We had good visits with our friends last Saturday. It was the coldest Saturday of the year so far. Cold temperatures and the kind of wind that blew right through you. Hot chocolate was a hit. Turner was inside his boxes when we arrived, trying to stay warm. Richard was sitting in his chair all covered up. It was not cold enough for us to get to listen to two of Richard's stories, though! William and Robert were hanging in there. Smokey met us downstairs, with lots of stories from his adventures working at the VA hospital.
Mr Matt dropped Tim and Gus off, as they began their adventure of living in the woods for a week. Gus could have not picked a worse week, the bitter cold temperatures and all the rain. Gus has posted some of their adventures on Face book.
Karl was again busy at "his" Bright House II. Karl has taken down some walls to open up some of the rooms and just about ready for to begin insulation and the sheet rock work. We are waiting on God to provide us with a new roof to plug up some of the holes we have. Can't wait to see what God has in store for this house.
Have asked Karl to move across the street to the center next Saturday, so we can begin the task of putting up the new sheet rock and repairing all the water damage.
Robert seems to have taken up residence on Saturdays in the Friendship room. When I arrive, he is already washing his clothes. We make a pot of coffee for him and he is good to go. One of Robert's assignments each week now is to put down all the chairs in the Fellowship hall. He also washes our towels from the past week. He is a big help around the center now. Usually you will Joey hanging out with him at some point in the day.
Tim and Gus picked up Dale from the hospital Saturday evening. Dale was in no condition to fight the cold weather, so the folks at the Bright House opened up their hearts and let Dale stay there. Got to see Dale Monday and he looked ok, still very weak. Tim has found a place for Dale to move to for awhile until he can find a more permanent situation for Dale.
With school out again this week, no children activities around the center.
Continued prayers for Ms Abbie and Mr Joe. Both are doing better, but still a long road to go. Every time I go by to visit, I see Joe but not Abbie, she is always resting. That is a good thing. Continue to keep Ms Sarah in your prayers. She made it to Haiti and has begun her new job. Lots of challenges ahead for her and your prayers will be needed. The Bollingers are still in need of your prayers. As Ms Hat shared Thursday, William is struggling with life and needs prayers. Hat needs prayer for healing. Prayers for those who are traveling, Joey is in New Orleans serving the Lord, the return of Wes, Ms Lisa and her family as they take a much deserved vacation. Prayers for Momma T. Lots going on in her life, most of it not good. Several deaths in her extended family. Good news, her dad is doing better. Prayers for Heather, Derrick and Richard. They help us on the first Thursdays in chapel and were all sick this week.
Not sure how to explain Thursday. Got a call from Joey earlier in the day, saying our family would not be coming to chapel because of bad colds. So immediately, mr brian begins to worry, what do we do for chapel? Instead of putting my trust in the Lord, I panick! I send a text to Mr Matt asking if he would say a few words. Not hearing right back from him, my anxiety grows. The devil has me going thinking, he is out of town, or he can not be there or he does not have the time. A few minutes later Matt texts me back and says, yes no problem! Thank you Lord.
Ok, with that crisis over, I begin to worry about the music. Who should I call? Is there anybody available? What are we going to do? With my stomach in knots, I think to myself, we have a Methodist hymnal, maybe I could talk to Ms Dorothy and ask her to sing a song from the hymnal. So I get to the center, find the hymnal and find Ms Dorothy.
Ms Dorothy is sitting at one of the tables wrapping the napkins around the forks, has been at the center since 1, no one there, but sitting outside in the cold waiting until some one shows up. Goes into the food pantry and makes 70 bags of groceries, goes into the kitchen and makes Koolaid and now wrapping the forks! I tell Ms Dorothy, our musical team will not be there, would you be willing sing a song or two from the hymnal. I start going through the hymnal and picking out songs I know and she says mr brian, never heard that one or that one, you sing them. I stammered and said, that's not going to happen! Then Ms Dorothy says, mr brian, I'll just sing the songs I know, the folks know them, they can sing a long and everything will be alright. Thank you Lord.
As we welcome the folks into chapel, Ms Diane, who cleans up around the center for us, comes to me and says, I don't normally stand up before folks, but I want to pray for us, so mr brian sat down sat down and shut up. What a chapel we had, Ms Dorothy singing her heart out, as the congregation joined in. Ms Diane prayed like no one has ever had, Mr Matt shares the Word about breaking barriers and allowing God to bless us as we move forward, what a chapel. Thank you Lord.
As we were leaving chapel, Tim comes up to me and says, mr brian I have this idea. Tim wants to go to all the churches who are a part of our community and get them to help donate food to our pantry. I said great idea Tim, but I would like to see you go one step further, tell your story to the churches. Go to Roger and ask him about donating food but also ask Roger, mr brian wants me to tell my story, could I? Watch out Roger, Tim is coming! Wow, someone who we have visited on Saturdays for all these years, turned over his life to Christ and is on fire for the Holy Spirit! Thank you Lord.
Our Thursday meal was taken care of by TJ, Heather and their family of girls. What a blessing to see the little ones, running around the center in their hula hoops, laughing, fussing, and blessing us all, while mom and dad prepared our meal of spaghetti, green beans and salad. Thank you Lord.
As I get to the fellowship hall, to be sure everything is alright, of course it is, I see Ms Abbie's family serving our meal. There was Punkin, Dominique, Henry, Peaches serving up the meal. What a treat to see that. Then Ms Dawn and I relieved them and they went into the food pantry to help Momma T pass out the groceries. Thank you Lord.
As Ms Dawn, Dr Phil, Mr Scott and I were sitting down enjoying the meal, Ms Dawn says to me, look at that nice young man over there cleaning the tables. That nice young man was one of Ms Diane's sons. I use to pick up Diane's three boys when they were about CJ's age. Always a hand full. A few moments later, as the Mitchell crew were making their usual noises, Andre goes over to them and ask them to be quieter. Then a few moments later, he goes over to Big Man and starts talking to him about his behavior. As I was sitting there, waiting on Andre and his mom to finish their chores, Andre comes over to me and says, thank you mr brian for being there for me so long ago. It was great to see, a young man, nicely dressed, going to college to try and break the cycle of poverty for him and his family, taking ownership of the evening and helping out. Thank you Lord.
We sometimes get caught up in the numbers. I know my pride does. How many were in chapel, how many did you feed, how many grocery bags did you hand out, how many did you visit, how many came to church, how big is the budget, how tall is the steeple. Thursday night reminded me again, it is not about the numbers it is about the relationships. Last week, Pastor Eddie had a young lady come up front and turn her life over to Christ. I said to Pastor Eddie, it all starts with one. Mr Matt talked about how God will bless our paths if we just take that step to get to know each other, one person at a time. Our relationship with Ms Abbie has led us to her children being a part of our community. Helping one of our little ones, now grown, is helping others. Visiting our outdoor friends, leads to a man turning his life over to Christ and becoming a crusader for the homeless. Patience, persistence, obedience, faith is all God is asking of us, He will do the rest. Will you join us in this exciting journey? Thank you Lord. Amen!
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