Where is your focus?

Let there be rain! Amazing how a little water will wash away the old, brown, dying grass and restore it with beautiful bright and green grass. Sort of like us being baptized a new!

We had a long time friend take over the duties of driving last Saturday. Icee Joe returned and boy were the guys glad to see him! Joe's heart is with our friends and it was time for him to return. Joe will be driving once a month for awhile, glad to have you back Joe. Next is Joe's report on their visits: The visits went good no drama. Turner or should I say Bernard, was good and very appreciative. Joey and Julianna picked some wild flowers and put them in a bouquet. He was the recipient and accepted them. Then we went to see Richard and he wasn't there. Then we went and saw Robert, Travis and Dave. They seemed to be doing good except for the pesky mama raccoon and her 3 little babies terrorizing the camp. Lol.  Robert ended our time with prayer. Then we went and saw brad. First time I met him. Nice guy and having phone issues. Waiting on them to send him a new one because labor ready now fills jobs through text messaging. Doesn't sound real efficient and accessible for some. Very nice and very appreciative.

While Joe was out having fun, Ms Lisa and Ms Abbey were holding a planning retreat for Common Ground. It was great to hear from everybody their thoughts and dreams of what God is putting on their hearts. Some dreams put on the table: kindergarten school, organic garden, crisis pregnancy center, adapt a block, treatment center, council on ageing, chapel time during the day, rock climbing wall and cafe, daycare center, cafe and bakery, grocery store, clothing store run by the community, computer lab, ride share, tool rental, community involvement. All great dreams. We then broke into groups and started putting our dreams on paper, to see how God wants them to work out.  More as they begin to take shape.

Monday and Wednesdays continue to be special as our Centenary students get to know our neighborhood children. Lots of learning and relationships being formed.

Tuesday afternoon, with the help of Ms Amanda, we hosted our first National Night Out event. There are pictures up on our web site of the afternoon. There was good hot dogs, good times, and good conversations. Not as many of our neighbors came as I would have liked. That is our task for the coming year, to get to know them, so when we host next year's event, they will come.

Following our party, the men gathered for Bible fellowship. Mr Matt read from Ephesians 6, about the armor of God. How many times have we read that passage and still it is fresh and new. As Matt was reading, I thought to myself, wow that is a lot. God has given us a blue print of what it will take to have God at our side as we meet our challenges of the day. It is up to us to put that blue print into action and actually form that armor. Are we doing that? You can't go to a store and purchase it. God has challenged each one of us to make our own breast plate, belt, helmet.

Joey and Ricky hosted our family gathering at the Bright House Wednesday evening. As soon as you walked into the house, a fragrance of clean came over us! A smell not smelled in awhile! Ricky had been busy! Then you walked into the dining room and smelled the yummy aroma of Joey's meal. Following our meal, we talked about relationships. Relationships between husbands and wives, friends, relatives, each one being different and unique. We came to the conclusion, as long as the relationships had God as the center, then they would likely survive.

Being the first of the month, our crowds are not as large. Not sure why, but we served almost 140 folks Thursday! The chapel crowd continues to grow. Heather and Derrick, who are now worship leaders at First Methodist church, led us in song and their dad Richard shared the Word. Heather sang about needing God every hour. Richard talked about keeping our focus on Jesus. As the world around us seems to be in chaos, we can be assured God is in control. 

Carmen, one of our cooks from this summer, prepared our meal. We had a group of nursing students from Northwestern help out. Grocery bags were handed out, young ladies Bible study was going on, children's church went on, a good night of food and fellowship.

We will begin a new ministry this Saturday. Many of us have a desire to go out into the neighborhoods and meet our friends. They don't know us, only what they assume we are like, so we need to show them we are about Christ and lvoing everybody. We have no plans of what we will be doing, our neighbors, our God will show us. We will have two ministries going on each Saturday. One will still be going to the camps and one to the neighborhoods. Both will leave at 9:30. Please come and join us. We need you, we need your hearts.

Prayers for those who are hurting both spiritually and physically. Prayers for our new ministry. Prayers for our country, that their egos can be put aside and that compassion for the country can reign. Prayers for the violence happening all over the world can subside and lvoe can rule the land.

God is good! All the time! Not just some of the time. When Heather was singing her song, it talked about needing God every hour. How often do we go about our daily lives, not thinking or turning to God until something bad happens? Richard said his wife, who works at a Federal Government office, has peace in her life, because she is focused on Jesus. 

As Richard shared in the Word, Peter walked on the water as long as his focus was on Jesus. Then when the waves and wind around Peter became contrary, Peter took his focus off Jesus and he began to sink. How often each day do we face distractions, irate phone calls, bad tempers, people having a bad day, all causing us to take our focus off Jesus and we begin to sink?

Then Richard goes on to say, the remarkable thing about Jesus, when He sees Peter begin to sink, He stretches out his hand to save him! Isn't that amazing, we have a God so lvoing that He will do anything He can to save us! When we face our challenges of the day, or our demons of the past begin to rise up again, go to Jesus, focus on Him, His hand is waiting for us to grab on to. What a friend we have in Jesus!  Amen!

Have a great weekend and blessed week. Join us Saturday morning. God is good!

Today

What a remarkable week! Hope yours was as good?! God is at work in our lives, and ready to do some remarkable things! Hang on for a crazy ride!

Last Saturday as my wife and I were driving to my brother-in-law's funeral, I got to thinking about our breakfast being cooked and served at the center. Tim and Dawn were in charge of it all, cooking, serving and cleaning up. How remarkable that it all was happening. Tim, not too long ago, was living under a bridge. Tim turned his life over to Christ and is now, holding down a job, on our Board, living in house with some of our family, has his own set of keys to the center, our outdoor friends leader, helps with tutoring, a mentor to some of our young people, a leader in our men's Bible fellowship, always wanting to help others. What a testament to living a life for Christ! Dawn, originally from Australia, finding her way to us through her obedience to God. Stepping out in faith as she becomes a member of our neighborhood. Wanting to share her lvoe of Christ with others, lighting the way for us as we visit our outdoor friends. Our community is truly blessed by the two of them and allowing the Holy Spirit to fill their lives with lvoe.

Scott, Matt, Dawn and Tim had company on their visits Saturday morning. Pastor Roger and Pastor Betsy from Grace brought a guest pastor from Africa, Pastor Mande to meet our outdoor friends. The visits made an impression in them all.

The camps were doing much better this week. Some work is happening for the guys, which keeps them busy. No drama this week.

Tutoring is still going strong on Monday and Wednesdays. Ms Lauren is leading our Centenary students and running a tight ship as the neighborhood children come and learn. Great to see each room being used, learning going on, and relationships being formed.

Tuesday afternoon and evening, many of us got to be a part of a book signing by our friend Judy Chrisitie. Judy is a becoming a legend in all the books she is publishing and we get to ride along her coat tails! She graciously allows us to receive a percentage of all the book sales taken place for the week. Ms Lisa reported, we had received around $500 so far.

Matt led our men's Bible fellowship Tuesday evening, reading from Hebrews 11 talking about faith. Not sure the chapel is large enough as more and more men are showing up each week. It is great to see so many men, both young and old, wanting to hear the Good News and how it might work in the their lives. We read about faith and how it is so important to God. Verse 6 says, without faith no one can please God. Do we live our lives in faith in God or ourselves?

Wednesday afternoon, we walked the streets around the center and handed out flyers for National Night out next Tuesday, October 1st, from 5 - 6:30. Ms Abbie went to the houses at the end of our block, to get signatures so we can block off our street. One of the neighborhood ladies walked with us and visited with our neighbors encouraging them to come. We will be cooking some hot dogs, asking our neighbors to bring side dishes. Looking forward to meeting them all.

Another packed house Thursday evening. Sarah and Scott were out of town, but God knew that, so God sent the youth from Cyperss Baptist and Ms Sara from Christ Methodist to us and they handled children's church! That was awesome. We were treated to song and fellowship by the youth pastor of Cypress, Pastor Greg. Then we all enjoyed the food brought by Cypress Baptist for our meal. Another big crowd, lots of new faces and good times.

Prayers for those of us having to deal with the health of our parents. Hard to see our love ones struggling with illness. Prayers for our Board on Saturday as we share what God is leading us to do in our neighborhood. If you have something God has been telling you, that you would like to see happen, please send an email to Ms Lisa, today.

In one of my phone calls from my sister last week, she was talking about her husband, her best friend, her lover for over 67 years. They met when she was a teenager, got married at an early age, had two sons, having been together for 67 years. Working together for the last 47 years in a family business, depending on each other for strength and guidance. It is hard to say goodbye. Glenda, said to me at some point, I wish we had stopped working together and retired. There were things we wanted to do, but now we don't have that chance.

I have been thinking about that statement, things we wanted to do but never did. Was reading in the Bible, not sure where, talking about a young man accumulating all his stuff, excited about his wealth, and God saying, he will never get to use it, I am going to take him home. 

My brother-in-law was busy in his garage working on his motorcycles, for a ride they were going to take, and went to bed that night, never having the chance to ride again. The Pastor at his funeral, said he talked with Jackie each week, about life, about their struggles. The Pastor said, he told Jackie he might like to get on a motorcycle again, putting off that ride with Jackie, and now it is too late.

I know we say, we are not promised tomorrow, but does our lives reflect that? Do we tell the ones we see everyday how important they are too us? Do we tell those, who lvoe us the most, how much we lvoe them? Do we tell our children, how much we lvoe them? Can't tell you how many times I have heard, can't wait until I retire, so I can do this or that! What if, like my brother-in-law, that day never comes?

God's Kingdom needs you today, not tomorrow. The children need a friend today, not next week when you find time. Our neighborhood is falling down around us and needs your heart today, not when it is convenient. A hug is needed today, not tomorrow after soccer practice. A kind word of encouragement is wanted on Friday, not on Sunday when no body is around. We talked about at the funeral, we only see our family at funerals or weddings! Why is that?  Is it because we are too busy? Busy at what? Building up God's Kingdom or ours?

We hear it everyday, don't put off tomorrow what you can do today. In our hearts we say ok, but our minds says, don't worry about it, you will have another day. Jackie and Glenda will tell you, no you don't. Live your life for God everyday. Bring glory to Him at every moment. You will be blessed. Our community will be blessed. God will be pleased! Amen.

Have a great week. Enjoy God's blessing all around you. Lvoe today!

Actions and Words!

Has someone been praying for rain in this part of the world!? Well it has worked! We have been hot and dry for many weeks, grass is brown, the plants are wilted, but God provides just at the right moment! Cooler temperatures and welcomed rain is on tap for the weekend, yeaaa!

Hard to describe our visits on Saturday. We were at our low points and then we get to the mountaintop, what a ride! Turner is doing fine. There is a new person close to his camp, we did not wake him, but will check on him this week. We asked Turner to watch over him and he said he would, isn't that cool! We get to our next camp and the beer has been flowing steady already, 10am in the morning! Hard to see. We then get to our third camp, and more of the same. So sad to see men waste their lives away on alcohol, when God has so much for them to do. Matt and Tim had just left after wishing Travis a happy birthday. Robert was able to stand for a moment, saying our circling prayer, asking for deliverance from our faults. I was thinking, looking at a huge church on the hill, how many folks sitting in the pews, would listen a man who was stumbling with his words trying to talk to God! I guess, no better time to do so?!

I will admit, it was hard to see the guys that morning. Wondering if we are doing any good by coming by? Wondering if we are disappointing God by seeing these addictions continue? When does it end? 

Then we arrive at Smokey's apartment. Smokey opens the door with a big smile and tells us to sit down. We notice a table in the middle of the room, he opens his stove and pulls a plate of warm fried chicken and sets it on the table. He opens the refrigerator and brings out potato salad, cokes and cookies. In the freezer he has ice cream! What a celebration! Remember Smokey has no car, rides the bus when he can, but mostly walks. I asked Smokey how did you get all of this food here. He said, he walked and then stopped along the way under the shade to rest for a few minutes. The grocery store is a good mile or so from his apartment. Isn't that awesome!

Smokey begins to talk, with a look I have not seen in him before. One of joy, peace, compassion. Smokey talks about his life, his struggles and then a renewed joy in his relationship with God. How everything in his life, now is focused on God and what God wants him to do. Smokey's struggles with the establishments seems to have come a close. His disability, his apartment, his social security problems have all been resolved and he was thanking God for it all. 

Then Smokey says, he has been praying, asking God how can he give back. Smokey tells us, last year at our Christmas dinner, with Santa Claus greeting the children, Matt and Ms Vickie sitting on Santa's lap, the dinner, the gifts, it all made a huge impression on him. Smokey says I have been praying for a year, asking God what can I do. Smokey goes on to say, how much he appreciates all of us, who week after week checked on him at his camp. How we continue to come by and visit with him, take him to Bible study and Thursday meals. Then Smokey opens up his wallet and give us a several hundred dollar donation! He said, he wants the children to have a special Christmas this year! His way of saying thank you to all of us.

Folks, I can tell you I was speechless. From seeing the depths of despair earlier in the morning, to seeing a man so full of life and God, it was breath taking! Dr Phil, Mr Scott and I talked about, you never know how your actions or words affect people. So we need to be all mindful, the Spirit needs to be flowing in and through us all the time. A true blessing to be a part of.

Our tutoring afternoons are going great. Monday and Wednesdays you can walk into the center and not hear a sound other than spelling, math or reading going on. Ms Lauren and all the college students are doing a great job. Ms Lisa is there to watch over everything but she has been doing more helping with homework than policing, it is great!

Tuesday night was another huge gathering of men for Bible fellowship. The circle is almost full, so the rows of chairs  are being used. Men - young and old, neighborhood and homeless, gather to talk about God. As the reading was talking about the Body of Christ, you could sense a family of men beginning to develop. White, black, rich, poor, young, old, something special is happening and God is at work in His Body.

Wednesday evening, the guys from the Bright House hosted our family gathering. Good food, good conversations and good times! We talked about relationships. How some are hard between boss and employee, between husband and wife and friend to friend. One underlying theme seem to be if we take the approach Jesus takes with us, His loving nature then things can work out.

Thursday was again full of activities. Ms Abbie led our community choir in song, Pastor Eddie shared the Word. Ms Abbey and Ms Ardis getting the meal ready, Ms Lisa preparing the grocery lists, Momma T  leading the young girls Bible study, Tim, Matt, Ms Vickie visiting with everybody, St Luke's Medical van full of folks getting tested, amazing night, with over 150 folks being served. What a blessing to seeing it all happen.

Prayers for William. He continues to try and continues to stumble. Smokey waiting for his eye surgery. Sonatra. Sonatra is out and beginning a new life. Joey is working out a schedule of activities for Sonatra. After talking with Sonatra to see if he is willing to move forward in his recovery, then Joey will send out a schedule for us to plug into to help Sonatra along the way. Cari and Pete Bollinger. Cari is taking another stronger round of chemo therapy. Ms Dorothy is going through radiation treatments to see if the doctors can reduce the size of a tumor. Henry as he celebrates a month in his new school in MInden. Dr Phil as he travels to Oklahoma today for a week of wilderness living. Dr Phil is joining his daughter as her Jewish community will be living out in the wilderness, celebrating the journey their ancestors took many, many years ago. Prayers for my sister as she struggles with loosing her husband Wednesday morning. We will be traveling Saturday to Lake Charles for the funeral. Prayers for families struggling with health issues and the aging of our parents. For many years our parents take care of us, now as they grow older we are called upon to take care of them.

Don't forget, this Saturday breakfast will be served, cooked by Tim. Momma T and mr brian will be gone, so Tim will be working his magic alone. If you would like to help him, the cooking will be starting at 7:30, with breakfast being served at 8:30. Tim has surprises to go along with our biscuits and eggs. Come and enjoy the good food and conversations.

Tuesday evening, September 24 at Barnes and Noble, our friend Judy Christie will be holding a book signing. Common Ground will be the recepient of books bought for us at that time. For those of you out of town and would like to help out, Ms Lisa will send a reminder and coupon number to use on line.

Then the following Tuesday, October 1, we will host a block party on National Night Out. It will be a good way for us to meet our neighbors. More information will be coming next week, but put it on your calendars to come and hang out with our community.

Lots of exciting things going on in and around the center and neighborhood. Due to all of you allowing God to work through you . As we talked about Tuesday evening, we all need to come and be a part of God's work, because God gave us all different gifts and talents. If you don't come, we will not be blessed. Everybody is important from the head to the toe! Amen

Have a wet, cool weekend! Have a great week with all the blessings God will provide!

Community

With taking a few days off last week, it seems it has been forever since I have written. Thanks to Joey and Lomax and others who contributed to our story last week. It is so reassuring knowing, in your absence, life goes on and you have community to help make things happen. A blessing.

Mr Scott reported on Saturday's visits, some drama in the camps and new friends to share it with. We had a couple of new friends from Grace wanting to visit our friends, so they got to see life. Many years ago, when it seemed every Saturday we were faced with some form of drama in the camps, one of our friends made the comment where there is drugs and alcohol, you will have drama. Another reason, for prayers to rid the dependency of this terrible addiction.

We were contacted a month or so ago, by a young man living in Houston, wanting to visit our community. Well he has arrived and spending time with Lomax and Joey. Ricky has stepped in and quickly become a new member of our family. If you are around, be sure to welcome him and get to know him.

When I got to the center Monday afternoon, Ms Lisa and her crew of Centenary students were preparing the children's area for after school activities. What a blessing to have these young people willing to step up and share their lvoe with our children. Lauren and Princess, our summer interns have returned, along with a new student, Parrish, along with Joey and Lomax, we have a great group of young people.

Don't know how many of you are keeping up with our Gus, but the Lord is blessing him with many, many gifts. Gus has written a book, The Truth about Walls and Bridges. You can find the book at his blog:

http://friendshipcommunitylongview.blogspot.com/2013/08/normal-0-false-false-false-en-us-x-none_27.html. Another exciting thing, is your donation to purchase the book goes to restoring his Community House! Gus and his community have purchased two houses and are in the process of restoring one of them so they can share God's gift with others. Very exciting, thinking how all of you touched Gus with your lvoe and now Gus is doing the same in Longview.

Tuesday evening continues to bless our men of the community, with the reading of the Word and the sharing of their hearts. The group of men this evening had all ages of men, from one of our young neighborhood children, a Byrd student, to a grandparent bringing his little grand child. Matt read from 2 Chronicles, talking about God telling the people to go to battle, but not to worry, because your battles are mine. How often do we go into our battles and not let God into our lives until we mess it up so bad, the only thing left is to turn to God. We must turn to God first, we must let go and let God in our lives, for nothing is too small or too great, that God can't handle it.

Wednesday afternoon was our first day of tutoring. Walking into the children's area, was great to see every table full of our children being helped by all our friends. Different rooms being used to help with homework. Spelling going on. Math problems being solved. Ms Lauren is our leader and has taken on the task of putting up goals for our children. Great to see such enthusiasm being displayed and lvoe all around.

Thursday afternoon, not sure how to describe all that is going on. From washing of laundry, to the music and preaching in chapel, to helping little ones in the children's gathering area, preparing 80 grocery bags, young ladies Bible study going on, preparing a meal, serving and cleaning up our meal, checking out our clothing room, the handing out of grocery bags, what an evening of fun and joy. 

Thanks to all for making it happen. Pastor Jackson and Wes in chapel, Sarah and Scott and their young students helping with the little ones, Momma T, Ms Abbie, Ms Lisa and BJ in the grocery, clothing area, Ardis, Tim in the kitchen, dining area, Ms Vicky and the Airline Baptist folks, Beth and John and the Digging Deeper class. Wow! God continues to bless us with special people who are willing to share God's lvoe with others.

Prayers needed for Ms Dorothy. We don't have the complete story, but she is not doing well. Fell, hurting her shoulder and then found out some more bad news about her health. When we find out more, we will report her situation. William as he continues to struggle. Prayers for Smokey. Smokey had to go to the hospital with appendicitis. He had the operation to remove it, but now is suffering from the toxic elements that got into his blood stream. He is home and taking medications for it. Prayers for our direction in the community.

The thing, that comes to mind as I sat down for supper Thursday night, is how everything is running along. After chapel, I went in through the grocery room, there Ms Lisa was checking off the names, saying hi to the children. Ms Abbie handing out announcements, Travis and Rickie helping with the bags, walking through the clothing room, BJ keeping things organized, people going through the clothes. Then walking into the fellowship hall. Folks serving I have never seen before, people both visitors and community cleaning the tables, stacking the chairs. The dishes getting washed by some of our outdoor friends, Ms Sarah having her small group session in the children's area. 

Just amazing to see it all happening before my eyes. From a time not too long ago, when there were 3 of us maybe 5 on a good night, to now, folks showing up we don't know their names! Don't remember in the beginning being able to sit down and eat, to where I walk in now, get a plate and sit and visit. Isn't that what it is all about? Having the courage, the faith to let others come and share their gifts with our community. Learning my ways may not have been the best, allowing others to say, what about doing it this way.

Community is about learning from each other. Community is about letting go of our ways and letting God lead us. Community is about being there for support as new ways and new ideas are tried. Community is about listening. Community is about lvoing. Community is about all of you. Amen and amen!

Have a great weekend, have a blessed week. God is sooo good!!

Do you believe?

And you said it couldn't get any hotter than 100! Don't you just love this weather! Hopefully the weather where you are, is not as hot, dry and humid as it is here. Hope your week was a good one, full of blessings!

We got our week started off by visiting our friends outdoors. We saw big numbers at the camps this week. Turner was quiet as usual, until Ms Dawn asked what kind of books he might like to read. He mentioned National Geographic magazines, westerns, science fiction and on and on! Smokey had asked us to ask him so Smokey can get him some books from the VA. Robert was back along with Travis. Several others were around the camps. We got to see Catfish at Smokey's with Tim and Sara.

Pretty quiet around the center. No after school activities yet. No feeding going on. Giving us some time to get things cleaned up a little bit. Still need to have a work day, maybe Saturday September 21st?

Ms Lisa and Ms Abbey met with one of our new interns from Centenary. We will blessed to have two Centenary students with us during the school year.

Mr Matt had a full chapel Tuesday evening with men wanting to share their stories about their relationships with Jesus. Matt read from Matthew 6, Jesus teaching about giving, about prayer, about worship and not storing up treasures. Putting God first in everything we do is what we are about.

Another great Thursday evening. We got started our evening off with our long time friend Spencer sharing his gift of song. Then Pastor Roger from Grace shared the Word talking from Matthew 9, sharing if we believe then it will be done. Not what others say will be done, or what others say about you. it is about our relationship with Jesus that matters.

Mr Tom fed us with another one of his delicious meals. Ms Abbie and Ms Lisa handed out bags of groceries. Momma T and her girls were busy in their Bible study. And then we had a new group of friends show up.

Ms Abbey had been talking with the Centenary Basketball team, telling them about us. Well they showed up, all 23 of them! Great group of young men, helping us serve, clean, pass out bags, wash dishes. As they were leaving, Tim was sharing some of his story and he said to the young men, we usually like to circle up when we visit our outdoor friends, can we do that now? So we formed a big circle of young men from all over the country, our community of adults and children, praising God for all He does for us. What a fitting end to a great evening.

Prayers for the Bollingers as Cari continues her chemo treatments. Prayers for William as he continues to struggle with his demons. Prayers for our community. Prayers for our path into the neighborhood.

Do you believe? Do you trust God? Do people see Jesus in you? We are beginning a new chapter in our journey, we must put our faith in God, God can handle it. He wants to handle it! God is bringing new people into our community to help us build His Kingdom. It will take all of us working together to make God's vision come true. Won't you join us? Pray for us. Share our story with others. Thank you for being the kind of people you all are.

Blessings to all this weekend and for the coming week. God is indeed good!!  All the time!!

Swing thoughts?

Did somebody pray for cooler weather?! Well thank you, because this week has been gorgeous in this part of the world. Hope your weather has been beautiful also, God is Good!!

Tim, Matt, Scott and Dawn made their way around to the camps this past Saturday. Not much drama to report, which is a good thing. Everybody seems to be doing ok and surviving the life of living outside.

It was a quiet week around the center. With school back in session for our kids, not many activities going on. The summer feeding program has ended, summer camp is over with, quiet at the center! Spooky!

It would be nice, if we could get together one Saturday morning and spruce up the center. We need some mopping, cleaning, waxing, maybe even some painting done. With all the activity, dirty hands and feet have made their marks on our floors and walls! Check your calendars and let's see what date we can come up with.

One tradition that continues to happen every Tuesday evening, is our men's Bible fellowship. A full house of guys, wanting to see each other, learn from each other and hear what Matt has to say about the Word of God was there. Matt read from 2nd Corinthians, talking about forgiving. How can we not forgive others, since God has forgiven us?

Joey and Lomax on Tuesday went to visit Sonotra in jail. He seems to be doing ok, waiting for his court date the end of August. Prayers for him as he deals with life and the decisions he will have to make when he gets out.

Another tradition that continues each week is our community choir leading us in song. Ms Abbie plays her piano, leading the choir as we join them in song as we begin our chapel time. Following chapel time, we were treated to a delicious meal served up by our community ladies. Carmen, who became our cook for the summer feeding program, prepared our meal and other ladies from the community helped her serve. Ms Lisa, Abbey, Abbie and all the other community ladies help hand out our grocery bags and made sure the evening ran smoothly. Tim and Dawn manned the washing of the dishes. Ardis lead the drink committee. Community in action, doesn't get any better than that.

Also going on Thursdays now, is our young ladies Bible study. Momma T is leading a group of young ladies in exploring the Bible and how their lives can be transformed. What a special treat this is for the girls. Can only imagine how this will effect their young lives as they grow up, what a blessing.

Don't forget, this Saturday is our breakfast time, 8:30. Momma T and Tim will be serving pancakes, bacon and all the trimmings.

Continued prayers for Ms Lisa's son Michael. He is having another procedure done Monday. Hopefully he will be all better by the time he starts his college classes in September. Prayers for Henry, Ms Abbie's grandson as he leaves Sunday for military school. Prayers for our community and for the children who live there. Satan has a strong hold on our neighborhood and He is not going to let go without a fight. Prayers for the direction Common Ground needs to take to fight this battle.

Don't laugh, but I have been taking golf lessons this past month. Several of us got together, to help out a friend. As we were listening to what our friend was telling us about golf, I got to thinking, swinging a club is much like life, much like living a life serving God.

He started off, with the fundamentals. Good posture, good stance, good grip pressure. As he continued, a good golf swing starts with a solid foundation. We need to have good balance, weight evenly distributed, relaxed. Isn't that same for us in life? We need to be focused on God. We need to learn, we live in this world but not a part of this world, finding that balance of life. When we find that focus, we become at peace.

As he continued his sermon, I mean his instruction, he said the golf swing starts from the ground up. Our body begins to turn, bringing our arms along with it and then our hands with the club. Our life in Christ needs to start from Word of God and what He is leading us to do. Not like so many of us, wanting to do things ourselves and then asking God for help. Like in golf, so many of us swing the club with our arms and finding problems along the way.

When it was my turn to swing the club before our friend, one of the first things he said to me, you need to let go, don't control your swing, let go - relax! I want to control my swing like I want to control my life. But we all know, that is not the way of the Lord. We need to let go and let God into our lives, allowing Him to control our ways. And as we know, when we let go, what happens! Peace, joy, and lvoe reigns down!

We went into these lessons, wanting to help a friend and instead God blessed us through this man. Isn't that the way of the Lord! God is always teaching, is always lvoing us in ways we don't always understand. But if we take the time, to listen, to let go, to relax in His presence, blessings will follow.

How is your swing? Are you grounded in the Word of God each day? Do you start your day from the what the Lord is telling you or are you starting off on your own? Are you allowing the Spirit to flow through you or are you trying to control everything? Are you relaxed - at peace or are you wound up like a top ready to explode? We have the best swing instructor in the world, go to Him, listen to Him. I bet your swing will become better. You will find peace, you will find joy and you will learn to lvoe others more freely. Amen!

See you Saturday morning. Have great weekend, have a better week! 

Thirsty

With summer camp over with, a week before school starts, the center was pretty quiet this week. It was a good thing. We have had temperatures making their way to the 100 degree mark each day. We are ready for the fall weather to arrive!

Our camp visits were pretty quiet also on Saturday. Turner and Brad were the only ones in the camps. Tim and Matt visited their groups, with some missing also, taking relief from the heat in hotel rooms. Richard was in the hospital, but is now out. Still no word on Robert. We picked up Smokey at a bus stop after his visit to his doctor. For all of those thinking, these guys want to live outside, well they don't. Very unpleasant outside, with it not cooling down at night, you sweat all day and all night, no fun.

Monday morning, Ms Lisa and her boys met the folks from Christ Methodist as they again shared their blessing of groceries with us. Our pantry shelves have never looked so full, even after making all our bags for Thursday. What a blessing for the folks to share with us in this.

We had another Spirit led evening at our men's Bible fellowship Tuesday evening. We had several new men from the neighborhood join us for the first time, very exciting. Matt read from John 4 and  8 talking about Jesus' encounter with the lady at the well. Good discussions about how we all need to drink from the water where we will not be thirsty again.

Wednesday evening, Lomax hosted our family gathering at the Bright House. Ms Ardis shared it was a good evening of conversations and fellowship. Chapter 9 from Dr Phil's book was discussed and we are ready to move on to the next two chapters.

Thursday evening, was started off with song and music led by our Community Choir and the playing of the piano by Wes. Pastor Jackson shared his thoughts on, We have to be careful who we talk to! We all to often go to everybody else, read books on the subject, try to come up with our own ways, when we have a problem or obstacle in our way, when as we all know, our answers need to come from God.

We had Mexican night for supper, Spanish rice, tamale casserole, chips all supplied by our friends from Airline Baptist, yummy. Following our meal, through the generosity and the caring hearts of the congregation of Grace Ms Lisa and Ms Abbey gave out over 60 back packs with supplies to the children. Very, very nice.

Ms Lisa arranged for two suggestion boxes to be put in the chapel and the fellowship hall. We shared with both groups, we have organizations who want to help our neighborhood. We asked our neighbors to tell us know what is important to them. Ms Lisa collected some suggestions. We will leave the boxes out for a few more weeks. Ms Lisa is putting together a group of community folks to get us started in our discussions, very exciting.

Prayer concerns for Momma T's mom and dad. Continue to lift those up who are living outside. Prayers for God's direction in our community discussions. Prayers for our children as they return to school next week. Prayers for direction we need to take in our after school program. Prayers for Joey as he travels home today and for others who will be traveling this week.

This is the final week of our summer feeding program. All and all, it has been a good venture. We were able to give our community jobs. We were able to reach out to those in the neighborhood who did not know about us. There have been challenges, which we will talk about in the coming weeks to determine if we want to do this again next summer. From a building that sat vacant for several years, to a place where it has been used every day of the week for the community, pretty awesome, God is good!

Ms Abbey has met with the folks of Centenary and we are not a partner with them. This will allow students to get to know us and maybe be a part of our ministry. Very cool, great work Abbey.

We also have been contacted by Judy Christie to be the recipient of another one of her book signings in September. Awesome! Great way for us to meet folks in the community and for us to help restock our children's library.

Been thinking about our discussions of Tuesday night. In the conversation Jesus had with the woman at the well, telling her, the water I have, you will never be thirsty again. The woman saying, I want what you have! With this hot dry weather, you can try soft drinks, tea, power drinks, but like one of our men said, when you are so hot and thirsty, nothing will quench that thirst like a cold glass of water! We need to share this water with others, to quench their longing for trying other things, instead of the Word of God.

When Jesus met this lady, He did not condemn her, but in a loving way, said, what you are doing will lead you to destruction, I have a better way. He approached her in a way that did scare her off. He talked to her even though they were not of social equals. Great lessons for us all to learn.

We need to be able to share our stories of why we turned our lives over to Christ. We need to be real. We need to be honest. We need to be able to share our lvoe of Christ in a way that others will understand. We need to remember in the Kingdom of God, we are the same. We don't condemn, we lvoe. Jesus, in a few short moments, shared His story about living water in away that she wanted some. We need to be able to do the same. Our stories need to lead others to Christ, not turn them away.

Each one of you have such special stories. Each unique and your own. That is why this community is unique and special. You willingness to reach out, lvoing unconditional, bringing hope to those who do not have any, showing compassion to the lost, and thinking of others before you think of yourselves.

Amazing people you all are!

Hope your weekend is full of blessings and your week is full of surprises of lvoe! Amen.