With most of us at our Board retreat Saturday, not much else was going on. Scott made the visits as usual. I got a call from one of the guys who has just moved inside. They called to ask us if we would meet them back at their old camp. I thought the worse and asked why? He said, some friends were passing through and they wanted to be with them while they were in town. Isn't that nice?! Each camp always ask about my wife and how she is doing. When we pray, they always say a prayer for my wife. I am humbled by their hearts. People who have no material possessions, are treated with very little respect by society, prays for my wife!
Monday and Wednesdays are becoming a special time as we get to know our new children. We have a big yellow school bus that drops them off at 3 and picks them back up at 5. Monday as we were standing outside watching the bus pull away, the children waved to us all! We have lots of help, but could always use more. Join us for some great learning experiences.
Lauren and Chanel met with the young ladies Monday afternoon as they begin their journeys together into life and community. They are about to begin a journey that will change the way our young ladies look at their lives and what will be expected of them as they grow up. Please pray for this group as the Spirit of God will need to present to help in this journey.
Tuesday evening men's Bible fellowship was led by Pastor Albert. He read from Mark chapter 11: 22-25. We need our chapel back, the room is getting too small for the group! We talked about forgiveness, faith, and prayers. All important in our walks.
Unfortunately I was unable to be at our meal Thursday, so others will have to let us know what happened. Our young friends from First Methodist will be playing for the last time for awhile. Heather is about to give birth to their first child. In fact, next month the first Thursday of November, their time with us, is their due date. I asked Heather, to bring her over night bag, sing for us and then go to the hospital! I don't think they liked that idea!
Prayers for my wife, Ginellen. We knew her surgery was complicated but had no idea what all was involved. She was experiencing some unusual pain and discomfort so she called her doctor Thursday afternoon. The doctor said to bear with the healing process and things would get better! He might have to do another smaller procedure down the road, but nothing can be done at this point. Prayers for Joey as he will be leaving us next week. What a leap of faith Joey is taking as he feels the calling of God to go back to the Philippines and share God's lvoe with others. Prayers for God's direction in our community. We have lots of challenges and blessings ahead, may we be worthy of them all as we follow the will of God.
Next Tuesday evening, the Community Men's Bible Fellowship will be hosting National Night Out. One of our men of the community wanted to do it, which is awesome. His wife will walk the neighborhood and hand out flyers on Saturday.Very cool. Neighbors taking pride in the neighborhood!
The Board met last Saturday and talked, laughed, cried, and dreamed about the future of Common Ground. Lisa had a hand out of everything God has done through us this past year. 7500 meals, handed out 4000 grocery bags, touching over 1200 people's lives! Folks, that is amazing! With just a handful of servants, God is busy in our community! Lisa will supply us with the meat and potatoes of our time together, vision, mission statement, core beliefs.
The highlight of the day for me, was hearing from everybody "why" do we do what we do? Some of the comments were, blessings we receive, teaches obedience, building relationships, family, giving back, asked by others, reconciliation, encouraging, providing opportunities, a different place. All meaningful and uplifting to see and hear from the hearts of our leaders.
In Mark 11 chapter 11, verse 22, Jesus tells his disciples, Have faith in God. Then Jesus talks about talking to the mountain to move into the sea or to ask God in prayer and believe you have received it and go to God in prayer to forgive.
Don't know what mountains you have before you, but have faith God will move them for you. How many times do we go to God asking for help and then go about our business, not waiting for God to help us out. Have faith. Faith doesn't happen over night, it takes time. Our mountain before us, didn't happen over night, usually it took us time to get in the predicament we are in. Have faith God will deliver us.
Verse 25 God will help us to forgive those who have wronged us. It is not in our nature to forgive and forget. It is in God's. It is our job to go to God and ask Him to give us the strength to forgive. The greatest release of anger I have ever experienced, was to go to God in prayer and start praying for my enemy. When we hold on to that anger, lvoe has a hard time finding a spot in our hearts.
Jesus saying, Have faith in God. Jesus knew where his strength came from do we? Jesus went to God when he needed to feed 5000, when he needed to heal, when he needed to teach, when he needed to die. Have faith in God. Have faith God will bring us through our storms. He will if we let Him.
As we begin to talk about our directions for Common Ground, we need to have faith in God. It is all about God, not about us. This is God's Kingdom, not ours. It is not about us asking God for directions we want to go, it is about us following God's directions, leading us to places we have never dreamed of! May we have that kind of faith that will believe our mountains will move into to the sea! Amen!
Get ready for the cooler weather, the fall colors and the many blessings God has for you. What a special week ahead!
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