Saturday was busy as usual. Visits, hammering, planting, playing, cooking, eating, laughing, crying, sorting, cleaning, hugging can be found in and around our next of the woods. Won't you come and join in next week? So much to do and so little time to do it! All for the glory of God, because He is so good!
Not sure I like our afternoon school children not being around. The place is way too quiet! Lisa, Joey, Bryce and Emily are gearing up for our summer camp opening, so our quiet times will soon come to an end! Please let these folks know if you would like to be a part of the fun, guaranteed to change your life! Ask any of our summer interns from years past!
Tuesday evening was also quiet, with an unusual absence of most of our men. That won't last long as we will gather again this Tuesday. Men, if you are looking for a place to talk about what God is doing in your life, please join us at 6:30 in the chapel.
We had a nice visit with one of our original community members this week. Dr Phil was in town to visit family and attend a wedding for one of their children in Oklahoma. Grant is getting married! Dr Phil is doing well, going to school in Colorado, learning all sorts of things about God through scripture, traveling to visit his family all across the country. He is working on a new project, we all may get to enjoy in the coming months?!
Wednesday evening, our Board met. First time for me to be in awhile. So much going on, it is hard to catch a breath. The Give for Good numbers are in and we were blessed to recieve around $8000 in donations! Is God good or what! Many plans are in the works for more of God's blessings for the community. We are beginning to again get requests for youth groups to visit us this summer, such a blessing. There are challenges ahead, but the Board is coming together to meet those challenges and move along the path God is creating for them.
Thursday evening was a blessing for us all. We had our long time pastor friend, Pastor Eddie come by to share the Word. Ms Abbie and a long time friend Pop led us in song. Allison and Outdoor Joey prepared our tater tot casseroles and Mary brought our salad and dessert. Lots of help serving and cleaning up, helping our community shop in the Market and clothing room, a good evening.
Thursday evening, our young family, David and Elizabeth McCormick were commissioned by the Methodist Global Ministries to become missionaries to Africa. David will become Hospital Administrator of Chicuque Rural Hospital, Mozambique. Elizabeth will be the pharmacist for Chicuque Rural Hospital. Can you imagine the stories they will have when they return. We hate to loose them, but so excited for their new adventures God has planned for them.
Prayers for our longtime friend William. Joey went to be with him at the nursing home for family night. Joey was told William has gone back to a treatment center. William has come a long way from his addictions, but he is still fighting them. Prayers for one of our pastors, Willie. He has been sick for the past couple of months, weak and run down. They are trying to build up his strength for an upcoming surgery. Prayers for Joe Barefield. He cut his leg really bad and needs prayers for his recovery of the wound. Prayers for one of outdoor friends Robert. He did not have surgery because the doctors determined his body is too run down. Robert said to us, I guess I will just wait around until I die. Prayers for our new old friend Jim C. He had hand surgery this week. I told him Thursday, I guess we won't be able to understand a word he says with only one hand to tell us what you are saying!
I was reminded this week of how good God is. We get so busy doing God's work, we sometimes forget to stop and listen. The work is good work, but our relationships are more important. I typed into my search engine for my Bible app, God is good. Psalm 73:1 says, Surely God is good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart. 1 Timothy 4:4, For everything God created is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving. Genesis 1:31, God saw all that he had made, and it was very good.
God doesn't make junk. God made us in His image. We all have a purpose. We all are important to Him. We all are lvoed by Him. Everything belongs to God, everything. God has a plan for us, for our community, for our city, for our nation. It is up to us to determine how we fit into that plan. God's plan will get done whether we do it or not. His Kingdom will be built. God's Kingdom gets built by His servants. His Spirit works in and through us to bring about the grace He shares with us all.
For all these years in our community, we have tried to follow God's direction. When God is ready for us to take the next step, He puts people in our lives to make it happen. He continues to bless our community to this very day. I hear stories from Jim and John in their journey to resurrect the Bright House II about how they have a need for a carpenter, a tile setter, a craftsman and magically they appear! Of course we know where the magic comes from!
This week, with the rising temperatures, one of our houses air conditioning went out. A new friend of our community just so happens to be a repairman on a/c units! Guess who we called! They take time out of their busy schedules, after hours, time away from their families, to help us out. You don't find that kind of compassion outside of God's Kingdom.
Over and over you hear stories of people coming to the center, or seeing our basketball team, or learning of our outdoor friends visits, tutoring in the afternoons, summer camps for the children, chapel time, our Market, clothing room, resurrecting a house. People are move by what they see or hear or experience. It is all of you, allowing the Holy Spirit to work in and through you that creates such a community. Is all about God, working in your hearts, enabling you to show the lvoe, not seen in many places.
Be aware of who God is bringing to us. Stop what you are doing, sit down and visit with them. Listen to their hearts, hear their voices. It will make our next steps, so much easier and so many will be blessed! It is all about working together, listening to each other, learning from one another that will allow us to continue this magnificent journey we are on. Amen!
Have a blessed week. God is so good, isn't He!
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