Christian by choice

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Have a great week. Amen.