We were in a serious drought, this year, but reading an article in the newspaper this week, we were only down 5 inches with all the rain we have had this winter. I suspect with the rain this week we should be pretty close to normal. Our winter this year has not been cold but it has been wet. Hope everybody has had a good week.
We had a great Saturday last week. So much going on. We had a husband wife team from Brookwood join us. He painted while the wife hung clothes. We had a Life group from Brookwood join us on our outdoor friends visits. They made goody boxes for all the guys and they went with us to distribute them. We had a group of students from LSUS join us for our visits. And we had a student from La Tech come and got to experience our time together with our friends.
Momma T and Ms Patty, with the help of Joey rounded up transportation and took some of our children to the Walter B Jacobs nature trail and park for U2 Saturday. Ms Lisa took lots of great pictures of their time together and have put them on Face book.
Monday - Wednesday, the rain came with the cold weather, so we did not have many children. For those that did, some did homework while others watched movies. It is great our young adults can adjust to whatever obstacles are thrown at them.
Tuesday evening, our circle of men continues to grow. More new faces and some faces we have missed seeing were there. Matt led us in reading from Proverbs, asking, how do we stay on the path God has laid out for us. How does sin enter into it and how do we overcome our sin. Lots of good discussions about how God has made a difference in our lives.
We have been very fortunate with all this rain, not to have any roof leaks. Well, our good luck has run out and we are experiencing a new leak in the fellowship hall. John is working with our roofer to see if it can be repaired without a major expense. Ms Lisa, has reminded me, prayers are needed for a financial blessing to help us with our roof repair and maintenance. Please add that to your prayer list.
Thursday was full of activity as always. We had another new group prepare our meal. A family from Brookwood prepared spaghetti and helped serve it. Delicious. Lots of new faces. Lots of old friends coming together. Ms Abbie and her crew serving the meal, working in the clothing room and then handing out our grocery bags. What a blessing to see it all happening, working together.
After our meal, we gathered in the chapel and had our Bible fellowship. Lomax led our study, in the reading of the first three chapters of Revelation. One of his favorite passages. The chapters are letters from John to seven churches telling them what they need to do before Christ returns. Some were doing good at the beginning but have lost their way, forgotten their first love, now worshiping new idols. Some have become lukewarm in their faith. Others were allowing Satan to live in their churches, folowing false prophets. Other churches were looking like a church, but were really dead. Good conversations, about how our churches today would react if we got one of these letters. Does Common Ground look alive but really is it dead? Are we lukewarm in our faith? Do we worship the wrong gods? Tough questions to ask, good questions to think about.
Prayers were lifted up for Lomy. His last night with us for a couple of months. He will be leaving Tuesday on his journey. mr brian has asked him, told him, demanded him to send us updates as much as he can so we know he is safe. Prayers for William. He had a good check up this week and he wanted us to know, he got the good report because of the prayers of his church family. Jonathan, a friend of Dawn's struggling with life issues and how to deal with those challenges. Our friends who live outside and their efforts to make changes in their lives. Our family who are struggling with relationships, dealing with the challenges of how to overcome them.
Don't forget, this Saturday is our monthly breakfast. Momma T will need help in the kitchen starting at 8. If you can't get there by 8, we will begin serving around 9. Biscuits, eggs, bacon, hot coffee and good conversations will be happening. Hope you can come.
What is God up to? There have been discussions among ourselves about various dreams and thoughts about where God is leading us. God continues to bless us with the opportunities to share our dreams with others. Then they begin to dream and great ideas begin to flow. We continue to have groups from across the state come and experience our little part of God's Kingdom. We continue to be asked to speak to civic groups and Sunday school classes. We have young adults, searching for God's direction in their lives, ask to come and live and be a part of our community. So what is God up to? God gives us a building beyond what we could ever expect or pay for and challenges us to use it for His Kingdom. He brings people into our lives that challenges us to our very core and asks us to lvoe them like He lvoes us. Why, for what reason? God sends us a Pastor of a church down the street and wants to work with us to feed the children this summer. The obstacles, our challenges, those relationships, we all go through them, have to face them, learn to let go of them, try to go to God with them. Why? Why can't we live on the mountaintops all the time and not have to endure the valleys? God what are you up to? God continues to send us followers, ragamuffins, who have the same heart as ours, wanting to serve others, why?
What is God up to? I have no idea, and to be honest, I don't want to know. I don't think I could handle it. Might even scare me to death and my flesh would say, don't try it, you can't do it. God continues to work on me to be faithful, obedient, persevere and my least favorite word to have patience. God doesn't show me the answers because He knows, I will mess it up. If we say, God is control, then we need to let Him control. He brings to us those who will make His Kingdom grow. All of you have been so faithful to allow Him to use you to make our community sustainable.
This is only the beginning. I do know, God has big plans for this community. We are about to experience something that we have only dreamed about. God is preparing a way for our community to make real changes in all our lives. Relationships, caring, compassion, lvoing will take on a new meaning. How exciting to be a part of all of this. Thank you for being who you are. God is good! Amen.
Friday, February 17, 2012
Friday, February 10, 2012
Stomping around
How was your week? What special blessings did God share with you?
Last Saturday, we had a big group visiting our friends. At one of our stops, a new friend Pat was having problems, so Mr Scott put him in the van and took him to the hospital. Turner is still looking for a new camp. We are trying to come up with places for him. As Dawn said, God will provide. You just never know what drama you will experience each week, isn't it cool to be a part of their lives.
Ms Abbie, Joey and mr brian went to Ms Ruby's funeral Saturday morning. The funeral home was packed with friends and family. Great talks were given by various preachers, some we will invite to speak to us in the coming months. Ms Ruby's pastor said about Ms Ruby, I noticed a change in her in the last several months. She started going to church to bring her grandson who was having trouble. When her grandson stop going, Ms Ruby went by herself. The pastor said, he started seeing Ms Ruby smiling all the time. He said, God has got hold of her heart. Wouldn't that be a nice way for folks to speak about us, smiling all the time, saying, God has got a hold on their hearts.
Ms Sarah and Mr Scott along with Krysten, were in the last hours of their 30 hour famine with the youth, joined us at the center. They worked in the garden, cleaned up around the center and gave our hallway a nice new coat of paint. The hallway looks great, gives a fresh feeling when you walk into the center. Thank you guys so much.
Afternoon activities continue to go along, spending time inside the center or like Wednesday, with the afternoon feeling more like spring time than winter time, we spent the afternoon playing football and games. Great to see our young adults leading the way as they continue their relationships with our community children.
Another blessed evening on Tuesday, as Matt led our men's Bible fellowship. Noel brought Catfish and Smokey for the first time. Never know what God will do, if you let go and let Him lead. We talked about letting go, letting God lead our lives. Serving, not for the recognition but for God. Trying to get past our egos and our pride and letting the Holy Spirit fill our souls.
Thursday was full of activities at our meal time. We had the blessing of Summer Grove Baptist group hosting our meal. It was great to have them. The food was delicious. We also had a group of young people from various churches, working out of Broadmoor Baptist, called Stomp, perform for us. It was funny as the young people were bringing in their trash cans, ladders, paint buckets, one of the Summer Grove men came up to us and said, looks like you guys are fixing to do some serious painting! Told him, no, this stuff is their musical instruments. Ms Lisa has already posted some pictures, I took some video and will try to get them posted this weekend. In between each song, the young people would share their testimony about what God has done in their lives. One young person shared, we see these containers as trash, God sees them as treasures. Another said, what we throw away, God uses for His glory. Amazing young people. It was great to see our children interacting with the Stomp youth as they were leaving. Hopefully this is only the beginning of a new relationship.
We celebrated Lomax's birthday in the chapel following our meal. Unlike Allison's blaze of candle's, Joey lite just two of them for his 26 years. We talked about his trip, leaving in a couple of weeks. If you have any family members in the California area, email Lomax with the information. He will be returning the end of April, so he can travel with the Yellow House group as they make their way to Haiti in May.
We had a small number Thursday evening, and ended up we talked about everything. I thought, man we can get away early tonight, but as we talked and shared, looked down at my watch and it was 8pm! We talked about Sinotra. He is not in school. On probation. Not doing good. How do we help? We talked about jobs for our community. But not just jobs, but how do we minister to the whole spirit of a person. We talked about our favorite books of the Bible. How some are harder to read than others, but Joey shared, a lot depends on where you are at personally as you read them and remembering it was written for the people many, many years ago. Dr Phil said, it is amazing how those stories were written for the people so many years ago, but they still apply to us today. It was a good evening.
Prayers were lifted up for Beth's neighbor. Prayers for U2 Saturday, as Momma T and Dr Phil will take the group to an outdoor park. Prayers for William. He was having heart attack problems Tuesday evening but would not go to the hospital. He was doing better Wednesday but still reluctant to go. Prayers for William, for God to fill up his heart with joy and peace, not leaving room for addictions. Prayers for Hat's back.
We have several groups coming to the center this Saturday. Brookwood will be joining us. A life group from Brookwood will also be coming to go with us on our visits. They have been making care bags for our friends and want to meet them. We have another group from LSUS coming. They came a month or so ago, and have more young people who want to join in. We also have a student from Louisiana Tech who will be joining us. Lots happening, very exciting.
John Sauls assumed his duties at the sink Thursday evening. We talked about the upcoming kitchen do over. It is close to beginning. Plans are at the final stop where the permits will be approved. Equipment is purchased, companies are lined up, we are close. Patience, patience, patience.
Dr Phil and his crew are having the same issues of permits and zoning approvals for his community village. You take one step forward and two other obstacles stand in your way. If we were trying to do this ourselves, the obstacles would seem too large. But we are not in this by ourselves, God is in charge, God has people who deal with these challenges and we move forward. How does it go, "with a little faith, I can move mountains". Another example of mountains being moved in order for the Kingdom to be built.
So cool to experience all of what God is doing in our little community. We have youth groups writing to us asking to come this summer. We have young adults sending in applications to come and experience community. We have new ideas and dreams coming to us everyday, challenging us to follow His path. We have new groups joining us every weekend, wanting to experience God's blessings. We have come so far, but we have so far to go. We are just at the beginning of what God has in store for us. It is so exciting to think about the possibilities of tomorrow. Thank you all for allowing God to work through you to get us where we are today. Thank you all for allowing God to work through you tomorrow to expand the Kingdom of God here on earth. God is sooo good!.
Have a great weekend with your family and friends. Hope you can join us around the center next week. Amen and amen.
Last Saturday, we had a big group visiting our friends. At one of our stops, a new friend Pat was having problems, so Mr Scott put him in the van and took him to the hospital. Turner is still looking for a new camp. We are trying to come up with places for him. As Dawn said, God will provide. You just never know what drama you will experience each week, isn't it cool to be a part of their lives.
Ms Abbie, Joey and mr brian went to Ms Ruby's funeral Saturday morning. The funeral home was packed with friends and family. Great talks were given by various preachers, some we will invite to speak to us in the coming months. Ms Ruby's pastor said about Ms Ruby, I noticed a change in her in the last several months. She started going to church to bring her grandson who was having trouble. When her grandson stop going, Ms Ruby went by herself. The pastor said, he started seeing Ms Ruby smiling all the time. He said, God has got hold of her heart. Wouldn't that be a nice way for folks to speak about us, smiling all the time, saying, God has got a hold on their hearts.
Ms Sarah and Mr Scott along with Krysten, were in the last hours of their 30 hour famine with the youth, joined us at the center. They worked in the garden, cleaned up around the center and gave our hallway a nice new coat of paint. The hallway looks great, gives a fresh feeling when you walk into the center. Thank you guys so much.
Afternoon activities continue to go along, spending time inside the center or like Wednesday, with the afternoon feeling more like spring time than winter time, we spent the afternoon playing football and games. Great to see our young adults leading the way as they continue their relationships with our community children.
Another blessed evening on Tuesday, as Matt led our men's Bible fellowship. Noel brought Catfish and Smokey for the first time. Never know what God will do, if you let go and let Him lead. We talked about letting go, letting God lead our lives. Serving, not for the recognition but for God. Trying to get past our egos and our pride and letting the Holy Spirit fill our souls.
Thursday was full of activities at our meal time. We had the blessing of Summer Grove Baptist group hosting our meal. It was great to have them. The food was delicious. We also had a group of young people from various churches, working out of Broadmoor Baptist, called Stomp, perform for us. It was funny as the young people were bringing in their trash cans, ladders, paint buckets, one of the Summer Grove men came up to us and said, looks like you guys are fixing to do some serious painting! Told him, no, this stuff is their musical instruments. Ms Lisa has already posted some pictures, I took some video and will try to get them posted this weekend. In between each song, the young people would share their testimony about what God has done in their lives. One young person shared, we see these containers as trash, God sees them as treasures. Another said, what we throw away, God uses for His glory. Amazing young people. It was great to see our children interacting with the Stomp youth as they were leaving. Hopefully this is only the beginning of a new relationship.
We celebrated Lomax's birthday in the chapel following our meal. Unlike Allison's blaze of candle's, Joey lite just two of them for his 26 years. We talked about his trip, leaving in a couple of weeks. If you have any family members in the California area, email Lomax with the information. He will be returning the end of April, so he can travel with the Yellow House group as they make their way to Haiti in May.
We had a small number Thursday evening, and ended up we talked about everything. I thought, man we can get away early tonight, but as we talked and shared, looked down at my watch and it was 8pm! We talked about Sinotra. He is not in school. On probation. Not doing good. How do we help? We talked about jobs for our community. But not just jobs, but how do we minister to the whole spirit of a person. We talked about our favorite books of the Bible. How some are harder to read than others, but Joey shared, a lot depends on where you are at personally as you read them and remembering it was written for the people many, many years ago. Dr Phil said, it is amazing how those stories were written for the people so many years ago, but they still apply to us today. It was a good evening.
Prayers were lifted up for Beth's neighbor. Prayers for U2 Saturday, as Momma T and Dr Phil will take the group to an outdoor park. Prayers for William. He was having heart attack problems Tuesday evening but would not go to the hospital. He was doing better Wednesday but still reluctant to go. Prayers for William, for God to fill up his heart with joy and peace, not leaving room for addictions. Prayers for Hat's back.
We have several groups coming to the center this Saturday. Brookwood will be joining us. A life group from Brookwood will also be coming to go with us on our visits. They have been making care bags for our friends and want to meet them. We have another group from LSUS coming. They came a month or so ago, and have more young people who want to join in. We also have a student from Louisiana Tech who will be joining us. Lots happening, very exciting.
John Sauls assumed his duties at the sink Thursday evening. We talked about the upcoming kitchen do over. It is close to beginning. Plans are at the final stop where the permits will be approved. Equipment is purchased, companies are lined up, we are close. Patience, patience, patience.
Dr Phil and his crew are having the same issues of permits and zoning approvals for his community village. You take one step forward and two other obstacles stand in your way. If we were trying to do this ourselves, the obstacles would seem too large. But we are not in this by ourselves, God is in charge, God has people who deal with these challenges and we move forward. How does it go, "with a little faith, I can move mountains". Another example of mountains being moved in order for the Kingdom to be built.
So cool to experience all of what God is doing in our little community. We have youth groups writing to us asking to come this summer. We have young adults sending in applications to come and experience community. We have new ideas and dreams coming to us everyday, challenging us to follow His path. We have new groups joining us every weekend, wanting to experience God's blessings. We have come so far, but we have so far to go. We are just at the beginning of what God has in store for us. It is so exciting to think about the possibilities of tomorrow. Thank you all for allowing God to work through you to get us where we are today. Thank you all for allowing God to work through you tomorrow to expand the Kingdom of God here on earth. God is sooo good!.
Have a great weekend with your family and friends. Hope you can join us around the center next week. Amen and amen.
Friday, February 3, 2012
Living
We have completed the first month of the new year. Wow, did we breathe, did we get a chance to enjoy it?
We had a special time with our new friends from First Methodist Church, Crowley, Louisiana last weeken. I think Krysten said there were 26 including the youth and their leaders. They arrived around noon on Friday. Mr Scott L got them settled in at the Warehouse and then took them over to the center, where Krysten led the show. They worked tirelessly until supper and then came back Saturday morning for more. Momma T, Krysten, Lomax and others fixed a yummy breakfast of pancakes and bacon for them as they started their day.
The leaders wanted all the youth to go with us on our outdoor visits, so they loaded up their bus and followed Mr Scott and others in the van. What a treat to expose the young people to a life where our friends live without walls. Leroy was at Smokey's camp and showed them some of his creations. The kids loved his art and bought all he had. As we were leaving, the children asked if they could take pictures with each of the guys. You should have seen the tears of joy coming from the children and leaders as they were sad to leave their new found friends.
The group worked all day Saturday until we concluded with a gathering in the chapel. Gus had pulled in to pick up his group for his supper, so we asked him if he would share his story with the youth. He did and the tears began to flow. Krysten got up and shared her story and more tears. Michelle and Pat were there and shared their story about the New Room, emotions welled up in all, Ms Patty shared her story about the garden and where God is leading her, Momma T told us what she felt about adults. Our chapel time was not planned but we just allowed the Holy Spirit to flow. What an uplifting time for all. My soul was filled with God's special lvoe.
Our community is growing up. Monday, we had a situation that needed to be taken care of concerning some of the children. Another learning experience for both. Krysten led the discussions and the young adults, who are leading our afternoon activities, got together and shared what needed to be done and it was taken care of. Great job and reassuring to know our afternoon times with the children are in good hands. Wednesday's weather was so pretty, we stayed outside, played kick ball, walked Ralph and played games, very nice.
Monday afternoon, I met with Pete to talk about our chapel times. Lots of great thoughts and exciting possibilities in our future. Ms Abbie and her pastor will led our chapel time in February. Ms Dorothy and her pastor will led us in March.
Tuesday evening was again another blessing to be a part of our men's Bible fellowship. Matt reads, asks a question and off we go. What is so great about our gatherings, is each man is feeling more comfortable with each other and they are beginning to share what is on their hearts. We come from different backgrounds, so it is great to hear and learn from each other. Great discussions started from what a neighborhood friend shared about the flesh and the soul.
Wednesday evening, Joey and I went out to the New Room for a visit. Pat had called, asking us if we wanted to share in a blessing. He had backpacks full of stuff someone had donated for our outdoor friends. It was good to see some old friends and meet new ones. We talked to Michelle and Pastor Chuck about the camps and how we can work together to be sure everybody is looked after.
Ms Abbie told us Wednesday, Ms Ruby Horton's funeral will be this Saturday at 11am at the Patterson Funeral Home. The funeral home is located at 1220 North Herne Ave. Ms Abbie, Joey and I will meet at the center around 10:30 if any of you would like to join us. Ms Ruby has been a friend of ours for many years. She was one of the first to be a part of our community. She was always helping out. Her health had been declining for several months but she still came over to the center when she was able to get out. Her smile and special heart will be missed.
Did not think we had a big crowd Thursday for supper, but Krysten said we fed over 80 people. They were slow arriving. Someone mentioned they might have thought we changed our time to 5:30. Last week with chapel we did, so need to remind the folks we still serve at our regular time. Had some new friends show up and helped serve. Some old friends wash the dishes. We got some coffee mugs from Pastor Rich and his company, so everybody got a new coffee mug along with their groceries. Mr Scott got some grapefruit from the Food Bank, so the bags were fuller than usual.
Joey hosted our time together Thursday night, allowing us to sit in silence as he read the Lord's prayer, with other versus telling us about the uniqueness of our God. We all have a tendency to talk too much, to ramble on about what we think about things, not allowing God to be heard. Having a time where we said nothing, listening to God's words about how to live our lives, was awesome and inspiring. Thank you Joey for allowing God to use you and being the kind of prayer warrior we need.
Prayer concerns. Byron asked for prayers for his family here in town and in New Orleans. James' mom in her upcoming knee surgery. One of Dr Phil's daughters, Charlotte. She is back in the states for a month making plans for her future. William to denia the temptations of addictions during the first of the month. Prayers for our nation as God seems to be taking a back seat and sin is becoming more and more prevelant. Prayers for Ms Sarah and Mr Scott as they lead their youth this weekend in the 30 hours of famine. Prayers for Beth's step mother.
Prayers were lifted up for Lomax. Joey read a note from Lomax, telling us about his upcoming bicycle trip. Lomax will be leaving February 21st, on a bus to California and then riding up the west coast. Very excited for Lomax. If you have any family or friends in that area, let Lomax know, he will need places to stay. What stories he will have to share when he gets back.
As I talked with the leaders of our Crowley group, I began to realize how special and unique this place is, we call Common Ground. Often when you live day to day and are living a life devoted to God's will, you don't feel any different. It is who you are. This community is different and special because you have allowed God to work through you and you have touched other lives. Krysten said, the time she spent here several years ago, changed her life. Now she realizes, it was not this place, but it was God working through us, that changed her life. This community is living, breathing, constantly changing, just like a baby. Every day is different, every day presents a challenge, every day has a blessing. Speaking for me, I am very selfish and I need these experiences in my life. To see children run up to you, giving big hugs are a blessing. To see our community come on Thursdays, proud to wear their new common ground shirts is uplifting. Taking our community home, picking them up for activities is special.
Seeing new friends experience what we do every day, seeing the tears of joy and excitement is overwhelming.
This community is unique because you allow God to work through you. It is not about us as individuals but about God as a Body. We may think we know how things should be done, but God has His way. We are allowing God's ways to flow through us, not ours. I am realizing, in the end, if we live a life following God's will isn't it better! If I take me out of the picture and put God in the picture, then things seem to flow better and living takes on a whole new meaning. We don't have time to worry about our problems because God needs His Kingdom to be built. Living a life for God is one where blessings flow and amazing things happen.
Let's start this week, living a life where God's will is how we do things. Let's start this week by being quiet and listening for God's voice. As we heard last night, in the silence of prayer and meditation, God is there for us, we don't have to go looking around the corner, go read a book, He is there, He is in our hearts, we just have welcome Him in.
Have a great weekend. Have a great week. Amen.
We had a special time with our new friends from First Methodist Church, Crowley, Louisiana last weeken. I think Krysten said there were 26 including the youth and their leaders. They arrived around noon on Friday. Mr Scott L got them settled in at the Warehouse and then took them over to the center, where Krysten led the show. They worked tirelessly until supper and then came back Saturday morning for more. Momma T, Krysten, Lomax and others fixed a yummy breakfast of pancakes and bacon for them as they started their day.
The leaders wanted all the youth to go with us on our outdoor visits, so they loaded up their bus and followed Mr Scott and others in the van. What a treat to expose the young people to a life where our friends live without walls. Leroy was at Smokey's camp and showed them some of his creations. The kids loved his art and bought all he had. As we were leaving, the children asked if they could take pictures with each of the guys. You should have seen the tears of joy coming from the children and leaders as they were sad to leave their new found friends.
The group worked all day Saturday until we concluded with a gathering in the chapel. Gus had pulled in to pick up his group for his supper, so we asked him if he would share his story with the youth. He did and the tears began to flow. Krysten got up and shared her story and more tears. Michelle and Pat were there and shared their story about the New Room, emotions welled up in all, Ms Patty shared her story about the garden and where God is leading her, Momma T told us what she felt about adults. Our chapel time was not planned but we just allowed the Holy Spirit to flow. What an uplifting time for all. My soul was filled with God's special lvoe.
Our community is growing up. Monday, we had a situation that needed to be taken care of concerning some of the children. Another learning experience for both. Krysten led the discussions and the young adults, who are leading our afternoon activities, got together and shared what needed to be done and it was taken care of. Great job and reassuring to know our afternoon times with the children are in good hands. Wednesday's weather was so pretty, we stayed outside, played kick ball, walked Ralph and played games, very nice.
Monday afternoon, I met with Pete to talk about our chapel times. Lots of great thoughts and exciting possibilities in our future. Ms Abbie and her pastor will led our chapel time in February. Ms Dorothy and her pastor will led us in March.
Tuesday evening was again another blessing to be a part of our men's Bible fellowship. Matt reads, asks a question and off we go. What is so great about our gatherings, is each man is feeling more comfortable with each other and they are beginning to share what is on their hearts. We come from different backgrounds, so it is great to hear and learn from each other. Great discussions started from what a neighborhood friend shared about the flesh and the soul.
Wednesday evening, Joey and I went out to the New Room for a visit. Pat had called, asking us if we wanted to share in a blessing. He had backpacks full of stuff someone had donated for our outdoor friends. It was good to see some old friends and meet new ones. We talked to Michelle and Pastor Chuck about the camps and how we can work together to be sure everybody is looked after.
Ms Abbie told us Wednesday, Ms Ruby Horton's funeral will be this Saturday at 11am at the Patterson Funeral Home. The funeral home is located at 1220 North Herne Ave. Ms Abbie, Joey and I will meet at the center around 10:30 if any of you would like to join us. Ms Ruby has been a friend of ours for many years. She was one of the first to be a part of our community. She was always helping out. Her health had been declining for several months but she still came over to the center when she was able to get out. Her smile and special heart will be missed.
Did not think we had a big crowd Thursday for supper, but Krysten said we fed over 80 people. They were slow arriving. Someone mentioned they might have thought we changed our time to 5:30. Last week with chapel we did, so need to remind the folks we still serve at our regular time. Had some new friends show up and helped serve. Some old friends wash the dishes. We got some coffee mugs from Pastor Rich and his company, so everybody got a new coffee mug along with their groceries. Mr Scott got some grapefruit from the Food Bank, so the bags were fuller than usual.
Joey hosted our time together Thursday night, allowing us to sit in silence as he read the Lord's prayer, with other versus telling us about the uniqueness of our God. We all have a tendency to talk too much, to ramble on about what we think about things, not allowing God to be heard. Having a time where we said nothing, listening to God's words about how to live our lives, was awesome and inspiring. Thank you Joey for allowing God to use you and being the kind of prayer warrior we need.
Prayer concerns. Byron asked for prayers for his family here in town and in New Orleans. James' mom in her upcoming knee surgery. One of Dr Phil's daughters, Charlotte. She is back in the states for a month making plans for her future. William to denia the temptations of addictions during the first of the month. Prayers for our nation as God seems to be taking a back seat and sin is becoming more and more prevelant. Prayers for Ms Sarah and Mr Scott as they lead their youth this weekend in the 30 hours of famine. Prayers for Beth's step mother.
Prayers were lifted up for Lomax. Joey read a note from Lomax, telling us about his upcoming bicycle trip. Lomax will be leaving February 21st, on a bus to California and then riding up the west coast. Very excited for Lomax. If you have any family or friends in that area, let Lomax know, he will need places to stay. What stories he will have to share when he gets back.
As I talked with the leaders of our Crowley group, I began to realize how special and unique this place is, we call Common Ground. Often when you live day to day and are living a life devoted to God's will, you don't feel any different. It is who you are. This community is different and special because you have allowed God to work through you and you have touched other lives. Krysten said, the time she spent here several years ago, changed her life. Now she realizes, it was not this place, but it was God working through us, that changed her life. This community is living, breathing, constantly changing, just like a baby. Every day is different, every day presents a challenge, every day has a blessing. Speaking for me, I am very selfish and I need these experiences in my life. To see children run up to you, giving big hugs are a blessing. To see our community come on Thursdays, proud to wear their new common ground shirts is uplifting. Taking our community home, picking them up for activities is special.
Seeing new friends experience what we do every day, seeing the tears of joy and excitement is overwhelming.
This community is unique because you allow God to work through you. It is not about us as individuals but about God as a Body. We may think we know how things should be done, but God has His way. We are allowing God's ways to flow through us, not ours. I am realizing, in the end, if we live a life following God's will isn't it better! If I take me out of the picture and put God in the picture, then things seem to flow better and living takes on a whole new meaning. We don't have time to worry about our problems because God needs His Kingdom to be built. Living a life for God is one where blessings flow and amazing things happen.
Let's start this week, living a life where God's will is how we do things. Let's start this week by being quiet and listening for God's voice. As we heard last night, in the silence of prayer and meditation, God is there for us, we don't have to go looking around the corner, go read a book, He is there, He is in our hearts, we just have welcome Him in.
Have a great weekend. Have a great week. Amen.
Friday, January 27, 2012
Life
What a great week we had. Hope yours was as good. Is time flying by for you? Here it is the end of the month, seems like it was just New Years!
We continue to make adjustments with the children in the afternoons to make tutoring more meaningful. Conversations going on about new and exciting dreams on how we can improve our times together. It began to rain hard Tuesday afternoon. One of the moms came by and got the kids. Wow, I think that is the first time that has ever happened. It was great to see.
The rain continued into the night as we began our men's Bible fellowship Tuesday evening. Not expecting many guys to show up, but to my surprise everybody did! Even those who live in the neighborhood that walked. Very comforting to see the presence of men who think that much of our fellowship to come in the rain. God is creating a foundation of relationships leading to other possibilities. Very exciting.
Got a phone call from the leader of the New Room. Common Ground and the New Room may have the opportunity to receive food from area cafeterias and share it with our communities. This may lead to other possibilities. They will let us know in a couple of weeks if this opportunity will happen.
Thursday evening was full of people and activities. We started off in the chapel, with our monthly worship time. Mark from Northpoint provided the music while Noel and our special guest Sione provided the words. The chapel was packed and full of life. We need to make adjustments on some of the happenings around the chapel, but it is nice to have our worship time going on. God will work it all out. It will help to have new chairs in the chapel. And that will happen in the near future. We were notified, Grace will donate their chairs to us when they remodel their worship area. God always provides.
After our chapel time we moved into our meal, served by Christ Methodist church ladies group. We had the adults and the youth there helping out. It was great to see so man folks there to serve, wash and clean up.
Ms Lisa was there with her lawyers for the free legal advise clinic. Ms Abbie handed out her bags of groceries and our donated pizzas. What an evening.
Joey led us in the reading of Matthew chapter 18. Talking about forgiveness, feeling lost and reconciliation. God has laid out a way for us to live our lives, why don't we do it? Don't understand why we think we know better, why we add things to suit our purposes. And we wonder why life is so messed up. Prayers lifted up for the Morgan family of Grace. Prayers for Charley as he deals with a situation in his prison ministry. Continue to lift up relationships in our families, our communities, that they maybe come stronger.
Got an email from Broadmoor Baptist church, they will be sending a group called STOMP to perform Thursday, February 9th. I have tried to get them to come for several years but they are so booked up we could never make connections. They will be performing at supper time, so please make plans to come and hear them, a great group of young people.
Got a phone call Thursday morning, Ms Ruby Horton passed. Ms Ruby lived on 69th and was always a friend of our community. She was one of the first ones to join us and was always around helping out where she could. Her health had been failing for many months. We will miss her smile and her special heart.
Don't forget, this Saturday at 8:30 we will have our Saturday breakfast. We will be serving the group from Crowley Louisiana who will be here to work. Ms Sarah, said there will be around 26 coming. If you can help cook, we will be getting to center around 7:30, so come if you can. They will be arriving today, Friday around noon. Ms Sarah will settle them in at the Warehouse and then take them over to the center. Krysten will meet them then. Come by Friday or Saturday and say Hi and welcome our new friends.
This past Saturday, I was in Dallas playing with our new grandson at the beginning of his life. Monday evening I was in Bible study praying for a family whose love one's life was about to end. When we are younger, we think we will live forever. When we get older, we become so involved with living, we put off doing God's work until we have more time. God does not promise us tomorrow, only today. Why wait? I just want to remind us all, to live a life God is proud of, a life that God is glorified, a life filled with lvoe. It seems like only yesterday, when we were on the floor playing with our son, now 30 years later we are playing with his son. In a blink of an eye, our lives fly by. Is there a relationship that needs mending? Is there anger to let go of? Is there resentment to release? Is there someone who needs your lvoe today? Don't wait until tomorrow. Don't put off what you can do today. Turn it over to God today, release and feel free, enjoy the peace of the Spirit and en joy the ride. Amen.
See you all Saturday. Have a great weekend and a great week.
We continue to make adjustments with the children in the afternoons to make tutoring more meaningful. Conversations going on about new and exciting dreams on how we can improve our times together. It began to rain hard Tuesday afternoon. One of the moms came by and got the kids. Wow, I think that is the first time that has ever happened. It was great to see.
The rain continued into the night as we began our men's Bible fellowship Tuesday evening. Not expecting many guys to show up, but to my surprise everybody did! Even those who live in the neighborhood that walked. Very comforting to see the presence of men who think that much of our fellowship to come in the rain. God is creating a foundation of relationships leading to other possibilities. Very exciting.
Got a phone call from the leader of the New Room. Common Ground and the New Room may have the opportunity to receive food from area cafeterias and share it with our communities. This may lead to other possibilities. They will let us know in a couple of weeks if this opportunity will happen.
Thursday evening was full of people and activities. We started off in the chapel, with our monthly worship time. Mark from Northpoint provided the music while Noel and our special guest Sione provided the words. The chapel was packed and full of life. We need to make adjustments on some of the happenings around the chapel, but it is nice to have our worship time going on. God will work it all out. It will help to have new chairs in the chapel. And that will happen in the near future. We were notified, Grace will donate their chairs to us when they remodel their worship area. God always provides.
After our chapel time we moved into our meal, served by Christ Methodist church ladies group. We had the adults and the youth there helping out. It was great to see so man folks there to serve, wash and clean up.
Ms Lisa was there with her lawyers for the free legal advise clinic. Ms Abbie handed out her bags of groceries and our donated pizzas. What an evening.
Joey led us in the reading of Matthew chapter 18. Talking about forgiveness, feeling lost and reconciliation. God has laid out a way for us to live our lives, why don't we do it? Don't understand why we think we know better, why we add things to suit our purposes. And we wonder why life is so messed up. Prayers lifted up for the Morgan family of Grace. Prayers for Charley as he deals with a situation in his prison ministry. Continue to lift up relationships in our families, our communities, that they maybe come stronger.
Got an email from Broadmoor Baptist church, they will be sending a group called STOMP to perform Thursday, February 9th. I have tried to get them to come for several years but they are so booked up we could never make connections. They will be performing at supper time, so please make plans to come and hear them, a great group of young people.
Got a phone call Thursday morning, Ms Ruby Horton passed. Ms Ruby lived on 69th and was always a friend of our community. She was one of the first ones to join us and was always around helping out where she could. Her health had been failing for many months. We will miss her smile and her special heart.
Don't forget, this Saturday at 8:30 we will have our Saturday breakfast. We will be serving the group from Crowley Louisiana who will be here to work. Ms Sarah, said there will be around 26 coming. If you can help cook, we will be getting to center around 7:30, so come if you can. They will be arriving today, Friday around noon. Ms Sarah will settle them in at the Warehouse and then take them over to the center. Krysten will meet them then. Come by Friday or Saturday and say Hi and welcome our new friends.
This past Saturday, I was in Dallas playing with our new grandson at the beginning of his life. Monday evening I was in Bible study praying for a family whose love one's life was about to end. When we are younger, we think we will live forever. When we get older, we become so involved with living, we put off doing God's work until we have more time. God does not promise us tomorrow, only today. Why wait? I just want to remind us all, to live a life God is proud of, a life that God is glorified, a life filled with lvoe. It seems like only yesterday, when we were on the floor playing with our son, now 30 years later we are playing with his son. In a blink of an eye, our lives fly by. Is there a relationship that needs mending? Is there anger to let go of? Is there resentment to release? Is there someone who needs your lvoe today? Don't wait until tomorrow. Don't put off what you can do today. Turn it over to God today, release and feel free, enjoy the peace of the Spirit and en joy the ride. Amen.
See you all Saturday. Have a great weekend and a great week.
Friday, January 20, 2012
dreams
Hope everybody had a great week. How did God work in your life? What surprises did He dream up for you?
We started off our week by having a family help us out around the center last Saturday. Heather and her husband TJ brought their 3 daughters and grandmother to work in the center. They are a family from Brookwood who has fallen in lvoe with us and want to help us out. Two of the girls along with their grandmother started making 2 signs for us. They had so much fun they ended up making 10. You can see them all around the center, so precious. TJ will be cooking one of our meals in February and he will be going with us on our visits this Saturday. Grandma will be helping Momma T and Ms Patty with U 2 Saturdays. What a blessing this family has become to us.
Mr Scott reported all went well on our visits last week. Again, it was discussed how much nicer it is to be going back to the camps and visiting with our friends. Hearing their stories of the week and what drama is going on around their camps. Makes for an interesting morning and very enjoyable.
The Friendship room was full of activities Saturday afternoon. Joey and Lomax were hosting the guys and everybody was having a great time. What a pleasure it is to see some outside visiting, while others are inside watching TV, one is washing their clothes and some beginning to prepare lunch. What a joy to see community in action.
Monday, we had the opportunity to sit in a meeting with Dr Phil and the building contractor as they discussed the plans of Dr Phil's dream of "building" community. We walked over to the lots, dreamed about where the houses will be built and how it will look. In a few short months, we will begin to see the dream come true.
If you invite them they will come or something like that? We have been asking for help for our after school activities and we had it Tuesday and Wednesday. No doubt about it, when you have tutors there to work with the children, it is totally different. Ms Lisa met with the new coordinator of Centenary's Christian Leadership Center. She is a resident of the Yellow House. She is all about relationships, so hopefully she will be a good resource for us. Jeremy has made it back and we hope others will come and join in on the fun.
Tuesday evening, we gathered again for our men's Bible fellowship. Our circle in the chapel began to fill up and before the evening was over, we had to get more chairs! Matt does an outstanding job in getting us started and the Holy Spirit runs the rest of the discussions from there. As Matt said in closing, what an evening, when ever man joins in the conversations. Thanks Matt for allowing the Spirit to flow through you and blessing in our community.
Thursday meals continue to be full of activities. Noel sings a song. Old friends come by for visits. New friends show up to help. We have missed our Ms Sarah and Mr Scott. They came by and sat down and visited with the children. Icee Joe, walked in! Did you get that, Icee Joe walked in with their two little ones and joined us for supper. Julianne and Joey also helped serve, what a blessing. Mr Pete has lined up some musicians for next Thursday, so we will meet in the chapel before our meal and worship. Noel will share a few words and then we will have our meal. We will meet with Pete in the coming weeks to line up other folks for our chapel times. Ms Abbie will ask her pastor if he will speak next month. We have been dreaming of the chapel coming alive and it is happening.
Following our meal, we gathered in the chapel and had another circle. It was talked about having a circle every other week or something along those lines. Be thinking about what you would like to see happen.
Prayer concerns expressed: Travel mercies for Momma T as she goes to visit with Georgette, Dr Phil as he travels for work related responsibilities and mr brian as he goes to Dallas to play with his grandson. Continued prayers for Ms Abbie's Mr Joe as he struggles with his recovery. He is coughing a lot lately and taking blood thinners. Prayers for Edward for upcoming foot surgeries. Prayers for community and family relationships, that they may become stronger and more viable. Charley asked for prayers as they begin the process of preparing for the upcoming Kairos weekend at Wade. Prayers for William to stabilize his blood sugar. Prayers for Krysten as she begins to mentor some of the young ladies at Grace in their small group.
There will be no breakfast this Saturday. We have a large group coming from South Louisiana coming next Saturday the 28th, so we will be serving breakfast then.
As we begin a new year, we have the opportunity to again go to God and dream. I think God likes people who dream. Dreams come from your passions. Then that brings about your faith. Followed by your lvoe of others. We dreamed many years ago about an old church building, being restored to a community center. It is happening today right before our eyes. We dream about others becoming involved and it is happening by new families and new friends becoming a part of our community. We dreamed many years ago, as we were restoring a house on Southern avenue, about building a new community. In a few months that will begin to happen. We dreamed about having a kitchen where we can train our young people in becoming chefs and waiters. Maybe having a cafe, a catering service, a bakery. Our kitchen plans are drawn up and the money is in place to make it happen. One day, the two story building will be full of activities. In time, the Sanctuary will be full of people praising and worshiping. The concrete areas on Southern will be full of cars, with people lining up to get inside the Sanctuary. Children will be playing on the playground equipment in the green areas. People from the neighborhood will be walking to the center to join in all the activities. The garden area will be full of plants, trees providing food for our kitchen and the neighborhood. Our greenhouse will be a place where our community can come and learn how to grow plants year round. In the near future, we will have teams walking the streets getting to know our neighbors. Dreams.
What are your dreams? Where is God leading you? No dream is too small or too big. You can see what God can do when He wants it to happen. Dream. Let us hear from you about your dreams.
Have a great week. Enjoy life. Enjoy God's blessings all around you. Amen.
We started off our week by having a family help us out around the center last Saturday. Heather and her husband TJ brought their 3 daughters and grandmother to work in the center. They are a family from Brookwood who has fallen in lvoe with us and want to help us out. Two of the girls along with their grandmother started making 2 signs for us. They had so much fun they ended up making 10. You can see them all around the center, so precious. TJ will be cooking one of our meals in February and he will be going with us on our visits this Saturday. Grandma will be helping Momma T and Ms Patty with U 2 Saturdays. What a blessing this family has become to us.
Mr Scott reported all went well on our visits last week. Again, it was discussed how much nicer it is to be going back to the camps and visiting with our friends. Hearing their stories of the week and what drama is going on around their camps. Makes for an interesting morning and very enjoyable.
The Friendship room was full of activities Saturday afternoon. Joey and Lomax were hosting the guys and everybody was having a great time. What a pleasure it is to see some outside visiting, while others are inside watching TV, one is washing their clothes and some beginning to prepare lunch. What a joy to see community in action.
Monday, we had the opportunity to sit in a meeting with Dr Phil and the building contractor as they discussed the plans of Dr Phil's dream of "building" community. We walked over to the lots, dreamed about where the houses will be built and how it will look. In a few short months, we will begin to see the dream come true.
If you invite them they will come or something like that? We have been asking for help for our after school activities and we had it Tuesday and Wednesday. No doubt about it, when you have tutors there to work with the children, it is totally different. Ms Lisa met with the new coordinator of Centenary's Christian Leadership Center. She is a resident of the Yellow House. She is all about relationships, so hopefully she will be a good resource for us. Jeremy has made it back and we hope others will come and join in on the fun.
Tuesday evening, we gathered again for our men's Bible fellowship. Our circle in the chapel began to fill up and before the evening was over, we had to get more chairs! Matt does an outstanding job in getting us started and the Holy Spirit runs the rest of the discussions from there. As Matt said in closing, what an evening, when ever man joins in the conversations. Thanks Matt for allowing the Spirit to flow through you and blessing in our community.
Thursday meals continue to be full of activities. Noel sings a song. Old friends come by for visits. New friends show up to help. We have missed our Ms Sarah and Mr Scott. They came by and sat down and visited with the children. Icee Joe, walked in! Did you get that, Icee Joe walked in with their two little ones and joined us for supper. Julianne and Joey also helped serve, what a blessing. Mr Pete has lined up some musicians for next Thursday, so we will meet in the chapel before our meal and worship. Noel will share a few words and then we will have our meal. We will meet with Pete in the coming weeks to line up other folks for our chapel times. Ms Abbie will ask her pastor if he will speak next month. We have been dreaming of the chapel coming alive and it is happening.
Following our meal, we gathered in the chapel and had another circle. It was talked about having a circle every other week or something along those lines. Be thinking about what you would like to see happen.
Prayer concerns expressed: Travel mercies for Momma T as she goes to visit with Georgette, Dr Phil as he travels for work related responsibilities and mr brian as he goes to Dallas to play with his grandson. Continued prayers for Ms Abbie's Mr Joe as he struggles with his recovery. He is coughing a lot lately and taking blood thinners. Prayers for Edward for upcoming foot surgeries. Prayers for community and family relationships, that they may become stronger and more viable. Charley asked for prayers as they begin the process of preparing for the upcoming Kairos weekend at Wade. Prayers for William to stabilize his blood sugar. Prayers for Krysten as she begins to mentor some of the young ladies at Grace in their small group.
There will be no breakfast this Saturday. We have a large group coming from South Louisiana coming next Saturday the 28th, so we will be serving breakfast then.
As we begin a new year, we have the opportunity to again go to God and dream. I think God likes people who dream. Dreams come from your passions. Then that brings about your faith. Followed by your lvoe of others. We dreamed many years ago about an old church building, being restored to a community center. It is happening today right before our eyes. We dream about others becoming involved and it is happening by new families and new friends becoming a part of our community. We dreamed many years ago, as we were restoring a house on Southern avenue, about building a new community. In a few months that will begin to happen. We dreamed about having a kitchen where we can train our young people in becoming chefs and waiters. Maybe having a cafe, a catering service, a bakery. Our kitchen plans are drawn up and the money is in place to make it happen. One day, the two story building will be full of activities. In time, the Sanctuary will be full of people praising and worshiping. The concrete areas on Southern will be full of cars, with people lining up to get inside the Sanctuary. Children will be playing on the playground equipment in the green areas. People from the neighborhood will be walking to the center to join in all the activities. The garden area will be full of plants, trees providing food for our kitchen and the neighborhood. Our greenhouse will be a place where our community can come and learn how to grow plants year round. In the near future, we will have teams walking the streets getting to know our neighbors. Dreams.
What are your dreams? Where is God leading you? No dream is too small or too big. You can see what God can do when He wants it to happen. Dream. Let us hear from you about your dreams.
Have a great week. Enjoy life. Enjoy God's blessings all around you. Amen.
Friday, January 13, 2012
relationships
Baby, it's cold outside! Hope everybody has had a great week. We have had rain, cold and wind this week, making for interesting times around the center.
My sister-in-law has been wanting to visit the Jewish Temple on Southfield, so last Friday evening we went. I know Joey and Lomax like to visit other churches so I invited them and they invited others, so we had a nice group joining us for their worship time. The Temple is one of my pest control accounts and I have known the Rabbi for several years now. She is very nice and down to earth. She walked over to us after the service and asked us if we would like to ask her questions about the Jewish faith. So we went back into their synagogue and for over two hours we talked about faith. I came away with, how awesome our God is. They worship, they love the same God we do, they may go about it a different way, but oh how they lvoe Him. Can't we all get past our religious stereotypes and just lvoe our God?
We had good visits at the camps Saturday. Really enjoy getting back to the guys homes and visiting with each one of them. We had a new group of young people join us from LSUS. They provided t-shirts and can goods for our friends. Amanda suggested they call us and join in on the fun. We had a new/old friend join us also, Joey! Not sure Joey was awake fully when we left but by 11 o'clock he was able to direct us to a couple of new camps. We past by the first camp I ever visited. There were a group of people in this abandon building. One of them was an artist and inside the building were pictures he had drawn. A month or so after we started visiting, the owners didn't want them inside anymore, so they tore the building down. Now, the only thing that remains is the concrete pad. Our friends scattered throughout the city and we never saw them again, very sad.
The rain stopped Monday around 4 and the kids came. Tuesday, the winds and cold weather started and the kids came. Wednesday, it was sunny and cold and the kids came. The kids have come but our helpers have not. We have been low on help this semester. We know your schedules change, classes become stressful, but if you can come, we need your help.
Tuesday evening we gathered for our community men's fellowship. Noticed I left off the Bible part. I got to wondering if a Bible study may scare off some of the guys. I know it did me many years ago when I first started back to church. I saw in the bulletin at Grace, they had a men's Bible study. I did not my Bible as well as I should so I hesitated going because I was scared they would ask me questions and I would not know the answers. Matt has a verse that God places on his heart, we read it and the discussions begin. Amazing what God can do when you allow Him to lead the discussions and are open to His Spirit. Men don't have a place where we can relate to one another, build relationships together and help each other along our journeys. This venue provides such a place.
Wednesday after the kids left, Ms Lisa took Lomax, Joey and myself across the street to visit the lots Common Ground has just received. 4 lots of absolute heaven. Two lots of concrete where one day, we will need for parking when the sanctuary is packed with people. Two other lots, where new homes will be built and lives and families will be restored. The green lots are huge. Lomax, said, there is enough room for a Tiny Village. God is up to something amazing. How exciting.
Thursday, with the cold stiff wind, we did not have as many join us for supper. We had receive gifts of lettuce and pizzas. We decided to give everybody a pizza instead of warming them, that was a hit. Matt and his wife Ms Vicki joined us. Also, we had a lady from Summer Grove Baptist come and helped us serve. What a blessing to have new people come and be a part of our community.
Instead of our normal Bible study Thursday night, it was suggested we have a recovery circle. Momma T agreed to lead us and shared some of the history of our relationships with these circles. Momma T got out her notes from her visit to Glide United Methodist church in San Francisco, telling us it will be 10 years on January 28th, when we made our first visit out there. I couldn't believe it has been 10 years! I can remember going out to GLide thinking I knew everything but realize I knew nothing about relationships and how important it is to our recovery from who we think we are, to who God wants us to be.
I began to understand from their leader, Natomba, we are all recovering from something. We are all hiding things that stops us from being the person God needs us to be. We may not have a drug or alcohol problem, but we may have a pride or selfish problem. We may work all the time, not leaving room for others or God. We may hide our anger or distrust, not allowing God to fill it with His lvoe and compassion. No matter what the addiction is, we all need to realize we are sinners, we are not perfect, we all have hurts, and that is ok. God has brought us together to help and support each other. To listen. To lvoe. The recovery circles allows us to do that, to begin the process of letting go of those addictions, to allowing others in and helping us through the struggles. And when we do begin to understand it is alright to let go, a great weight is lifted off our shoulders, a peace surrounds us that only God can be a part of.
Don't forget this Friday, the 13th, Joey is hosting a prayer time service at the community chapel between 6 and 8. Max Lucado's devotional this morning said, rather than worry about anything, "pray about everything!"
There will be no U2 this Saturday.
Prayers for Momma T, Ms Sarah, Mr Scott as they lead their youth in a retreat this weekend. Prayers for Ms Abbie's Joe as still does not feel good. For Icee Joe in his knee recovery. Prayers for Zig Zag (Allison) as she heads back to school for her last semester. We will miss you Allison. Hurry home. Praise for James as he starts back to work. Prayers for Robert as he starts building a new home. Prayers for Dave, Dr Phil's next door neighbor. We met Dave in the woods, he made it to a house, but is struggling with addictions and now is heading back to the woods. Prayers for continued healing from colds for the Ackermans.
Got an email from a Brookwood family this week. She was upset at the church for not having their second Saturday work day, so she asked if her and her family could come anyway! They have been to visit us, the last couple of months. They have two adorable little girls that have helped Ms Patty and Momma T with U2 Saturdays, while mom and dad have painted for us. In her email, she said her two girls had been working on some signs for the center. I don't know what they say but was in awe of what these little ones had been doing for us. I emailed her back and said it would be an honor to host her family this Saturday.
This got me to thinking about relationships. We talk all the time about relationships. Our community is based on relationships with each other and others. Our Tuesday night mens bible study is more about relationships than study. Thursday suppers is more about getting to know our neighbors than feeding the flock. We have circle this week, which is based on relationships. We pray for one another, not because we have to but because we have relationships with each other. Here it is, the beginning of a new year and we talked about our relationships with Jesus and how important it is.
Obviously God is challenging us to be real with ourselves. We go to church on the weekends, sit in our pews or chairs, smile and say everything is alright. We really don't have time to see behind the masks in an hour or two. We need to be there for each other during the week. It was said last night, the hardest thing to do when Jesus says to love our neighbors as we love ourselves, is to love ourselves. If we don't love ourselves, then everything we do after that is not real. We have to have a real relationship with Jesus. Ask Jesus, who am I, what do you see? Are you seeing the man or woman you want me to be? People will let us down every time, God will not. He will be honest with us. He will say, let go of that, I will take if over. I want you to be who I created you to be, not what others think you should be. If we try to please people we will be set up for failure, because we can't please everybody.
Relationships begins with you and God. It won't be easy, it may not look the way you think, but guaranteed it will be the best thing you have ever done. You will be the person God has created you to be. Then God will do amazing things through you using your unique and special gifts.
Have great weekend. No better time that to stop for a moment, and listen to what God is wanting to tell you. Amen.
My sister-in-law has been wanting to visit the Jewish Temple on Southfield, so last Friday evening we went. I know Joey and Lomax like to visit other churches so I invited them and they invited others, so we had a nice group joining us for their worship time. The Temple is one of my pest control accounts and I have known the Rabbi for several years now. She is very nice and down to earth. She walked over to us after the service and asked us if we would like to ask her questions about the Jewish faith. So we went back into their synagogue and for over two hours we talked about faith. I came away with, how awesome our God is. They worship, they love the same God we do, they may go about it a different way, but oh how they lvoe Him. Can't we all get past our religious stereotypes and just lvoe our God?
We had good visits at the camps Saturday. Really enjoy getting back to the guys homes and visiting with each one of them. We had a new group of young people join us from LSUS. They provided t-shirts and can goods for our friends. Amanda suggested they call us and join in on the fun. We had a new/old friend join us also, Joey! Not sure Joey was awake fully when we left but by 11 o'clock he was able to direct us to a couple of new camps. We past by the first camp I ever visited. There were a group of people in this abandon building. One of them was an artist and inside the building were pictures he had drawn. A month or so after we started visiting, the owners didn't want them inside anymore, so they tore the building down. Now, the only thing that remains is the concrete pad. Our friends scattered throughout the city and we never saw them again, very sad.
The rain stopped Monday around 4 and the kids came. Tuesday, the winds and cold weather started and the kids came. Wednesday, it was sunny and cold and the kids came. The kids have come but our helpers have not. We have been low on help this semester. We know your schedules change, classes become stressful, but if you can come, we need your help.
Tuesday evening we gathered for our community men's fellowship. Noticed I left off the Bible part. I got to wondering if a Bible study may scare off some of the guys. I know it did me many years ago when I first started back to church. I saw in the bulletin at Grace, they had a men's Bible study. I did not my Bible as well as I should so I hesitated going because I was scared they would ask me questions and I would not know the answers. Matt has a verse that God places on his heart, we read it and the discussions begin. Amazing what God can do when you allow Him to lead the discussions and are open to His Spirit. Men don't have a place where we can relate to one another, build relationships together and help each other along our journeys. This venue provides such a place.
Wednesday after the kids left, Ms Lisa took Lomax, Joey and myself across the street to visit the lots Common Ground has just received. 4 lots of absolute heaven. Two lots of concrete where one day, we will need for parking when the sanctuary is packed with people. Two other lots, where new homes will be built and lives and families will be restored. The green lots are huge. Lomax, said, there is enough room for a Tiny Village. God is up to something amazing. How exciting.
Thursday, with the cold stiff wind, we did not have as many join us for supper. We had receive gifts of lettuce and pizzas. We decided to give everybody a pizza instead of warming them, that was a hit. Matt and his wife Ms Vicki joined us. Also, we had a lady from Summer Grove Baptist come and helped us serve. What a blessing to have new people come and be a part of our community.
Instead of our normal Bible study Thursday night, it was suggested we have a recovery circle. Momma T agreed to lead us and shared some of the history of our relationships with these circles. Momma T got out her notes from her visit to Glide United Methodist church in San Francisco, telling us it will be 10 years on January 28th, when we made our first visit out there. I couldn't believe it has been 10 years! I can remember going out to GLide thinking I knew everything but realize I knew nothing about relationships and how important it is to our recovery from who we think we are, to who God wants us to be.
I began to understand from their leader, Natomba, we are all recovering from something. We are all hiding things that stops us from being the person God needs us to be. We may not have a drug or alcohol problem, but we may have a pride or selfish problem. We may work all the time, not leaving room for others or God. We may hide our anger or distrust, not allowing God to fill it with His lvoe and compassion. No matter what the addiction is, we all need to realize we are sinners, we are not perfect, we all have hurts, and that is ok. God has brought us together to help and support each other. To listen. To lvoe. The recovery circles allows us to do that, to begin the process of letting go of those addictions, to allowing others in and helping us through the struggles. And when we do begin to understand it is alright to let go, a great weight is lifted off our shoulders, a peace surrounds us that only God can be a part of.
Don't forget this Friday, the 13th, Joey is hosting a prayer time service at the community chapel between 6 and 8. Max Lucado's devotional this morning said, rather than worry about anything, "pray about everything!"
There will be no U2 this Saturday.
Prayers for Momma T, Ms Sarah, Mr Scott as they lead their youth in a retreat this weekend. Prayers for Ms Abbie's Joe as still does not feel good. For Icee Joe in his knee recovery. Prayers for Zig Zag (Allison) as she heads back to school for her last semester. We will miss you Allison. Hurry home. Praise for James as he starts back to work. Prayers for Robert as he starts building a new home. Prayers for Dave, Dr Phil's next door neighbor. We met Dave in the woods, he made it to a house, but is struggling with addictions and now is heading back to the woods. Prayers for continued healing from colds for the Ackermans.
Got an email from a Brookwood family this week. She was upset at the church for not having their second Saturday work day, so she asked if her and her family could come anyway! They have been to visit us, the last couple of months. They have two adorable little girls that have helped Ms Patty and Momma T with U2 Saturdays, while mom and dad have painted for us. In her email, she said her two girls had been working on some signs for the center. I don't know what they say but was in awe of what these little ones had been doing for us. I emailed her back and said it would be an honor to host her family this Saturday.
This got me to thinking about relationships. We talk all the time about relationships. Our community is based on relationships with each other and others. Our Tuesday night mens bible study is more about relationships than study. Thursday suppers is more about getting to know our neighbors than feeding the flock. We have circle this week, which is based on relationships. We pray for one another, not because we have to but because we have relationships with each other. Here it is, the beginning of a new year and we talked about our relationships with Jesus and how important it is.
Obviously God is challenging us to be real with ourselves. We go to church on the weekends, sit in our pews or chairs, smile and say everything is alright. We really don't have time to see behind the masks in an hour or two. We need to be there for each other during the week. It was said last night, the hardest thing to do when Jesus says to love our neighbors as we love ourselves, is to love ourselves. If we don't love ourselves, then everything we do after that is not real. We have to have a real relationship with Jesus. Ask Jesus, who am I, what do you see? Are you seeing the man or woman you want me to be? People will let us down every time, God will not. He will be honest with us. He will say, let go of that, I will take if over. I want you to be who I created you to be, not what others think you should be. If we try to please people we will be set up for failure, because we can't please everybody.
Relationships begins with you and God. It won't be easy, it may not look the way you think, but guaranteed it will be the best thing you have ever done. You will be the person God has created you to be. Then God will do amazing things through you using your unique and special gifts.
Have great weekend. No better time that to stop for a moment, and listen to what God is wanting to tell you. Amen.
Friday, January 6, 2012
Send me your bio
Here it is, first week of January and 70 degrees today! Wow, time for some outside activities! My front yard could use some leaf picking up but that is no fun. Wonder if a golf game might be on the agenda? Hope it is nice where you are. Another great week of fun and blessings.
We had too many folks for the van to hold, so we took two vehicles on our Saturday visits. Our first stop was our friend Turner. Since we have been band from walking across the railroad bridge to Turners, we have tried to find another way in. Two weeks ago, we tried but did not find a way. Last week, we did! In fact, we now can walk along a short stretch and come up to Turner's back door into the camp. Never knew he had a back door? Turner greeted Mr Scott as he entered the camp and walked back with us to the van. It was amazing to see Turner in the middle of all us walking along the trail. What a blessing.
Monday, we had more kids than we had help, so Joey and I served up prayer and snacks and the kids went back home. Tuesday was better with much needed help. We got to sit down with the children and do some work. Wednesday was more play than work. We still struggle with what we are trying to accomplish with the children. They lvoe to come, we are glad they do, but what are there for? Is it to teach, is it to play, is it to just be there? God has a plan, what is He telling you all?
Tuesday evening, we again gathered for our community mens Bible study. Got to thinking maybe, Bible study may scare some men off? I know when I first started at Grace, it did me, when I saw a men's Bible study happening. Really, we read a passage or two, but we share more than we read. It is good for men to have a place where they can share what is on their hearts and not worry about being judged, we all need a place like that. I know it is one of the highlights of my week.
Wednesday morning I had the opportunity to share our story with the men from Christ Methodist. You will hear more about that later on, but it was a joy to talk about all of you.
Thursday evening, there were no places in the inn. Allison comes into the kitchen and says mr brian, we need more chairs and tables! Being the first of the month, we thought the numbers would be small but they weren't. Wow, what will the end of the month be like? Wonder what God is up to? One of our new friends, Noel, brought a CD player and he sang to us as our meal got started. One of the first times I have heard the community hall quiet. He lvoes the Lord and wanted to share it with others. He will be sharing the Word in one of our chapel services coming up.
I got a phone call earlier in the week from a friend who shared some of his bountiful with us and it is good he did. We were able to fix more bags of groceries and hand out bags of lettuce, tomatoes, bread and potatoes. God always provides.
We also had a nice surprise Thursday as one of our Lake Charles family joined us for supper and Bible study, Ms Stephanie. She was on the way to Dallas for a friend's wedding. It is so special when our young people make an effort to join us whenever they can, what a blessing all our young adults are. We also had Ms Lauren and her friend come by for supper as she leaves for her last semester at University of Arkansas.
We again had a full table for our Bible study. Two friends of Stephanie joined us, Fabian and Michelle. We got to celebrate Zig Zag's birthday and enjoy some of her cake. Thanks to Lomax and Joey for making it all possible. Who would have known, 22 candles on such a small cake could make so much fire! Not to worry Ms Lisa, Allison blew out the blaze before too much damaged was done!
Joey led us in the reading of the last chapter in Acts. Reading about Paul, finally in Rome sharing the gospel with both Jews and Gentiles. Paul, living in a rented house, talking about the Lord Jesus Christ, with full boldness and without hindrance. The bible I have, says, He boldly preached about the kingdom of God and taught about the Lord Jesus Christ, and no one tried to stop him. Wow, shouldn't we all live our lives in such a way, that no one tries to stop us!
Prayers were lifted up for Jame's brother Chris is struggling with dependency of pain medicines. Prayers for those who were not there, Momma T, the Ackermans, Dawn. Ms Sarah and Mr Scott as they lead a group of young people to a retreat in Alexandria. For Catfish as he deals with life. Friends of Dr Phil at work. Byron came in asking for prayers for a job interview he has today, that he gets the job he so desperately needs. Gus as he winds down his adventure and prepares for his new semester of teaching. What a pleasure it is to be a part of a group who cares for others so much.
As I mentioned earlier, Ms Sara, the youth leader at Christ Methodist, suggested to the men's group to invite me to speak at their breakfast. I got a call last week from them. It was an honor to be asked. The gentleman, whose nickname is Dude! was very gracious in his phone call, saying lots of nice things. He asked at some point, send me your bio. I have never been asked that before. I told him I don't have a bio, but will put something together and email it to him. I wrote his email on a napkin and by the time I made it home, Dude' email address was destroyed.
To be honest, I kind of forgot about the bio part until Ms Sara asked Saturday morning, are you ready for your talk? I said, oh man is that this week! I need to send Dude( I just lvoe that name) something, but what?
I got a phone call Monday about going down town to pick up food items for our pantry. I really didn't have the time but thought I better. I was on Youree Drive headed into downtown and decided to turn on Stoner Avenue to go a different way. On the right hand side of the street, a block or two from Youree is a cemetery called Greenwood. Not sure how they came up with that name? Any way, I pass the gates and get that feeling I should turn in! I was late, had a thousand things to do, I said to myself, I don't have time, so go on. I did for two blocks and that thought came again, I should turn around and go through the gates. So I did!
Inside the cemetery is a Hunter plot. I had been there once before when my uncle from south Louisiana was buried back in 1990. Most of my family grew up in south Louisiana except my grandfather's brother. Sam Hunter came to Shreveport and made fortune in the oil business. Unfortunately our side of the Hunter family remained poor. The Hunter plot is mainly for the Shreveport folks. My uncle and my grandfather are the only south Louisiana Hunters there.
I make my way to the Hunter plot. It was a beautiful afternoon, a good day for a visit. I find the plot and walk up to my uncle's head stone and find a new one next to his, his wife's. She passed back in 2002 and her daughter did not know what she was going to do. I told her daughter to let me know if we needed to make arrangements in the Hunter plot. I never got a call, so it was a nice surprise to see her head stone next to her husbands.
I stand there a few minutes and began thinking about my childhood visiting Uncle Frank and Aunt Margaret. I grew in Lake Charles going to First Methodist. After Sunday School, my parents would load me and my sister, their friends into our car and take a ride. The kids never knew where we would end up. One of my favorite places to end up was at my Uncle Frank's and Aunt Margaret house in Abbeville, just south of Lafayette.
They had two children, a little older than we were, but we had fun playing together. Uncle Frank would always greet us with a big smile and a big hug. One of his favorite things to do was steal our noses! Did your folks ever do that? Then he would do his magic tricks and pull a quarter out from behind our ears. No matter how old we got and eventually our son when we took David for visits, he did the same things, stealing our noses and his magic tricks. Aunt Margaret always kept us fed and made her home ours, just like a good Southern lady does. Always gracious in our visits.
I look down on their head stones and think about the sermon Sione preached one time about your dash. That spot on everybody's head stone, where you were born and the time you leave. What does your dash say about you. I hear God saying, that is your bio.
Thinking about Uncle Frank, I remember his hugs, his smile, his love of life, not that he was president of a company. I think about Aunt Margaret for her compassion, her love of family not that she was a leader in her church.
Being a president, a CEO, college degrees, is nice but it should not be who you are. As I was talking to the mens group Wednesday morning, I told this story and then lifted up Ms Lisa's December newsletter and said to the men, this is my bio. My bio is all of you allowing God to work through you. I get to see the stories, experience the blessings of so many of you, my heart is full of joy.
When God calls us to come home, we all will have the opportunity to speak to the angels. When we are asked for our bio's, what will we say?
Have a great week. Take time to be with your family and friends. Amen.
We had too many folks for the van to hold, so we took two vehicles on our Saturday visits. Our first stop was our friend Turner. Since we have been band from walking across the railroad bridge to Turners, we have tried to find another way in. Two weeks ago, we tried but did not find a way. Last week, we did! In fact, we now can walk along a short stretch and come up to Turner's back door into the camp. Never knew he had a back door? Turner greeted Mr Scott as he entered the camp and walked back with us to the van. It was amazing to see Turner in the middle of all us walking along the trail. What a blessing.
Monday, we had more kids than we had help, so Joey and I served up prayer and snacks and the kids went back home. Tuesday was better with much needed help. We got to sit down with the children and do some work. Wednesday was more play than work. We still struggle with what we are trying to accomplish with the children. They lvoe to come, we are glad they do, but what are there for? Is it to teach, is it to play, is it to just be there? God has a plan, what is He telling you all?
Tuesday evening, we again gathered for our community mens Bible study. Got to thinking maybe, Bible study may scare some men off? I know when I first started at Grace, it did me, when I saw a men's Bible study happening. Really, we read a passage or two, but we share more than we read. It is good for men to have a place where they can share what is on their hearts and not worry about being judged, we all need a place like that. I know it is one of the highlights of my week.
Wednesday morning I had the opportunity to share our story with the men from Christ Methodist. You will hear more about that later on, but it was a joy to talk about all of you.
Thursday evening, there were no places in the inn. Allison comes into the kitchen and says mr brian, we need more chairs and tables! Being the first of the month, we thought the numbers would be small but they weren't. Wow, what will the end of the month be like? Wonder what God is up to? One of our new friends, Noel, brought a CD player and he sang to us as our meal got started. One of the first times I have heard the community hall quiet. He lvoes the Lord and wanted to share it with others. He will be sharing the Word in one of our chapel services coming up.
I got a phone call earlier in the week from a friend who shared some of his bountiful with us and it is good he did. We were able to fix more bags of groceries and hand out bags of lettuce, tomatoes, bread and potatoes. God always provides.
We also had a nice surprise Thursday as one of our Lake Charles family joined us for supper and Bible study, Ms Stephanie. She was on the way to Dallas for a friend's wedding. It is so special when our young people make an effort to join us whenever they can, what a blessing all our young adults are. We also had Ms Lauren and her friend come by for supper as she leaves for her last semester at University of Arkansas.
We again had a full table for our Bible study. Two friends of Stephanie joined us, Fabian and Michelle. We got to celebrate Zig Zag's birthday and enjoy some of her cake. Thanks to Lomax and Joey for making it all possible. Who would have known, 22 candles on such a small cake could make so much fire! Not to worry Ms Lisa, Allison blew out the blaze before too much damaged was done!
Joey led us in the reading of the last chapter in Acts. Reading about Paul, finally in Rome sharing the gospel with both Jews and Gentiles. Paul, living in a rented house, talking about the Lord Jesus Christ, with full boldness and without hindrance. The bible I have, says, He boldly preached about the kingdom of God and taught about the Lord Jesus Christ, and no one tried to stop him. Wow, shouldn't we all live our lives in such a way, that no one tries to stop us!
Prayers were lifted up for Jame's brother Chris is struggling with dependency of pain medicines. Prayers for those who were not there, Momma T, the Ackermans, Dawn. Ms Sarah and Mr Scott as they lead a group of young people to a retreat in Alexandria. For Catfish as he deals with life. Friends of Dr Phil at work. Byron came in asking for prayers for a job interview he has today, that he gets the job he so desperately needs. Gus as he winds down his adventure and prepares for his new semester of teaching. What a pleasure it is to be a part of a group who cares for others so much.
As I mentioned earlier, Ms Sara, the youth leader at Christ Methodist, suggested to the men's group to invite me to speak at their breakfast. I got a call last week from them. It was an honor to be asked. The gentleman, whose nickname is Dude! was very gracious in his phone call, saying lots of nice things. He asked at some point, send me your bio. I have never been asked that before. I told him I don't have a bio, but will put something together and email it to him. I wrote his email on a napkin and by the time I made it home, Dude' email address was destroyed.
To be honest, I kind of forgot about the bio part until Ms Sara asked Saturday morning, are you ready for your talk? I said, oh man is that this week! I need to send Dude( I just lvoe that name) something, but what?
I got a phone call Monday about going down town to pick up food items for our pantry. I really didn't have the time but thought I better. I was on Youree Drive headed into downtown and decided to turn on Stoner Avenue to go a different way. On the right hand side of the street, a block or two from Youree is a cemetery called Greenwood. Not sure how they came up with that name? Any way, I pass the gates and get that feeling I should turn in! I was late, had a thousand things to do, I said to myself, I don't have time, so go on. I did for two blocks and that thought came again, I should turn around and go through the gates. So I did!
Inside the cemetery is a Hunter plot. I had been there once before when my uncle from south Louisiana was buried back in 1990. Most of my family grew up in south Louisiana except my grandfather's brother. Sam Hunter came to Shreveport and made fortune in the oil business. Unfortunately our side of the Hunter family remained poor. The Hunter plot is mainly for the Shreveport folks. My uncle and my grandfather are the only south Louisiana Hunters there.
I make my way to the Hunter plot. It was a beautiful afternoon, a good day for a visit. I find the plot and walk up to my uncle's head stone and find a new one next to his, his wife's. She passed back in 2002 and her daughter did not know what she was going to do. I told her daughter to let me know if we needed to make arrangements in the Hunter plot. I never got a call, so it was a nice surprise to see her head stone next to her husbands.
I stand there a few minutes and began thinking about my childhood visiting Uncle Frank and Aunt Margaret. I grew in Lake Charles going to First Methodist. After Sunday School, my parents would load me and my sister, their friends into our car and take a ride. The kids never knew where we would end up. One of my favorite places to end up was at my Uncle Frank's and Aunt Margaret house in Abbeville, just south of Lafayette.
They had two children, a little older than we were, but we had fun playing together. Uncle Frank would always greet us with a big smile and a big hug. One of his favorite things to do was steal our noses! Did your folks ever do that? Then he would do his magic tricks and pull a quarter out from behind our ears. No matter how old we got and eventually our son when we took David for visits, he did the same things, stealing our noses and his magic tricks. Aunt Margaret always kept us fed and made her home ours, just like a good Southern lady does. Always gracious in our visits.
I look down on their head stones and think about the sermon Sione preached one time about your dash. That spot on everybody's head stone, where you were born and the time you leave. What does your dash say about you. I hear God saying, that is your bio.
Thinking about Uncle Frank, I remember his hugs, his smile, his love of life, not that he was president of a company. I think about Aunt Margaret for her compassion, her love of family not that she was a leader in her church.
Being a president, a CEO, college degrees, is nice but it should not be who you are. As I was talking to the mens group Wednesday morning, I told this story and then lifted up Ms Lisa's December newsletter and said to the men, this is my bio. My bio is all of you allowing God to work through you. I get to see the stories, experience the blessings of so many of you, my heart is full of joy.
When God calls us to come home, we all will have the opportunity to speak to the angels. When we are asked for our bio's, what will we say?
Have a great week. Take time to be with your family and friends. Amen.
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