cars and people. It felt strange to me to see this activity and got me to thinking, church and where is it?

We have been taught, we are the church, so go forth and be the disciples of Christ during the week. And I hear, hard to tell a Christian Monday through Friday, so where is the church? When someone needs help, who has no one, where do they go for help? Usually they think about a church, but what if the doors are locked, where do they go? When life is dealing you the worst possible hand you could have, you have lost all hope, where do you turn? You start to look for some help, you see a church where the doors are locked, but the liquor store next to the church is open. Where is the church?

One of our challenges as we move forward along God's path, is to be available, to be open, to lvoe all the time. Not when it is convenient for us but all the time. Some will say, that's great, but that takes money to pay people to do that. I am not convinced that it does. God is showing us daily, He will bring people into our lives with special gifts. Our challenge is to use these new and unique gifts in the building of God's Kingdom. It may not look the way we thought. It may not happen the way we had planned. But if we are obedient, then God will provide and all things will be possible.

Exciting times are ahead of us. God has plans for our community, our center, our lives beyond what we could ever imagine. Exciting because we do not know, but have faith. Exciting because we have each other, traveling together, lifting each other up. Exciting because we have a God who is awesome, lvoing and compassionate, wanting only the best for us all. This will take everybody, those who have traveled with us so far and those who have yet to come. Please come, join in on the fun and be a part of God's church. Church, where is it? It is in the hands and feet of us, in the hearts of the ragamuffins of Christ, following a God that will lead us to new beginnings.

Have a great weekend and a great week. See you around the community. Amen.

What is God up to?

2012-02-17T07:10:00.001-08:00

We were in a serious drought, this year, but reading an article in the newspaper this week, we were only down 5 inches with all the rain we have had this winter. I suspect with the rain this week we should be pretty close to normal. Our winter this year has not been cold but it has been wet. Hope everybody has had a good week.

We had a great Saturday last week. So much going on. We had a husband wife team from Brookwood join us. He painted while the wife hung clothes. We had a Life group from Brookwood join us on our outdoor friends visits. They made goody boxes for all the guys and they went with us to distribute them. We had a group of students from LSUS join us for our visits. And we had a student from La Tech come and got to experience our time together with our friends.

Momma T and Ms Patty, with the help of Joey rounded up transportation and took some of our children to the Walter B Jacobs nature trail and park for U2 Saturday. Ms Lisa took lots of great pictures of their time together and have put them on Face book.

Monday - Wednesday, the rain came with the cold weather, so we did not have many children. For those that did, some did homework while others watched movies. It is great our young adults can adjust to whatever obstacles are thrown at them.

Tuesday evening, our circle of men continues to grow. More new faces and some faces we have missed seeing were there. Matt led us in reading from Proverbs, asking, how do we stay on the path God has laid out for us. How does sin enter into it and how do we overcome our sin. Lots of good discussions about how God has made a difference in our lives.

We have been very fortunate with all this rain, not to have any roof leaks. Well, our good luck has run out and we are experiencing a new leak in the fellowship hall. John is working with our roofer to see if it can be repaired without a major expense. Ms Lisa, has reminded me, prayers are needed for a financial blessing to help us with our roof repair and maintenance. Please add that to your prayer list.

Thursday was full of activity as always. We had another new group prepare our meal. A family from Brookwood prepared spaghetti and helped serve it. Delicious. Lots of new faces. Lots of old friends coming together. Ms Abbie and her crew serving the meal, working in the clothing room and then handing out our grocery bags. What a blessing to see it all happening, working together.

After our meal, we gathered in the chapel and had our Bible fellowship. Lomax led our study, in the reading of the first three chapters of Revelation. One of his favorite passages. The chapters are letters from John to seven churches telling them what they need to do before Christ returns. Some were doing good at the beginning but have lost their way, forgotten their first love, now worshiping new idols. Some have become lukewarm in their faith. Others were allowing Satan to live in their churches, folowing false prophets. Other churches were looking like a church, but were really dead. Good conversations, about how our churches today would react if we got one of these letters. Does Common Ground look alive but really is it dead? Are we lukewarm in our faith? Do we worship the wrong gods? Tough questions to ask, good questions to think about.

Prayers were lifted up for Lomy. His last night with us for a couple of months. He will be leaving Tuesday on his journey. mr brian has asked him, told him, demanded him to send us updates as much as he can so we know he is safe. Prayers for William. He had a good check up this week and he wanted us to know, he got the good report because of the prayers of his church family. Jonathan, a friend of Dawn's struggling with life issues and how to deal with those challenges. Our friends who live outside and their efforts to make changes in their lives. Our family who are struggling with relationships, dealing with the challenges of how to overcome them.

Don't forget, this Saturday is our monthly breakfast. Momma T will need help in the kitchen starting at 8. If you can't get there by 8, we will begin serving around 9. Biscuits, eggs, bacon, hot coffee and good conversations will be happening. Hope you can come.

What is God up to? There have been discussions among ourselves about various dreams and thoughts about where God is leading us. God continues to bless us with the opportunities to share our dreams with others. Then they begin to dream and great ideas begin to flow. We continue to have groups from across the state come and experience our little part of God's Kingdom. We continue to be asked to speak to civic groups and Sunday school classes. We have young adults, searching for God's direction in their lives, ask to come and live and be a part of our community. So what is God up to? God gives us a building beyond what we could ever expect or pay for and challenges us to use it for His Kingdom. He brings people into our lives that challenges us to our very core and asks us to lvoe them like He lvoes us. Why, for what reason? God sends us a Pastor of a church down the street and wants to work with us to feed the children this summer. The obstacles, our challenges, those relationships, we all go through them, have to face them, learn to let go of them, try to go to God with them. Why? Why can't we live on the mountaintops all the time and not have to endure the valleys? God what are you up to? God continues to send us followers, ragamuffins, who have the same heart as ours, wanting to serve others, why?

What is God up to? I have no idea, and to be honest, I don't want to know. I don't think I could handle it. Might even scare me to death and my flesh would say, don't try it, you can't do it. God continues to work on me to be faithful, obedient, persevere and my least favorite word to have patience. God doesn't show me the answers because He knows, I will mess it up. If we say, God is control, then we need to let Him control. He brings to us those who will make His Kingdom grow. All of you have been so faithful to allow Him to use you to make our community sustainable.

This is only the beginning. I do know, God has big plans for this community. We are about to experience something that we have only dreamed about. God is preparing a way for our community to make real changes in all our lives. Relationships, caring, compassion, lvoing will take on a new meaning. How exciting to be a part of all of this. Thank you for being who you are. God is good! Amen.

Stomping around

2012-02-10T06:38:00.000-08:00

How was your week? What special blessings did God share with you?

Last Saturday, we had a big group visiting our friends. At one of our stops, a new friend Pat was having problems, so Mr Scott put him in the van and took him to the hospital. Turner is still looking for a new camp. We are trying to come up with places for him. As Dawn said, God will provide. You just never know what drama you will experience each week, isn't it cool to be a part of their lives.

Ms Abbie, Joey and mr brian went to Ms Ruby's funeral Saturday morning. The funeral home was packed with friends and family. Great talks were given by various preachers, some we will invite to speak to us in the coming months. Ms Ruby's pastor said about Ms Ruby, I noticed a change in her in the last several months. She started going to church to bring her grandson who was having trouble. When her grandson stop going, Ms Ruby went by herself. The pastor said, he started seeing Ms Ruby smiling all the time. He said, God has got hold of her heart. Wouldn't that be a nice way for folks to speak about us, smiling all the time, saying, God has got a hold on their hearts.

Ms Sarah and Mr Scott along with Krysten, were in the last hours of their 30 hour famine with the youth, joined us at the center. They worked in the garden, cleaned up around the center and gave our hallway a nice new coat of paint. The hallway looks great, gives a fresh feeling when you walk into the center. Thank you guys so much.

Afternoon activities continue to go along, spending time inside the center or like Wednesday, with the afternoon feeling more like spring time than winter time, we spent the afternoon playing football and games. Great to see our young adults leading the way as they continue their relationships with our community children.

Another blessed evening on Tuesday, as Matt led our men's Bible fellowship. Noel brought Catfish and Smokey for the first time. Never know what God will do, if you let go and let Him lead. We talked about letting go, letting God lead our lives. Serving, not for the recognition but for God. Trying to get past our egos and our pride and letting the Holy Spirit fill our souls.

Thursday was full of activities at our meal time. We had the blessing of Summer Grove Baptist group hosting our meal. It was great to have them. The food was delicious. We also had a group of young people from various churches, working out of Broadmoor Baptist, called Stomp, perform for us. It was funny as the young people were bringing in their trash cans, ladders, paint buckets, one of the Summer Grove men came up to us and said, looks like you guys are fixing to do some serious painting! Told him, no, this stuff is their musical instruments. Ms Lisa has already posted some pictures, I took some video and will try to get them posted this weekend. In between each song, the young people would share their testimony about what God has done in their lives. One young person shared, we see these containers as trash, God sees them as treasures. Another said, what we throw away, God uses for His glory. Amazing young people. It was great to see our children interacting with the Stomp youth as they were leaving. Hopefully this is only the beginning of a new relationship.

We celebrated Lomax's birthday in the chapel following our meal. Unlike Allison's blaze of candle's, Joey lite just two of them for his 26 years. We talked about his trip, leaving in a couple of weeks. If you have any family members in the California area, email Lomax with the information. He will be returning the end of April, so he can travel with the Yellow House group as they make their way to Haiti in May.

We had a small number Thursday evening, and ended up we talked about everything. I thought, man we can get away early tonight, but as we talked and shared, looked down at my watch and it was 8pm! We talked about Sinotra. He is not in school. On probation. Not doing good. How do we help? We talked about jobs for our community. But not just jobs, but how do we minister to the whole spirit of a person. We talked about our favorite books of the Bible. How some are harder to read than others, but Joey shared, a lot depends on where you are at personally as you read them and remembering it was written for the people many, many years ago. Dr Phil said, it is amazing how those stories were written for the people so many years ago, but they still apply to us today. It was a good evening.

Prayers were lifted up for Beth's neighbor. Prayers for U2 Saturday, as Momma T and Dr Phil will take the group to an outdoor park. Prayers for William. He was having heart attack problems Tuesday evening but would not go to the hospital. He was doing better Wednesday but still reluctant to go. Prayers for William, for God to fill up his heart with joy and peace, not leaving room for addictions. Prayers for Hat's back.

We have several groups coming to the center this Saturday. Brookwood will be joining us. A life group from Brookwood will also be coming to go with us on our visits. They have been making care bags for our friends and want to meet them. We have another group from LSUS coming. They came a month or so ago, and have more young people who want to join in. We also have a student from Louisiana Tech who will be joining us. Lots happening, very exciting.

John Sauls assumed his duties at the sink Thursday evening. We talked about the upcoming kitchen do over. It is close to beginning. Plans are at the final stop where the permits will be approved. Equipment is purchased, companies are lined up, we are close. Patience, patience, patience.

Dr Phil and his crew are having the same issues of permits and zoning approvals for his community village. You take one step forward and two other obstacles stand in your way. If we were trying to do this ourselves, the obstacles would seem too large. But we are not in this by ourselves, God is in charge, God has people who deal with these challenges and we move forward. How does it go, "with a little faith, I can move mountains". Another example of mountains being moved in order for the Kingdom to be built.

So cool to experience all of what God is doing in our little community. We have youth groups writing to us asking to come this summer. We have young adults sending in applications to come and experience community. We have new ideas and dreams coming to us everyday, challenging us to follow His path. We have new groups joining us every weekend, wanting to experience God's blessings. We have come so far, but we have so far to go. We are just at the beginning of what God has in store for us. It is so exciting to think about the possibilities of tomorrow. Thank you all for allowing God to work through you to get us where we are today. Thank you all for allowing God to work through you tomorrow to expand the Kingdom of God here on earth. God is sooo good!.

Have a great weekend with your family and friends. Hope you can join us around the center next week. Amen and amen.

Living

2012-02-03T07:17:00.001-08:00

We have completed the first month of the new year. Wow, did we breathe, did we get a chance to enjoy it?

We had a special time with our new friends from First Methodist Church, Crowley, Louisiana last weeken. I think Krysten said there were 26 including the youth and their leaders. They arrived around noon on Friday. Mr Scott L got them settled in at the Warehouse and then took them over to the center, where Krysten led the show. They worked tirelessly until supper and then came back Saturday morning for more. Momma T, Krysten, Lomax and others fixed a yummy breakfast of pancakes and bacon for them as they started their day.

The leaders wanted all the youth to go with us on our outdoor visits, so they loaded up their bus and followed Mr Scott and others in the van. What a treat to expose the young people to a life where our friends live without walls. Leroy was at Smokey's camp and showed them some of his creations. The kids loved his art and bought all he had. As we were leaving, the children asked if they could take pictures with each of the guys. You should have seen the tears of joy coming from the children and leaders as they were sad to leave their new found friends.

The group worked all day Saturday until we concluded with a gathering in the chapel. Gus had pulled in to pick up his group for his supper, so we asked him if he would share his story with the youth. He did and the tears began to flow. Krysten got up and shared her story and more tears. Michelle and Pat were there and shared their story about the New Room, emotions welled up in all, Ms Patty shared her story about the garden and where God is leading her, Momma T told us what she felt about adults. Our chapel time was not planned but we just allowed the Holy Spirit to flow. What an uplifting time for all. My soul was filled with God's special lvoe.

Our community is growing up. Monday, we had a situation that needed to be taken care of concerning some of the children. Another learning experience for both. Krysten led the discussions and the young adults, who are leading our afternoon activities, got together and shared what needed to be done and it was taken care of. Great job and reassuring to know our afternoon times with the children are in good hands. Wednesday's weather was so pretty, we stayed outside, played kick ball, walked Ralph and played games, very nice.

Monday afternoon, I met with Pete to talk about our chapel times. Lots of great thoughts and exciting possibilities in our future. Ms Abbie and her pastor will led our chapel time in February. Ms Dorothy and her pastor will led us in March.

Tuesday evening was again another blessing to be a part of our men's Bible fellowship. Matt reads, asks a question and off we go. What is so great about our gatherings, is each man is feeling more comfortable with each other and they are beginning to share what is on their hearts. We come from different backgrounds, so it is great to hear and learn from each other. Great discussions started from what a neighborhood friend shared about the flesh and the soul.

Wednesday evening, Joey and I went out to the New Room for a visit. Pat had called, asking us if we wanted to share in a blessing. He had backpacks full of stuff someone had donated for our outdoor friends. It was good to see some old friends and meet new ones. We talked to Michelle and Pastor Chuck about the camps and how we can work together to be sure everybody is looked after.

Ms Abbie told us Wednesday, Ms Ruby Horton's funeral will be this Saturday at 11am at the Patterson Funeral Home. The funeral home is located at 1220 North Herne Ave. Ms Abbie, Joey and I will meet at the center around 10:30 if any of you would like to join us. Ms Ruby has been a friend of ours for many years. She was one of the first to be a part of our community. She was always helping out. Her health had been declining for several months but she still came over to the center when she was able to get out. Her smile and special heart will be missed.

Did not think we had a big crowd Thursday for supper, but Krysten said we fed over 80 people. They were slow arriving. Someone mentioned they might have thought we changed our time to 5:30. Last week with chapel we did, so need to remind the folks we still serve at our regular time. Had some new friends show up and helped serve. Some old friends wash the dishes. We got some coffee mugs from Pastor Rich and his company, so everybody got a new coffee mug along with their groceries. Mr Scott got some grapefruit from the Food Bank, so the bags were fuller than usual.

Joey hosted our time together Thursday night, allowing us to sit in silence as he read the Lord's prayer, with other versus telling us about the uniqueness of our God. We all have a tendency to talk too much, to ramble on about what we think about things, not allowing God to be heard. Having a time where we said nothing, listening to God's words about how to live our lives, was awesome and inspiring. Thank you Joey for allowing God to use you and being the kind of prayer warrior we need.

Prayer concerns. Byron asked for prayers for his family here in town and in New Orleans. James' mom in her upcoming knee surgery. One of Dr Phil's daughters, Charlotte. She is back in the states for a month making plans for her future. William to denia the temptations of addictions during the first of the month. Prayers for our nation as God seems to be taking a back seat and sin is becoming more and more prevelant. Prayers for Ms Sarah and Mr Scott as they lead their youth this weekend in the 30 hours of famine. Prayers for Beth's step mother.

Prayers were lifted up for Lomax. Joey read a note from Lomax, telling us about his upcoming bicycle trip. Lomax will be leaving February 21st, on a bus to California and then riding up the west coast. Very excited for Lomax. If you have any family or friends in that area, let Lomax know, he will need places to stay. What stories he will have to share when he gets back.

As I talked with the leaders of our Crowley group, I began to realize how special and unique this place is, we call Common Ground. Often when you live day to day and are living a life devoted to God's will, you don't feel any different. It is who you are. This community is different and special because you have allowed God to work through you and you have touched other lives. Krysten said, the time she spent here several years ago, changed her life. Now she realizes, it was not this place, but it was God working through us, that changed her life. This community is living, breathing, constantly changing, just like a baby. Every day is different, every day presents a challenge, every day has a blessing. Speaking for me, I am very selfish and I need these experiences in my life. To see children run up to you, giving big hugs are a blessing. To see our community come on Thursdays, proud to wear their new common ground shirts is uplifting. Taking our community home, picking them up for activities is special.
Seeing new friends experience what we do every day, seeing the tears of joy and excitement is overwhelming.

This community is unique because you allow God to work through you. It is not about us as individuals but about God as a Body. We may think we know how things should be done, but God has His way. We are allowing God's ways to flow through us, not ours. I am realizing, in the end, if we live a life following God's will isn't it better! If I take me out of the picture and put God in the picture, then things seem to flow better and living takes on a whole new meaning. We don't have time to worry about our problems because God needs His Kingdom to be built. Living a life for God is one where blessings flow and amazing things happen.

Let's start this week, living a life where God's will is how we do things. Let's start this week by being quiet and listening for God's voice. As we heard last night, in the silence of prayer and meditation, God is there for us, we don't have to go looking around the corner, go read a book, He is there, He is in our hearts, we just have welcome Him in.

Have a great weekend. Have a great week. Amen.

Life

2012-01-27T06:09:00.001-08:00

What a great week we had. Hope yours was as good. Is time flying by for you? Here it is the end of the month, seems like it was just New Years!

We continue to make adjustments with the children in the afternoons to make tutoring more meaningful. Conversations going on about new and exciting dreams on how we can improve our times together. It began to rain hard Tuesday afternoon. One of the moms came by and got the kids. Wow, I think that is the first time that has ever happened. It was great to see.

The rain continued into the night as we began our men's Bible fellowship Tuesday evening. Not expecting many guys to show up, but to my surprise everybody did! Even those who live in the neighborhood that walked. Very comforting to see the presence of men who think that much of our fellowship to come in the rain. God is creating a foundation of relationships leading to other possibilities. Very exciting.

Got a phone call from the leader of the New Room. Common Ground and the New Room may have the opportunity to receive food from area cafeterias and share it with our communities. This may lead to other possibilities. They will let us know in a couple of weeks if this opportunity will happen.

Thursday evening was full of people and activities. We started off in the chapel, with our monthly worship time. Mark from Northpoint provided the music while Noel and our special guest Sione provided the words. The chapel was packed and full of life. We need to make adjustments on some of the happenings around the chapel, but it is nice to have our worship time going on. God will work it all out. It will help to have new chairs in the chapel. And that will happen in the near future. We were notified, Grace will donate their chairs to us when they remodel their worship area. God always provides.

After our chapel time we moved into our meal, served by Christ Methodist church ladies group. We had the adults and the youth there helping out. It was great to see so man folks there to serve, wash and clean up.

Ms Lisa was there with her lawyers for the free legal advise clinic. Ms Abbie handed out her bags of groceries and our donated pizzas. What an evening.

Joey led us in the reading of Matthew chapter 18. Talking about forgiveness, feeling lost and reconciliation. God has laid out a way for us to live our lives, why don't we do it? Don't understand why we think we know better, why we add things to suit our purposes. And we wonder why life is so messed up. Prayers lifted up for the Morgan family of Grace. Prayers for Charley as he deals with a situation in his prison ministry. Continue to lift up relationships in our families, our communities, that they maybe come stronger.

Got an email from Broadmoor Baptist church, they will be sending a group called STOMP to perform Thursday, February 9th. I have tried to get them to come for several years but they are so booked up we could never make connections. They will be performing at supper time, so please make plans to come and hear them, a great group of young people.

Got a phone call Thursday morning, Ms Ruby Horton passed. Ms Ruby lived on 69th and was always a friend of our community. She was one of the first ones to join us and was always around helping out where she could. Her health had been failing for many months. We will miss her smile and her special heart.

Don't forget, this Saturday at 8:30 we will have our Saturday breakfast. We will be serving the group from Crowley Louisiana who will be here to work. Ms Sarah, said there will be around 26 coming. If you can help cook, we will be getting to center around 7:30, so come if you can. They will be arriving today, Friday around noon. Ms Sarah will settle them in at the Warehouse and then take them over to the center. Krysten will meet them then. Come by Friday or Saturday and say Hi and welcome our new friends.

This past Saturday, I was in Dallas playing with our new grandson at the beginning of his life. Monday evening I was in Bible study praying for a family whose love one's life was about to end. When we are younger, we think we will live forever. When we get older, we become so involved with living, we put off doing God's work until we have more time. God does not promise us tomorrow, only today. Why wait? I just want to remind us all, to live a life God is proud of, a life that God is glorified, a life filled with lvoe. It seems like only yesterday, when we were on the floor playing with our son, now 30 years later we are playing with his son. In a blink of an eye, our lives fly by. Is there a relationship that needs mending? Is there anger to let go of? Is there resentment to release? Is there someone who needs your lvoe today? Don't wait until tomorrow. Don't put off what you can do today. Turn it over to God today, release and feel free, enjoy the peace of the Spirit and en joy the ride. Amen.

See you all Saturday. Have a great weekend and a great week.

dreams

2012-01-20T06:44:00.000-08:00

Hope everybody had a great week. How did God work in your life? What surprises did He dream up for you?

We started off our week by having a family help us out around the center last Saturday. Heather and her husband TJ brought their 3 daughters and grandmother to work in the center. They are a family from Brookwood who has fallen in lvoe with us and want to help us out. Two of the girls along with their grandmother started making 2 signs for us. They had so much fun they ended up making 10. You can see them all around the center, so precious. TJ will be cooking one of our meals in February and he will be going with us on our visits this Saturday. Grandma will be helping Momma T and Ms Patty with U 2 Saturdays. What a blessing this family has become to us.

Mr Scott reported all went well on our visits last week. Again, it was discussed how much nicer it is to be going back to the camps and visiting with our friends. Hearing their stories of the week and what drama is going on around their camps. Makes for an interesting morning and very enjoyable.

The Friendship room was full of activities Saturday afternoon. Joey and Lomax were hosting the guys and everybody was having a great time. What a pleasure it is to see some outside visiting, while others are inside watching TV, one is washing their clothes and some beginning to prepare lunch. What a joy to see community in action.

Monday, we had the opportunity to sit in a meeting with Dr Phil and the building contractor as they discussed the plans of Dr Phil's dream of "building" community. We walked over to the lots, dreamed about where the houses will be built and how it will look. In a few short months, we will begin to see the dream come true.

If you invite them they will come or something like that? We have been asking for help for our after school activities and we had it Tuesday and Wednesday. No doubt about it, when you have tutors there to work with the children, it is totally different. Ms Lisa met with the new coordinator of Centenary's Christian Leadership Center. She is a resident of the Yellow House. She is all about relationships, so hopefully she will be a good resource for us. Jeremy has made it back and we hope others will come and join in on the fun.

Tuesday evening, we gathered again for our men's Bible fellowship. Our circle in the chapel began to fill up and before the evening was over, we had to get more chairs! Matt does an outstanding job in getting us started and the Holy Spirit runs the rest of the discussions from there. As Matt said in closing, what an evening, when ever man joins in the conversations. Thanks Matt for allowing the Spirit to flow through you and blessing in our community.

Thursday meals continue to be full of activities. Noel sings a song. Old friends come by for visits. New friends show up to help. We have missed our Ms Sarah and Mr Scott. They came by and sat down and visited with the children. Icee Joe, walked in! Did you get that, Icee Joe walked in with their two little ones and joined us for supper. Julianne and Joey also helped serve, what a blessing. Mr Pete has lined up some musicians for next Thursday, so we will meet in the chapel before our meal and worship. Noel will share a few words and then we will have our meal. We will meet with Pete in the coming weeks to line up other folks for our chapel times. Ms Abbie will ask her pastor if he will speak next month. We have been dreaming of the chapel coming alive and it is happening.

Following our meal, we gathered in the chapel and had another circle. It was talked about having a circle every other week or something along those lines. Be thinking about what you would like to see happen.

Prayer concerns expressed: Travel mercies for Momma T as she goes to visit with Georgette, Dr Phil as he travels for work related responsibilities and mr brian as he goes to Dallas to play with his grandson. Continued prayers for Ms Abbie's Mr Joe as he struggles with his recovery. He is coughing a lot lately and taking blood thinners. Prayers for Edward for upcoming foot surgeries. Prayers for community and family relationships, that they may become stronger and more viable. Charley asked for prayers as they begin the process of preparing for the upcoming Kairos weekend at Wade. Prayers for William to stabilize his blood sugar. Prayers for Krysten as she begins to mentor some of the young ladies at Grace in their small group.

There will be no breakfast this Saturday. We have a large group coming from South Louisiana coming next Saturday the 28th, so we will be serving breakfast then.

As we begin a new year, we have the opportunity to again go to God and dream. I think God likes people who dream. Dreams come from your passions. Then that brings about your faith. Followed by your lvoe of others. We dreamed many years ago about an old church building, being restored to a community center. It is happening today right before our eyes. We dream about others becoming involved and it is happening by new families and new friends becoming a part of our community. We dreamed many years ago, as we were restoring a house on Southern avenue, about building a new community. In a few months that will begin to happen. We dreamed about having a kitchen where we can train our young people in becoming chefs and waiters. Maybe having a cafe, a catering service, a bakery. Our kitchen plans are drawn up and the money is in place to make it happen. One day, the two story building will be full of activities. In time, the Sanctuary will be full of people praising and worshiping. The concrete areas on Southern will be full of cars, with people lining up to get inside the Sanctuary. Children will be playing on the playground equipment in the green areas. People from the neighborhood will be walking to the center to join in all the activities. The garden area will be full of plants, trees providing food for our kitchen and the neighborhood. Our greenhouse will be a place where our community can come and learn how to grow plants year round. In the near future, we will have teams walking the streets getting to know our neighbors. Dreams.

What are your dreams? Where is God leading you? No dream is too small or too big. You can see what God can do when He wants it to happen. Dream. Let us hear from you about your dreams.

Have a great week. Enjoy life. Enjoy God's blessings all around you. Amen.

relationships

2012-01-13T07:23:00.001-08:00

Baby, it's cold outside! Hope everybody has had a great week. We have had rain, cold and wind this week, making for interesting times around the center.

My sister-in-law has been wanting to visit the Jewish Temple on Southfield, so last Friday evening we went. I know Joey and Lomax like to visit other churches so I invited them and they invited others, so we had a nice group joining us for their worship time. The Temple is one of my pest control accounts and I have known the Rabbi for several years now. She is very nice and down to earth. She walked over to us after the service and asked us if we would like to ask her questions about the Jewish faith. So we went back into their synagogue and for over two hours we talked about faith. I came away with, how awesome our God is. They worship, they love the same God we do, they may go about it a different way, but oh how they lvoe Him. Can't we all get past our religious stereotypes and just lvoe our God?

We had good visits at the camps Saturday. Really enjoy getting back to the guys homes and visiting with each one of them. We had a new group of young people join us from LSUS. They provided t-shirts and can goods for our friends. Amanda suggested they call us and join in on the fun. We had a new/old friend join us also, Joey! Not sure Joey was awake fully when we left but by 11 o'clock he was able to direct us to a couple of new camps. We past by the first camp I ever visited. There were a group of people in this abandon building. One of them was an artist and inside the building were pictures he had drawn. A month or so after we started visiting, the owners didn't want them inside anymore, so they tore the building down. Now, the only thing that remains is the concrete pad. Our friends scattered throughout the city and we never saw them again, very sad.

The rain stopped Monday around 4 and the kids came. Tuesday, the winds and cold weather started and the kids came. Wednesday, it was sunny and cold and the kids came. The kids have come but our helpers have not. We have been low on help this semester. We know your schedules change, classes become stressful, but if you can come, we need your help.

Tuesday evening we gathered for our community men's fellowship. Noticed I left off the Bible part. I got to wondering if a Bible study may scare off some of the guys. I know it did me many years ago when I first started back to church. I saw in the bulletin at Grace, they had a men's Bible study. I did not my Bible as well as I should so I hesitated going because I was scared they would ask me questions and I would not know the answers. Matt has a verse that God places on his heart, we read it and the discussions begin. Amazing what God can do when you allow Him to lead the discussions and are open to His Spirit. Men don't have a place where we can relate to one another, build relationships together and help each other along our journeys. This venue provides such a place.

Wednesday after the kids left, Ms Lisa took Lomax, Joey and myself across the street to visit the lots Common Ground has just received. 4 lots of absolute heaven. Two lots of concrete where one day, we will need for parking when the sanctuary is packed with people. Two other lots, where new homes will be built and lives and families will be restored. The green lots are huge. Lomax, said, there is enough room for a Tiny Village. God is up to something amazing. How exciting.

Thursday, with the cold stiff wind, we did not have as many join us for supper. We had receive gifts of lettuce and pizzas. We decided to give everybody a pizza instead of warming them, that was a hit. Matt and his wife Ms Vicki joined us. Also, we had a lady from Summer Grove Baptist come and helped us serve. What a blessing to have new people come and be a part of our community.

Instead of our normal Bible study Thursday night, it was suggested we have a recovery circle. Momma T agreed to lead us and shared some of the history of our relationships with these circles. Momma T got out her notes from her visit to Glide United Methodist church in San Francisco, telling us it will be 10 years on January 28th, when we made our first visit out there. I couldn't believe it has been 10 years! I can remember going out to GLide thinking I knew everything but realize I knew nothing about relationships and how important it is to our recovery from who we think we are, to who God wants us to be.

I began to understand from their leader, Natomba, we are all recovering from something. We are all hiding things that stops us from being the person God needs us to be. We may not have a drug or alcohol problem, but we may have a pride or selfish problem. We may work all the time, not leaving room for others or God. We may hide our anger or distrust, not allowing God to fill it with His lvoe and compassion. No matter what the addiction is, we all need to realize we are sinners, we are not perfect, we all have hurts, and that is ok. God has brought us together to help and support each other. To listen. To lvoe. The recovery circles allows us to do that, to begin the process of letting go of those addictions, to allowing others in and helping us through the struggles. And when we do begin to understand it is alright to let go, a great weight is lifted off our shoulders, a peace surrounds us that only God can be a part of.

Don't forget this Friday, the 13th, Joey is hosting a prayer time service at the community chapel between 6 and 8. Max Lucado's devotional this morning said, rather than worry about anything, "pray about everything!"

There will be no U2 this Saturday.

Prayers for Momma T, Ms Sarah, Mr Scott as they lead their youth in a retreat this weekend. Prayers for Ms Abbie's Joe as still does not feel good. For Icee Joe in his knee recovery. Prayers for Zig Zag (Allison) as she heads back to school for her last semester. We will miss you Allison. Hurry home. Praise for James as he starts back to work. Prayers for Robert as he starts building a new home. Prayers for Dave, Dr Phil's next door neighbor. We met Dave in the woods, he made it to a house, but is struggling with addictions and now is heading back to the woods. Prayers for continued healing from colds for the Ackermans.

Got an email from a Brookwood family this week. She was upset at the church for not having their second Saturday work day, so she asked if her and her family could come anyway! They have been to visit us, the last couple of months. They have two adorable little girls that have helped Ms Patty and Momma T with U2 Saturdays, while mom and dad have painted for us. In her email, she said her two girls had been working on some signs for the center. I don't know what they say but was in awe of what these little ones had been doing for us. I emailed her back and said it would be an honor to host her family this Saturday.

This got me to thinking about relationships. We talk all the time about relationships. Our community is based on relationships with each other and others. Our Tuesday night mens bible study is more about relationships than study. Thursday suppers is more about getting to know our neighbors than feeding the flock. We have circle this week, which is based on relationships. We pray for one another, not because we have to but because we have relationships with each other. Here it is, the beginning of a new year and we talked about our relationships with Jesus and how important it is.

Obviously God is challenging us to be real with ourselves. We go to church on the weekends, sit in our pews or chairs, smile and say everything is alright. We really don't have time to see behind the masks in an hour or two. We need to be there for each other during the week. It was said last night, the hardest thing to do when Jesus says to love our neighbors as we love ourselves, is to love ourselves. If we don't love ourselves, then everything we do after that is not real. We have to have a real relationship with Jesus. Ask Jesus, who am I, what do you see? Are you seeing the man or woman you want me to be? People will let us down every time, God will not. He will be honest with us. He will say, let go of that, I will take if over. I want you to be who I created you to be, not what others think you should be. If we try to please people we will be set up for failure, because we can't please everybody.

Relationships begins with you and God. It won't be easy, it may not look the way you think, but guaranteed it will be the best thing you have ever done. You will be the person God has created you to be. Then God will do amazing things through you using your unique and special gifts.

Have great weekend. No better time that to stop for a moment, and listen to what God is wanting to tell you. Amen.

Send me your bio

2012-01-06T07:07:00.000-08:00

Here it is, first week of January and 70 degrees today! Wow, time for some outside activities! My front yard could use some leaf picking up but that is no fun. Wonder if a golf game might be on the agenda? Hope it is nice where you are. Another great week of fun and blessings.

We had too many folks for the van to hold, so we took two vehicles on our Saturday visits. Our first stop was our friend Turner. Since we have been band from walking across the railroad bridge to Turners, we have tried to find another way in. Two weeks ago, we tried but did not find a way. Last week, we did! In fact, we now can walk along a short stretch and come up to Turner's back door into the camp. Never knew he had a back door? Turner greeted Mr Scott as he entered the camp and walked back with us to the van. It was amazing to see Turner in the middle of all us walking along the trail. What a blessing.

Monday, we had more kids than we had help, so Joey and I served up prayer and snacks and the kids went back home. Tuesday was better with much needed help. We got to sit down with the children and do some work. Wednesday was more play than work. We still struggle with what we are trying to accomplish with the children. They lvoe to come, we are glad they do, but what are there for? Is it to teach, is it to play, is it to just be there? God has a plan, what is He telling you all?

Tuesday evening, we again gathered for our community mens Bible study. Got to thinking maybe, Bible study may scare some men off? I know when I first started at Grace, it did me, when I saw a men's Bible study happening. Really, we read a passage or two, but we share more than we read. It is good for men to have a place where they can share what is on their hearts and not worry about being judged, we all need a place like that. I know it is one of the highlights of my week.

Wednesday morning I had the opportunity to share our story with the men from Christ Methodist. You will hear more about that later on, but it was a joy to talk about all of you.

Thursday evening, there were no places in the inn. Allison comes into the kitchen and says mr brian, we need more chairs and tables! Being the first of the month, we thought the numbers would be small but they weren't. Wow, what will the end of the month be like? Wonder what God is up to? One of our new friends, Noel, brought a CD player and he sang to us as our meal got started. One of the first times I have heard the community hall quiet. He lvoes the Lord and wanted to share it with others. He will be sharing the Word in one of our chapel services coming up.

I got a phone call earlier in the week from a friend who shared some of his bountiful with us and it is good he did. We were able to fix more bags of groceries and hand out bags of lettuce, tomatoes, bread and potatoes. God always provides.

We also had a nice surprise Thursday as one of our Lake Charles family joined us for supper and Bible study, Ms Stephanie. She was on the way to Dallas for a friend's wedding. It is so special when our young people make an effort to join us whenever they can, what a blessing all our young adults are. We also had Ms Lauren and her friend come by for supper as she leaves for her last semester at University of Arkansas.

We again had a full table for our Bible study. Two friends of Stephanie joined us, Fabian and Michelle. We got to celebrate Zig Zag's birthday and enjoy some of her cake. Thanks to Lomax and Joey for making it all possible. Who would have known, 22 candles on such a small cake could make so much fire! Not to worry Ms Lisa, Allison blew out the blaze before too much damaged was done!

Joey led us in the reading of the last chapter in Acts. Reading about Paul, finally in Rome sharing the gospel with both Jews and Gentiles. Paul, living in a rented house, talking about the Lord Jesus Christ, with full boldness and without hindrance. The bible I have, says, He boldly preached about the kingdom of God and taught about the Lord Jesus Christ, and no one tried to stop him. Wow, shouldn't we all live our lives in such a way, that no one tries to stop us!

Prayers were lifted up for Jame's brother Chris is struggling with dependency of pain medicines. Prayers for those who were not there, Momma T, the Ackermans, Dawn. Ms Sarah and Mr Scott as they lead a group of young people to a retreat in Alexandria. For Catfish as he deals with life. Friends of Dr Phil at work. Byron came in asking for prayers for a job interview he has today, that he gets the job he so desperately needs. Gus as he winds down his adventure and prepares for his new semester of teaching. What a pleasure it is to be a part of a group who cares for others so much.

As I mentioned earlier, Ms Sara, the youth leader at Christ Methodist, suggested to the men's group to invite me to speak at their breakfast. I got a call last week from them. It was an honor to be asked. The gentleman, whose nickname is Dude! was very gracious in his phone call, saying lots of nice things. He asked at some point, send me your bio. I have never been asked that before. I told him I don't have a bio, but will put something together and email it to him. I wrote his email on a napkin and by the time I made it home, Dude' email address was destroyed.

To be honest, I kind of forgot about the bio part until Ms Sara asked Saturday morning, are you ready for your talk? I said, oh man is that this week! I need to send Dude( I just lvoe that name) something, but what?

I got a phone call Monday about going down town to pick up food items for our pantry. I really didn't have the time but thought I better. I was on Youree Drive headed into downtown and decided to turn on Stoner Avenue to go a different way. On the right hand side of the street, a block or two from Youree is a cemetery called Greenwood. Not sure how they came up with that name? Any way, I pass the gates and get that feeling I should turn in! I was late, had a thousand things to do, I said to myself, I don't have time, so go on. I did for two blocks and that thought came again, I should turn around and go through the gates. So I did!

Inside the cemetery is a Hunter plot. I had been there once before when my uncle from south Louisiana was buried back in 1990. Most of my family grew up in south Louisiana except my grandfather's brother. Sam Hunter came to Shreveport and made fortune in the oil business. Unfortunately our side of the Hunter family remained poor. The Hunter plot is mainly for the Shreveport folks. My uncle and my grandfather are the only south Louisiana Hunters there.

I make my way to the Hunter plot. It was a beautiful afternoon, a good day for a visit. I find the plot and walk up to my uncle's head stone and find a new one next to his, his wife's. She passed back in 2002 and her daughter did not know what she was going to do. I told her daughter to let me know if we needed to make arrangements in the Hunter plot. I never got a call, so it was a nice surprise to see her head stone next to her husbands.

I stand there a few minutes and began thinking about my childhood visiting Uncle Frank and Aunt Margaret. I grew in Lake Charles going to First Methodist. After Sunday School, my parents would load me and my sister, their friends into our car and take a ride. The kids never knew where we would end up. One of my favorite places to end up was at my Uncle Frank's and Aunt Margaret house in Abbeville, just south of Lafayette.

They had two children, a little older than we were, but we had fun playing together. Uncle Frank would always greet us with a big smile and a big hug. One of his favorite things to do was steal our noses! Did your folks ever do that? Then he would do his magic tricks and pull a quarter out from behind our ears. No matter how old we got and eventually our son when we took David for visits, he did the same things, stealing our noses and his magic tricks. Aunt Margaret always kept us fed and made her home ours, just like a good Southern lady does. Always gracious in our visits.

I look down on their head stones and think about the sermon Sione preached one time about your dash. That spot on everybody's head stone, where you were born and the time you leave. What does your dash say about you. I hear God saying, that is your bio.

Thinking about Uncle Frank, I remember his hugs, his smile, his love of life, not that he was president of a company. I think about Aunt Margaret for her compassion, her love of family not that she was a leader in her church.

Being a president, a CEO, college degrees, is nice but it should not be who you are. As I was talking to the mens group Wednesday morning, I told this story and then lifted up Ms Lisa's December newsletter and said to the men, this is my bio. My bio is all of you allowing God to work through you. I get to see the stories, experience the blessings of so many of you, my heart is full of joy.

When God calls us to come home, we all will have the opportunity to speak to the angels. When we are asked for our bio's, what will we say?

Have a great week. Take time to be with your family and friends. Amen.

Resolutions

2011-12-30T08:01:00.001-08:00

Has it been a week already! Not possible, seems like I just sat down yesterday and typed this note. Hope everybody had a great Christmas time with your family and friends and ready to celebrate the New Year together.

We will start off our week by our visits Saturday, Christmas Eve. Through the generosity of Grace and Christ Methodist congregations, we had Christmas packages for our outdoor friends. We did not have enough goodies for everybody, so we asked our friends if we could meet them at their camps. So after our regular stops, we ended up at Smokey and Dale's camps. For most of us, I am sad to say, was our first visit to Smokey's camp. He showed us around, taking us to various parts of his home, just like we do when people come to our homes for the first time. He has benches to sit on. A rug of Jesus strung out over branches for his meditation room while reading his bible. A place where he feeds his birds. A place where he sits and watches the trains go by. All very nice and he was so proud to show off his home. We also got to meet one of his roommates Leroy. A very nice young man, who is picking up the talents of making crosses and dream catchers from Smokey. We then made our way over to Dale's camp where they had just built a fire in honor of me, because I like camp fires so much and we stood around the burn barrel and talked about life. As we left the camps everybody commented this is good. Dawn expressed she was warm on the outside from the fire and also warm on the inside from our camp visits. So I think, we decided walking back to the van, this is where we need to be, not in parking lots handing out stuff to folks we do not know. We have been blessed by people who want to give items to our friends who do not live inside walls, so that is where we need to be.

Not sure why this time of year, we try to cram so much into such a short amount of time, but we do. Family comes in from out of town, so we try to get everybody together which is almost impossible to do, I know it is for our family. But we still try and stress runs high. I will say as Christmas Eve began to get late in the day and we made our way back home at a late hour, a warm bed and a good night sleep sounded good. The cold temperatures set in, the rain got harder, not a night to be out but it was Christmas Eve and time for Ms Sarah and Mr Scott's service at the community chapel. I was tired, cold and sleepy but made my way to the chapel and as I walked up, David McCormick met me with his umbrella and we heard voices singing Christmas carols coming from inside the chapel. Immediately, my disposition changed and I thanked God for these crazy people. I opened the door, to candle lights, the smell of homemade cookies, hugs from friends, music being played by talented young people, words being shown on the wall with beautiful backgrounds glowing, what a spectacle. I sat there, mesmerized what these folks had created, I was blown away by what God has done through us. A year ago, this building set dark, smelled of mildew, worn out paint, and tonight we sat, celebrating the birth of our Jesus, wow, doesn't get any better than that. Words of thank you does not seem good enough, but thank you all for painting, scraping, decorating, heating, baking, singing, praying. A job well done.

I hope you all saw Krysten's note about Christmas morning. What a blessing to go around to our community delivering packages of joy. Hearing from Momma T, Goergette and Krysten, blesses me and encourages me to continue to work towards the time when we can go out into the community on a regular basis and meet our neighbors. As those of us who have been able to do at some point in time, we always have stories that blesses us with our experiences.

We continue to meet on Tuesday evenings for our community mens bible study. What a blessing it is for men who never would have come together, meet in a chapel where we can talk about how God is working in our lives. Matt has been awesome in leading our group and he continues to encourage other men from his church to join us. I continue to invite our men from the community and they come. We are learning, we are more alike than we are different and together with the help of the Holy Spirit we can make a difference in each other lives and help our community. Hopefully this is the start of something big God has in store for our community.

With school still out, we took the week off for children activities. I was there one afternoon, Tuesday I think and I look around and there are the Mitchell girls walking up asking, mr brian, are we having church today? Krysten had told them not to come, they knew that, but they have nothing else to do and knew someone would be around to lvoe on them at the center. I know at times, we want to close up the doors when the kids get crazy, but folks you all are making a difference in their little lives. They know in their small worlds where to come for snacks, activities and most importantly lvoe. Thank you for your hearts.

We had a big crowd Thursday evening. We had some new folks come and bring dessert. Yummy cakes. Ran out of food at the end. Ms Lisa was there with her lawyer. We also had our first turkey come on down game! Someone had donated over 30 turkeys to us. We had them last week but decided to wait until this week because of all the activities going on last week. I was hoping for a small crowd and we could have given everybody a turkey, but that didn't happen, so we tore up tickets and had our first turkey calling contest. Our friend Noel and Momma T called out the numbers and Georgette passed out the turkeys. Everybody seem to be ok with the process and we handed out all the turkeys. It was fun.

We set up in the friendship room for our bible study Thursday night and had to go find more chairs. An over flowing crowd, great to see so many friends join us for our discussions. Joey led us in the reading of Acts 27. This chapter is telling of Paul's adventures in a boat as they travel to Rome. In the beginning of the chapter, Paul tells them not to set sail, because of rough seas ahead. The pilot does not listen and they leave and run into the storms. Then Paul says, if you stay the course, ride out the storm, the boat will crash but it will be ok, because God will protect us all. Some believed Paul at this point others did not, but in the end all were spared, just as Paul had said. God told Paul there would be storms in his future but God would be there to protect him. There will be storms in our lives, but God will be by our sides to walk with us. Sometimes we cause our storms but other times, life is just messy and there will be trials, but we do not have to go through them alone. We have each other, and more importantly we have God. Just as Paul experienced the grace of God as He protected all the men on the ship, God will protect us.

Prayers were lifted up for Joe G (Icee Joe) as he recovers from knee surgery. Continue healing for Joe Barefield as he recovers from pneumonia. It was great to have Joe join us for supper and he also helped Ms Abbie pass out the grocery bags. Prayers for Gus as he is combating a cold and as he concludes his month long journey living under the bridge. Catfish's sister as she recovers from an illness. Hat's sister as she continues to recovery from her surgery. Wes as he continues to teach the children in China. Also, they are looking for more English teachers in China. Contact Beth if you are interested. New friends, Tony and Chico as they begin their new lives living outside, trying to find work to make their way to Montana.

Thinking back over the week, the thing that sticks out the most for me, was family. We have been blessed to have the children of our folks be a part of our community and it is so special for the young people to come around the center and help out during their Christmas breaks from school or work. What a joy it was to see Georgette, Momma T's little girl, join us for two weeks. She does not get to come home as much as we would like, so for her to be around for this long of time was a real joy. Georgette is always helping out, wonder where she gets that from? Allison, Zig Zag is a joy to have around, helping with the children, suppers and participating in our Bible studies. Lauren, joined us Thursday evening for her first visit since coming home. Her smile, her lvoe of our children is amazing to see. One afternoon as I was passing by Dr Phil's house, there were two of his children, Phillip and Merrill sitting on the front porch. I got to spend a few minutes with them catching up on their lives. It warms my heart to think God has created a place where our young people come back to when they come home, like family. To our young adults, thank you all for being who you are and continuing to support our community, you all are truly blessings to us all.

When I was in a customers house the other day, on the refrigerator was a list of New Year resolutions. The usual resolutions were listed, loose weight, eat right, go to church more, read more books. Got to thinking about that list as the day wore on, all good ideas, but I thought there was item missing, develop a better relationship with Jesus. How often do we make list about what I need to do, or what I need to accomplish or what I need to work on, but really doesn't it all start with our relationship with God? If our relationship with Jesus is not one we can go to in a moment of frustration, or anger, or joy, nothing else matters. We have talked about all year long about relationships. Our community is based on relationships with each other, but that is based on nothing if our own relationships with Jesus is not strong. Relationships with others comes and go as people move through our lives, but the one relationship that never moves away is our relationship with God. We can't loose weight, eat the right food, read the right books, attend church on our own, our spirits are weak and at some point we will fall away. But if we strive to be like Jesus, if we continue to seek His will in our lives, if like Paul, we loose ourselves and become anew in the Spirit of Christ, then all things are possible.

My new year resolution for us all, is that we seek out the Holy Spirit daily, allow Him to move us, to shape us in everything we do. We strive to strengthen our relationship with Jesus, so we can go to Him with any challenge we meet in the coming year. That Christ becomes our closet friend. As we move out and seek others, they will look at us and say, there is something different about them. May the Light of Christ shine so bright in us all in the coming months, nothing will be impossible to accomplish.

May this New Year bring joy, peace and many blessings to you all and your families. Amen.

What if we said no?

2011-12-23T07:29:00.001-08:00

Not sure how to describe this week. So many emotions. So many people. So many things happening, it is overwhelming. But, all of it is good and God gets the glory.

With me being out of town Saturday, I can't report on our breakfast turn out. I do know I found 6 left over hash brown patties in the refrigerator, so I know most everything got eaten! Mr Scott reported, their visits went well. A few minor discussions took place, but really every weekend, we have those disagreements, but usually they get resolved on the spot and life goes on. We have begun discussions again about our roll with our outdoor friends. We will eliminate our stop by the Fairmont and decide on other stops in the near future. We don't want to stop our relationships, that won't happen, we just need to become better stewards of our funds.

Our activities the rest of the week, were leading up to our Christmas meal on Thursday. Every night we had folks coming together to do something. Monday afternoon, we had Pete, Mary, Mark and Ms Abbie practicing for the singing of our carols. What an experience to once again hear music coming from the chapel. Tuesday evening, we had our community men's Bible study, where we read about the birth of Jesus and the reason for the season. Wednesday evening, we had the Kendig clan wrapping presents for our tutoring kiddos. Momma T and Georgette decorated the chapel with Christmas cheer. Ms Sarah and Mr Scott organizing the community bags and then another Ms Sarah from Christ Methodist brought a crew to assemble Christmas bags for our outdoor friends. Every room in the center had some sort of Christmas goodies in it.

Also on Wednesday, two cars pulled up, full of Christmas presents for one of our families. Ms Lisa has been discussing with an organization about adopting a family. They agreed to support Ms Diane's family. This family is a sad story, with a mom and dad not present, and an aunt taking over the task of trying to raise all the children. Most of the children attended our summer camp this past year. This group of ladies not only gave out presents to the children, but gave Ms Diane a large Brookshire's gift card for groceries. They have agreed to support this family for the year, supplying their needs as they come up. What a blessing.

Then there was Thursday. Momma T and Georgette spent all afternoon decorating the tables with their Christmas magic. We gathered in the chapel to a packed house, standing room only! Where we sang Christmas songs, heard about what advent means, and prayed to God for all His blessings. We heard during the evening a lot of positive comments about our chapel experience and their looking forward for more. We hope to have worship at least once a month, depending on how things work out. It has been a long time coming but oh how it was worth it. Great things are in store for the chapel and those who find their way there.

We had so many folks show up, we had to get more chairs and tables as we sat down for supper. We had a nice surprise, Sione and his family joined in the festivities. As the folks were eating, Santa dropped by. Both the young and old sat on Santa's lap! We had a great meal. Following our meal, Ms Abbie handed out her groceries and then the community made their way to the friendship room, where Ms Sarah and her elves gave out bags of clothes, socks and Bibles to all. Ms Sarah, said it was so nice to hear from the community, "thank you for all ya'll are doing", "Merry Christmas", "What a blessing you all are". Mr Scott took some of outdoor friend bags to the Fairmont as he took one of friends back home. Ms Terry showed up again with her medical team, giving out free flu shots. Everything went well with no major problems. Thank you all for such a special evening. Pictures will be posted soon of the evening.

Please keep Ms Abbie's Joe in your prayers. He has been in the hospital since Monday, struggling with pneumonia. He has fluid building up in his body and they are trying to keep it drained. All of this is putting pressure on his new heart. Not sure when he will be coming home. Prayers for Ms Sarah and Mr Scott as they travel to Chicago for the week. Prayers for all who are traveling.

Don't forget, the young adults will be hosting a Christmas Eve service, Saturday night in the community chapel, starting at 11:20pm. I asked if it was ok if I showed up in my pajamas!

On Monday evening, the Men of Grace Bible study reads the Christmas story. Really it has become a tradition for us, wherever we are in the Bible, we stop and read the different passages about the birth. This year, Billy Graham had written a little article about some of his favorite passages, so we followed his suggestions. We started in Isaiah, Micah and then into the New Testament. A good way to bridge together the Old and New. Our first reading in the New Testament was Luke 1: 26-38. This is the story of where the angel comes to Mary and says you have been blessed by God and you will have a baby. What is so great about the Bible, no matter how many times you have read a passage, something might come to you for the first time.

I had one of those weird thoughts Monday night, what if Mary said, thanks but no thanks God? Here, this young girl was about to get married, minding her own business, following their traditions of their time. All of a sudden an angel appears to Mary telling her what God has planned for her and turning her world upside down. What if, Mary says, wow that is cool Gabriel, then thinks about all the grief she will get from family and friends, and says, thanks but no thanks!

I have been thinking about that this week. What if, when God said, let's build a Kingdom together, where there is such darkness and despair, what if we said, thanks but no thanks God. You are asking too much of me. When God said to us, I need you to teach my children, we said, that's nice but I don't have time. Or when God said, go visit my people who have no homes, we say, that is outside my comfort zone, let someone else do that. What if we said no?

Several months ago, the District Superintendent, spoke in our chapel as we celebrated the commissioning of our young people going into ministry. He said to the churches that were being represented there , if you closed your doors to your church tomorrow, would the community miss you? Tough question, have heard it before, but so true. Because you all did not say no, the community depends on our support, our help and our lvoe. As we witnessed last night, many, many folks of our community need us. They come to us for help, they come to us for prayer, they come to us for advise, they come to us for education, they come to us for food, they come to us for hope. The world is tough, lots of challenges to us all, we need a place where lvoe can be found no matter what our circumstances are. Because of your lvoe, we are beginning to build a place like that. A place where God can be found, a place where there are no barriers between colors, where we can come together and worship our God with no worries of what we look like, smell like or talk like.

I say it many times during the year, thank you all for living for others. But it is so true. Living for others is not normal in our society. Worrying if our friends have a meal, warm or safe is not what we are taught. We read in magazines, hear on TV, read in the newspapers, what is best for me matters most. What if Mary said no? What if we said no? Thank God, Mary did not. Thank God you all said yes.

Have a the greatest of time with your family this Christmas weekend. You all are very special followers of Christ. Amen.

God is Good!

2011-12-16T07:21:00.001-08:00

Did you know God is Good?! Just when you have lost your faith, gotten a bad report, had your patience tested, trying to make people happy, God is there by your side, saying it's ok, I am with you.

Not sure you can get any more activities into last Saturday, but we tried. As I drove up to the center, a lady got out of her car and asked are you Brian. I said yes ma'am, what can I do for you? She said, did someone tell you we were coming today to work around the center. I said, no ma'am but that's ok. She was the teacher in charge of the Keithville Middle School Student Council. As we talked, more and more and more children showed up until we had 15 young people running all around the center. Several of them asked as they got out of their cars, about the name Anna Jackson, painted on our curb. I said, why? Most of them have a teacher named Anna Jackson. I said, yes that is the same lady. I told them she use to be the preacher's wife here and loved the community. In fact, she is on my list to invite to speak to us in one of our chapel times. What are the odds of a group of children showing up, unannounced, knowing a lady who we want to talk to our community! God is good.

We had a couple of Brookwood families come and got started on painting Krysten's office. Sure brightens up the place with a fresh coat of paint. Momma T and Ms Patty were busy preparing for U 2 Saturday, with Krysten's help. And then a gentleman pulls up with tractors and chain saws and Ms Patty got her trees cut down in preparation of our fruit grove to being planted. Mr Scott leads his band of followers to visit our friends. Wow what a morning. God is good.

One of our friends who live outside, Robert came back with Mr Scott to wash his clothes. Robert told us a couple of weeks ago, the land owner was selling the property, where his camp is, to the railroad people and he was going to have to move. We have been looking for a spot to move him, so after he got his clothes in the wash, we left to go check out some spots. I asked Robert if he would like to live inside if we could find him a place and he said that would be ok. So we stopped by an old friend Big D and talked with him. Big D has a barbeque place on Common street down the hill from First Methodist. We have had several barbeque suppers there with our friends. Big D has always helped out the guys if he could. We asked Big D if Robert could stay behind his place in an old trailer. We walked around the building and Big D offered Robert a place to stay in a storage room that was nicer than the trailer. So we spent Saturday afternoon moving Robert's stuff from one camp to his new home. God is good.

Sunday evening, we had the opportunity to come together to celebrate the life of one of our friends, Danny Hopkins. We met Danny on one of our Saturday visits, living under an overpass on Mansfield road. He had just arrived from New Orleans getting away from the hurricane. The first memory of Danny was his smile and his camp. Danny had made his camp complete with a bathroom area, a dining place and campfire section. He had mirrors to shave by, a bowl to wash your face, built out of other people's trash. The next week, we met William there. Not too long after that, Danny was forced to leave that camp and we found him at his new camp in the woods off Pines Road. Danny loved people, he would love to talk to the young people we would bring by to visit him. He always had a story about himself or somebody, always to be sure to put a smile on your face. He loved his dogs and cats.

We gathered at small church on Pines Road Sunday night, and as we walked into the sanctuary, we were surprised to see the placed packed with people. The church did not know about the Pool or Common Ground we did not know about Danny's church. What an amazing site to see, how many folks were effected by Danny's smile. The pastor spoke about Danny's character, his smile and his love of Jesus. The pastor said, his first meeting with Danny, Danny said, I am the ultimate camper! The church had prepared a feast following the celebration in their fellowship hall. We talked with the pastor about common ground and how we could work together. He said he was from Lufkin and had worked with the homeless there. Pastor David, said all of this is happening for a reason. Yes we will miss Danny but look how his life will live on through others. God is good.

Tuesday evening we had a Board meeting. Most of us do not like these things, but Ms Lisa makes it is as painless as possible. The first order of business was to vote on the purchase of property across the street on Southern from the center. A family owns 5 lots and through the negotiations with Ms Lisa they have agreed to sell us all the lots at a reduced price. Dr Phil will begin building his Tiny houses on two of the lots and the other lots will be there for us to use when God determines it is time to use them. One of the lots is the concrete parking lot we all thought the church had already owned but that was not correct. It has already been suggested we have a community work day and maybe put a dumpster there for the community. Pretty cool. God is good.

Mr Brian had to leave the meeting so maybe others can let us know what else went on. John Sauls and Momma T did give a report on the kitchen update. The plans have been approved by the state fire Marshall and now they are at the city offices for permits. We are purchasing a new vent hood, a new stove and other equipment. Can you imagine in several months what delicicious things will be coming out of that place! Wonder what God has in store for that place? What lives will be changed. Wow, God is good.

We talked about the need for funding for the operations of our center. Ms Lisa and Ms Georgeanne do a great job in finding us funding for projects, but most grants are not awarded for helping with the electricity, gas, water bills. We need to begin thinking, out side the box of having a fund raiser of some sort to help with these costs. No idea is crazy, let us hear from you some thoughts.

We had another amazing night at our community men's Bible study. Matt brought more men from Airline Baptist and they shared their hearts with us. We had a new man from our community come. It is something special when men can come together and share what is on their hearts with each other. One of the guys, shared what a blessing it has been for him to become involved with Common Ground. He went on his first visit of outdoor friends Saturday and he was blown away by what he saw and experienced. He said he has been praying to God to bring people into his life who live out the Good News, not just talk about it. He has found folks who do that at Common Ground. Thank you God, your are great!

We again gathered for our community meal, with the crowd being down a little with the weather being so nasty. We got to see the Christmas lights and decorations the young people hung around the center last Saturday. It put everybody in a better mood, don't you think?! I will say the children were wound up, with school getting out and the anticipation of Santa coming. Mr Scott has been able to get some can goods from the Food Bank the last several weeks which helps with the lowering of costs in the purchasing of can goods for our grocery bags. God supplies.

We moved into our Bible study, reading the last part of Acts 25 and 26. It was nice to have one of our young people, Zig Zag, some of us know her as Allison was back with her extended family. We read where Paul again challenges the king and the leaders about Jesus and the Good News. Paul always seeming to have the right words to dispute their accusations. Wouldn't it be nice to have Paul's boldness and authority to make such claims when we are confronted with disbelief from others? Oh wait, we can, Paul was full of the Holy Spirit, the same Holy Spirit that is in us. He just allowed the Spirit to flow freely in and through him, why can't we do the same? The same God who spoke to Paul, can speak to us, for He is good!

Next Thursday, we will hopefully start a new tradition, of going around the neighborhood, caroling. Joey wants to bring hot chocolate and he said he would bake cookies for the evening. Come and join in on the fun. New memories to be made.

Also, next Thursday, we will have our first chapel gathering. We plan to start our chapel worship time at 5 and move into our meal at 5:30. Pete, is preparing the music with help from Ms Abbie playing the keyboard, Mary playing her flute, and a new friend Mark playing the guitar. Ms Sarah and Mr Scott will lead us in through words. It has been a long time in coming, but we are finally here, worshipping God through prayer, song and words, pretty awesome. Following our chapel time, we will move into our meal, with Santa visiting with everybody during our meal. What an amazing God we have.

Prayers were lifted up for Ms Hat's sister, Nancy as she goes through hip surgery. William continues to ask for prayers as he struggles with alcohol. Gus has a new friend, Katie, going through abuse from her husband and not knowing what to do. Beth's brother John as he deals with a pinch nerve. Travel mercies for family and friends as they make their way home. Lomax and his grandmother as they go through the season for the first time without his grandfather and her husband. Dawn's son Rain, that he find his way back to his mom.

Don't forget our breakfast is this Saturday. Momma T will need help preparing our meal of biscuits and gravy. If you can come by at 8 to help please do so, if not join her and the rest of the community at 9.

A reminder, Ms Sarah and Mr Scott and the young adults will have their Christmas Eve services at the community chapel. Food and snacks will be provided at 11 in the community hall and the service will begin at 11:20, ending at midnight.

Keep Gus in your prayers as he continues to seek God outside under the bridge. He has a blog, www.thegiftoflvoe.blogspot.com. Great reading, might make you mad, will make you think, definitely will stir your heart. What a pleasure it is to know a young man who truly lives out the Good News.

Thank you all for living out the Good News. It is easy to write such stories, because you all are living not talking about changing lives. These are just a few stories of many more that go on every week. You take time to be with others, listening to their stories, helping them to turn their lives over to God and isn't that what it is all about. We led them to Christ, let God change their hearts. God is Good! All the time! Amen.

Brrr, it's cold outside!

2011-12-09T07:11:00.001-08:00

How has your week gone? How has God blessed you? Another amazing week in our community, with temperatures at or below freezing for most of it. Some more needed rain has come and even a sprinkling of snow flakes were seen. God is always there. Creating new and exciting times for us all.

We had good visits with our outdoor friends Saturday morning. We had a van full of folks joining in on the fun. We continue to be surprised by Turner's appearance at the van. What a treat to see him ride up on his bicycle as Mr Scott helps him decide on what he needs. Robert shared with us, he is having to move. The owner of the land is clearing off the property and selling the land to the railroad people. So we think we can move Robert over to behind the Macaroni factory on the other side of First Methodist. Have not heard from Robert this week to see where he is at on his move. We made our way over to the Fairmont and as we try to leave the van decides it does not want to go any further. An old friend comes up, Pastor Kendall walks over and says, should we lay hands on the van and pray? We did, and the van was good to go! As Mr Scott and others were visiting with the guys, I sneaked over and visited Cassie's new building. Cassie was hosting a photography session for the Providence House families. The building is huge with lots of potential. Hopefully it will open shortly. We made our way over to a new stop for me, behind First Methodist church. Some of our regular friends, have decided it is best for us to meet them there to keep the crowds down. Not to sound judging, but looking at this huge building behind us, with a brand new parking lot, a broken down van of crazy radical people sits ministering to the least of them seems to be out of place or maybe it is where we should be?

As I walk into tutoring Monday afternoon, Mr Krysten has the children sitting down at the table, discussing behavior qualities we need to expect from them. And also what they can depend on from us. They discuss ideas they would like to see and Krysten has put them down on a bulletin board. Look for it as you come into the center. Very positive responses and something we could all use in our lives.

Tuesday evening we had our first men's community Bible study. As I have already alluded, we have had a cold week. Well Tuesday evening, we had rain, we had snow, we had below freezing temperatures. As one of the Airline Baptist guys walk in, I say to him, if I had gone home, I would not have left the house again. Saying to him, let's wait a few more minutes, let's try to have another study next week when the weather is not so bad. Almost as I was saying that, the chapel door opens our first gentleman shows up from the neighborhood, all wet from walking in the bad weather! Then another one shows up, then another one, until we had 4 men from the neighborhood! I was blown away by their desire to brave the rainy, fridged temperatures, to come together and talk about Jesus! So here we are, sitting in this magnificent cathedral, in a circle, drinking hot chocolate, talking about Jesus, what a night! We didn't sugar coat our discussions, as we talk about discrimination, color, education divisions among us. And one of the neighborhood men spoke up and said, the only way to break the line of discrimination of color, to get past the difference in our backgrounds, is to lvoe one another as Jesus has lvoed us. Wow, we don't need another hand out, not another program, we just need each other coming together sitting around a circle and beginning to lvoe each other as Brothers in Christ. What a blessing the evening was.

Wednesday afternoon, Mr Scott went to check on Turner to be sure he was doing alright in the cold. He brought him some thermals. Turner had his tarps all spread out over his cardboard boxes blocking the wind as best as possible. Turner had a fire going and Mr Scott said he was doing ok. Mr Scott went by to check on Robert, but he was not there. Scott then drove around the area to see if those who are in tents and not under a bridge needed anything. Thank you Mr Scott for thinking of our friends.

Thursday evening, we had lots of activity. Mr Pete and an old friend Mark Williams met in the chapel to discuss our upcoming Christmas worship time. We will have first gathering in the chapel before our meal on the 22nd. Please try and come if you can, we will start at 5. Ms Abbie will be playing the keyboard, Mark will bring some folks from his church, Ms Dorothy will lead us in the singing of some Christmas hymns. I have twisted the arms of Ms Sarah and Mr Scott to say a few words. We have talked about our desire to have the opportunity to come together and share in God's lvoe in words and songs, well folks it is happening! Very exciting.

It was good to have another old friend join us Thursday evening. Terry Strain and her folks from the Pool joined us to offer flu shots to the community. Momma T and I were one of the last ones to get ours and they said they given out shots to over 20 people. They want to come back again and will do so on the 22nd. Momma T and I walked Terry around the center to show her what God has done. Terry started the Pool at the center and had not been back since she left. Lots of memories for Terry, some sad and some good. God has a way of calming the storms, relieving the stress, and turning good into bad and hopefully for Terry this will be a beginning for her to make a new start in our community. Thank you God for being so faithful.

We had a huge crowd Thursday evening for the meal. Lots of new faces. Ran out of food just at the right time. Ran out of bags of groceries after Ms Abbie had given out 60 bags. Great to have new friends but also a reminder of what we are up against as we are just scratching the service of what God has in store for us.

After our meal, we moved into our Bible study. After a couple of hours sitting in a cold room, I suggested we pray and leave. Don't think our new A/C units are heating. We have never needed heat before, so it will take us getting use to our new units to get it right. Joey led us in the reading of Acts 24. Paul again is causing trouble with just about everyone he speaks to. The Jews are made at him, the Romans are mad at him. We commented, wouldn't it be nice to be able to have that much faith in what God has told you, that we speak the words no matter what the outcome maybe. I am reminded of some of Sione's passionate talks to the people of the church asking them are you feeding the hungry, are you clothing the naked, are you visiting the lonely. Making the church feel uncomfortable, and the church saying you can't make us feel bad at church because that is not why we come to church. Sometimes when we speak the truth, especially God's truth, it may some feel uncomfortable. But isn't that what God is asking of us? If we don't speak who will? If we don't go out and visit our friends who will? If we are not the hands and feet of God who are? We can't wait for the church, we can't wait for the committees, we can't wait for society to decide, there is not time. While we talk about doing church the way Jesus has told us to do church, people are freezing, people are hungry, people need clothes, people need lvoe.

Prayers for continued struggles of alcohol for William. Prayers for continued healing for Charley. Prayers for U 2 Saturday, that our neighbors will join in on the fun. Prayers for Dominick and her new born son. Prayers for Henry and J'taylor and their family as they have moved back home. Prayers for Ms Abbie as she has to be the rock in her family and led her grands in the path they need to take. Prayers for Kelsey and upcoming marriage on July 7th.

Brookwood will be with us this Saturday as well as U 2 Saturday going on. Brookwood will be here around 8:30, U 2 starts at 10. come by and say hi and join in on the fun.

Hope you all have a great weekend, stay warm, enjoy God's blessing around you, hug your children, tell your family you lvoe them and have a blessed week ahead. Amen.

A new Friday

2011-12-02T06:52:00.001-08:00

We have gone through another month and we celebrate the first Friday in December. Wow, we are just about to complete another year.

We have been praying for rain and we finally got some good soaking all day rain, unfortunately it was on Saturday. We made our rounds to find just a few who braved the storms to meet us. We were walking along the tracks to Turner's camp and a downpour came. Mr Scott, Ms Dawn and I, said our good byes to Turner from afar and ran back under the covering of the bridges. Sorry Turner. We had brought Turner a tarp a couple of weeks ago, so hopefully he was making use of it Saturday. As we pulled up to the Labor Ready stop, one of the regulars told a new guy, just wait, they will be here. The new guy didn't think we would be there with the rain happening. He doesn't know this crazy group of people - does he!

When we arrived back at the center, Ms Hat and Joey were busy preparing a Thanksgiving meal for some of the guys. As Joey and Hat shared, it was a great afternoon of fun, food and the best part, fellowship. We all have busy lives. It is always special when you can sit down together, enjoy a meal and get to know one another. That is where real community is begun and lasting relationships are formed. Thanks to all for being a part of this special time.

We had a good week of tutoring. Just the right amount of children for the number of tutors that come. When you are able to sit down with a child, listen to them, have a conversation with them, you begin to learn their stories. You begin to understand what trials they are facing, hear about their dreams and get to know them a little bit better. When we get to know them and they get to know us, an authentic community is being formed.

I had been carrying around some stuff in my truck and thought we needed a community bulletin board. I mentioned that to Krysten and as of Tuesday, we now have a community bulletin board in the community room. We put Gus's newspaper article up there, Ms Ruby's obituary and our upcoming men's Bible study. This might be a great tool for the community in sharing what is going on in the community.

I arrived early Thursday afternoon at the center and found Ms Patty in the garden. For those of you who have not heard, Ms Patty presented a proposal to the guild of Master Gardeners and she was awarded $1500. Our gardens are now a part of the city wide community gardens. Whenever there is an event hosted by the Master Gardeners we will be a part of that. I just lvoe walking around the grounds and listening to the excitement in Ms Patty's voice talking about her dreams for the gardens. The monies she received will go towards the clearing of some trees along the back of the gardens, so new fruit trees can be planted. In the near future, we will have the very first Cedar Grove orchard! How amazing is that! Ms Patty had a young man volunteer his services in order to complete his Eagle Scout project and now the flower beds are complete with their very own irrigation system. Ms Patty says, can't wait until next spring, we will be able to feed the whole neighborhood! Ms Patty has great plans for the gardens and God is working in her to allow all of it to come true. Walk through the gardens the next time you are at the center, hopefully Ms Patty will be there and listen to God at work.

We had a nice group join us for our community meal. Being the first of the month, the numbers were small, but for me, I like that. You are able to sit down and relax and spend time with the folks and listen to their stories. They have such great stories, it is always a blessing to be a part of that.

We had our Bible study following the meal. Joey led us in the reading of Acts 23. We commented about the boldness of Paul. Paul was so full of the Holy Spirit, he would antagonize the leaders by telling them what was on his heart. Not wavering from his purpose of sharing the Good News. Can't we have the same boldness? What would it take for us to have the heart of Paul? What would it look like?

Prayer concerns expressed were for Mr Scott L and recovering from a cold from the Haiti trip. William, for the continued struggle with the addiction of alcohol. Hat's husband's procedure Friday morning. The Silent Auction of the Grace youth this weekend.

We had a chance to visit with John Sauls and Dr Phil about their Haiti experiences. You could see their faces light up as they began to share the stories. Hopefully we will all get a chance to listen to their adventures in the near future.

Upcoming events this week. We will have our first community men's Bible study Tuesday evening in the chapel. We are hoping it will be more than a study, but a chance to build relationships with each other. We also will have a Board meeting on Tuesday. U 2 Saturday will be on the 10th. Also we will have Brookwood join us on Saturday.

What a blessing to be a part of this community and have the opportunity to see God at work in so many of you. Amazing things happen every day, little things that change your attitude or focus into what it should be. We all have hectic lives, especially this time of year, but wouldn't it be cool to stop by, sit down with a child, maybe read a book, walk through the garden, give a hug, listen to a story, hand out a meal, give a bag of groceries away, read the Bible, pray together, visit a friend under a bridge. Guaranteed to change your life and receive a blessing beyond what you can imagine.

Hope you all have a great weekend. God is good. Amen.

The day after

2011-11-25T07:46:00.000-08:00

Is everybody as confused on what day it is as I am or is that just part of growing old? I was getting ready this morning to join Mr Scott and our visits and realized it is only Friday, oops. Of course those of you who have been up before dawn and shopping, you all know what day it is. Hope everybody had a great Thanksgiving with your family and friends.

We had another great week around the center. Saturday morning, we gathered for our monthly breakfast feast. Momma T, Sinotra, James all helped preparing our pancakes, bacon and delicious coffee. We had a big crowd of folks join us, some from the neighborhood, some from across the street and some from Longview. Yes, Gus joined us. He brought with him a full page article from the Longview newspaper about his time spent with us last summer and his adventures under the bridge. It was a great article about Gus and his dreams for the Longview area.

Following our breakfast, we joined Mr Scott and made our visits to our outdoor friends. Our first stop is to see Robert and Turner. Sometimes we have to go into Robert's camp to wake him up, other times Robert is waiting for us with his coffee cup in hand. Some of us gather some supplies and walk down the tracks, across of very scary bridge for some of us and then into the woods to see Turner. We have known Turner for several years now, at first he would never come out to meet us. A few months passed and he would walk to the van when we parked by Robert's camp, but he has never come all the way to the van, now that we can not park by the camp. This morning, we walked back to his camp and he told Momma T and Mr Scott, I will come out to the van. So a few minutes later as we get back to the van, here comes Turner riding his bicycle out to meet us! Amazing.

I had taken my truck and followed Mr Scott in the van. We got separated at one of our stops, so I went to Labor Ready and waited for the van. Here I sat, talking to the guys and waiting and waiting and waiting. Wondering to myself, this is hard. Is this what the guys do all day everyday. They wait for a call to maybe go on a job. They wait in line for food. They wait in line to wash their clothes. They wait in line to take a shower. They wait in line at the van to get underwear. They wait. I don't go through a drive through at a restaurant because I have to wait a minute or two. I get frustrated when the morning paper doesn't come and I have to wait. What does that say about us?

While I was there, talking to Dale and others, one of my tennis shoes soles was coming off. One of the guys said you need some new shoes. I said, yea I do, but can't afford a new pair. Another guy sitting next to us, David, said here take my shoes, I have another pair in my camp. He took them off and gave them to me. I said thank you but I can't take your shoes. He said, yes you can I want you to have them. What a moment of humbling of my spirit. Being offered a pair of shoes from someone who lives under a bridge. Wow.

While we were at Labor Ready, we were visiting with our regular friends and we had two different cars pull up. People got out of the cars and went to the back of the van to ask for items. I don't see Momma T ever get upset, but she came over and said that's not right. Dale and I were sitting on the back of my truck and Dale had just said, that is not right. We talked about new ways to help our outdoor friends.

This week, there was no school, so we did not have our homework activities in the center. But as we all know, if the children know we are there, they will come. Krysten was there and they came. Monday afternoon, I thought it was special, two of our high school helpers, took time out of their vacation to come and be with our children. Each day, the front of the center was full of jump rope, hop scotch, checkers and colorful chalk drawings. Thanks to all for coming by and helping out.

Thursday evening, we opened up the doors for our regularly meal. Ms Lisa and Krysten had bought chips, cookies, drinks, ham, bread and they made sandwiches for our meal. We put them in paper bags, but some wanted to stay around and eat, so we put the meal on plates and had a great time. We were able to hook up a TV and even had one of the football games on for us to watch. We had more of the community there than I thought. Some wanted to get out of the house for awhile, some needed the groceries we had packed up, some were really hungry. They said the buses were not running, so this was the only meal they had had all day. Thanks to all who came by and helped out. This is a tradition we need to keep going.

Prayers will be needed for our Haiti family as they travel back to us on Sunday. Prayers their flights are on time so they can arrive back in Shreveport on time.

Hope you all have a great weekend when it gets here! God is good! Amen.

Weren't we just here?

2011-11-18T06:45:00.000-08:00

Man, it seems like I was just sitting here writing this note. It can't be a week ago all of this was happening! Wow, where does the time go?

I guess the weeks go by so fast because we stay so busy around the center. Saturday was a perfect example. We had one group visiting our friends who live outdoors, we had another group helping around the center and we had a group in our garden learning about the first Thanksgiving. Great Saturday. Full of adventures, full of activities and full of life. Mr Scott said they met a record group of folks. No major problems with our guys, just living life as best they can. Brookwood Baptist again came and helped get things done around the center and the Bright House. Amazing group of people spending time with us. Then Momma T and Ms Patti held their U 2 event learning and making all sorts of stuff. Cute seeing the children running around the garden with their colorful head dresses on. Warms my heart to see such activity going on. I think God is well pleased.

Big crowd of children Monday afternoon for our homework help. After the chaos was over, there was some discussion about the direction we need to be taking with our afternoon activities. Are we at a point now of offering more assistance to those who want to learn or are we there to offer a place where the children can come and play, get a snack and feel lvoed? Krysten will lead the discussions and see what we can come up as we move into the spring semester.

With the help of some super friends, John Sauls will be taking our plans for the kitchen remodel to the city for permits so we can begin our project. John Williams has ordered the wiring and the supplies has been delivered. We are in the process of ordering a new stove to go along with the new vent hood. We plan to knock out some walls, put up some walls and make the kitchen a place where learning, dreaming and cooking will take place. Can't wait to see it all come together.

We had a great Thanksgiving meal on Thursday. Chris Ledbetter delivered some table cloths and Momma T and her crew spent the afternoon decorating the tables with magnolia leaves from the garden. Each table had candles glowing. Hat brought coloring pages and adults and children had fun coloring. Just as we were about to pray, Robert, Ms Ruby's husband walked in. As we talked about last week, Ms Ruby passed, so Pete said our prayer for the food in honor of Ms Ruby. Great moment, very touching. Robert was still trying to cope with his loss and it was great to see the community come up to him and offer their sympathies to him. Another touching moment was one of our children, Shabronica, brought over a picture she drew and addressed it to Ms Ruby and gave it to Robert. Ms Lisa and Krysten brought Thanksgiving type foods and put them in a bag, so the community received two bags Thursday night. I thought the community really appreciated that gesture, because when we told them about it, they began to applause. Hat shared her blessing of being a part of Ms Abbie's crew as the community ladies come together each week and pack the grocery bags to give away.

We had a good Bible study Thursday night as Joey led us in reading Acts 21 and 22. Paul goes to Jerusalem and continues to preach the Good News. Many listen but also many began to beat him. How often do we get into trouble when we share with the church, it is great to gather, but what are you doing for the poor? Is what you are learning on Sunday evident on Monday? Thank goodness Paul had some men around him who supported his vision. We need the same. When you are taking the journey God has placed on your heart, it does not always seem to be supported by those around you. We need to be in a community where we can express our feelings and know we will not be judged but lvoed.

Prayer concerns expressed Thursday evening. Williams asked we continue to pray for him as he struggles with his desire to drink. A terrible, terrible disease. For our outdoor friends who will need warm clothing and bedding during these cold nights. For Charley's health. For our family who will be leaving Friday at 3pm for Haiti. Ms Sarah, Mr Scott, Dr Phil and John Sauls will led the team. They will return next Sunday. Pray for those who this time of year brings feelings of depression and despair.

A reminder, this Saturday will be preparing pancakes and hot coffee for breakfast. If you want to help cook, be at the kitchen at 8, if you want to eat, be there at 9!

Several months ago, I mentioned to a group of men from Airline Baptist about having a men's Bible study for the community. I told them, I thought it would be a good way to begin to build relationships in the neighborhood. A couple of weeks ago, when Airline came back to work around the center, a man came up to me and said, he had been praying about that study and he felt he would like to lead it. So, on Tuesday evening December 6, starting at 6:30, we will begin our men's study, gathering in the chapel, and see where God led us. If you know of men who might like to join us, please let them know about it.

This Thursday, Thanksgiving day, we felt it important to be at the center to have a meal, give away groceries and just be there for the community. We asked the folks Thursday how many may come and several hands came up. Most of the community will be with their families but for those who do not have family here, we will be there. Krysten will be buying items for a sack lunch and we will give it away for those who come. We will open up at our regular time of 5. If you are able to come, please join us.

As we move into this Holiday season, may we stay focused on why we gather, why we lvoe, why we do what we do. We are told our actions speak louder than words, so if we continue to walk our walk of obedience, faith and compassion, not succumbing to the bustle of greed than others will learn, it is not about us but about our baby Jesus.

Hope you all have a great weekend and a great Thanksgiving with your family and friends. Amen.

Only the beginning

2011-11-11T07:20:00.001-08:00

What a special time of year. Lvoe this season of change. The cooler weather, the rain showers, the leaves changing their colors. A reminder of the awesome power of God and all He does for us.

We had an exciting weekend around the center. We had our friends from Airline Baptist church return with a large group of helpers. They did an outstanding job of working around the center. They hung fans in the chapel, cleaned the chapel, found chairs for the chapel, cleaned up the parking lot, installed door knobs, and cleaned the sidewalks. Momma T had her group preparing the chapel for a worship service Sunday night. After the group left, Krysten and I and then Ms Lisa walked into the chapel and I was blown away by the transformation that had taken place during the morning. The chapel has always been a special place to me and to see it again, where we can spend time with God, reflect on His instructions in our lives, to sing praises to Him, I sat down and did not want to leave. I am hoping, as we move forward in this journey, the chapel will become an anchor, a place where we can go and seek God's direction. Only the beginning.

We had a special visit from Gus Saturday morning, as he went around with Mr Scott and others on our visits. Mr Scott reported, no major drama in the camps. The guys are doing ok. Gus shared he is thinking about an adventure for the Christmas school break. More to come, just the beginning.

Sunday evening, we were invited to host a group from Grace and Noel Methodist as they toured each other's facilities. The new District Superintendent was in attendance and got to see our center. Ms Lisa conducted the tour of the center and then we made our way into the chapel. I had been in Dallas all day and arrived back in town just in time to walk into the chapel. Again, it was magnificent what Momma T, Ms Lisa and others had done to create a special place. Lights, candles, the unique alter, the mismatched chairs all added up to a special evening. One of the tasks of the two churches was to recognize 4 young ladies who have chosen to accept God's calling into ministry. Ali, read a verse, shared a few words and sang a song for us all. Alison was unable to attend, but her mom and dad represented her well. Can't think of a better way to open the doors of the chapel. Just the beginning.

Spencer, from Brookwood came by Saturday and walked into the chapel and the first thing he said is, we need to have a Christmas service in here. Sunday night Ms Sarah, said, the young adults would like to have their candle light Christmas eve service at the chapel. It is only the beginning.

Monday evening, we loaded up Mr Scott's truck with bags and bags and bags of groceries from Grace. A group of girl scouts donated all their can goods to us and what a blessing it was. Mr Scott called me Tuesday to be sure and take some pictures of the stocked shelves. One day we will have our shelves stocked like this each week so the community will have a good assortment of food to choose from.

We continue to have more tutors than children, which is a great thing. Tuesday afternoon, I said, surely the children won't be here with a tornado watch in effect for the city. Well again, I was wrong. As I drove up they were sitting at the chapel front doors waiting on us to arrive. Another reminder to me, one of our greatest responsibilities to our community is commitment. It would have been easy for me not to come, but I think our greatest gift we can offer, is our time. We must remember it is a beginning.

Another good gathering at our community meal. It was nice to visit with some of the folks before we started serving. Tony, a veteran has submitted the paperwork for one of the new houses to be built by St. Catherines. He has not heard anything yet on whether he will be able to get the house. Very nice young man. We offered some of our old brown tables to the community and reminded them again, next week we will have our Thanksgiving meal. Ms Abbie wanted me to share with the community the passing of one of group. Ms Abbie told me it was Ms Ruby and I assumed she meant Ms Abbey on 69th Street. But I was wrong, it was the praying Ms Ruby. Her obituary was in today's paper. Ms Ruby Robertson, was a lady who loved God and would pray before our meals, would sing a song at moments notice and was always dressed up. She always had a hat on to match her outfit. I wanted her to lead us in worship when we began our chapel times. I guess God needed her more than we did, I will miss her.

I was good to have our Thursday evening Bible study in the friendship room. We had to get more chairs because of the crowd. We had Dawn, Beth, Hat, Mary, Momma T, Krysten, James, Charley, Joey, Lomax and Dr Phi. Byron came in a bit later. Joey led us in the reading of Acts 20 starting at verse 17. Paul sharing his thoughts about Jesus to the church of Ephesus. How we are to be shepherds of our flock, to be overseers of our communities and to lead by example of how Christ helped the weak and to remember what Jesus said, it is more blessed to give than it is to receive. All of this still applies to us as we form our community and meet those who God will lead to us.

Prayer concerns for James brother, John who is going through addictions to prescription drugs. Beth, Charley and Joey's friend Phil, who is having struggles in life. Kelsey's upcoming marriage, yeaa! A friend of Dawn, Jonathan. Ms Hat's loosing a long time friend and helping the husband cope with his lost. Krysten's health insurance situation, so she can see about her breathing troubles. Joe and Ms Abbie. Joe has not been feeling good this week. Ms Abbie took him to the doctor as he was spitting up blood. Anytime Joe is not on the front porch when you drive up, you know he is not feeling well. Have not seen him all week. Young ladies who lost their mom. Lift up our veterans today. What a sacrifice those men and women have made, so we are able to lvoe God in the way that we do.

Prayers for Momma T as she leads U2 this Saturday. Lots of fun times will be had. Come by and meet some new neighbors, starting at 10 am. Also Brookwood will be coming to help and work around the center.

Wednesday evening I am guessing around 4, we will have our turkeys delivered. Ms Abbie will need help in carving them up for our meal.
There maybe a turkey leg in it for those who help!

When you have the opportunity to walk through the center with a group and show off the place, you get a sense of awe from the people. At times Mr Brian wants to sit down, put my feet up and say, wow look what I have done. We have a tendency to get complacent and relax and admire what we have done. But God, thank goodness, will have none of that. It has been a miracle to come as far as we have in a few short months, but folks this is only the beginning. We have a fellowship hall available now, where in the future we can have a Community Cafe. Meals being served by young people who will be training in the food service industry. Food prepared by our community learning to be chefs. We have a food pantry room where one day, we will have the ability to have a grocery store. Where folks will come in and pick the items they want to go into their bags. We have a chapel now, where God's message can be preach and praised all day and night. Tutoring rooms where children and maybe adults can come and learn not just in the afternoons, but during the day and at nights. We have a 2 story building just sitting there ready to occupied. God has big plans for that building and He is waiting for us to move forward. We have neighbors to meet. We have children to read to. We have houses to build. We have a sanctuary to fill, where folks will be lining up outside to get in. A garden area that will become a market for the community.

I would like to sit back in my easy chair, relax and say, man that was fun. I've done enough, let someone else do something. But God won't allow that to happen. He has blessed us because we have stayed true to His directions. He will continue to bless us if we continue to move forward and give Him the glory for it all. How exciting to be a part of something that God is leading. Won't you join us? Use your gifts to glorify God. We will all be blessed. It is only the beginning. Have a great weekend and a better week. Amen.

Another week

2011-11-04T19:57:00.000-07:00

You guys are going to have to fire me. Again I am late on our update this week. Will try to do better next week. Hope everybody has had a great week.

We had good visits Saturday morning. For the second week in a row, we have not had folks at our Hamilton stop. Not sure why, but hoping folks have found a better place to go. Our first stop has always been to visit one of our friends who lives by himself under a railroad bridge. He does not talk much, lives in cardboard boxes, and has the cleanest camp we visit. He is always cordial to us and the most amazing thing we find with him each week, is "he is good". We try to offer him toilet paper, I am good. We try to give him MRE's, I'm good. Can goods, snacks, anything, I'm good. He only requests a bag of ice and is very thankful for that. Mr Scott and I always walk away, thinking we could all learn from him. Someone who has nothing or very little, someone who lives in a box, under a bridge does not take what he does not need.

We again had an abundance of tutors Monday and Tuesday. In fact we had more help than we had children. But Wednesday, the exact opposite happened. We had more children than tutors so Krysten could not open up our children's section. We all played outside. We have been talking about it for awhile, I guess maybe it is time to make a list of helpers and their schedules. It will help Krysten know who is coming and who is not, so she can be better prepared as the children arrive.

We had another nice group of folks at our Thursday meal. As I mentioned it to them, I am still trying to get use to our change of days. I am not use to being home on Wednesdays. I told them, we would be there on the 24th. Giving out groceries and clothing and offering a light meal. Thought it was important to be there whether anybody shows up or not. There maybe some who do have a family to share a meal with that night, so we can be there for them. We will have our Thanksgiving meal on the 17th with turkey and dressing and all the trimmings. We usually have a big crowd so everybody that can come, we could use the help.

Ms Lisa and her family have been busy spending some of our grant money on new table and chairs. We removed all the old brown tables and now we only have the white plastic tables. We will slowly add new chairs as we go along. It looks very nice in the fellowship hall.

With so many folks gone, or involved with other activities we did not have our Bible study following the meal. Dr Phil, Momma T and I talked about some of our new schedules. For those who want to come to Bible study and can not be there for our meal, let us know and we can make to go boxes for you. We can set them aside for you and you can eat when you get there. We talked about moving our study back into the friendship room, so we will try that next week. We talked about our chapel time. Having it before or after our meal. With the time change, it will start getting darker so early, just hate for folks to walk home in the dark. Your thoughts?

This Saturday, we will have the men's group and some youth from Airline Baptist church joining us. They will be working in the chapel, cleaning up the parking lot, working on the basketball goals, putting in new locks at the Bright House, changing out the broken windows on the doors and other projects. They are suppose to be at the center by 8:30, so come by if you can and meet them.

One of the reasons we are working in the chapel Saturday, because there will be a small worship ceremony there Sunday evening. Noel and Grace are having their charge conference with the District folks. This year the two churches will be touring the New Room and our center. Following the tour of our center, they will have a dedication ceremony for four young ladies as they begin the process of becoming pastors. Three of the ladies are from Grace and two of them are part of our family. Allison and Ali along with Claire Carter will be recognized as they begin their journeys. We were told the church folks should be arriving around 6:45, but as we all know, that will not happen and it will be later than that, so if you can come by around 7 for the short service, I know the ladies would appreciate seeing all of you.

Prayer concerns: Joey and Lomax as they continue their road trip up to Minnesota. They stopped by Wednesday evening and visited with Allison. Then Thursday, they met up with Lauren. They will head further north Friday and hopefully see others of our extended family? They are due back Tuesday evening. Prayers for Hat as she supports her friend during their loss. Ms Sarah as she travels with the Junior High on their retreat. Prayers for continued sobriety.

Hope you all are able to get out and enjoy this beautiful weather. Thank you for being a part of our community. Thank you for sharing your heart with others. Have a great weekend and see you around the center next week. Amen.sco

fall is here

2011-10-29T06:29:00.001-07:00

Sorry for the slow update, but still trying to get caught up. Not complaining, being with our grandson is awesome, but it does take some time to get back into our routine. We have finally gotten some much needed rain and the cooler temperatures have replaced our 100 degree days. Leaves are changing their colors in preparation for a new season. Hopefully in your home town, you are experiencing some of the same.

What a Saturday we had last week. We got started off by enjoying Momma T's world famous breakfast casserole and coffee as we welcomed the Koionia Sunday school class from Grace. Following our breakfast we took them on a tour of our center and shared our story with them. They jumped right in to repairing some wood on the building, installing new carpet in the chapel, a new light in front of the chapel, moved the ladies restroom door to another wall, painted the children's office floor, pulling some weeds around the Bright House, cleaning up some vines in the parking lot and painted the ceiling in the children's gathering area. They worked tiresly all morning long. Awesome job.

With John Sauls in charge of all the work, I was able to sneak away and make our visits with our outdoor friends. We talk about how we want to build relationships with our friends. Wanting more than just handing out goods. Well the first two stops, as we were getting out of the van, I heard from the guys, look who's here, grandpa! Let me see some pictures! Gave me big hugs! I was overwhelmed with their excitement. They who have nothing, sleeping in tents, struggling with life, acknowledging me and what God has blessed our family with in our grandson. I was humbled and over joyed by their genuine care for me.

Also going on Saturday morning, Momma T and Krysten were manning the book table at Barnes and Noble. Judy Chrisite had written another book and asked us to participate in her book signing. There were books on our table, that folks would pick up and go buy for us to put into our library. Again, overwhelmed by the generosity of people who would take their time and money and support our efforts. Judy has always been s big supporter of ours and we are grateful for her continued blessings.

I was absent from our tutoring days this week, but hear we continue to have many tutors for our children. I did spot new students from Centenary helping us out Tuesday afternoon.

Met with Mike Boggs Wednesday afternoon to discuss projects for his men's group from Airline Baptist. They will be coming Saturday, Nov 5. I had wanted to get by earlier to remind folks we had moved our meals, but did not make it. Lomax said only a handful of folks had come by for our meal. He told them to come back Thursday.

My late arrival on Thursday, I missed all the fun and activities Ms Sarah and Mr Scott had for our children at their Fall Festival. We were experiencing some rain and cooler temperatures, so they moved the games inside to various rooms. By the looks for the faces of the children, everybody had a great time. The children all had their bags full of goodies as they headed home.

I walked into the fellowship hall just as Ms Ruby was blessing our meal. I looked up and it was hard to find a seat, people were everywhere. One of the largest crowds ever. We were all surprised because of the rain and cold but they came. Lots of new faces. We will see how the Thursday meals, go but if last week is any indication, we are in for a crazy ride. Very exciting.

We did not have our chapel time due to still more work to be done. We are close and maybe looking to around Christmas time to open it up. Can't wait for that time to happen.

Following our meal, Ms Lisa had a short meeting to discuss the start of our kitchen remodel. All the monies has been sent, so now we have the tasks of spending it! John Sauls and Momma T will lead us through the process. John Williams will begin to install new wiring, some walls will be coming down and we will start to see some progress very soon. Very exciting to be thinking about one day having a kitchen were we can be training chefs to prepare gourmet meals, training waiters and waitress to serve tables and work with the public and providing a place where the community can come together and get to know each other.

After our kitchen discussions, Joey led us in our Bible study in Luke chapter 19 and part of 20. We read how people were rioting against the followers for sharing the Good News. People still get upset today, if we do not submit to their rules. Somehow if we follow the laws of Jesus, is being disruptive. Maybe it is, maybe we need to do more of it?

Prayer concerns, Hat's back problems, Dawn's life challenges, Byron trying to get a job, outdoor friends struggling with addictions and leading to bad choices and Joey and Lomax as they set out on a road trip next week.

Hope you have a great weekend and a great next week. Come by and hang out. Would lvoe to see you all. So much going on, if you don't come, you will miss all the blessings. Lvoe to all.

Chilly morning

2011-10-21T06:37:00.001-07:00

What gorgeous weather we are having in our part of the country. Cool crisp mornings, nice comfortable afternoons - makes for great days to get outside and enjoy God's creations. Only thing missing is the rain but it will come.

This note will be short because I have been gone all week. Or it could be long and I could talk about our grandson! Nothing greater than to hold this miracle God has blessed our family with. Hopefully all of you one day will have the opportunity to experience it.

Talked to Mr Scott Monday night about his visits on Saturday night. All went well, with no major dramas, just seeing lots of folks. Did get an update on The Hub's opening of their new Basement and Cassie said it looks like winter before it will happen. Not sure what month that will be but it is getting closer.

Joey reported breakfast was good Saturday morning with some new and old friends attending the meal. Thanks to all for helping Momma T prepare the feast.

Monday afternoon we did get to meet a new student from Centenary. Laura Vaughan brought by a senior who is thinking about a career in education and the both of them jumped right in and helped out with our homework duties. The new student may want to join us this summer for our summer camp.

This Saturday, the 22nd will be full of activities. Starting at 7am, Momma T will be serving her world famous breakfast casserole to the Koinia Sunday school class from Grace. They will be doing work in the chapel, around the grounds and also inside the center, so if you have some time, come by, say hi and join in on the fun.

Then at 11am, some of us will be at Barnes and Noble for the book signing. Come by and meet and great the folks as they come in to meet Judy Christie. It is good exposure for Common Ground and a chance for us to get more books in our library.

I came into town Monday this past week to do some work. I stopped by Ms Abbie's house to show off some baby pictures. Her family were on the front porch as usual, so we sat together talking about babies and life. I told Ms Abbie, can't seem to get the new baby off my mind and that is all I think about. She said, don't worry about things around here, we will take care of it, you go take care of your grandson. How comforting that is to know how each of you pick up the slack when one of us needs help. You are a special group of people and my family is blessed to be a part of this community. Thank you all for being who you are, willing step up when someone needs help.

Hope you all have a great weekend. Enjoy each other. Enjoy your family. Enjoy life. See you at the center Saturday morning and then at Barnes and Noble. See you around the center next week.

Life

2011-10-14T07:00:00.001-07:00

As I type this note this morning, my mind is also thinking about our son and his wife in Dallas as they prepare for the birth of their son. A new life, a grandson, wondering what he will achieve in his life time. What legacy can his grand father leave with him. We all too often take our life for granted, thinking we are guaranteed a tomorrow. I'll put off today what I can do tomorrow. Work a little longer today so I can have off tomorrow. What if we don't have tomorrow? Is there something today we need to get done, is there a friendship we need to mend, is there a love one who needs to hear I'm sorry, is there a phone call we need to make to let them know you love them. Life is so short, seems like yesterday, I was pushing our son's stroller down the sidewalk, now in a blink of an eye, I will be pushing my grandson's stroller down the sidewalk. Life has so much to offer, God has so much to offer are we living it the way He wants us to?

What a day we had last Saturday. So much life, so much lvoe it was great to see. We had our regular group of servants, led by Mr Scott visiting our friends who live outside. We continue to have large numbers and the demands are great. We had a special treat as Gus joined us. We had our Brookwood family join in on the fun around the center. They cleaned up the chapel, checked the lights, painted a door, reworked the flower bed, brought clothes, hung them up and sorted them out. And then you had U2 Saturday Pumpkin day going on. Momma T came over and asked us to bring over more table and chairs because of all the folks in the garden. Great to see new faces. Moms bringing their children to play pumpkin games. Bake pumpkin bread. Decorate pumpkins and learn about the history of pumpkins. Ms Lisa asked some of the new folks why they came and Gus you will be proud, because they saw the note on the sign out front. What a morning. Life is good.

Monday and Tuesday we continue to be blessed by our group of volunteers who out number our children. It is great to see them sitting with each child and truly learning together. The children love the snacks of apples, carrots and yogurt they are receiving while they do their work. Life is good when you follow your heart and serve the Lord.

Wednesday, we had a packed house and lots of new faces. Ran out of food for those who came in late. With our Grace youth coming, they help entertain the children and the noise level has really gone down. It is really nice to move about the tables and visit with different folks and hear their stories. We have not done name tags lately, so we need to get back to that. My memory is fading fast. We had a nice surprise Wednesday as one of our family came in for a visit. Alison is home for a few days and we are grateful she came to see us. Love seeing her sweet smile.

Thursday evening I was asked to attend a meeting where Ms Lisa, on our behalf, was awarded a contribution. This group of young leaders in our community, called LANO have been seeking funds for Common Ground and also spreading the word about us. I was humbled as one of the young leaders read, why out of 48 applications, Common Ground was chosen. I was blessed to hear from another young leader as he met folks in the community to ask for donations, he figured out the way to ask for money was just to say, these folks are living out the way Jesus has asked us to live, let's support them. As I left the meeting, I continue to thank God for allowing me to live a life of service. I continue to be amazed at the respect and admiration we receive for living a life that seems so natural. A reminder to us all, how unique our community is and how special it is to others for living our lives in a way that is different than the world's but normal in God's Kingdom.

Following the meeting I was able to attend our Bible study as Joey was leading our reading from Acts 17 and part of 18. We had a full table and some new and old faces. It was good to see them all. Paul talked about the Jews, who or what are you worshiping? They looked the part of being a good Jew. Had the right clothes, were in the right place, worshiping at the right time but their hearts were not of God. Just because we look religious, does not make us Christians. What idols do we have in front of us that keeps our hearts from lvoing God?Is it our work. Is it our time. Is it our egos. God is ready to lvoe us, can we let him in.

Don't forget, this Saturday is our breakfast time 9am. mr brian will be gone, so Momma T will need help in preparing french toast and all the trimmings. Please come by the center at 8 and give her a hand. Please come and enjoy the good coffee and good conversations.

Prayers for Wes and Charley as they have some health issues going on. William for a new start at sobriety. Continue to pray for Byron and Chuck as they struggle to stay with their studies for the GED. So hard to break the chain of poverty and familiarity. A new friend Justin, who is looking for a second job. Alison asked for a good second half of the fall semester. Lots of things going on, good things. We can ask that for all our college students. Continued good works in your semester and know our community is here for you. Krysten as she travels. Mary in New Orleans helping the restoration process.

I don't know if you all understand how blessed we are to be a part of this community. I know I don't, not until you hear others come up to you and say wow, what an awesome job you are doing. Maybe that is the key, it is not a job, but a way of life, it is my life. It is ya'lls lives. I get to see it every day, I get to hear from the world how impressed they are, I get to listen to the stories, I get to see lives being changed, I get see the smiles, I get to hear the thank you from the community, what a life. I hope yours is as blessed as mine. Thank you for being who you are and living your life for God.

Hope you all have a great weekend and see you around the center. Amen.

Worship

2011-10-07T07:15:00.001-07:00

Don't know what it is, but this time of year seems so nice. Last week, following our golf game, one of the guys said, I am going home and take a shower, but really I don't have to! We weren't ringing wet from the hot weather we have had all summer long. The air has a crispness in it that makes you want to get out. The cool mornings are spectacular. Don't think I have ever seen such blue skies. Just a very nice time of year.

These cool mornings make it great for visiting our friends who live outside. You notice a change in their demeanors. More laughing, more joking around with them. We had good visits with them this past week, seeing around 40 or so. Learning new names and seeing old smiles is a blessing. Mr Scott performed eye surgery on one of our friends, by putting in eye drops. You just never know what you will run into. Always fun to be around and lend a hand.

Monday we had more children than we did tutors and Tuesday we had more tutors than we did kids. Guess which day was the quietest? Ms Sarah and her youth, the Centenary friends, all are coming and helping out. It is really a blessing to see new relationships being formed. Thursday afternoon, with the nice weather, we moved some table and chairs outside and did some homework outside. Then Mary and the others played games with them until it was time to leave. Very nice.

Wednesday, we were invited to a Volunteer Fair at LSUS. Ms Sarah and a new friend Ms Abbey started us off, Mr Brian showed up at 11 and then Ms Lisa closed us out. When I got there, Ms Sarah and Ms Abbey had three sheets filled with young people wanting to come by and help. Listening to Ms Sarah and Ms Abbey talk about Common Ground, I wanted to sign up! It was great to see the ladies in action talking about what our community is about and watching the young people expressions of awe. It was also good to walk around and make contacts with other agencies and maybe work together with them.

As I pulled up to the center Wednesday afternoon, I hear a voice from across the street, Mr Brian - Mr Brian! Before I could turn around, our Stephanie comes running over for a big hug. It was great to see after being away from us for over a year. She looks good, she feels good and full of energy with her usual big smile. She will be completing her masters degree shortly and will be soon looking for a job. I told her, we have a place for her to stay, if she could find a job here in Shreveport! Seeing our family come by for visits is like family members who maybe live far away and you don't see them for a year or so. Your conversations pick up from where you last saw them and everything seems right with the world.

This Saturday will be a busy one for us all. Mr Scott will lead our visits. Brookwood will be coming to help out around the center and Momma T and Ms Patty will be leading our first U 2 Saturday. Please come and join in the fun.

Our gathering was smaller for our meal on Wednesday. Being the first of the month, not unusual. The Grace youth passed out our latest newsletter and a flyer for our U 2 Saturday. We talked about our upcoming change of days for our meal and working towards opening up the chapel. One image I remember from the evening, was watching one of young ones, CJ passing out the drinks. He had one drink in each hand, walking to the tables and placing them by our folks with a smile and then skipping back to the drink counter for more. What an image of a little one performing a menial task but doing it with such enthusiasm and joy.

Following our meal, John Sauls and I met with John Williams and others of the Koiania Sunday school class at Grace. They are planning a work day, Saturday October 22. That is the same day of the book fair, but they will be arriving early and will pretty much be self sustaining once they get going. We gave them lots of projects to do and they will decide which ones they can accomplish. Great group of people willing to help us out. Beth and Charley are a part of the class.

When I walked into the fellowship hall Thursday evening, it smelled like I was in a Mexican restaurant. Joey was preparing chicken tahittas. they were great. Momma T brought salad and desert. We had two new faces join us. Our Stephanie was able to come and a new friend Dawn. She is a friend of Dr Phil's. Dawn came by Wednesday afternoon for our meal and she jumped right in and helped with everything. She was one of the last to leave, having cleaned up the kitchen. We read from Acts completing Chapter 16. We read about how Paul and Silas were in prison, praising God and all of sudden, God makes the earth shake and the chains were broken. We talked about how they were worshiping God, in prison, not asking to be freed, but praising God for all His glory and God blesses them by releasing their chains. A good example of how we should live our lives. I find myself asking God for this or that, what I feel like I need, when I should be living by the Spirit, seeking God's Kingdom, praising Him through my trials and tribulations, understanding God is with me and will provide a way for me.

We talked about how God talks to us. Several folks relating amazing stories of God's presence in their lives. How do we know it is God or just our own person talking? Most all agree, God speaks in a quiet voice, not usually by a burning bush, so how do we hear Him? We all need to spend more time alone with Him. Quiet time, time for listening, not talking but hearing what is being spoken. We all to often think we have to be talking to God, but how can we hear what He is saying if we are talking and not listening. I remember seeing John Wesley's house in London I think, where he would go into a closet, shut the door, with nothing in there other than him and God. Jesus, from time to time would leave his disciples and go to the mountain to be alone with his father. Can't we do the same? If we are sincere about our relationship with God, we need to be as diligent. Don't give our left over time, but our first time to God.

Prayers for William and his bad neck ache. He mentioned last week, he has been sober for over 20 days, and hoping to keep it going. One of his longest stretches so far. Praise God. Continued prayers for Wes as he continues his adventures in China. Prayers for a decision by a doctor Dr Phil interviewed last week to join his staff at Shriners. Dawn asked for prayers to find a place to live close to our community. Prayers for Ms Ruby on 69 street. Her health is failing and financial troubles. Continued prayers for Chuck and his family. It is so hard to break the chain of poverty and despair. Chuck will need God's help in making that transition.

I was sitting at a red light the other day, must have been along Youree Drive, because I had plenty of time to read the electronic billboard at the intersection. There were two advertisements for churches. Come worship with us Sundays at 11am one said. Another said, were traditions continue Sundays at 8:30 and 10. Got me to thinking, Common Ground should place an ad and say, come worship with us, Saturday mornings at 9:30. Visit the least of them. Or Worship with us Thursday evenings at 5, feeding the hungry, clothing the naked. Or Join us for worship on Monday, Tuesday Thursdays as we care for the children. Join us as we worship together in our neighborhood meeting our neighbors on Saturdays. We need to come together and worship but don't let that be the end of our praising God. God has blessed us, we need to bless others and share His lvoe everyday. Thank you all for worshiping in unique and special ways.

Hope you all get out and enjoy the weather and the many blessings God has for us. Hope to see you this weekend or next week around the center. Amen.

October coming

2011-09-30T06:34:00.000-07:00

How was your week? What challenges did God present to you and how did you deal with them? We just never know, what our days will hold, so can we say thank you Lord for being a part of our lives.

Scott, Momma T and Dr Phil reported they did not see as many friends as usual. Not sure why, but we will see what happens this week. Hopefully other groups are opening up on the weekends to help with the needs.

We continue to be blessed by our homework activities. We have had as many helpers as we have had children, so we are able to have one on one groups working. It is really nice when we have these type of numbers, the noise level is way down and some quality work is being accomplished. There are some new pictures up on our face book page of the afternoon activities. Note one of the pictures showing, apples and milk being served during the afternoon. Wow, I think Ms Sarah is the reasoning behind this. Thursday the kids, got carrots and dip. The surprising thing most all the children enjoyed the snacks.

Our Wednesday meal was delicious and served up by our Grace youth. Our numbers were down, but that is ok because we get a chance to visit with more of our community. Everybody seems to be doing fine, just struggling with the hot weather and lack of rain. We had a treat this week from one of the area Boy Scout troops. The Boy Scouts had a can food drive and we received half of their donations. With the amount of food we got, Mr Scott did not have to go to the store and buy any food. What a blessing.

Ms Lisa and her lawyers came by on Wednesday and were still there as we were leaving. The community seems to be getting more comfortable with the lawyers and willing to talk to them about their situations. It is so gratifying to see the lawyers take it upon themselves to get personally involved to help out our community. One of the lawyers, our friend from Grace, could not get our printers to work, so he saved all the information and was going back to his office and print up all the documents needed. Pretty cool.

With our new lawn person, the grounds are really looking nice. It is great to drive up to a yard where the sidewalks are edged and the lawn is mowed.

We gathered for our meal and Bible study Thursday evening. Always good food and conversations. We did not get through much of Acts in Chapter 16 as a discussion came up about the Holy Spirit of Jesus and God. Are there two Spirits? After some discussions, we came to the conclusion does it matter? When some of the Philistines came to Jesus and Jesus said, I do not know you, go away from here. We need for God to know us and know our hearts by allowing the Holy Spirit to dwell within us. The Holy Spirit will guide us in our journeys and the paths we need to be on. We read about Paul not going a certain direction because the Holy Spirit told them not to go that way. May we all become so in tuned with the Holy Spirit, we can decern the direction God is asking us to take in our lives.

Prayers were lifted up for Mr Brian's son and daughter-in-law as they prepare to be new parents. Krysten as she travels. Prayers for the hiring of doctors to help Dr Phil. Prayers for Chuck and Byron as they struggle to make a break from their past. Wes as he continues to teach in China. Prayers for the beginning of our U 2 Saturdays. For the fruitful blessing of the Haiti garage sale on Saturday at Sarah and Scott's home. Prayers for friendships, that they may grow and develop. Prayers for Joey, as he reflects on his car accident. No body was hurt other than his pride. Lomax as he starts building new relationships with other communities.

Started thinking about October and all the events, so thought I would list them.
October 8 - U 2 Saturdays, 10 -12.
                      Brookwood Servant Saturday
              22 - Book fair- Barnes and Noble
              15 - Breakfast
19 - Clearview youth coming to serve
27 - First Thursday meal
                       Chapel worship
                       Fall Festival

I am sure there are other events, but those are the ones that come to mind. All exciting activities and hope you all can come and be a part of them.

Hope you have a great weekend. The temperatures are suppose to be cooler. Get out and enjoy it all. See you around the center.

Fall Back

2011-09-23T07:23:00.001-07:00

Have you done your part, today is the first day of autumn, as a new season is in front of us. I don't about you, but I am ready for the change. This summer, with it's high temperatures, drought conditions, has been a challenge. The cooler mornings, lower humidity has put a little zest in our steps and maybe the rain will come to give us some relief.

As most of you know, Friday afternoons is goof off day for me. A group of us meet at the golf course and act crazy for several hours. Since my play is pretty lame at best, my main focus is giving all the others a hard time and whining the whole afternoon about my bad play. As we were fixing to hit our first shots, I glanced back at the club house and a figure walked into the club house. I said to the others, that almost looked like Sione. A few minutes later, out comes Sione from the club house and he joined us. What a treat. He looked good. He seems to be doing fine at his new church. Being the kind of guy I am, I played the worst round of my life, so Sione could beat me and have a good afternoon! Thanks Sione for coming, we had a great time, glad you beat me!

Saturday morning we had a great gathering of folks for our breakfast. Momma T and Curtis prepared a buffet of scrambled eggs, ham, biscuits, gravy, orange slices, hash browns and good hot coffee. Just as we were finishing up, Sione surprises us again by a visit. The little we had left over, our Centenary friends packed it in boxes and we took it with us on our visits. We had big crowds at each stop, where Mr Scott worked his magic handing out his goodies. Some how, we always seem to have just enough for the last person we see.

Joey asked us to mention to some of our friends about coming to the Friendship room. When we saw the guys, and we asked, they couldn't wait for us to come back and pick them up. Joey, Ms Hat, Gus and others have started something that is becoming an important part in our outdoor friends lives. One of the guys, said, I can't wait to get there are watch the movie we started last week. It is simple things, that make the greatest impact on their lives. At some point in the afternoon, the guys had a barbeque outside the center with ribs, potatoes and all the trimmings. Hate I missed that.

Tutoring went really well this week. Some days we had more helpers than we had kids. Those days, we can sit down with each child and have one on one help, which makes for a great afternoon. You can see the Centenary students beginning to develop relationships with the children. Thursday, the Centenary students brought their friends to help out. Our new Centenary students are Mara, Jeremy, Kayla and Alissa. Ms Lisa one day, had a vocabulary quiz with the children. Asking them if they could say the words and what each word meant. Some children did better than others, but all were well behind in their grade level.

Wednesday, we had a nice visit from North Point Methodist church and it's mission leader Mark Williams. Mark is a former member of Grace and was always supportive of our ministry in Cedar Grove. He and his wife would be at our meals and they were a tremendous help at the beginning of our Kitchen Angel ministry. It was great to see him and the others he brought. He said, he is hoping to come once a month and bring more from his new church. Ms Sarah brought her youth, so we had a nice group of helpers.

Joey missed tutoring Thursday because he was in the kitchen preparing the meal of beef stroganoff and rice for our meal on. It was delicious. Momma T brought dessert and we had a good evening. Our group was smaller than usual but it was nice. We read Acts Chapter 15. We talked about the Jews complaining about the Gentiles not being acceptable because they had not been circumcised. Which brought us into a discussion about, are we accepting to all who we come in contact with. Since they look different, maybe come from another background, don't dress the way we do, do we open our arms to them? Peter told the Jews, it is not about what you do, the rules you follow, the traditions you teach but about your heart. God knows your heart and He will make the judgement.

A church emailed me about coming the end of October to help. I said ok but got to thinking about our board discussions of changing our meal time. I asked several folks and all agreed the board decided to move our Wednesday meal to Thursday evenings starting October 29. If our chapel is ready, we will have worship at 5 and then supper at 5:30. We have asked Pete Bollinger to get us started with the music. We need to have someone share a few words? Ms Sarah, said she and the youth would have a Fall Festival set up also.

We talked Thursday evening about with our change in meals, what do we do with our Thursday night Bible study. One suggestion was to move it to Tuesday or Wednesday nights. Another suggestion was to have it after our new meal time and open it up to the community. Joey said, if that gets too big we can divide up the groups. Wouldn't that be a nice problem to have. Be thinking about what you would like to do and we can talk more about it in the coming weeks.

Prayer concerns for Byron and Chuck. They have gone their separate ways and each struggling to make a new way for themselves. Challenges of life forcing them down. Thank goodness for Hat and Joey who are the one constant force in both their lives.

Prayers for Sinotra. His probation officer came and met with us about his progress. He has struggled in the past but at the moment seems to be making the right choices in his life. She is hoping he has changed his path of disobedience and moved on. Sinotra came by Wednesday and gave everybody a hug.

Krysten as she decides on a new job. She has been offered a position at First Methodist church.

Lomax and his grandmother. She is making progress in her life dealing with the loss of her husband and for Lomax as he becomes her comforter in that process.

Stress. As I see each of you in your various areas of ministry, hear your challenges, witness your triumphs and watch your struggles, I also hear and see your stress. I just want us to take a breathe. Maybe even step back for a moment. And ask, are we allowing God and His Holy Spirit to lead us in our journeys? As we continue to move forward, we are always asking questions of the unknown. Where will the money come from? Who will lead this? What is not working? How are we going to do this? I need to get this done. If I don't do it who will? Questions with no answers lead to stress if we allow it. I am the world's biggest stress producer or maybe I should say, I use to be. Our faith will handle our stress if we allow it to. We do not have to know the answers, if we know we are in God's will. I told Mr Scott Saturday, don't stress over funding for our outdoor friends. Evidently right now, God is asking us to be obedient and provide for His children. Even though we want to do it another way, that way has not happened, so we must be present in this path He has laid out for us. When it is time for a change, He will provide that change.

All of you are so special to our community, to God and us as a family. We need to enjoy God's majesty. We are here for such a short period of time, we need to enjoy God's blessings in our lives. We need to have fun. We need to enjoy each other's lives. We need to sing praises about our community.

Have a great weekend and great week. See you around the community. Amen.

Relationships

2011-09-16T07:05:00.000-07:00

Another week has come and gone. A touch of a cool breeze has blessed us these past two days, more to come. We even had two rain drops Thursday afternoon! By the time I got my windshield wipers unstuck from the glass, the rain stopped! We know the rain will come, just not time yet I guess.

Mr Scott and Catfish had 3 new folks join them on the visits Saturday morning. 3 Centenary students have kind of adopted us and wanted to experience everything we do, so they came. Great young people. Mr Scott said, our number of friends has increased again and served over 40.

The rest of us joined in on our Board meeting and 6 hours later we had talked ourselves out. As most of you know meetings are not my thing, but ever so often we need to come together and talk about where we are going as a community. It is always good to hear what God has placed on our hearts and how that may impact our community. Ms Lisa will send out the minutes when she is able to complete them, so you will have an idea of everything that went on.

Some dreams that come to mind, is Momma T and Ms Patti will be starting on Saturday October 8, U2 Saturdays. Momma T has been praying and thinking about this for many months and said she is ready to move forward on it. It will be an enrichment type activities learning all sorts of stuff, geared towards the young people but also any adults who would like to come.

Dr Phil shared his dream with us of providing housing and jobs for those who do not have a place to live and want to work. He is partnering with a friend of ours in the construction business and will be building "tiny" homes in our neighborhood.

We again talked about moving our weekly meals to another night, either Tuesday or Thursday evenings. Nothing set in stone yet, but looks like we will definitely try it and see what happens. The main reason for this move is to allow other churches and groups who normally have functions going on on Wednesdays, an opportunity to be more of a presence with us. With the completion of the chapel getting close, we want to start our chapel time to coincide with our meals and days other than Wednesday might allow musicians, speakers and others to help out.

We talked about our desire to become intentional in meeting our neighbors. Adopting a block at a time, getting to know everybody in every house and sharing our lvoe of God with them. Learning from them what their hopes and dreams are and can we work together to make them happen.

We talked about having some sort of fundraiser either the end of the year or first part of next year. I am not comfortable asking for money but now that we are in our building, we need funds to operate the lights, air and water. Most grants do not fund these type of items, so we need to come up with monies to maintain our building.

John and Tania shared the drawings of the new kitchen. It was "Amen" to go forward and here we go. Lots of changes and challenges awaits us but oh how amazing it will be when it is completed. They are in the process of obtaining materials from various places and hopefully in the coming weeks we will have work days to begin the work.

Monday and Tuesday we had a ton of kids for tutoring and we had a ton of helpers, wow. Monday, I think we had the entire Centenary campus with us. We had our three new students we also had Mary and Macy. Anna you need to come and we will have all our family together!

Tuesday, our volunteer Ed, completed the tiling of the chapel floor. We next need carpet to cover the raised section, some clean up, some chairs and we will be ready to go. It looks very nice. Excited to see it finally coming together.

Wednesday we had our extended family return. Ms Sarah Mr Scott and their youth joined us again for their help and smiling faces. So many youth showed up, I sat down all during the meal and enjoyed the supper. Ms Abbie kept eying me to get up, so I looked the other way! So nice to have them back with us. I did have to get up from my chair to give to others and in fact Lomax and I had to go and get more tables and chairs to seat everybody.

Thursday, we gathered around the table to experience the fixins of our new chef Lomax. He prepared our main course of red beans and rice with sausage. It was great. Momma T had a pasta salad and dessert. It was good to have William and James with us again. Both had been sick.

Following our meal we continued reading from Acts 13 and 14. Looking at my notes, I see filled by the Holy Spirit, sent out by the Holy Spirit, filled with joy from living by the Holy Spirit. Sounds like that is the key to me, Jesus went to be with his father, but did not leave us by ourselves. He provided a partner, a friend, a companion, one who looks out for us, who wants the best for us, one who will accomplish things we can not do ourselves only if allow the Holy Spirit to be a part of our lives. We all too often try to complicate things, try to say the right stuff, do the right things, be the right way, but we as humans will never be able to do that, and really we don't have to. All we have to do is humble ourselves, allow the lvoe of Jesus, His Holy Spirit to flow in and through us each and every day. Amazing things will happen when we can do that.

Don't forget, this Saturday is our breakfast morning. Be there at 9 to taste some of Momma T's amazing cooking. Biscuits, ham, eggs, cheese grits, gravy, no fried bacon Ms Sarah, hot coffee and lots of good conversations. Bring a friend, see you there.

We continue to lift up Wes as he journeys to his new home in China. The last we have heard he has made it to Beijing but nothing since. The internet is slow at best in the country, so his mom and dad are awaiting his email or phone call.

After Beth and Charley saw Wes off, they drove to New Orleans to visit old friends and places. They had a chance to visit with Sione and Beth and both seem to be doing great. Sione did express concern for his talk this Sunday. It seems the Saints are playing at noon and he is concerned there maybe no body left in the sanctuary when he is finished preaching! Good luck Sione, at least you will know why they left, not because of what you said.

Prayers for Hat as she travels. For Lomax's mom as she travels here to visit with him for a few days. It will be good to see her again.

Relationships. As we as a community continue to decern God's direction in our lives, I relate it to our relationships to God, each other and to others. When you first meet someone, you say, how are you doing, smile, maybe shake their hand and go about your business. As time goes on, and that relationship continues to grow you begin to see beyond the smile or the words and see their heart, their hurts, their needs. Sometimes it is good, sometimes it is not. There will be times when that relationship maybe strained. There will be times when that relationship will be great. I see us at that point in our community.

Years ago, I think it was ok for us just to be there. To provide a place where the children could come and feel lvoe. Where adults could come and get a bag of food, some clothes, a meal. But I think God is asking us to go deeper in our relationships with our community. He is asking us to go out and meet our neighbors. To listen to them. To hear their hurts. To witness their triumphs. To become a part of their lives and help them achieve their dreams.

He is asking us just not to be there for the children but to train them in the ways of Me. As we have seen over the years, the children are survivors because that is all they know to do. Education, manners, dress, attitudes are secondary at best to them because that is not important to them. I would like us to see how we can provide a place where those who have a desire to get an education to do so. For those of them who are surviving and need a place to feel safe provide a place to do so.

As we go deeper into our relationships, it may get messy. Life is messy. We may not like what we hear. We may get discouraged. We may not want to continue. But if we do, if we continue to humble ourselves for others, if continue to allow the Holy Spirit to flow through us, I guarantee the rewards will be mighty. We are at the beginning of something special. God is preparing a way for us, that we have no comprehension of what is about to take place. Community as we know it now, will be different, new, alive. Are you ready? Do you want to be a part of this Kingdom building? Please pray and ask God how can I use my skills, my talents, my gifts in the coming months and years as we all journey together.

Have a great weekend and looking forward to seeing you all around the center next week. Amen.

It's Friday

2011-09-09T07:05:00.000-07:00

I hate to admit it, but I like these 4 day work weeks. Does someone want to start a campaign to make every week 4 days? I'll vote for it!!

Thanks to all for continuing to serve while I was gone last week. It is a comfort knowing, all of this is bigger than any one person and life goes on. It had been 3 years since we had been to the beach and it was a comfort to my soul to sit, relax, read, and sleep listening to the waves and birds, to be a part of God's creations.

Mr Scott, Dr Phil, Momma T and Catfish joined together to make our visits on Saturday. With it being the first Saturday of the month, Momma T served communion to 39 men and women in their journeys. Amazing stuff, people of God offering God's grace to the least of them.

Several weeks ago, I received a note from a lady from Chicago whose mother lives on 76 street. Her mother has become wheelchair bound and has no way to leave her house on her own. I contacted Dr Phil and he put together a crew of carpenters and they performed a miracle. Below is a note I got from the lady's daughter.

Mr. Hunter, God is Good!. God bless yourself, the carpenters, and Dr. Philip Gates. Our Mother was able to get out into the yard for the first time yesterday in over a year. You have no idea how much of a blessing this has been for her. We appreciate this from the bottom of our hearts. As soon as we are able, we will be making a contribution to the Common Ground Community.

Tutoring is going on and seems to be going really well. Lots of kiddos and lots of good work going on. Ms Lisa passed out work sheets and the children worked hard on them. Ms Lisa commented on Thursday, she looked at the work sheets and it is scary on how far behind our children are in their learning. I don't understand how the children continue to move up a grade level and still have not mastered the skills they need to achieve at the level they are at? I understand why as they continue to get older, their interest in education drops, they leave school, get pregnant, get into trouble, what else do they have to look forward to? How can we break this cycle?

Tuesday, we began our tile work in the chapel. A gentleman from Grace, came to the open house last year and told John Sauls he would like to donate his services for laying the tile. Finally that day has arrived and he began his work. He is a fireman, so he is doing the work on his off days. What he has done really looks nice and excited to see the floor completed sometime next week.

Wednesday, we had our annual visit from Ms Laura and her students of the Christian Leadership Center from Centenary. We took them around the center and shared our story with them. A bunch of great students wanting to share God's lvoe with others. We have the Center to thank for us being introduced to many of our family interns, Anna and Macy and others. Mary G who was with us this summer, will be part of this program and will be one of our interns this year. Also we had one of the students, Jeremy show up Thursday and helped us tutor. Amazing young people.

Also on Wednesday we had a visit from Jeanne of the Catholic Services operating out of St Catherines. She brought us paperwork from the Fuller house who will begin construction of two houses in Cedar Grove in the near future. The paperwork are applications for ownerships of the houses. So, if you know of a family in the Cedar Grove area, who has a job and rents, this will be the perfect opportunity for them. I thought it was cool, Jeanne asked the Fuller foundation if they had been by Common Ground yet to distribute the information. Our name is becoming recognized as a place to come.

We had a large crowd at our meal. Lots of new faces. Mr Scott made an extra trip to the food bank and picked up peaches, bananas, peppers, tangerines so the folks got an extra bag of fruit to go along with their groceries. We need help to figure out how to take some of the burden off Ms Abbie. She and Ms Dorothy come in around 3 or so, hang clothes, move over to the food pantry and bag food and then move into the kitchen and make Kool Aid and hand out the meals. Too much. I have tried to get her to not do so much but she is not confident enough with others to let go. So how do we help her? Thursday was Ms Abbie's birthday, so when you see her this week, tell her Happy Birthday!

Thursday around noon, I came by the center to check on the tile work and found Ms Hat and her crew in the friendship room tutoring our older children. There were 3 tutors helping 3 young people. It was great. Hoping this will help in breaking the cycle of neglect and poverty.

It was good to gather again Thursday evening. Joey has taken over the meal preparation and did a great job in fixing the meal. Ms Hat brought birthday cake for Byron. Charley, Beth, Wes, Chuck, a new friend of theirs D, and Dr Phil enjoyed the food and conversation. Following our meal we started our Bible study reading from Acts 11 starting at verse 19 and reading chapter 12. As we read and talked about the verses, what I remember was that God's word, God's lvoe, God's presence will always prevail. People, kingdoms, society will always want to suppress God and His followers. But in the end, God will prevail. We must stay focused on His will for our lives and in the end His lvoe will win out. A big comfort understanding this when we go through our trials and tribulations.

Prayers for Wes and his family as they leave Saturday for Houston and Wes leaves Saturday evening for China. What an adventure he will have and the stories he will be able to tell when he returns.

Prayers for the Kairos team as they are sharing God's lvoe this weekend at Wade.

Prayers for rain and the quenching of the fires in our area. We have finally got some relieve from the triple digit heat wave, but still have had no rain.

Prayers for your Board of Directors meeting Saturday as we decern the direction God is leading Common Ground.

Prayers for those who lost their love ones during the terrible tragedy of 9/11.

Prayers for Dr Phil as he transitions into a new position of Chief of Staff at his hospital.

Answered prayers for the safe return of our family from Haiti, Sarah, Scott, Krysten and Emily.

Hoping you all have a great weekend with your family and friends. Continue to seek out God's direction in your lives and may we bold enough to accept that challenge. Amen.

Thank you God!

2011-08-26T06:25:00.001-07:00

Well it finally happened. After 47 something days of terrible heat, drought conditions not experienced ever before, we had rain! Thank you Lord!

With mr brian being out of town last Saturday, I did not get to experience our breakfast or visits. So I asked Mr Scott and Momma T to fill in the details for me. Momma T, said there was a nice crowd of folks who enjoyed her pancakes, hash browns and ham for breakfast. So many new faces, she did not know them all, pretty cool. Then Catfish, Curtis joined Mr Scott on his visits. Mr Scott said, Turner has enjoyed the use of his new bicycle. Turner did tell Mr Scott, he does need anymore food, just ice. Wonder where Turner is getting his food? Mr Scott was going to ask him this week. Mr Scott continues to stop at the Hamilton and Labor Ready and we have added a stop by the Fairmont. Many of our friends have moved into the Fairmont, so we checking on them across the street from there. Everybody seems to be doing pretty good.

I forgot to let you all know last week, we had a huge blessing. As many of you may know Ms Abbie's granddaughter, Kierra had applied to the Northwestern school of Nursing here in Shreveport. I had no idea, it was so competitive to get in, but it is and unfortunately she was denied a spot for this fall semester classes. One of my customers is an assistant professor there and I was talking to her about Kierra and she said she would meet with Kierra to see what she could do to get in the spring semester. Tuesday evening, I caught up with Kierra and gave the professor her card and Kierra told me that won't be necessary. I asked why and Kierra said there was a spot that came open for this semester and she got in! So Kierra is now enrolled in nursing school, thank you God!

Tuesday evening, we had another blessing. Krysten arrived to join our family! Not sure what God is up to, but she felt a strong desire to come to Shreveport and be a part of our family and work with our community. Amazing to me, she would leave a job and come to a place where she has no prospects at the moment. I just know amazing things will happen with Krysten here, as she begins a new chapter in her journey. Thank you God!

With our much anticipated rain on Wednesday, our supper attendance was down a bit. We had another blessing on Wednesday. Ms Abbie got a call from one of our long time community friends, Ms Ruby, saying she got some clothes donated to her from her church. She did not need them all, so she wanted us to have them and share with others. Isn't that cool. Someone who has very little, wanting to share with others. I did mention to the community at our meal, about the possibility of us moving our meals to another night. No one said they had any problem with us moving our days. We are just talking and wanted to see if they would continue to come.

Thursday we had a full table for our meal and Bible study. Beth, Charley, Debby, Erica, William, Joey, Wes, Lomax, Byron and Dr Phil. We had grilled cheese sandwiches, yummy left over cole slaw and even better blueberry cobbler. We read last part of Acts 8, starting at verse 26 and all of chapter 9. Again, what comes to mind is the Holy Spirit and the mighty ways it can change our lives if we just allow it to do so. Peter preaching and healing, Saul being converted, the disciples going out and sharing the Good News with all. As men, we are flawed, full of pride, big egos, but some how God allows His Spirit to break down all of that and amazing things can happen when it does. Are we allowing the Spirit to flow through us and use us to glorify His Kingdom? Do we say, not me, I am not worthy? Do we ignore the Spirit all together and do our own thing? Thank you God, for your great Spirit and may we all allow the Spirit to flow through us in amazing ways.

Continued prayer concerns for Kairos weekend coming up in September. Prayers for Ms Sarah and Krysten and their group as they leave for Haiti Monday for a week. Debby asked for prayers for her step mother's illness. Prayers for Wes and his parents as Wes leaves on September 10th for China for at least 3 months maybe more. Exciting opportunity. The Hub as they prepare for the opening of their new building. William and his health. William has been down with a terrible cold or something. He is starting to feel better but still is coughing and congested. Lomax and Gus as they travel down south to see Gus' mom. Gus' mom's last health report was great, hoping it will continue. Thank you God!

We have had reminders this week about where God has placed us. We sometimes forget, when things are going good, we get complacent, we get comfortable and forget why God has blessed us these past few years. We are in a community where God's light is dim at best, dark in other places. He has asked us to share His glorious lvoe with His children in ways that may not be easy or comfortable, but will have the greatest impact. Our faith will be tested. Our patience will run thin. But God has not left us, He will never leave us. All we have to do is allow His Holy Spirit flow through us, be obedient is our walk and all things will be possible. Thank you God!

Hope you all have a great weekend. Maybe we will get some more rain. Maybe some cooler temperatures. Anything is possible, isn't it?! Thank you God, Amen.

Late in the day

2011-08-19T15:29:00.001-07:00

Sorry for the late update. Got up late, left early and just now sitting down at the computer. I guess, I am running slower like most of us in this terribly hot, dry weather. I talked last week about how hot it has been around this part of the country, well we need to add dryness to our update. Two different groups I have been with this week, prayers for relief in the drought conditions we asked for.

We had an incredible Saturday last week. I met with two gentlemen from Airline Baptist church in Bossier one day last week. They walked through and were trying to decide on what their men's group would like to do. One of the guys said, not sure how many will come in this hot weather or if they are committed to working. He said there maybe 2 or maybe 10, with him leaning towards 2. Well, when I pulled up around 8, there were 10 trucks parked in the parking lot with over 20 men working all around the center. It was amazing to see. We had some completing the painting of the chapel, we had some edging and cleaning up the sidewalk out front of the garden and sanctuary, others were trimming the big bushes in front of the sanctuary, others were trimming around the back, some were mowing, still others were trimming bushes at Abbie's house and the Bright House. Dust was everywhere, it was great!

As the Airline group was leaving, we were able to talk a few minutes and share our story with them. One of the leaders talked about how he thought their time with us was God directed. He said they had been praying for a local mission project for several months with no answers. Then last week, the leader gets a call from one of the guys and says, I just met these people from Common Ground and I think God has answered our prayers. They mentioned, they will be back and continue their work. Also we discussed about starting a men's Bible study for the community. God is good!

At some point early Saturday morning, I woke and said, man is this the second Saturday? And it was, so we had some folks from Brookwood show up also. The men from Brookwood, reprimed the hallway, applied window tinting to the glass in the fellowship hall and then went into the chapel and worked in there.

One of the special moments of the morning was the work on some bicycles. I had picked up three bicycles from Pastor Rich's house. His company was going to throw them away and he grabbed them for us. The bikes were still in the back of my truck. When the Brookwood guys got there, there was a man and his son walking up. I said to the young man, Seth, would you test drive these bikes and get them ready to ride? Seth said sure and he and his dad worked on them. When it was time to leave for our visits I asked Seth if he thought the bikes were ready to go and he said two of them were good to go. So we loaded them back into my truck and I asked Seth if he would like to go with us to the camps to see if the guys would like a bike. Seth said sure. What a special young man.

We met up with Mr Scott and the van of folks at our first stop at Robert and Turner. Some of us walked to Turner's camp, talking along the way telling Seth, we have not had much conversation with Turner, but let's see if your bicycle will be the opening we have been looking for? When we got to Turner's camp, he was frustrated with an old bicycle tire he was trying to repair. Mr Scott had brought him a new inner tube last week and Turner was unable to get it to fit into his old tire frame. I said to Turner, this young man has been working all morning fixing up a bike to give to you, would you consider coming with us to see the bikes and see if you would like one? Turner thought for a moment, looked at Seth and said ok let's go take a look. Turner followed us, walked over to the truck, looked at the bikes and said, I'll take this one. Seth helped Turner get the bike down and Turner walks off with his new bike. We all looked at each other, speechless at what we had just witnessed. A young boy, full of life and wanting to help others, was able to accomplish in one moment what we have been trying to do for a year! God is good.

Hat and Joey are continuing what Gus has started in opening the Friendship room Saturday afternoons. Several of the young men from the neighborhood have been coming to improve their reading and writing skills. A couple of our friends joined them as well. They wash clothes, watch some TV, relax and get out of the heat. Thank to those who continue to think of others. If you would like to help out, please let Hat or Joey know.

Got an email from Cassie from the Hub the other day. She asked about me about what we had talked about, opening up the new Basement on Saturdays. I told her, I thought it would be too much for us to do it every week but what about her contacting other churches to see if they would help out. She said they have Brookwood coming on the second Saturdays. So I am asking, do you think Common Ground could commit to one Saturday a month? With us beginning to visit the neighborhood on Saturdays, only opening the basement a month would take some of pressure off of us. But I don't want to commit to Cassie we will help out if it is too stressful for us. Think about it and let us know what you think.

We had a fun day on Wednesday. We prepared pancakes for supper. One of my favorite supper meals is pancakes smothered in syrup! Ms Abbie wouldn't let me take a picture, but it was funny to see, Ms Abbie at one plug in the fellowship hall cooking pancakes. Ms Dorothy was at another plug and then Grandma(Spencer's mom) was in the kitchen cooking on the third griddle. The smell was awesome, the pancakes were great and everybody seemed to enjoy them.

Thursday we had a nice group enjoying some sandwiches made from our left over ham from Wednesday. Chuck, Byron, his brother-in-law Ed, Beth, Charley, Lomax, Hat and Joey were there. We read from Acts Chapter 8. With the stoning of Stephen and Saul going house to house, the believers left Jersuleum and started preaching the Good News to many. People were amazed at what they saw and what they heard. Are we sharing the Good News with others in a way that is unique or special, maybe showing the lvoe of God to others for the first time? As the disciples were allowing God to work through them, we need to do the same.

Ooops, almost forgot, breakfast this Saturday at 9am. Momma T will be working her magic in the kitchen. mr brian will be out of town, so if you would like to help her, please be at the center around 8.

Something that has been on my mind for the last several weeks is the education of our children of the community. Did you all see all three schools that most of our children attend, are academically unacceptable? Our children have no shot at improving their education if during their academic lives they are not being taught at the right level. How can we help them improve or how can we help their schools improve? Maybe one way for us to improve our learning center is to become more scholastic focused? We can still have fun at the appropriate times, but make a real effort to have our center a place where real learning takes place.

We did not have our Allison with us Thursday night. She is the last of our interns, really I don't like saying interns, they are our family members now. She left for school on Friday, with this being her final year. She is preparing for the future as she will be contacting various sites to start her journey as a pastor. Allison is always missed by us, doing so many things for our community. We are blessed by her in so many ways and always look forward to her return.

Mr Scott text me earlier in the day Thursday asking if he could go out into the neighborhood and hand out ice cold Gatorade? Around 5:30 he shows up with some ice, fills the ice chest with Gatorade. He, Chuck and Byron go out and meet some of our neighbors and hand out all the bottles! Awesome and something we may do again.

Prayer concerns. Continue to keep Gus and his mom in your prayers. Wes Ackerman has two job opportunities in front of him. One is a special one, taking him to China where he will teach English. Mom and dad are not too excited about this but will see where God leads him. Lomax's other grandmother is ill in Tyler. Prayers for Ms Abbie. She lost her sister last week and preparing to say goodbye to her Saturday afternoon.

You just never know what God is going to do around our community. Bringing people here with great ideas. Directing our paths, serving others. All the time blessing us along the way. Hope you have the opportunity to be a part of this. Come when you can.

Stay inside if you can. For those of you who know a rain dance, I would ask you to perform one! Have fun and lvoe others as He has lvoed you. Amen.

Thinking of others

2011-08-13T05:51:00.001-07:00

I have been asked several times where do I get my ideas for writing this note each week. To be honest, I really don't have anything planned it kind of just happens? But on the other hand, it is really pretty easy to report each week what happens around the community. It is easy to tell all of you who are not able to be with us, how amazing our family is. This week is no exception, our family always thinking of others.

One of my routines each Saturday morning is to go by the youth warehouse and get ice for our visits. As I drive into the parking lot, I can tell if Mr Scott is driving that Saturday by the van being gone by 8:30 or so. He gets up early, having just gone to bed the evening before because of his job, to drive 3o minutes or so to pick up Catfish. Catfish has moved to a little town south of Shreveport. He calls Mr Scott and say are you coming my way? I want to come with you guys. So Mr Scott drives all that way, picks him up and then after we finish our visits, he drives Catfish back home. Amazing heart.

This Saturday, we not only had Catfish join us, but Junior, his 3 legged dog joined us. At all our stops, the guys love to pet Junior. Something about a dog, the outdoors and friendship? Catfish has folks who continue to offer things to him and this week Catfish loaded up the van with MREs for us to give away. Someone who has been homeless, giving to others! Amazing heart.

The other special event we had at each stop, was the serving of elements in the celebration of communion. Momma T brought the grape juice and bread, and we participated in remembering the sacrifice Jesus made for us. Ellen and Matt found us at some point and Ellen helped serve at one of our stops. Momma T explained what she was offering. Some you could tell had never experienced this before, but they lined up to receive their blessings. Amazing hearts.

Not to talk too much on Mr Scott, but he took his daughter on vacation out to Los Angeles. They did tourist stuff, but also, first on their list was to make their way to the Dream Center. The Dream Center has always been an inspiration to me, as this young preacher moves into a depressed part of downtown, revitalizes an old church and serves the community. Dr Phil many years ago, taught a Sunday school class on the book, A Church That Never Sleeps. Mr Scott shared his thoughts and enthusiasm of what he saw and experienced on his tour of the Dream Center. It is amazing to me, he would take time on his vacation to experience what is going on at the Dream Center. Amazing heart.

Tuesday morning, we had one of our Lake Charles family members join us for the week. Ben Parker, was leading a group up here this week, but unfortunately the others who were coming had to back off. I told Ben, that's ok, just try again in the fall. Ben said, I already have a group coming, but that is too long for me not to be with you all, so I am coming by myself! So he came and he hasn't stop working since he has gotten here. I had a long list prepared for the group and I told Ben, not to worry about the list you just do what you can. Well he has just about completed the list all by himself!

As I was going over the list with Ben Tuesday afternoon, I said to Ben, what do you think? He said, mr brian, do you mind if I go stay with Gus under the bridge? He said the list will be here tomorrow, but Gus won't and I want to begin to build relationships with the guys under the bridge! Hello God, one of your disciples is wanting to lvoe others and not work on mr brian's list, wow! So Ben fixed the best testing jambalaya I have ever eaten and we went to visit Gus, Dale and the others under the bridge Tuesday evening. Amazing heart.

We found our Gus, sitting on the couch under the bridge as we arrived Tuesday evening. Gus was being Gus and having a good time with the guys. He did not look too bad for having spent, 6 days under the bridge. Gus has a blog going: http://betterthanachurchbell.blogspot.com/ from some of his journal writings for the week. Check it out, some great stories. What an amazing heart this young man has, becoming friends with guys who for the most part have never had a friend. Someone who actually cares for them. One, now who has been in their shoes, walked their streets, learned their ways of trying to survive. Gus survived one of the hottest weeks of the year, maybe of the century to share with us, what it is like to be homeless. Amazing heart.

On Wednesday, there was a meeting of the United Way of Northwest La, ladies leadership council. Ms Lisa has been asked before to speak to the ladies about what our community does. Ms Lisa, who never gets enough recognition for all she does for our community, shared one of stories about two of our young ladies who are trying to make a different life for themselves. Lisa told them about Michelle and Jalissia graduating from high school and trying to get into college, something most young girls in our community never do. Ms Lisa brought Michelle and Jalissia to the women's meeting Wednesday and the girls were the featured speakers. They shared what our community has done for them, what their hopes and dreams are the future and how they want to be example for their younger siblings. Both girls are now registered at BPCC for fall classes. Amazing heart.

Wednesday at our meal, I looked up and one of our guys who was living under the bridge, came for supper. It was Jimbo's first visit. Lomax had brought him by. Later on in the evening I get a phone call from Lomax. Jimbo was asked to leave from the bridge, which is nothing unusual, so he had no where to go. Jimbo told us Tuesday evening, he was trying to save up his money so he could get a bus ticket to go live with his daughter in Arkansas. Lomax tells me he called Jimbo's daughter and asked if he could bring her dad to her. The daughter became overwhelmed with emotion and said please, please bring him if you can. So Ben and Lomax, left at 6am Thursday morning and drove 6 hours to take Jimbo home. They turned around and drove all the way back and were back in time for our Bible study! Not sure I can explain what amazing hearts these two young men have.

We had our Bible study Thursday evening and it was good, but I was thinking about the week and what amazing hearts our community is blessed to have. There are more examples of what amazing hearts we have but the stories are being formed at the moment and I will have the opportunity to share those stories with you all at another time.

Another important part of our community is the willingness to share your hearts in prayer for others. Some of our prayer concerns from last night were, Gus and his mom. Gus asked for prayers for her last week because she was having problems with her breathing, well she was diagnosed with stage 4 breast cancer. Please keep her and Gus in your thoughts as he visits with them this weekend and as he starts a new career. Prayers, for Lomax as he continues to lvoe on his grandmother as the two of them continue to deal with the lost of his grandfather. Grant Rose as he heads back to Oklahoma. Prayers for mr brian's father-in-law Mr Joyner. He fell and severally sprained his wrist. Tommy Rainbolt after surgery on his shoulder. Ben leaving us Saturday. Allison leaving us next Friday. Justin leaving us and moving to Arkansas and getting married. Prayers for Kairos.

Amazing hearts, such compassion for others, lvoing spirits. We talked about Moses at Bible study. How God asked him to lead his people and Moses saying to God, not me, I can't speak well, I'm no leader. God said, I want you and lead he did. But it was not Moses who did the leading it was Moses allowing God to work miracles through him. It is not us who do these amazing things, it is all of you allowing God to work through you. The more and more we take ourselves out of the equation and put God first, God's Kingdom will shine. Thank you all so much for being who you are and being bold enough to say it is not me but God who lives within me.

Have a great weekend and blessed week ahead. Amen and Amen.

Can we say HOT!

2011-08-05T19:34:00.000-07:00

Can we say, how HOT is it!! Unbelievable the temperatures and dryness we have faced in this part of the country. For all of you who have rain, could you please send us some!

Another fun filled week around the community. We got started this week, with the feeding of the Weekend of the Cross children, Friday and Saturday. Mr Tom fixed all the food and drink and several of us served it up. You have never seen such hotter, messier, tireder folks as they came through the doors. They enjoyed their hour break from the heat at the center. We fed around 65 children and adults both days. We did have a restroom back up, but we made do and everybody thanked us for being their for them.

Saturday visits went well, with only Dr Phil and myself traveling around. With the heat, only a few joined us at the Hamilton and Labor Ready stops. We stopped by Robert's camp and got him to go with us and he helped hand out the gatorde

Don't know if you have seen the pictures on our face book page yet, but go take a look at Christmas in July! With this week being the final week of summer camp, the interns pulled out all the stops to make each day a little bit special. Monday, they had a Christmas party! Ms Patty led them in the making of Christmas stockings. Another activity was decorating Christmas cookies. They were read the Christmas story out of the Bible. Then they heard a different kind of Christmas story about how the Cajuns do it. Then they finished the day by having Santa come and visit with the children. Santa handed out bags with the children's initials on them and surprises in the bags. Tuesday the interns had a family barbeque inviting the extended family members to come. It was good to meet the moms of some of the children. Then Thursday, Ms Sarah, Mr Scott drove the vans as they all went out to Splash Kingdom for the afternoon. What a week.

Wednesday, with the temperatures at 107, we were wondering if any would venture out. Well they did and we had a great afternoon. More and more of the community is beginning to step up and help out in various ways. Some of the children are in charge of name tags. Some helped passed out plates and silverware. Some helped with the kool aid.

Thursday morning, we had a return visit from some of our friends from the The River Community Church in Natchitoches. In fact they are still here! Ms Lauren brought her pastor and several of her friends and they are working in the mornings at the center and having a retreat in the afternoons. Sure good to see them again. They will be leaving Saturday morning and then we will have our Lake Charles family arriving Monday.

I was given the summer camp newsletter Thursday evening and at the bottom of the letter is this message from the Interns: This has been the summer of a life time for us. We could not think of a better way to spend these past 8 weeks than with these beautiful kids and we will miss them more than you can imagine. We have had some good days together and some tough ones, but through this time, it has been a blessing and an honor to be a part of their lives. Lvoe - Ellen, Kelli, Allison, Mary, Macy, Joey, Gus and Lomax.

Thursday evening, we continued a tradition of saying good bye to our college interns who are leaving us. I am still unsure why God continues to bless us with such special young people. Each year, we continue to add to our family, young people who have a heart for lvoe, thinking of others and wanting nothing more than to please God. It was special last night to hear comments about each one of our interns. Each one having special gifts, unique talents, lvoing spirits and working together they created a place where our children could feel lvoe, maybe for the first time in their lives. It is with a heavy heart, we have to say good bye. But knowing they will continue to be praying for our community, sharing their experiences with others, some how we will get through these weeks. One of the moms said Tuesday evening, I don't know what my children are going to do next week with out camp going on! They just love coming here. Thank you does not sound adequate enough, but know we lvoe you all, you have a special place in our hearts and we are already counting the days for your return to us.

Don't forget Ms Sarah is having a garage sale at her house Saturday morning. If you don't have something to bring by so she can sale it, then go by and buy something! She is raising money for her trip to Haiti.

Prayers for Lomax and his grand mother. We found out last night, Lomax's grandfather passed away earlier in the week. Lomax has been a special part of their lives and always was there for them as his grandfather's health continued to decline.

Gus asked for prayers for his mom. She has never been sick in her life, but now is fighting complications of phenomena. Gus also asked for prayers as he left Thursday evening to spend a week under the bridge with Dale and Tim.

Prayers for Kelli as she tries to discern God's direction for her life. Also for her cousin's new baby.

Prayers for all our interns as they travel home or back to school. Kelli and Lauren leaving Friday. Mary leaving Saturday. Ellen leaves Sunday. Joey leaving Saturday for a week at Glorieta, New Mexico. Gus leaves next Thursday and Allison the week after that.

Continued prayers for the Kairos weekend as Charley prepares for that.

Prayers for Ellen's brother who is 16 and meeting all sorts of challenges in his young life.

Prayers for Ms Abbie as she continues to be the rock in her family as she deals with Joe's slow recovery and family matters.

Prayers for a member of Grace, a man who was in our men's Bible study on Monday nights, passed away Wednesday morning. The men's group went to his house Monday night to have our Bible study there. Jim's health had been failing for several weeks. We were able to sit in his room, we helped him open his Bible and he was able to share with us during the evening. We heard from his wife later on, that was the liveliest she had seem him in several weeks.

Scott and I talked about the passing of Jim Wednesday at our meal. We talked about how easy it would have been to just say, sorry we can't come because it is not convenient for us. Or what if some of us had not decided not to even come. We will not have that opportunity ever again to sit with Jim and listen. It reminded me of what we say all the time, I am going to wait until I retire before I help others. I can't come today, I am to tired. I can't help serve, I have to work. I can't read a book to a child, I don't have time. I can't sit with some friends and let them get out of the heat. I can't . . . It is not about us, but about others. I want us to be sure, what we are doing is of God and not for ourselves. Are we building the Kingdom of God as He is directing us to or we doing the building on our terms? God's timing is always perfect, but it may not be convenient? I am thinking that is why I whine so much! God is wanting me on His terms, His timing not on mr brian's terms.We will never in this life time, have the opportunity to sit with Jim and read the Bible. You still have an opportunity to do God's work, don't make an excuse, do it!

Hope you all have a great weekend. Stay cool if you can. Enjoy your families. Enjoy the many blessings God has for you. Amen.

Summer Friday

2011-07-29T07:49:00.001-07:00

Hope you all have survived the summer week. Here in this area, it has been hot, dry and exhausting. You step outside and your shirt is wringing wet. Saw the weather report for next week this morning and more of the same to come! It has tried to rain, but you have to be on the right side of the street for it to happen? Oh well, the joys in living in the south! In a few months, when it gets cooler, we will say, can't wait until the summer months get here and we can have some warmer weather?!

We can get our review of the week started by our Saturday visits with our friends. Good visits, good times talking to the guys. Gus joined us and invited them to join him in the Friendship Room later on that afternoon. We changed up our visits a little by not going directly to the Hamilton stop. Just as I was returning home, Terry Strain calls. She got a phone call from Ms Evelyn, who is the matriarch of the downtown area. Ms Evelyn was waiting for us at the Hamilton stop! Man, I felt bad, but shows we have started something that some have become depended on. Another gentleman at another stop told me, he looks forward to our stops each week. Can't wait to see us and visit with us. He said we are such a blessing to his friends. So how do we stop going? What's the answer?

Another story from last week, I forgot to mention and one that typifies our community. One of our friends needed my truck for hauling furniture to his apartment. Unfortunately mr brian made a ton of excuses and our friend said I will call Mr Scott. He did and it took two day to finish hauling the furniture! Talking about getting your shirt wet, Mr Scott was drenched! Mr Scott, without hesitation, stops what he is doing and helps out a friend. Mr Scott, shops, hauls, orders, drives, visits our friends every week and without fan fare, with out notoriety. He is example of those of you who do the work behind the scenes and never get the recognition you deserve. Thank you so much for being such loyal and faithful servants.

Saturday afternoon, the Friendship Room came to life. Gus has worked hard all summer long and with the help of Hat, Joey and others, it was filled with lvoe. Great stories we heard about their experiences with several of our friends, spending time reading, playing games, watching TV, washing clothes and getting out of the heat. One of the stories, is example of what our community is all about, is Hat and Gus are now helping two of our young men learn to read and prepare them to pass their GED tests. When you become involved in community you begin to learn, to understand, to be a part of their lives. There is such tragedy in their lives of hurt, anger, mistrust, they have no one to help them out of their despair other than us. We are not offering a fancy program with requirements and strategies. We are just there, sitting around a table, playing a game, reading a book, helping their minds explore new and exciting things. Thank you folks for being willing to be in community.

Early Monday afternoon, I was picking up our new tile for the chapel floor, arrived at the center to find children running everywhere. I began to notice, they were in groups, with colored neckerchiefs, going to different places? To the front porch of the Bright House, to the garden with Ms Patty, to the side of the building in the shade, running inside to the fellowship hall. All having a great time. The interns were putting on the summer camp's version of the Amazing Race! It was awesome to see the children and interns having a great time. With the close of summer camp coming up this week, what a summer it has been.

Tuesday and Wednesday, our community had the privilege of Ms Emily's youth group from First Methodist join us. They painted, cleaned, straightened in the mornings and then helped out with camp in the afternoons. Great experience in developing relationships between both groups. I guess it was pay back, but several of our interns spent Wednesday evening in an over nighter with Ms Emily's group at First Methodist. We have been blessed this summer with special young people and they will be sorely missed when they leave us.

Tuesday evening, I sneaked into a meeting with John, Tania and our plumber, Jim Bevel. Jim and his company continues to be such a blessing to our community. Even though Ms Lisa has received funds for plumbing work in the center, Jim has never taken a dime for all the work he has done. And Tuesday as they were discussing plans for our new kitchen, Jim says, God is good. I just obtained a new vent hood, I just got a new dishwasher, I have these steel tables, we need to use here! I was trying to be diplomatic and not jump up and down, but inside I was screaming God is good, God is good! Amazing things are happening and continue to happen!

Wednesday for our supper, we changed up our pattern of doing things a little. We asked the folks, once they finished their meal, to go through the clothing room first and then go by and get their grocery bags and then head out the door. We opened the food pantry room as soon as we started our meal allowing folks to come and go as they pleased. Allison was in the food pantry room and everything seem to flow much better. We had the blessing of having some youth, their pastor and the pastor of Clearview Church join us for our meal. They got their early enough to help pack the grocery bags, then helped us serve and then helped with the clean up. Great group of young people, hoping we will see more of them. Also on Wednesday, Ms Lisa had our first "Ask the Lawyer" session for the community. There were a few takers and I think more will come as they become more familiar with our community.

Thursday evening, we had leftovers. Not a big fan of leftovers but Momma T was not there due to Weekend of the Cross activities, so we were stuck! Beth, Charley, Hat, Dr Phil, William, and James endured the meal. Lauren joined us as we started reading Chapter 5 of Acts. More reading about the Spirit. The first part was about, what would happen to you if you lie to the Holy Spirit. God being God, offers you to come clean if you make mistakes, but He will judge you if you continue to lie or your heart is not in the right place. We read about how the Holy Spirit could not be silenced, even to a point where the disciples were transformed from a jail cell to the court yard sharing the Good News. And then we read one of Dr Phil's favorite passages, 38 & 39, if the work is of man it will come to nothing, but if it is of God you can't overthrow it. God is bigger than any of us and if He wants it to happen it will.

I reflected back over that last night and early this morning. I met with a new friend from a church in Bossier, who is bringing a mens group to us to help out. I was talking and showing him around and saying, it is happening, maybe not as fast as mr brian wants it but it is happening. This gentleman spoke up and said, you have come a long way in just a year! I stopped talking and started thinking, wow, it has just been a year! I had not realized that or even thought about that! It has just been a year, we were given the building. We are now feeding, teaching, learning, cooking, laughing, praying in a building that did not exist a year ago! mr brian wants things to happen yesterday, but God is providing a place for us in His time and man is His timing awesome!

Also, I get the feeling, we need to take a breath, maybe slow down, appreciate from where we have come from, appreciate God's amazing blessings for our community. Listen to each other, get to know our neighbors. Maybe when groups ask what can we do for us, maybe say, come walk with us, meet our neighbors? I don't know what is in store for us, but if it is of God, then amazing things will happen. God's way will not be over thrown. His Kingdom will be glorified. Wouldn't it be awesome for our community to be a part of this? Wow!

Don't forget, Friday (today) and Saturday, we will be hosting a feeding site for the Weekend of the Cross participants. Mr Tom will have all the food and drink, we just need to come and help serve it. The children will be hot and tired, so the more we can do for them, it will be appreciated. They should be arriving around noon on both days. It won't take long to serve and clean up, maybe an hour at the most, so come if you can. The children and their leaders will appreciate it.

Prayer concerns. Lomax and his grandparents. Lomax has been spending most of his time with them this week. I have not talked to Lomax, but those that have, said his grand father is not doing well. Lomax, please let us know if there something we can do for you.

Ms Sarah asked for prayers for all who are involved with Weekend of the Cross. This is a weekend of youth from all over the state, that comes here to paint, clean up houses around Shreveport. Ms Sarah asked for prayers of safety and health as the youth do all of this out in the hot summer temperatures. Prayers for Ms Sarah who is one of the leaders this year and to Momma T who is one of the site leaders.

Prayers for Beth as she struggles with life issues. Prayers for Charley as he begins preparation of another Kairos weekend in September. And a praise report, William is 3 weeks sober and feeling good. Prayers for Gus as he travels back home, in preparation of moving to Longview.

Thank you all for being such loyal and faithful servants. You all have such unique and special gifts and helping others is what you all are about. May we continue to be about God and not about ourselves and enjoy the many blessings God will bring to us. A special lvoe to you all, you deserve it. Amen and Amen!

2011-07-22T19:52:00.001-07:00

Hope all of you had a great week, with many joys and blessings, and the challenges were met with the help of the Holy Spirit.

We can start off this note with remembering our breakfast buffet last Saturday, yummy. All sorts of good food, cooked by all sorts of good help, was enjoyed by all sorts of good folks. Momma T had the help of a group of young people from Alexandria from the Horseshoe United Methodist Church. They were friends of Ms Ellen and were visiting with us. After they finished cooking and eating! they joined us for our visits. Always good to have new faces to introduce them to our old friends. One of the highlights of our breakfast was enjoying the peaches picked from our tree. First fruits of the Cedar Grove peach orchard! Maybe Ms Patty we can do something about expanding our orchard of one tree!?

On our first stop, the only person at the gas station, was a long time friend of ours and Issidor, Daniel. I told Daniel, I will let Izzy know you are in town. We met Robert shortly after that and he traveled with us the rest of the morning. We visited the Bridge boys camp. It had been awhile since we were there and found Carl relaxing in their living room! They had couches, chairs, ice chest full of ice and waters and the entire area carpeted! I mentioned to Carl, they may need a vacuum cleaner next! Carl said he was trying to get an apartment this week and that would only leave Mike there. We will go by this week to see if Mike is there? Pulled into our Hamilton stop and there was already a long line of folks. Too many to name, too many to feed and clothe. Icee Joe did the best he could but it was more than we could handle. Where are all the agencies that are there for the guys? Something is not happening, that should?

As I was returning the van to the church, I rounded the corner behind the center and there was Izzy sitting outside. I had already forgotten to tell him about Daniel, so what a "coincidence" Izzy was there. I stopped the van and told Izzy, Daniel is under the bridge and wants to visit with you. Izzy couldn't get out of his chair fast enough and say can you take me? I said, I can take you to him but don't have time to pick you back up later? Izzy said, no, no, no, we have to go get him out of this hot weather! I need to bring him here! The thought never entered my mind, but that was all Izzy was concerned about. His friend needed his help and he was going to do whatever it took to get him out of the heat. Izzy said he had been down to the bridge several times last week but could not find his friend. I showed him a different spot and there was Daniel, laying under the bridge, trying to survive. We put Daniel in the van and took him to Izzy's house. Dr Phil said, it was great to see two old friends sitting under the shade of trees, enjoying their time together. An example of our community.

Gus, Ms Abbie and myself had the pleasure of attending worship time at Brookwood Saturday night. Always a blessing to experience the gifts of one of own, Spencer as he shares his talents with us. Can't wait to hear him in our chapel one evening!? An example of God expanding His Kingdom in our community.

Summer Camp continues to be a blessing to all who come and all who are helping out. Monday was roller skating time! Did not notice and crutches needed as they got out of the vans! The interns have added to the staff this week and what a blessing it has been. Two of the older boys, long time friends of ours, have become helpers, staffers, leaders in camp. A great role model for the younger children to see members of community stepping up. A big thanks go out to our interns for allowing the Spirit to flow through you to expand the Kingdom of God. Wow, another example of our community.

Monday evening, we had a huge group of middle schoolers from Grace Avenue Methodist church, somewhere in Texas move into the warehouse and have been working at the center for three days. With the help of Gus, Ms Sarah and others, they have done all sorts of things around the center. Everyday I would come into the center and I would see changes. It is awesome we have become a place where young people can come and experience community. Another example of our community.

We had a group of volunteers from CASA have their monthly meeting at the center. Ms Lisa shared our story with them and then took them around the center. They work with children like our who have challenges in their little lives, helping them along the way to make better choices. Hopefully we can work together in some way so that all children will have a chance to make a difference.

We had a nice group of folks from Calvary Baptist church join us Wednesday evening for our meal. They helped serve the meal, pass the plates, fill up the cups and visit with the folks. Hopefully they will come back for another visit. We did have another one of those moments, we do not like to experience, but we did. Not sure what happened but two ladies standing in line to get groceries, started yelling at each other. With the help of David McCormick, we moved them outside and the confrontation continued for a few minutes more. Thankfully, nothing happened more than verbal words back and forth but it was not pleasant to see. Many folks were upset at this happening, I heard comments like, isn't this church? We are all supposed to be respectful of each other, at least here? Why do they have to act like that?

None of us like to see this type of behavior, but it just reinforces to me, why it is so important for our community to be here. Life is messy, life is hard. Our community faces challenges everyday of abuse, neglect, anger, frustration. When you are in the streets, it gets messy. We have to learn it will be hard at times, things will not go smoothly all the time, but that should not discourage us. We are not in this journey alone, God is there. If we are not there, who will be? The next day, thinking back on what we saw and experienced, a thought came to me, how can we get those two ladies to Ms Tywana's Bible class on Monday night? An example of our community.

We had a big group sitting around our tables Thursday evening, well I should say we had a big group at the start! We lost some of our interns along the way due to exhaustion from summer camp activities! Henry, Hat, Charley, Beth, James, Lauren, Joey, Dr Phil, Allison, Kelli, Byron, William, and Chuck were there at various times of the evening. Don't ask Henry what we talked about, he slept through the evening! We finished up Chapter 3 and also chapter 4 of Acts. Boldness of the Holy Spirit is what comes to mind about our discussions. Peter preaching before all the people, not worrying about the consequences. Where did his boldness come from? Not too long ago, Peter denied Jesus not once, not twice but three times and in a few shorts months, he was preaching the Good News, bringing 5000 into the new Kingdom, being arrested, not succumbing to the wishes of the leaders of the church, but only concerned about spreading the Good News! How awesome is that. Many times we pray, asking for guidance, for faith, for boldness as long as it fits into our box, but what happens if God says, go and visit those who have no homes, feed my sheep, clothe the naked, welcome strangers into your home, share your story, are we willing to step out, willing to be persecuted, willing to lvoe others in way that society will say, that is strange?An example of what our community is all about.

Gus will be busy again this week! We have another group of young people coming from Duncanville, Texas. Allison and I don't know where that is, so someone help us out? In fact, I think we have folks coming just about every week for the next several weeks. Ms Lisa and Mr Scott are working on a calendar and will have it up and running soon.

Prayer concerns from Thursday evening. Lauren asked prayers for her brother, Taylor as he leaves with her in a couple of weeks for his freshman year at the University of Arkansas. Lauren will be a senior!

prayers for Ms Sarah, Momma T and the other leaders of Weekend of the Cross. We will need help serving some of the teams, next Friday and Saturday, 29th and 30th. Need to be at the center kitchen around 11:30 each day as they start arriving to help serve a meal prepared by Mr Tom.

Mr Brian and the interns will be serving hamburgers and hot dogs to the VBS group at Grace Saturday night. Help is needed. We will start cooking around 4 and serving at 5:30 at the YMCA camp next to Grace.

prayers for Lomax, and his grandparents. When Lomax is not working, helping with camp, he makes a run over to Center, to help with his grand father and supporting his grandmother. Tough times when illness hits a family, especially the elderly.

prayers for Kelli and her granddaddy, Mac. He is going through health issues. Also for Kelli as the challenges of life become stressful.

Another example of our community. One that is willing to pray, one that is willing to listen, one that is concerned for others.

What does your weekend look like? Enjoy the blessings God has for each of you. Each one of your are special, unique, awesome followers of God. He is doing special things through you. Another example of our community. I am blessed beyond words to be a part of our community. Amen.

2011-07-15T06:32:00.001-07:00

Hope you all had a great week. mr brian was doing good Thursday night making notes of our conversations around the table of the week, but being mr brian, he forgot his notes at the center, so please feel free to fill in all the left out items!

We can start off from last Friday and Saturday. Gus and I met a group of youngsters from across Texas as they came together to share their time with us. I left Gus in charge for the two days and he did a great job. We started off with 8 young people, but as the day went on Saturday, more and more groups showed up. The biggest task was the painting of the walls in the chapel. It was completed and looks great. Some painting was done outside on the breezeway. Thanks Gus for being there.

Sunday afternoon was the Women's Tea Party hosted by Kelli and her sister Molly. I asked one of the ladies Wednesday about her time with them and Ms Betty said she had a great time.

Sunday evening, the Board met to talk about where Common Ground is going. Mr Scott led the discussions on our various ministries and what we felt Common Ground should be doing. When some of us met Cassie from The Hub, the first thing she asked, where is your ministry focused? Good question and one that led most of our discussions for the evening.

The Wednesday meal will continue but maybe look different in the future? Maybe change to another day? Thinking back over the years, can't tell you how many folks wanted to help or be a part of our meal, but their church obligations prevented them from helping out. Don't really remember why we chose Wednesday other than that was the only night we were not doing something?

With the chapel coming back to it's glory, chapel time will become a part of our meals. How that looks and who leads it was discussed. Several years ago, while we were still in the building, the chapel was left open most all day. Several of us would start our days there, in prayer, in silence. mr brian mentioned he would like to see the door never locked once they are opened?

Our outdoor friends visits were discussed. Most of those who participate on Saturdays, do not like the way we have become a traveling road store. There is a need for helping the guys on the weekends, but we have been trying to come up with a way to do that? With Cassie's offer of opening up the "new" Basement on the weekends, that may be a way to solve our situation? I emailed Cassie further about this possibility and she is all for it. She would like to meet with us to discuss how they handle situations but other than that she is welcoming us. Be thinking of someone who might like to lead this new adventure? Our young people continue to visit during the week and for those of us who would like to go, we would have that opportunity.

One of our main topics, was how do we become more involved in our neighborhood? Once the "new" Basement is open on Saturdays, that would free us to begin to visits with our neighbors on Saturday mornings. Several different organizations are beginning to move into our neighborhood and we need to be a part of that and lead the way for a better community. When the neighborhood needs help, they need to know Common Ground is for them and will do whatever we can to help them out. One of our challenges, is a lot of the neighborhood does not know us but they know the building and the hurt feelings they experienced there in the past. We need to let them know, we are different, we are there for them, we are there to lvoe.

We were challenged to bring new people to our community and see what we are doing. Will you help us in this challenge?

We will come together next month and talk more about where Common Ground is going. Please send emails to Ms Lisa of your thoughts and dreams for our community.

Thanks to Allison, we began our name tags for our Wednesday meals. I walked around meeting folks and putting names to faces, it was great. I told the folks, my challenge is for me to write their name on a tag as they walk through the doors! One of our children, took some of the name tags and starting "working" the room also. It was good to see. Ms Sarah asked some of the adults to help, but got no response? Several of the children jumped in and helped Michele wash the dishes, clean the tables and chairs, very, very heart warming to see.

We had two members from Clearview church come and helped serve the juice. We hope to develop a relationship with them and see where things may go?

On Thursday, John Sauls and Momma T met with Lee, our design person about the kitchen update. Lots of good ideas were flowing. excited to see it come to fruition.

Thursday, we had a big crowd around the table for supper and Bible study. Curtis, James, William, Henry, Macy, Ellen, Charley, Beth, Hat, Momma T and Joey. Hat provided the salad, Brookshires provided the chicken and Momma T provided the dessert. We started reading Acts 2: 42 and the first part of Chapter 3. We read about the disciples forming a family of believers, giving what they had to those in need. Gathering around the table after going to church. And God blessing them by bringing more followers. Questions were asked, where did we get off tract? Worshiping traditions instead of God. Serving ourselves instead of others. Becoming independent instead of dependent on community. And how do we get back on tract?

Just as we were talking about family and community, we had one of those God "coincidences". Dr Phil walks in with most of his children and their significant others. Matt from the Rutba house in North Carolina and his girl friend, Philip and his community friends from San Antonio, and Charlotte from France and her boy friend from ? It was great to see his children together and reminded us, how important family is and should be in our relationships with others. Also, I think it is Dr Phil's birthday today!!

Following our discussions, Joey led our saying of goodbye to one of our college family members. Macy will be in another camp next week and then begin training for resident hall leader as she prepares for her last year of college. It has been great to have you with us this summer Macy. Your smile, your compassion, your calming presence, your lvoe for our children has been an inspiration to us all. Thank you so much for being a part of our summer.

Guess who we found as we were leaving the center Thursday night? Our Lomy was standing outside! looking as lost as ever! It was great to see him. Can't wait to hear about his adventures.

Got of phone call from one of family members who is a member of Brookwood. Really got several phone calls over the weekend, but since I was out of town, did not call him back until Sunday evening. Don't want to say too much yet, but they are planning a unique, special event for our community for the fall. It will be a good way for us to begin our presents felt in the neighborhood.

Also, Ms Abbie and I are planning to take Gus to experience Brookwood's Saturday night worship time this weekend. Worship time starts at 6pm. Spencer will be playing. Come and hear what we maybe able to hear on a regular basis?

One more note on Brookwood. Got an email saying they are starting back the Second Saturday work days and we will again be one of their sites. They will begin coming back in August on the 13th.

Gus applied for a full tenure professorship position at Kilgore Jr College last week. They called him back for a second interview and to show them his teaching techniques. Not sure he was able to get in the car before they called him and offered him the position! Congratulations Gus or I should say Professor Gus! Now we will have him just 45 minutes away! Awesome!

Ellen is having some of her friends from Alexandria join us this weekend. They will be here working around the center. Come by and visit with them.

This Saturday is our breakfast morning. Biscuits, gravy, bacon, scrambled eggs, coffee are on the menu. Come and join us at 9am in the center.

Prayer concerns. Ellen's brother is a Boy Scout camp in New Mexico called Philmont. My son went there and what an experience it is. They hike for two weeks, carrying everything on their backs, food, water, tents.

Prayers Kelli for travels home. Mary not feeling well. Blessings for Krysten making it home safely. Prayers for our children in the neighborhood. Tootie Rootie cried for 45 minutes on Ellen's lap Thursday afternoon. Worm was not herself. We have no idea what is going on in their little lives, what they are having to deal with, it is such a tragedy for children to deal with such drama in their little lives. Prayers for Charley as the doctors try to determine what is going on with him. Prayers for all who are dealing with this oppressive heat and not being able to get any relief from it.

I know I left out things that happened through the week. So much going on and more exciting news in the future. I think back on what we read in our study, God blessed the disciples as they continued in God's plan bringing more and more followers to them. As we continue to talk about the direction of where Common Ground is going, as long as we stay focused on God's plan for us, He will provide, He will bring those who need to be here, He will provide a way. We need to be obedient, we need to pray, we need to be faithful, we need to be patient and we will get to experience the amazing majesty of God.

Hope you all have a great weekend and an even better week. See you Saturday morning. Amen.

mr brian's blog

2011-07-08T06:13:00.001-07:00

Just beginning to send out our weekly note and read Dr Phil's heart of what we, Common Ground needs to be about. Very well said Dr Phil and really, not more needs to be said. So I will update our busy week.

Can I have an Amen! The chapel ceiling is painted! Thank God for John Sauls, his patience and fortitude, as he dealt with mechanical difficulties, poor lighting, lack of good help to accomplish what is the beginning of the restoration of our chapel. It is gorgeous. Please excuse the left over red film over everything! The red haze even reached the air conditioning unit on the roof! At some point, a comment was made, I wonder if Michangelo had this much trouble painting the Sistine Chapel? I just know, it is pretty, worthy of a painting or something?

Mr Scott and his group got back early from their Saturday visits. After meeting record numbers last week, being the first of the month, we guess the guys were else where? No major problems were reported from our friends.

Sunday, Lomax, Anna and the rest of the group left for Haiti. No one has heard from Lomax, but Allison reported reading on a blog, ever so often the group has to stop what they are doing and go find our Lomy! He has a tendency to wander off? Can't imagine that! Must be looking for a Starbucks?

Sunday afternoon, several of us had the pleasure to meet with Cassie, Tina and Terry from the Hub. Not sure how to describe our meeting other than to say, it was awesome. These young ladies are examples of it is not about us but about others. Cassie offered us to partner with them in anything we might feel led to do. She said, you want to use our place on the weekends, here's the keys! I was sharing with some of the guys, after our talk with them, a huge burden seem to lift from my shoulders. We are not in this alone but God is bringing others to walk together in the building of God's Kingdom.

As I was leaving the center Tuesday evening, gentlemen who do not get enough credit for all they have done for us, showed up with pipe, wire, and determination. John Williams and John Sauls armed with drills and curving equipment worked until 8:30 to run wiring for the dryer. Another example of people, who without fan fare or notoriety go about what they feel God is leading them to do and using their skills and gifts to accomplish it. Thank you so much guys for your hearts and willingness to serve others.

Another huge crowd on Wednesday. We had a lady from First Methodist make our entree and served over 100 plates, until it was all gone. I tried to work in the kitchen but Michele Sauls would not let me, so I stayed in the dining hall visiting with the folks. It was great. Next week, Allison and I will try to start making name tags for everybody so mr brian can start to remember their names.

Went by early the center early Thursday morning to get a sander from Gus and he said, I want to show you something? He took me into his, I mean adult room and my first thought was wow. He has transformed a sterile environment into something homy, comfortable and calming. I didn't want to leave! Curtains, pictures, plants all come together to make a special place. There is still more work left but what a transformation is happening. Please go by and enjoy the room and let know Gus know how much we appreciate all his hard work.

Thursday was an unusual day at summer camp. As Joey said, only God could have accomplished the miracle that happened. Beth was unavailable to come and led the field trip to Sci-port. I suggested earlier in the day, postpone the event until another time. But how do you tell the children, who have looked forward to the trip all summer long, we can't go? So the interns, came together, prayed, brain stormed, discussed and end the end, made the trip and it was one of the best outings ever. Thank you guys for allowing God to work through each one of you and share His lvoe with our children. Another God thing happened Thursday, with Beth and Charley gone, there was no one there to fix lunch before the field trip. Jalissia came and jumped right in and fed all the children and then she was a group leader for some of the children. Amazing to see God's work first hand.

We had a great Bible study Thursday night. Lots of good food as always from Momma T. Eggplant casserole was prepared, thanks to our garden, salad and a yummy dessert. We had a good group, James, William, Joey, Hat, Krysten, Alli, Mary, Dr Phil, Allison, Beth and Ellen.
Following our supper, we moved into our study of Acts reading chapter 2. Talking aobut the Holy Spirit coming down on all those who had gathered in Jerusalem. Wouldn't it be nice if that same Spirit could somehow invoct the same fire in the hearts today? And we talked about Peter, who 40 days earlier, still did not "get" it but when the Holy Spirit entered him, he became bold, compassionate, knowledgeable about his new found faith. Do people see that same fire in us?

Prayers for Charley Ackerman, Alli's sister, Molly as she travels here, Ellen's grandfather, William, James looking for employment, Momma T's mom and dad, travel mercies for Dr Phil's children as they travel here to be with him, Krysten for life decisions and the direction God is leading her, travels for Allison and John as they travel to Colorado, and mr brian as he sneaks away for a golfing weekend with his son and high school friends.

Joys were expressed by Ellen as she shared what God is doing in a camp she has been a part of from the beginning. Allison shared with us she has decided to begin the journey of becoming a pastor. We were excited and told her she already has a ministry to lead!

We will have a group of children working at the center all day Friday and half a day Saturday. They will be painting the chapel walls. Please go by and let them know how much we appreciate their hard work.

Dr Phil brought us all Common Prayer devotional books. Pretty cool realizing, when I do my devotional, each one of you will be doing the same thing!

This Sunday at 5pm, the Board will come together to begin the process of decerning what God is placing on our hearts for Common Ground. Everybody is welcomed to join in, not sure there will be time for everybody to talk? but your presents will be welcomed. If you would like to send Ms Lisa, your thoughts, dreams, of what Common Ground has meant to you and where you would like us to go, please send her an email.

Thank you all for being who you are and allowing the majesty of God's awesome power to work through you. Amazing things are happening. Amen.

God's Plan Friday July 1st

2011-07-05T13:40:00.000-07:00

Where to begin? Not sure how to let you all know what is happening around our community?

We can start off with visiting our largest number of outdoor friends on Saturday! Mr Scott and Dr Phil led the expedition as they made their first stop in Stonewall to visit Catfish. He seems to be doing fine, lives in a trailer with electricity, his dogs and chicken! Can't believe the chicken is still alive! Making the drive down to Stonewall put our group later than usual to our downtown stops and everybody was waiting on them. I think Mr Scott said there was 28 friends at the Hamilton stop! Wiped out everything from the van which left very little for the Labor Ready stop. We understand Richard is in the hospital and will be transferred to a nursing home from there? We had a new visitor with us. The new associate pastor of Grace, Chuck Christensen. He has a heart for the least of them and wants to get more involved with us in this area.

Had another great week of summer camp. For those of us at our Thursday night meeting, we received a newsletter about summer camp, complete with pictures. Ms Beth, can someone scan the newsletter and send it out to our group next week? I did get to see some of the left over plastic from Tuesday's water day! Ms Beth posted pictures of the afternoon. Thursday, they went on a field trip to Gators and Friends. To my knowledge, all children made it back, with no lost of hands or fingers! Next week, the field trip will be to Sci-Port. Attendance has reached the maximum with more children wanting to come and be a part of the camp. That is a blessing and also a challenge. Some discussions are gong on, on how to allow more children to become a part of the camp. Again, a great job is being done by our interns and Ms Beth. Thank you all.

Tuesday evening, Gus prepared a meal, and most of the interns, along with Pastor Chuck visited the camps. My heart is so joyful at the thought of these young people taking time to spend it with the least of them. Amazing folks we have.

Wednesday was another recorded breaking crowd at our meal. At 4:45, I said to Mr Tom, we sure have a lot of spaghetti to eat for the rest of the week? Well, by 5:30, we ran out! Joey and Lomax, continue to provide a Bible study time for the children. Allison, did a great job of putting puzzles together with the children. Ellen and her friend Matt, worked math problems on the board. Lots going on Wednesdays and if you are looking for something to do, we could use your help. As I was leaving our meal, several ladies of the community were in the garden picking vegetables, very cool. Thank you Ms Patty and Momma T for your time and lvoe of plants.

Thursday evening, we had a board meeting. I will admit, it is not my favorite part of being in a community, but it has to happen to make things go. It is good to get together to hear from others, their thoughts and ideas. When you see Ms Lisa's two page agenda, you can see how much is going on and the challenges we face. If you would like to read what happened at the board meeting, Amanda takes great notes and will have them ready for review shortly. I will say, everybody is welcomed to join us during our time together, there is no secret hand shake or pass word needed to get in, just your caring heart.

This is a secret, so don't tell anybody, but one of our interns has applied for a job in East Texas for the fall! His pastor and friend, has moved to Longview and there was an opening for a teaching position at Kilgore Jr College. He applied and ended up with two other offers! The interviewing process is still on going, so no decision has been made yet by the college. He wants to start a homeless ministry in Longview and on weekends, he wants to come back and visit us. We are so excited! Remember, this is a secret!

There is a group of young people from various Methodist churches from Texas coming July 8 & 9. They are being housed at Noel and will be doing projects around town. One site will be us. The coordinator will be here this week, seeing what we have. I will meet with them and show them the chapel, with hopes they can paint the walls? Unfortunately, I will be out of town that weekend, so will need someone to oversee them and help out?

Don't forget, this Sunday, at 5pm, Cassie and the Hub community will meet us at the center and talk about our hopes and dreams and how we can work together. I know a lot of you will be gone or busy with holiday activities, but if you can come, please do so. I need to email Cassie to be sure she is coming? If something happens and she can't, I will send out an email.

Also, this weekend, we will have a special friend joining us for a visit? It's been awhile since she has been with us and we are so excited to have her around the community. Please come by and welcome Krysten while she is here!

We talked a little at the board meeting about where is Common Ground going? We tabled the discussions for a later time, but got me to thinking. So much is going on in and around our community, all of it is good, but are we "doing" too much? Each one of us has passions for lvoing others, it is hard for us to say no, but are we doing a disservice to those who we see each week by spreading ourselves too thin? Ms Lisa found a book about non profits and the growing pains experienced by them. She said, she was reading one chapter and she thought she was reading about common ground!

One of my desires is to know everybody's name who we see each week at our meals and try to know their stories. A gentleman walked up to me this past week and he told me his story of needing an extension chord because his electricity had been turned off. I did not know his name, but he comes every week. I should have told him to go to the Catholic Services office at St Catherienes but I didn't think of it at the time and now I have no idea where he lives or how to get in touch with him? We visit, 41 guys on a Saturday in a span of 3 hours, not having a clue who most of them are? We use to go around to the different camps, sit down on buckets or bridge posts and visit, hear their stories and get to know the guys a little, now we are a rolling van store.

I have told Mr Scott, just tell the guys we are stopping these handouts. I do that and don't go. It easy to say stop, when you do not have to look them in their sweaty eyes, drenched shirts and say, we are not coming back. None of us can do that. It breaks our hearts. It is not about us, but about others.

The interns are struggling with how to say no to children. The word is getting out on the streets, there is something going on at this strange building, the children want to experience this unique lvoe, but there is no room in the inn! How can we say no or sorry or we can't do it? We are not made this way. How can God's Kingdom grow if we are forced to say no? It is not about us, but about others.

What if one of the guys we visited on Saturday was Jesus? What if one of the children was Jesus? and we turned them away? It is not about us, but about others.

We talked about spending money on the kitchen, to get it up to code. I told the LANO folks a month ago, we are not spending your money so we can have a nice kitchen, but we want a kitchen where we can train chefs, train waitresses so our community can go out and find jobs. It is not about us but others.

Our task at hand is to figure out, how to make this work? God has a plan. God continues to bless us because we have stayed in His will, followed His path. I believe, these challenges are being created so we can stretch our faith, think outside the box, come up with new and exciting plans. God is bringing new servants to our community to provide a way we can meet these challenges, we need to use those who He is bringing.

Continue to pray, continue to seek His will, continue to dream, continue to support each other, continue to lvoe and all things will be done. I have no doubt about that. I continue to check my patience at the door, remembering from where He has brought me in just a few short years. He can do the same for all of us and our community.

I don't want us to stress over all of these moments, but to enjoy the blessings. We have so much to be thankful for. Enjoy the times we have, the people we meet, the challenges we experience. We have been praying for many years to see what we are experiencing at the moment, a community center for God's people. Now we need to pray for guidance as we get to experience the growing of God's Kingdom.

Please have a safe and happy 4th this weekend. Be careful with those firecrackers! See you around the community. Amen.