Seeking

Hope your week has been a good one. Hope God's blessings has filled your heart with joy!

Saturdays continue to be busy around the neighborhood. Everybody was doing well in the camps. Robert was a no show? Hopefully he will be around this week. Basketball continues to stay strong. More young men continue to show up and want to join in on the fun. Bread - bread - bread was everywhere! Garden work continues, beautiful day to be in the neighborhood! Work continued at the Bright House.

Saturday afternoon, some of us enjoyed our time at Daren's celebration of his life at Grace. The church was full of friends and family as we all came together to listen, sing and praise God for Daren's life. As Pastor Juan said at the close of the service, with his cane in his hand. Just look at this cane, Daren will no longer this! Amen.

Monday and Wednesday continues to be very full of life as we get together with our children. Testing will be coming up quickly and we are interested in seeing how our children will do. Several of them have really become great readers through the help of our servants. We are already making plans for our next fall classes.

Tuesday evening, Rickie led the men's Bible fellowship reading from Psalm 27: 1 - 6. The Lord is my light and my salvation -  whom shall I fear? No greater comfort in knowing God is on our side. Is He on yours?

Late Tuesday evening, Mr Scott called saying his reporter had located our long lost friend, Brad. Scott gave me the name of the rehab center Brad was suppose to be in. As it turned out Wednesday morning, I was in the neighborhood, so I went by the place to see if he was really there? He was! I woke him up from his nap and we talked for a few minutes. Brad looked great! He was glad to see me and we talked about his ordeal. With a wheelchair sitting next to the bed, I asked, Brad can you walk? He said, sure and got up out of bed and walked a few steps to show me! Praise God! He has a long way to go, but he has come a long way! Amazing to see him in such good condition remembering how he looked in the hospital a few months ago.

Thursday evening was filled with lots of praising, singing and good times. Ms Abbie again shared her gift of song and playing as she led us in singing and Brother George led us in the hearing of God's Word. Brother George has agreed to be our pastor for the third week of each month in chapel. If you haven't heard him before, come by and listen. He has an amazing story to tell, praising God for his life. Friends from Clearview church brought our meal, helping us in the fellowship hall and our market. We still are tinkering with the way we do things and each week seems to get a little bit better. God is good, bringing us helpers to be with our community.

Next Saturday, April 25th, John Sauls is arranging an event for Grace Community to join us, Making a Difference Saturday. Lots of projects will be going on, from breakfast, working, lunch and chapel, all day long! We will need everybody on hand to direct and help out. Please join us if you can. We asked our community in chapel to join us also. Should be lots of fun.

We have a lady who has been with us for several months. She will now be coming on a regular basis to the center. We are being blessed to have her time with us being paid by someone else. Heidi, will be working in the afternoons, to answer the phones, check on items being done in and around the center and closing up when events happen. Come by and meet her, give her a common ground hug!

Continued prayers for Ginellen's mom, Ms Joyner, as she continues to have health issues. Prayers for those who are traveling. Prayers for Joey as he concludes his time in the Philippines and his travel back to us. Prayers for our community. Life is hard especially for the poor. Challenges present themselves all the time and change seems to be a constant way to fight those challenges. We miss our friends, when they move, or leave for awhile, worrying if they are alright. God please keep our friends safe.

The Lord is the stronghold of my life - of whom shall I be afraid? says in the last part of Psalm 27 verse 1. Over the years, the one constant that seems to be constant in our community is change. You can't pay the rent, so you move. You have a leaking pipe, it doesn't get fixed, so you move. Abusive situations happen, you need to hide, so you move. Bill chasing people show up at your door, so you move. Someone offers you a better place, so you think, so you move.

Life in our community is hard. The little money you do make, does not cover all your expenses, so things don't get done, bills go unpaid, children fend for themselves, a lvoing home is practically nonexistent. That is why, common ground exist, to provide hope, to provide lvoe, to provide God's lvoe to others.

The one constant in all our lives is the lvoe of God for us. In verse 4, David says, One thing I ask from the Lord, this only do I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his temple. God has a place for us in His heart, we just have to seek after it. He wants only the best for us, if we go after it. Verse 5, for in the day of trouble, he will keep me safe . . . We can not find our refuge in addictions, in our possessions, in others. Only the peace that defines words, will be given to us if we seek after God's lvoe. Only He will keep us from harm, if we dwell in His house and in His Word. Amen!

Hope everybody has a great week. Looking forward to seeing what God has in store for us this week! God is good!!

Keep on keeping on

Spring has sprung this week in Shreveport. Dogwoods are blooming, azaleas are beginning to show their colors, trees are full of life, beautiful time of the year. God is pretty good at creating a masterpiece! Hope everybody is experiencing God's canvas in your neighborhood!

We continue our Saturday activities. The camps are doing ok. Turner is fine. Robert is still in his camp, waiting for the paperwork to go through for an apartment. He called his mom while we were there and we got to speak with her. She lives in Pennsylvania. She thanked us for looking after Robert and all we do for him. Big crowd at our Ogilvey camp. Basketball players were on the court practicing and having fun. Bread was being wrapped. The garden was taking shape as weeds and ground clutter was being pulled out. Bright House continues to come together. It was a beautiful day!

With spring break going on, no afternoon children activities were happening.

Tuesday evening, Tim led the reading of Phillippians 2: 12 - 18. Do everything without grumbling or arguing . . , the verse starts. How good are we at following this advise? Hard to do, when we are thinking about ourselves and not Jesus?!

Wednesday evening, Momma T and mr brian were servants for the evening for the Board of Common Ground. An evening where we shared a meal. Where we got to know each other a little bit better. We shared pictures of the past. We walked the halls talking about where we are now. And concluded our evening by looking at the future. A reminder it is not about us but about Jesus and where He is leading us.

Thursday evening was different? With school out, the children started arriving by 2:30. Their excitement level was high, full of energy and life! Chapel time was packed with community as Willie and Wes led the singing and sharing. The noise level didn't subside! Our meal was prepared by Joey and everybody was busy eating, running and playing! The market took a little longer, with more of the community showing up and folks shopping a little longer. Definitely high energy was happening all night long!

As far as we know, funeral services for Daren, a friend of Grace and the men's Bible fellowship, will be at Grace Saturday at noon. Prayers for his family as they deal with this man of God leaving their family. I was thinking about him this week as I drove up to Grace, missed seeing his black truck parked in the handicap parking spot. Then was reminded, he is now able to get around, no wheelchair needed, able to meet and greet His father in heaven he so lvoed. Prayers for Ms Joyner, Ginellen's mother. She is having health issues.

The thing that comes to mind this week is, God saying keep on keeping on, I have it! Reflecting back on where we have come from, where we started, it has been just a few short years. We were with a church family, asked to take a break from the church family and it's building. Turn two crack houses into places  where God will be able to shine His light into the community. Watch a building deteriorate and by God's grace able to own that building and bring it back to life.

We have built relationships with the community that still remain after all these years. We see our children grow up in poverty and all the challenges that presents. We have been there for their births, their achievements and their disappointments. Our hearts go out to the children when we see them hurting. When they hurt we hurt.

When your children are hurting you want to do more, you want the hurting to stop. When you see adults fighting, drinking, loosing hope, your heart breaks, you want your friends to not loose hope, you want to do more. When you are part of a community, your heart is there, when they hurt you hurt. We see the quality of education lacking for the poor. We see the lack of substantial housing available for our neighbors. We see the lack of quality jobs offered to our community. Health care is lacking. The lack of transportation is prevelant. Drug and alcohol use is out of control. Child care is almost none existent. So what are we doing?

God says, keep on keeping on, I have it! Our world has spiraled out of control for many generations. God has put us in a community where, the best is yet to come. We have accomplished so much in so very little time. It is not about all the doing but it is about us just being there. When you live in a community like ours, you see very little hope. With God working in and through us, that hope appears and our community sees it. At times we will struggle. At times we will become frustrated. At times it will seem overwhelming. But remember, God says, keep on keeping on, I have it!

This past Christmas, I took my wife to Walmart to buy something for our grandchildren. As we were standing in line to check out, a young man came up to me, from his check register. He said mr brian do you remember me? I said, I am sorry I don't, I'm old and don't remember a lot. This young man, who was working, had a big responsibility, said, I use to come to your "church" every week and hang out. He said, I sure enjoyed those times, thanks for doing that!

While we are waiting on God to show us His next steps to His Kingdom, it is important for us to remember, to be there in community. The buildings are not important but you are! God's light can not shine through the walls or the doors, only you can. The community will see God's light through you not the tables and chairs. Remember we are on God's timing and not ours. Lvoe, lvoe, lvoe!!! Amen.

Hope your week is special. Remember, God lvoes you - God haves it under control!

He is risen!s

Very late with this week news! My apologies to all. Hope everybody is enjoying the spring weather in your part of the country.

Saturday, Scott and Dawn were late returning from their visits. I asked why and they said, everybody wanted to talk, even Turner! Everybody is doing well. I helped Alan a little with the work at the Bright House. The bathroom is ready to paint and then the flooring can go down. Flooring in Joey's old room is repaired. Kitchen walls and floor is patched. Trim work is being done. Getting close. Ardis and her helpers wrapped and wrapped all the bread. Vicky and Matt continue to keep the boys busy with play, Bible study and chores. Momma T and others continue their mentoring of the "girls". Relationships are being formed, showing the girls God's lvoe.

With a small crew of helpers for our after school activities, mr brian arrived at 3. I will confess, Lisa had everybody doing exercises for the first few minutes. Jumping Jacks were a hit. Stretching for the sky was ok, but then Lisa made us touch our toes! I haven't done that in years, so I had to fake it! Lots of good things happening with the children. Homework help, computer skills formed, craft work, relay races, kick ball all adds up to an educational and fun time each Monday and Wednesday.

Tuesday, the men gathered in the chapel for Bible fellowship with Pastor Brown leading in the reading from Psalms 119: 1 - 17. You can tell David lvoes the Lord. "I will praise you with an upright heart as I Iearn your righteous laws." "I seek you with all my heart; do not let me stray from your commands." All good thoughts for our journeys!

Our regular team for chapel were unable to be with us, so as usual God sent His servants to us. Over and over again, God continues to show us who is in charge by sending us Brother George and Ms Abbie. With a change in our food pantry system, the chapel was packed, the Spirit was flowing, Amens, Hands being raised, Songs being sung, praising going on, like nothing I have ever seen or felt before! Followed by our yummy meal, with lots of help, the excitement continued. Our community lvoes our new pantry system, having the option to select foods they want and inspiring new folks wanting to be involved.  We had lots of help for our annual Easter egg hunt. Only thing missing was Lomax dressed up in his Easter bunny outfit! Next year Lomax! Lots of new visitors, checking us out, learning what is going on, and how they can become a part of our community, a great night.

Prayers for Lisa, Mark and their family. Mark's 91 year old mother passed away this week. Prayers for safe travel to Virginia to celebrate her long, fruitful life. Prayers for Dr Phil as he has arrived in Colorado, having to suffer through the beautiful days in the mountains! Prayers to Daren and his family, as Hat wrote, he has lost his struggle with his illnesses. No greater child of God than Daren. He had every right to have a pity party, but choose to lvoe His Lord with all his heart, mind and soul. We will miss him and his smile. Safe travels for all of our community who are traveling during spring break this week. Prayers for the Board of Common Ground as they will be gathering Wednesday evening for a time of reflection.

Don't forget, more Easter egg hunting will continue Sunday morning! We will meet at the center at 6:30 am. Gather the eggs, bless them and walk the neighborhood until they are all gone! A great time to see our neighborhood and see the challenges before us. We can always use more eggs, so bring some along. Everybody is welcome to join us. We walk for about an hour, so we can make it to church.

I still struggle with today being called Good Friday. I understand, why we call it Good Friday, because of the sacrifice of Jesus, but I still don't like what Jesus had to go through. I understand Jesus had to suffer, be beaten, nailed to a cross, buried, but couldn't God come up with a different plan? I understand the prophets of the Old Testament saying a Messiah was to come, walk with us, then die for our sins and rise on the third day. I just hate Jesus had to go through all of it.

I guess it is good God is God and mr brian is mr brian! God's plan was to save us from ourselves, knowing we couldn't do it our selves, so He sent His son do it for us. Brother George, talked about the lvoe chapter in 1 Corinthians 13. Never heard this chapter talked about this time of year, but George said, Lvoe is patient, kind, does not envy, does not boast, is not proud, does not dishonor others, not self seeking, not easily angered, keeps no record of wrongs, rejoices in truth, always protects, always trust, always hopes and always perseveres. Lvoe never fails.

Isn't that a description of Jesus? Jesus had to suffer today, because that is what lvoe does. We would suffer for our children, if in the end it would help our children. Jesus went through it all today because He lvoes us that much!  And as He was suffering, He knew in a matter of a few days, it would be all over and He would get to be with His Father. Thank you Jeus for your lvoe and sacrifice, so one day we will have to opportunity to be with you forever! Amen.

He has risen!! He has risen indeed! 

Children of the Most High

Hope everybody had a great week. Spring has sprung in our part of the world, with God creating new and exciting things to see. 

Scott had an old friend join them on their visits to the camps. Gus brought some friends of his to join us. For those of you who have not heard Gus will be leaving us for awhile, making his way to Paraguay to spread the Gospel according to Gus! He will be teaching English to the children in the country and creating new adventures, hopefully we will get to read about them in the future! Robert says he is finally getting a place to move inside. Exciting news, hope it happens. Everybody else is doing ok, enjoying the warmer temperatures.

All the other activities continue on Saturday, basketball, feeding the boys, Bible study, bread wrapping, gardening beginning to start again, remodeling, all happening, we just need you to make it even better!

Our afternoon reading times continue with the children. Each leader has their own children everyday, which makes for great relationships. Next week, Centenary and LSUS are on Spring Break, so we will be short handed. If any of you can be with us on Monday and/or Wednesday, we could use the help. The children arrive around 3.

Tuesday evening, Rickie led the men's Bible fellowship, reading from Luke 6: 27-36, love your enemies. The first verse says, but to you who are listening I say: Love your enemies, do to those who hate you. Rickie said, lot's of time we are not listening! We don't want to hear from God when it isn't what we want to do! Isn't it easier to hate than to lvoe?

Not sure how to describe Thursday evening? One of calm, nervousness, peace, joy, contentment, fulfilling. Ms Abbie played her heart out along with our choir who sang to the Lord, Brother Chester preached what God was putting on his heart, not wanting to end as the congregation agreed. Children's church was started again, exciting the little ones to have their own place to go. We had, what looked like the entire congregation of a new church, setting up the food, serving, cleaning, helping out to get everybody fed. Then we moved into our new Community Market, with more of their members, helping as shoppers as our community made their way around the store picking and choosing what they wanted to take home. Their bags were weighed, bag up and off they went. I heard nothing but compliments from the community as the whole evening was special. Shannon, Lisa, Abbey, Alan and a whole host of others made the shopping experience special. 

Dr Phil had a big smile on his face Thursday evening, as he had the opportunity to introduce one of his children to the community. Philip was in town for a few days, as he and his wife are transitioning to a new career move for them.

Prayers for one of our men who is part of our Monday Bible study at Grace and on Tuesday evening. I have not met a more braver man, than Daren, who has lost both legs to diabetes, never complaining. Late Thursday evening he was taken to the emergency room with heart problems. Have not heard this morning of his condition. Another friend has his trial next week. Like Paul said, I know I shouldn't do certain things but I do them anyway. He made bad choices and paying the price for them now. Matt's mom and her continued struggle with her health. Phil in his travels to Colorado. He will be gone from us for awhile helping out his community there.

Don't forget to collect Easter eggs for our neighborhood walk Easter Sunday. We will hide as many as we can get!

We are at the beginning of Holy week, a time to reflect on what God has done for us in our lives. He allowed His son to be tortured on Friday for our sins and lvoed us enough to allow His son to be resurrected on Sunday so that we may have eternal life with Him. Isn't that amazing!

Thinking back on our scripture, lvoe our enemies, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you, do good to those who hate you, isn't that what Jesus did for us on the cross on Friday? If Jesus did that for us, can't we do the same to others? There is too much hate in the world. The world needs lvoe, Jesus' kind of lvoe. It is not us who are called to lvoe, bless, pray or do good, it is the Holy Spirit within us doing the work. God is within all of us, if we just let go!

Verse 35, sums it up this way, But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High . . Don't we all want to be children of the Most High! Amen.

No better way to celebrate Holy Week, than to do in community. Hope you all are able to spend time with your family and friends. God is good!

Godly life

Sorry for the late note. We are being forced to play with our grand children and time has gotten away!

I was told John Sauls and Alan have just about completed our "common ground" arc! Beyond wet in our part of the world! Hopefully it is not as bad in your world! Ya'll have the right to tell me to be quiet in July and August when I will say, sure wish it would rain!

One of our camps has been washed away, the other camps are doing ok. Too much rain in a short amount of time. I apologize for the confusion last week about us finding Brad. He is still missing. We need to make some phone calls. Our basketball team has finished their city league play and now are in a church league. Matt has picked up some new boys to be on the team. More opportunities to share the Good News! There was a big haul of bread brought by Ardis. All the freezers and refrigerators are full!

Mondays and Wednesdays continue to bring us opportunities for relationships to develop. A great group of children come each week. Carl and Mary are developing a new schedule for the children to start in the coming weeks.

Tuesday evening the men's Bible fellowship met in the fellowship hall. Joey had prepared a feast, too much to bring to the chapel. Matt read from 2 Peter 1: 1 - 12. God has given  us everything we need to live a godly life. It is up to us to follow!

Thursday evening during the down pour, we sang a few songs and listened to Noel share his testimony about his trip to California. A delicious meal was prepared by Joey and Jerry, served by helpers, clothes were given away and grocery bags were handed out. More of our community showed than we thought due to all the rain. A testimony to how much we are appreciated.

We all have been invited to Ms Abbie's 31st Anniversary at her church this Sunday. She has been playing the piano for all those years! The name of her church is St Elmo Baptist church, 14070 Adger Rd Gilliam, LA 71029. Her appreciation celebration starts at 2:30. If you want to caravan up there, we will be living the center at 2pm.

God has given us His very great and precious promises. Isn't that amazing! There is no guess work, no wondering what is required of us, no mystery in what God has promised us. It is stated in the 5th verse, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, mutual affection; and mutual affection, love.

And in the middle of verse 10, God says, for if you do these things, you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Wow, what a blessing! Amen.

Let's pray for the rain to slow up a bit and may we all continue to be in the presence of our Lord and Savior!

Change

Yes Dorothy there is a sun! Approximately, 2:45 on Tuesday afternoon, we saw the sun, didn't last for long but we got to see it! Then Wednesday we got above 40 degrees for the first time in two months! Wednesday afternoon, we had a temperature of 79 degrees, woke up to sleet and snow Thursday morning with the temperature at 29 degrees! Hopefully the weather in your part of the world is a little more stable!

Baby it was cold, really cold Saturday morning, but Scott and the family of servants led the way around to the camps. Some folks went indoors at some friends house, others braved the weather. Robert stood up in his tent, to think either I am growing or my tent is shrinking! All the snow was pushing down on his roof! Not sure how Hat does it, but she found our missing Brad. He is at the same place William is at. Jerry had another episode Sunday evening. Joey called Alan and Alan being the kind hearted soul he is, braved the cold and rain to pick him up and took Jerry to the emergency room. Jerry stayed over night and is back at the camp.

I shared some stories about Common Ground, Willie preached about the grace of God to the men's breakfast group at Brookwood Baptist Saturday morning. Always good to tell others what ya'll are doing.

Sunday evening, we hosted our first and hopefully more to come, class of Grace members learning about discipleship. Our long time friend Pete and our new friend, Pastor Juan came up with the idea of a way of bridging the gap between to the neighborhoods. They met for an hour and half and then was given a tour of the center. This is only the beginning of new relationships being formed.

Again, I want to apologize for missing this week's activities. Not sure who I made mad, but I was again summoned to federal court as a potential juror. I was summoned in January and here I was back again! Don't mind being summoned but sure messes up your schedule. This case was going to last two weeks, so I held up my hand and cried like a baby to get out! Must have worked, by 5:30 they finally made their jury selections and I was not one of the them!

Tuesday evening, I missed our men's Bible fellowship to attend a committee I have been asked to be a part of. Messed up my whole week missing our men's fellowship! The committee will not only effect Grace Community but also Common Ground. Exciting to talk about a new relationship between the two.

Monday and Wednesday we continue to meet with our children. Our loyal servants continue to be present for our children as they learn to read. They are changing lives.

Our first Thursday chapel group of Heather and Derek was not able to be with us due to the baby being sick, so Brother George and Brother Spencer filled in at the last moment. God is so good at providing men of God for us to use their gifts. A delicious meal was served, clothes were given away, bags of groceries were handed out. A good evening.

Our longtime friend, John Williams brought a friend with him to help work on the Bright House electrical issues Thursday evening. They stopped their work, long enough to enjoy the meal. John's friend Jim liked it so much, he wants his life group to come and help out! God is good.

Prayers for Brad and William as they go through their recoveries. Prayers for our friends living outside who are struggling through this cold weather. Prayers for Liam, young son of Heather and Derek. Prayers for those of our community who are traveling. Prayers for God's direction in our communities, that we may follow as the doors become open. Prayers for Joey and his community. Won't be long Joey will be back with us!!

I am going to whine! Forgive me, but it has been on my mind for several weeks now. We talk about our trials at our men's Bible study on Monday night. The one common place where we all seem to struggle, to be the men of God we are suppose to be, is when we are driving! I have been asking God, why? What are you trying to show me? I have attended more meetings, read more books, listened to more speakers, than I have in many years, why?

At dusk, just before you turn on your headlights to see, is a time that frustrates me. The headlights of your car should be on, not for you but for others. When you are waiting to come onto the road, your turn signal should be on, not for you but for others. When the traffic light turns yellow, it is not meant to speed up but to stop so that others can come across. As we have seen in last few years, texting can be dangerous, to you as well as others. Both Juan and I experienced drivers, videoing the snow while driving! I will say, I was not very Christ like as I trying to stay on the road following them!

What is God up to? What is He trying to share with us? One conclusion I have come to, is our society has become very selfish. What's in it for me, not being concerned for others. When we ask for help, I hear, what's in it for me? 

The church, our community, our society is at a crossroads. We can go about our business like we have for the last century, caring for ourselves avoiding dealing with others, doing business as usual, give up and shut the doors. Or we have the exciting possibility of changing lives. I hear God telling us, it won't be easy. We will meet lots of opposition along the way. We will be chastised for making changes.

But I hear God saying, If you hang in there, if you lvoe Me, if you are obedient, if you are faithful, it will all be worth it! We will have the opportunity to experience God's Kingdom in ways we have not thought of! Our lives, the lives of others will be changed, so others will experience the lvoe of Jesus. How exciting to be a part of a community where that change is beginning to take place. Won't you join us? Amen.

Help me to be a better driver this week! Hope your week is full of joy and blessings! God is good . . . all the time!

Serving is not an option?!

For those of you who live up north and love the cold weather, please keep it! We don't want it! or some of us don't! 3 snow days this week for the kiddos, not much getting out for a lot of us. Spring is when?!

I can't imagine living in this cold, brutal weather but some of our friends are. Most of our friends, adapt and survive not willing to go to shelters. Scott led our group out last week to find them dealing with the elements, no fun! The weather has messed up our practice times for our basketball team. Our bread ministry continues to wrap and save our donations on Saturday.

Our afternoon reading sessions took the week off due to no school. As well as our men's Bible fellowship.

Thursday was tolerable. Ms Abbie and Brother Chester led the way in chapel. Our meal was enjoyed by all. Groceries were handed out. Our friends from LSUS continue to come every week and help out in the dining hall. Our kids were a little noisy, thankful to get out of their houses!

Willie and Brian will be speaking to the men's breakfast group at Brookwood Baptist Saturday morning.

Alan and Joey have been busy this week building a new room for our outdoor friends items.

Shannon, Abbey an Lisa continue to rearrange the food pantry in preparation of our grocery store opening up. Can't wait for that to happen.

Our longtime friend and electrician, John Williams, spent Thursday evening changing and moving electrical plugs for us at the Bright House.

This Sunday, we will host our first Grace study group. Pete, Juan and Chris will be hosting a Discipleship class and asked if they could have it at our community center! This will be the beginning of a new and unique relationship. Wonder what God is up to?

Prayers for Phil as he travels to Colorado for his continuing education class. Continued prayers for Ginellen. She got home from the hospital Monday afternoon and continues the recovery process. She is exhausted from her hospital stay and working on trying to get her strength back. Prayers for our grant proposal being sent off today. Lisa and her group have worked tirelessly on it. If this grant is awarded, it will have a lasting effect on our children of the community.

I was reading a book in preparation of a committee I have been asked to be a part of, written by a pastor to other clergy on various aspects of leading a congregation. One part of the book that resonated with me was titled, serving is not an option. I was reading a newsletter of the Jewish synagogue in town and the rabbi was talking about being Jewish. The rabbi said, I do not understand the concept of not having enough time to do Jewish things. The rabbi goes on to say, that being Jewish is a lifestyle, not something to schedule into a calendar.

Many months ago, I was having lunch with a pastor and he asked me, how do we get folks interested in doing things outside the church. How do we convey, that serving others, is just as important as going to soccer games. Over the years, we can get folks to write a check, buy food, make a donation, but when you ask for their time, we get blasted with all sorts of excuses. Everybody's calendars are full, no time to do God stuff!

The author of this book, put it this way, if we have chosen Jesus as our Lord and savior, then serving others is not something we put on a calendar or work it into our schedules, it is who we are. Jesus was the best example of what a servant looks like, we should do the same. Once we accept Jesus, then our old selves are gone and a new creation is formed. We move from the mindset of what's in it for me, to what can I do for God.

In this coming year, as more and more people begin to be aware of Common Ground and what is happening in our community, we need to convey, this is not something we put on our calendars. This is not something we rearrange our schedules to do, this is who we are. Our participation of being a part of God's Kingdom is not about us looking good, but about how we can further God's Kingdom into the world.

God needs you to be a part of this. Common Ground needs you to be a part of this. Our community needs you to be a part of this. Want you come! Amen.

Hope your week will be blessed beyond your imagination! Joy, peace and lvoe to all!scos