The little things

Let the flooding begin! I guess it won't be as bad as Noah had to face, but . . . With all the rain in our part of the country, the river that runs through Shreveport is overflowing it's banks. Please pray for those who are having to move out of their houses and dealing with this disaster.

With me out of town, this past weekend can't report on our Saturday activities. Others will have to fill in the blanks. I do know, the basketball team is in a SPAR league, that plays most of it's games late at night. The City is trying to give the boys a place to go that is safe and a place where the boys can get off the streets. I know they had a game Monday night. Matt and Vikki are doing their part by being there for the boys.

Tuesday evening, the men gathered for Bible fellowship. Always a good time to hear what God is up to in the men's lives. It is a time where men, who may not have a place to go, can come, eat and be welcomed to share their stories.

Wednesday evening, Lisa had a Board meeting. Lots going on in our community. We were introduced to a new ministry partner, KC and the Geaux Bags partnership. KC provides bags filled with the essentials to families who are sheltering children displaced from an abusive situation. She has served over 900 children these past two years. She has a great story and a huge heart for the children.

Our summer interns will be arriving this week, with our orientation taking place, next Friday and Saturday mornings. Then camp will start the following Monday, June 15th. Camp will start with lunch at 12:30 prepared by Ms Abbie and Peaches. Activities will start at 1 going through 4, Monday through Thursday. Most Thursdays, the children will go a field trip. The Bright House will house the boys. Bright House III will house the girls. Exciting times, new relationships being formed, lives changed. You are always welcomed to come by and join in on the fun and magic that will be happening.

Shannon shared a new idea of filling our Food Market, "Adapt an item". Your Sunday school class, small group, work, adopts a food item like a can of beans, corn, peanut butter, whatever, each time you gather as a group, you bring your food item with you! Isn't that cool! Start it with your group and report on how it goes.

Shannon and Vikki talked a little about their visit with a community in Detroit, Cass. This community is always on the lookout for things that will help their community. Their community needed jobs, so they created two unique opportunities for them, picking up old tires and shredding papers. Started very simple and now has grown into big businesses. The key, is to just do it, start small and see where God leads you.

We have another new partnership as a part of our community. Shannon will now be employed by a counseling service called Family Plus. They will be housed in the Friendship room during their sessions. Another tool for our community in helping them cope with their environment.

The Board was presented with two new ideas. One for the potential funding of the restoration of the two story and the other a church family adapting the Bright House II. Please put these two proposals on your prayer list and let's see what God can do! Very exciting!

Thursday afternoon our youth group from Luke Simpson showed up and got started right away in helping us out. They attended chapel hosted by Ms Abbie and Joey. Then they helped with the meal provide by First Methodist, served, cleaned up, were shoppers in our Market, and played with the children. A great night for everybody. It was also great to see our long time friend and almost official minister, Allison Thursday evening.

Allison is back in town, about to be ordain as a Methodist minister. Her ceremony will be at First Methodist church, Monday night at 7:30. Please come and cheer her on!

Joey's birthday is today! He has been with us for 8 years. Can't imagine our community without Joey's heart and prayers for our community. Please stop for a moment and send our Joey a note. And as he told me this morning, it is also National Doughnut Day! Doesn't get any better than that.

Prayers for our community, that we stay focused on God's direction in our lives and the lives of our community. Prayers for Ginellen as she meets with her doctor Tuesday afternoon to determine the next course of action for her.

We heard a story at our Board meeting that brought tears to our eyes. A person, who was down and needed help, was  told they couldn't get food because they didn't have all the paperwork needed at a food bank in town. They were very discouraged, distraught, filled with fear and anxiety, overwhelmed with emotion, came to us and was treated with respect, lvoe and went away with everything she needed. Now back on their feet, never forgetting what they received from us, wants to give back to us for our kindness.

We did nothing special. Offered them some food, a lvoing hug, treated them as a person, not an object, and they went away with a new self esteem of them self. It is the simple things in life, that often has the greatest impact on people. Always showing God's lvoe and spirit in our every day lives will have the greatest impact on God's Kingdom.

It is hard sometimes to feel lvoing when your world is crashing around you, but that is when God's light and mercy needs to shine the brightest. Your smile, an extra spoonful of food, a new shirt off the rack, a cup of coffee in the mornings, helping a friend shop, all makes a difference. We may never see the impact of our actions, but that is ok, that is not our job. Our job is to lvoe, plant the seed and let God take over. Amen.

Let us be able this week to show God's lvoe in the simple things we do each day and brighten someone's life tomorrow. Have a great week. All the time, God is good!