Sorry for the slow update, but still trying to get caught up. Not complaining, being with our grandson is awesome, but it does take some time to get back into our routine. We have finally gotten some much needed rain and the cooler temperatures have replaced our 100 degree days. Leaves are changing their colors in preparation for a new season. Hopefully in your home town, you are experiencing some of the same.
What a Saturday we had last week. We got started off by enjoying Momma T's world famous breakfast casserole and coffee as we welcomed the Koionia Sunday school class from Grace. Following our breakfast we took them on a tour of our center and shared our story with them. They jumped right in to repairing some wood on the building, installing new carpet in the chapel, a new light in front of the chapel, moved the ladies restroom door to another wall, painted the children's office floor, pulling some weeds around the Bright House, cleaning up some vines in the parking lot and painted the ceiling in the children's gathering area. They worked tiresly all morning long. Awesome job.
With John Sauls in charge of all the work, I was able to sneak away and make our visits with our outdoor friends. We talk about how we want to build relationships with our friends. Wanting more than just handing out goods. Well the first two stops, as we were getting out of the van, I heard from the guys, look who's here, grandpa! Let me see some pictures! Gave me big hugs! I was overwhelmed with their excitement. They who have nothing, sleeping in tents, struggling with life, acknowledging me and what God has blessed our family with in our grandson. I was humbled and over joyed by their genuine care for me.
Also going on Saturday morning, Momma T and Krysten were manning the book table at Barnes and Noble. Judy Chrisite had written another book and asked us to participate in her book signing. There were books on our table, that folks would pick up and go buy for us to put into our library. Again, overwhelmed by the generosity of people who would take their time and money and support our efforts. Judy has always been s big supporter of ours and we are grateful for her continued blessings.
I was absent from our tutoring days this week, but hear we continue to have many tutors for our children. I did spot new students from Centenary helping us out Tuesday afternoon.
Met with Mike Boggs Wednesday afternoon to discuss projects for his men's group from Airline Baptist. They will be coming Saturday, Nov 5. I had wanted to get by earlier to remind folks we had moved our meals, but did not make it. Lomax said only a handful of folks had come by for our meal. He told them to come back Thursday.
My late arrival on Thursday, I missed all the fun and activities Ms Sarah and Mr Scott had for our children at their Fall Festival. We were experiencing some rain and cooler temperatures, so they moved the games inside to various rooms. By the looks for the faces of the children, everybody had a great time. The children all had their bags full of goodies as they headed home.
I walked into the fellowship hall just as Ms Ruby was blessing our meal. I looked up and it was hard to find a seat, people were everywhere. One of the largest crowds ever. We were all surprised because of the rain and cold but they came. Lots of new faces. We will see how the Thursday meals, go but if last week is any indication, we are in for a crazy ride. Very exciting.
We did not have our chapel time due to still more work to be done. We are close and maybe looking to around Christmas time to open it up. Can't wait for that time to happen.
Following our meal, Ms Lisa had a short meeting to discuss the start of our kitchen remodel. All the monies has been sent, so now we have the tasks of spending it! John Sauls and Momma T will lead us through the process. John Williams will begin to install new wiring, some walls will be coming down and we will start to see some progress very soon. Very exciting to be thinking about one day having a kitchen were we can be training chefs to prepare gourmet meals, training waiters and waitress to serve tables and work with the public and providing a place where the community can come together and get to know each other.
After our kitchen discussions, Joey led us in our Bible study in Luke chapter 19 and part of 20. We read how people were rioting against the followers for sharing the Good News. People still get upset today, if we do not submit to their rules. Somehow if we follow the laws of Jesus, is being disruptive. Maybe it is, maybe we need to do more of it?
Prayer concerns, Hat's back problems, Dawn's life challenges, Byron trying to get a job, outdoor friends struggling with addictions and leading to bad choices and Joey and Lomax as they set out on a road trip next week.
Hope you have a great weekend and a great next week. Come by and hang out. Would lvoe to see you all. So much going on, if you don't come, you will miss all the blessings. Lvoe to all.
Saturday, October 29, 2011
Friday, October 21, 2011
Chilly morning
What gorgeous weather we are having in our part of the country. Cool crisp mornings, nice comfortable afternoons - makes for great days to get outside and enjoy God's creations. Only thing missing is the rain but it will come.
This note will be short because I have been gone all week. Or it could be long and I could talk about our grandson! Nothing greater than to hold this miracle God has blessed our family with. Hopefully all of you one day will have the opportunity to experience it.
Talked to Mr Scott Monday night about his visits on Saturday night. All went well, with no major dramas, just seeing lots of folks. Did get an update on The Hub's opening of their new Basement and Cassie said it looks like winter before it will happen. Not sure what month that will be but it is getting closer.
Joey reported breakfast was good Saturday morning with some new and old friends attending the meal. Thanks to all for helping Momma T prepare the feast.
Monday afternoon we did get to meet a new student from Centenary. Laura Vaughan brought by a senior who is thinking about a career in education and the both of them jumped right in and helped out with our homework duties. The new student may want to join us this summer for our summer camp.
This Saturday, the 22nd will be full of activities. Starting at 7am, Momma T will be serving her world famous breakfast casserole to the Koinia Sunday school class from Grace. They will be doing work in the chapel, around the grounds and also inside the center, so if you have some time, come by, say hi and join in on the fun.
Then at 11am, some of us will be at Barnes and Noble for the book signing. Come by and meet and great the folks as they come in to meet Judy Christie. It is good exposure for Common Ground and a chance for us to get more books in our library.
I came into town Monday this past week to do some work. I stopped by Ms Abbie's house to show off some baby pictures. Her family were on the front porch as usual, so we sat together talking about babies and life. I told Ms Abbie, can't seem to get the new baby off my mind and that is all I think about. She said, don't worry about things around here, we will take care of it, you go take care of your grandson. How comforting that is to know how each of you pick up the slack when one of us needs help. You are a special group of people and my family is blessed to be a part of this community. Thank you all for being who you are, willing step up when someone needs help.
Hope you all have a great weekend. Enjoy each other. Enjoy your family. Enjoy life. See you at the center Saturday morning and then at Barnes and Noble. See you around the center next week.
This note will be short because I have been gone all week. Or it could be long and I could talk about our grandson! Nothing greater than to hold this miracle God has blessed our family with. Hopefully all of you one day will have the opportunity to experience it.
Talked to Mr Scott Monday night about his visits on Saturday night. All went well, with no major dramas, just seeing lots of folks. Did get an update on The Hub's opening of their new Basement and Cassie said it looks like winter before it will happen. Not sure what month that will be but it is getting closer.
Joey reported breakfast was good Saturday morning with some new and old friends attending the meal. Thanks to all for helping Momma T prepare the feast.
Monday afternoon we did get to meet a new student from Centenary. Laura Vaughan brought by a senior who is thinking about a career in education and the both of them jumped right in and helped out with our homework duties. The new student may want to join us this summer for our summer camp.
This Saturday, the 22nd will be full of activities. Starting at 7am, Momma T will be serving her world famous breakfast casserole to the Koinia Sunday school class from Grace. They will be doing work in the chapel, around the grounds and also inside the center, so if you have some time, come by, say hi and join in on the fun.
Then at 11am, some of us will be at Barnes and Noble for the book signing. Come by and meet and great the folks as they come in to meet Judy Christie. It is good exposure for Common Ground and a chance for us to get more books in our library.
I came into town Monday this past week to do some work. I stopped by Ms Abbie's house to show off some baby pictures. Her family were on the front porch as usual, so we sat together talking about babies and life. I told Ms Abbie, can't seem to get the new baby off my mind and that is all I think about. She said, don't worry about things around here, we will take care of it, you go take care of your grandson. How comforting that is to know how each of you pick up the slack when one of us needs help. You are a special group of people and my family is blessed to be a part of this community. Thank you all for being who you are, willing step up when someone needs help.
Hope you all have a great weekend. Enjoy each other. Enjoy your family. Enjoy life. See you at the center Saturday morning and then at Barnes and Noble. See you around the center next week.
Friday, October 14, 2011
Life
As I type this note this morning, my mind is also thinking about our son and his wife in Dallas as they prepare for the birth of their son. A new life, a grandson, wondering what he will achieve in his life time. What legacy can his grand father leave with him. We all too often take our life for granted, thinking we are guaranteed a tomorrow. I'll put off today what I can do tomorrow. Work a little longer today so I can have off tomorrow. What if we don't have tomorrow? Is there something today we need to get done, is there a friendship we need to mend, is there a love one who needs to hear I'm sorry, is there a phone call we need to make to let them know you love them. Life is so short, seems like yesterday, I was pushing our son's stroller down the sidewalk, now in a blink of an eye, I will be pushing my grandson's stroller down the sidewalk. Life has so much to offer, God has so much to offer are we living it the way He wants us to?
What a day we had last Saturday. So much life, so much lvoe it was great to see. We had our regular group of servants, led by Mr Scott visiting our friends who live outside. We continue to have large numbers and the demands are great. We had a special treat as Gus joined us. We had our Brookwood family join in on the fun around the center. They cleaned up the chapel, checked the lights, painted a door, reworked the flower bed, brought clothes, hung them up and sorted them out. And then you had U2 Saturday Pumpkin day going on. Momma T came over and asked us to bring over more table and chairs because of all the folks in the garden. Great to see new faces. Moms bringing their children to play pumpkin games. Bake pumpkin bread. Decorate pumpkins and learn about the history of pumpkins. Ms Lisa asked some of the new folks why they came and Gus you will be proud, because they saw the note on the sign out front. What a morning. Life is good.
Monday and Tuesday we continue to be blessed by our group of volunteers who out number our children. It is great to see them sitting with each child and truly learning together. The children love the snacks of apples, carrots and yogurt they are receiving while they do their work. Life is good when you follow your heart and serve the Lord.
Wednesday, we had a packed house and lots of new faces. Ran out of food for those who came in late. With our Grace youth coming, they help entertain the children and the noise level has really gone down. It is really nice to move about the tables and visit with different folks and hear their stories. We have not done name tags lately, so we need to get back to that. My memory is fading fast. We had a nice surprise Wednesday as one of our family came in for a visit. Alison is home for a few days and we are grateful she came to see us. Love seeing her sweet smile.
Thursday evening I was asked to attend a meeting where Ms Lisa, on our behalf, was awarded a contribution. This group of young leaders in our community, called LANO have been seeking funds for Common Ground and also spreading the word about us. I was humbled as one of the young leaders read, why out of 48 applications, Common Ground was chosen. I was blessed to hear from another young leader as he met folks in the community to ask for donations, he figured out the way to ask for money was just to say, these folks are living out the way Jesus has asked us to live, let's support them. As I left the meeting, I continue to thank God for allowing me to live a life of service. I continue to be amazed at the respect and admiration we receive for living a life that seems so natural. A reminder to us all, how unique our community is and how special it is to others for living our lives in a way that is different than the world's but normal in God's Kingdom.
Following the meeting I was able to attend our Bible study as Joey was leading our reading from Acts 17 and part of 18. We had a full table and some new and old faces. It was good to see them all. Paul talked about the Jews, who or what are you worshiping? They looked the part of being a good Jew. Had the right clothes, were in the right place, worshiping at the right time but their hearts were not of God. Just because we look religious, does not make us Christians. What idols do we have in front of us that keeps our hearts from lvoing God?Is it our work. Is it our time. Is it our egos. God is ready to lvoe us, can we let him in.
Don't forget, this Saturday is our breakfast time 9am. mr brian will be gone, so Momma T will need help in preparing french toast and all the trimmings. Please come by the center at 8 and give her a hand. Please come and enjoy the good coffee and good conversations.
Prayers for Wes and Charley as they have some health issues going on. William for a new start at sobriety. Continue to pray for Byron and Chuck as they struggle to stay with their studies for the GED. So hard to break the chain of poverty and familiarity. A new friend Justin, who is looking for a second job. Alison asked for a good second half of the fall semester. Lots of things going on, good things. We can ask that for all our college students. Continued good works in your semester and know our community is here for you. Krysten as she travels. Mary in New Orleans helping the restoration process.
I don't know if you all understand how blessed we are to be a part of this community. I know I don't, not until you hear others come up to you and say wow, what an awesome job you are doing. Maybe that is the key, it is not a job, but a way of life, it is my life. It is ya'lls lives. I get to see it every day, I get to hear from the world how impressed they are, I get to listen to the stories, I get to see lives being changed, I get see the smiles, I get to hear the thank you from the community, what a life. I hope yours is as blessed as mine. Thank you for being who you are and living your life for God.
Hope you all have a great weekend and see you around the center. Amen.
What a day we had last Saturday. So much life, so much lvoe it was great to see. We had our regular group of servants, led by Mr Scott visiting our friends who live outside. We continue to have large numbers and the demands are great. We had a special treat as Gus joined us. We had our Brookwood family join in on the fun around the center. They cleaned up the chapel, checked the lights, painted a door, reworked the flower bed, brought clothes, hung them up and sorted them out. And then you had U2 Saturday Pumpkin day going on. Momma T came over and asked us to bring over more table and chairs because of all the folks in the garden. Great to see new faces. Moms bringing their children to play pumpkin games. Bake pumpkin bread. Decorate pumpkins and learn about the history of pumpkins. Ms Lisa asked some of the new folks why they came and Gus you will be proud, because they saw the note on the sign out front. What a morning. Life is good.
Monday and Tuesday we continue to be blessed by our group of volunteers who out number our children. It is great to see them sitting with each child and truly learning together. The children love the snacks of apples, carrots and yogurt they are receiving while they do their work. Life is good when you follow your heart and serve the Lord.
Wednesday, we had a packed house and lots of new faces. Ran out of food for those who came in late. With our Grace youth coming, they help entertain the children and the noise level has really gone down. It is really nice to move about the tables and visit with different folks and hear their stories. We have not done name tags lately, so we need to get back to that. My memory is fading fast. We had a nice surprise Wednesday as one of our family came in for a visit. Alison is home for a few days and we are grateful she came to see us. Love seeing her sweet smile.
Thursday evening I was asked to attend a meeting where Ms Lisa, on our behalf, was awarded a contribution. This group of young leaders in our community, called LANO have been seeking funds for Common Ground and also spreading the word about us. I was humbled as one of the young leaders read, why out of 48 applications, Common Ground was chosen. I was blessed to hear from another young leader as he met folks in the community to ask for donations, he figured out the way to ask for money was just to say, these folks are living out the way Jesus has asked us to live, let's support them. As I left the meeting, I continue to thank God for allowing me to live a life of service. I continue to be amazed at the respect and admiration we receive for living a life that seems so natural. A reminder to us all, how unique our community is and how special it is to others for living our lives in a way that is different than the world's but normal in God's Kingdom.
Following the meeting I was able to attend our Bible study as Joey was leading our reading from Acts 17 and part of 18. We had a full table and some new and old faces. It was good to see them all. Paul talked about the Jews, who or what are you worshiping? They looked the part of being a good Jew. Had the right clothes, were in the right place, worshiping at the right time but their hearts were not of God. Just because we look religious, does not make us Christians. What idols do we have in front of us that keeps our hearts from lvoing God?Is it our work. Is it our time. Is it our egos. God is ready to lvoe us, can we let him in.
Don't forget, this Saturday is our breakfast time 9am. mr brian will be gone, so Momma T will need help in preparing french toast and all the trimmings. Please come by the center at 8 and give her a hand. Please come and enjoy the good coffee and good conversations.
Prayers for Wes and Charley as they have some health issues going on. William for a new start at sobriety. Continue to pray for Byron and Chuck as they struggle to stay with their studies for the GED. So hard to break the chain of poverty and familiarity. A new friend Justin, who is looking for a second job. Alison asked for a good second half of the fall semester. Lots of things going on, good things. We can ask that for all our college students. Continued good works in your semester and know our community is here for you. Krysten as she travels. Mary in New Orleans helping the restoration process.
I don't know if you all understand how blessed we are to be a part of this community. I know I don't, not until you hear others come up to you and say wow, what an awesome job you are doing. Maybe that is the key, it is not a job, but a way of life, it is my life. It is ya'lls lives. I get to see it every day, I get to hear from the world how impressed they are, I get to listen to the stories, I get to see lives being changed, I get see the smiles, I get to hear the thank you from the community, what a life. I hope yours is as blessed as mine. Thank you for being who you are and living your life for God.
Hope you all have a great weekend and see you around the center. Amen.
Friday, October 7, 2011
Worship
Don't know what it is, but this time of year seems so nice. Last week, following our golf game, one of the guys said, I am going home and take a shower, but really I don't have to! We weren't ringing wet from the hot weather we have had all summer long. The air has a crispness in it that makes you want to get out. The cool mornings are spectacular. Don't think I have ever seen such blue skies. Just a very nice time of year.
These cool mornings make it great for visiting our friends who live outside. You notice a change in their demeanors. More laughing, more joking around with them. We had good visits with them this past week, seeing around 40 or so. Learning new names and seeing old smiles is a blessing. Mr Scott performed eye surgery on one of our friends, by putting in eye drops. You just never know what you will run into. Always fun to be around and lend a hand.
Monday we had more children than we did tutors and Tuesday we had more tutors than we did kids. Guess which day was the quietest? Ms Sarah and her youth, the Centenary friends, all are coming and helping out. It is really a blessing to see new relationships being formed. Thursday afternoon, with the nice weather, we moved some table and chairs outside and did some homework outside. Then Mary and the others played games with them until it was time to leave. Very nice.
Wednesday, we were invited to a Volunteer Fair at LSUS. Ms Sarah and a new friend Ms Abbey started us off, Mr Brian showed up at 11 and then Ms Lisa closed us out. When I got there, Ms Sarah and Ms Abbey had three sheets filled with young people wanting to come by and help. Listening to Ms Sarah and Ms Abbey talk about Common Ground, I wanted to sign up! It was great to see the ladies in action talking about what our community is about and watching the young people expressions of awe. It was also good to walk around and make contacts with other agencies and maybe work together with them.
As I pulled up to the center Wednesday afternoon, I hear a voice from across the street, Mr Brian - Mr Brian! Before I could turn around, our Stephanie comes running over for a big hug. It was great to see after being away from us for over a year. She looks good, she feels good and full of energy with her usual big smile. She will be completing her masters degree shortly and will be soon looking for a job. I told her, we have a place for her to stay, if she could find a job here in Shreveport! Seeing our family come by for visits is like family members who maybe live far away and you don't see them for a year or so. Your conversations pick up from where you last saw them and everything seems right with the world.
This Saturday will be a busy one for us all. Mr Scott will lead our visits. Brookwood will be coming to help out around the center and Momma T and Ms Patty will be leading our first U 2 Saturday. Please come and join in the fun.
Our gathering was smaller for our meal on Wednesday. Being the first of the month, not unusual. The Grace youth passed out our latest newsletter and a flyer for our U 2 Saturday. We talked about our upcoming change of days for our meal and working towards opening up the chapel. One image I remember from the evening, was watching one of young ones, CJ passing out the drinks. He had one drink in each hand, walking to the tables and placing them by our folks with a smile and then skipping back to the drink counter for more. What an image of a little one performing a menial task but doing it with such enthusiasm and joy.
Following our meal, John Sauls and I met with John Williams and others of the Koiania Sunday school class at Grace. They are planning a work day, Saturday October 22. That is the same day of the book fair, but they will be arriving early and will pretty much be self sustaining once they get going. We gave them lots of projects to do and they will decide which ones they can accomplish. Great group of people willing to help us out. Beth and Charley are a part of the class.
When I walked into the fellowship hall Thursday evening, it smelled like I was in a Mexican restaurant. Joey was preparing chicken tahittas. they were great. Momma T brought salad and desert. We had two new faces join us. Our Stephanie was able to come and a new friend Dawn. She is a friend of Dr Phil's. Dawn came by Wednesday afternoon for our meal and she jumped right in and helped with everything. She was one of the last to leave, having cleaned up the kitchen. We read from Acts completing Chapter 16. We read about how Paul and Silas were in prison, praising God and all of sudden, God makes the earth shake and the chains were broken. We talked about how they were worshiping God, in prison, not asking to be freed, but praising God for all His glory and God blesses them by releasing their chains. A good example of how we should live our lives. I find myself asking God for this or that, what I feel like I need, when I should be living by the Spirit, seeking God's Kingdom, praising Him through my trials and tribulations, understanding God is with me and will provide a way for me.
We talked about how God talks to us. Several folks relating amazing stories of God's presence in their lives. How do we know it is God or just our own person talking? Most all agree, God speaks in a quiet voice, not usually by a burning bush, so how do we hear Him? We all need to spend more time alone with Him. Quiet time, time for listening, not talking but hearing what is being spoken. We all to often think we have to be talking to God, but how can we hear what He is saying if we are talking and not listening. I remember seeing John Wesley's house in London I think, where he would go into a closet, shut the door, with nothing in there other than him and God. Jesus, from time to time would leave his disciples and go to the mountain to be alone with his father. Can't we do the same? If we are sincere about our relationship with God, we need to be as diligent. Don't give our left over time, but our first time to God.
Prayers for William and his bad neck ache. He mentioned last week, he has been sober for over 20 days, and hoping to keep it going. One of his longest stretches so far. Praise God. Continued prayers for Wes as he continues his adventures in China. Prayers for a decision by a doctor Dr Phil interviewed last week to join his staff at Shriners. Dawn asked for prayers to find a place to live close to our community. Prayers for Ms Ruby on 69 street. Her health is failing and financial troubles. Continued prayers for Chuck and his family. It is so hard to break the chain of poverty and despair. Chuck will need God's help in making that transition.
I was sitting at a red light the other day, must have been along Youree Drive, because I had plenty of time to read the electronic billboard at the intersection. There were two advertisements for churches. Come worship with us Sundays at 11am one said. Another said, were traditions continue Sundays at 8:30 and 10. Got me to thinking, Common Ground should place an ad and say, come worship with us, Saturday mornings at 9:30. Visit the least of them. Or Worship with us Thursday evenings at 5, feeding the hungry, clothing the naked. Or Join us for worship on Monday, Tuesday Thursdays as we care for the children. Join us as we worship together in our neighborhood meeting our neighbors on Saturdays. We need to come together and worship but don't let that be the end of our praising God. God has blessed us, we need to bless others and share His lvoe everyday. Thank you all for worshiping in unique and special ways.
Hope you all get out and enjoy the weather and the many blessings God has for us. Hope to see you this weekend or next week around the center. Amen.
These cool mornings make it great for visiting our friends who live outside. You notice a change in their demeanors. More laughing, more joking around with them. We had good visits with them this past week, seeing around 40 or so. Learning new names and seeing old smiles is a blessing. Mr Scott performed eye surgery on one of our friends, by putting in eye drops. You just never know what you will run into. Always fun to be around and lend a hand.
Monday we had more children than we did tutors and Tuesday we had more tutors than we did kids. Guess which day was the quietest? Ms Sarah and her youth, the Centenary friends, all are coming and helping out. It is really a blessing to see new relationships being formed. Thursday afternoon, with the nice weather, we moved some table and chairs outside and did some homework outside. Then Mary and the others played games with them until it was time to leave. Very nice.
Wednesday, we were invited to a Volunteer Fair at LSUS. Ms Sarah and a new friend Ms Abbey started us off, Mr Brian showed up at 11 and then Ms Lisa closed us out. When I got there, Ms Sarah and Ms Abbey had three sheets filled with young people wanting to come by and help. Listening to Ms Sarah and Ms Abbey talk about Common Ground, I wanted to sign up! It was great to see the ladies in action talking about what our community is about and watching the young people expressions of awe. It was also good to walk around and make contacts with other agencies and maybe work together with them.
As I pulled up to the center Wednesday afternoon, I hear a voice from across the street, Mr Brian - Mr Brian! Before I could turn around, our Stephanie comes running over for a big hug. It was great to see after being away from us for over a year. She looks good, she feels good and full of energy with her usual big smile. She will be completing her masters degree shortly and will be soon looking for a job. I told her, we have a place for her to stay, if she could find a job here in Shreveport! Seeing our family come by for visits is like family members who maybe live far away and you don't see them for a year or so. Your conversations pick up from where you last saw them and everything seems right with the world.
This Saturday will be a busy one for us all. Mr Scott will lead our visits. Brookwood will be coming to help out around the center and Momma T and Ms Patty will be leading our first U 2 Saturday. Please come and join in the fun.
Our gathering was smaller for our meal on Wednesday. Being the first of the month, not unusual. The Grace youth passed out our latest newsletter and a flyer for our U 2 Saturday. We talked about our upcoming change of days for our meal and working towards opening up the chapel. One image I remember from the evening, was watching one of young ones, CJ passing out the drinks. He had one drink in each hand, walking to the tables and placing them by our folks with a smile and then skipping back to the drink counter for more. What an image of a little one performing a menial task but doing it with such enthusiasm and joy.
Following our meal, John Sauls and I met with John Williams and others of the Koiania Sunday school class at Grace. They are planning a work day, Saturday October 22. That is the same day of the book fair, but they will be arriving early and will pretty much be self sustaining once they get going. We gave them lots of projects to do and they will decide which ones they can accomplish. Great group of people willing to help us out. Beth and Charley are a part of the class.
When I walked into the fellowship hall Thursday evening, it smelled like I was in a Mexican restaurant. Joey was preparing chicken tahittas. they were great. Momma T brought salad and desert. We had two new faces join us. Our Stephanie was able to come and a new friend Dawn. She is a friend of Dr Phil's. Dawn came by Wednesday afternoon for our meal and she jumped right in and helped with everything. She was one of the last to leave, having cleaned up the kitchen. We read from Acts completing Chapter 16. We read about how Paul and Silas were in prison, praising God and all of sudden, God makes the earth shake and the chains were broken. We talked about how they were worshiping God, in prison, not asking to be freed, but praising God for all His glory and God blesses them by releasing their chains. A good example of how we should live our lives. I find myself asking God for this or that, what I feel like I need, when I should be living by the Spirit, seeking God's Kingdom, praising Him through my trials and tribulations, understanding God is with me and will provide a way for me.
We talked about how God talks to us. Several folks relating amazing stories of God's presence in their lives. How do we know it is God or just our own person talking? Most all agree, God speaks in a quiet voice, not usually by a burning bush, so how do we hear Him? We all need to spend more time alone with Him. Quiet time, time for listening, not talking but hearing what is being spoken. We all to often think we have to be talking to God, but how can we hear what He is saying if we are talking and not listening. I remember seeing John Wesley's house in London I think, where he would go into a closet, shut the door, with nothing in there other than him and God. Jesus, from time to time would leave his disciples and go to the mountain to be alone with his father. Can't we do the same? If we are sincere about our relationship with God, we need to be as diligent. Don't give our left over time, but our first time to God.
Prayers for William and his bad neck ache. He mentioned last week, he has been sober for over 20 days, and hoping to keep it going. One of his longest stretches so far. Praise God. Continued prayers for Wes as he continues his adventures in China. Prayers for a decision by a doctor Dr Phil interviewed last week to join his staff at Shriners. Dawn asked for prayers to find a place to live close to our community. Prayers for Ms Ruby on 69 street. Her health is failing and financial troubles. Continued prayers for Chuck and his family. It is so hard to break the chain of poverty and despair. Chuck will need God's help in making that transition.
I was sitting at a red light the other day, must have been along Youree Drive, because I had plenty of time to read the electronic billboard at the intersection. There were two advertisements for churches. Come worship with us Sundays at 11am one said. Another said, were traditions continue Sundays at 8:30 and 10. Got me to thinking, Common Ground should place an ad and say, come worship with us, Saturday mornings at 9:30. Visit the least of them. Or Worship with us Thursday evenings at 5, feeding the hungry, clothing the naked. Or Join us for worship on Monday, Tuesday Thursdays as we care for the children. Join us as we worship together in our neighborhood meeting our neighbors on Saturdays. We need to come together and worship but don't let that be the end of our praising God. God has blessed us, we need to bless others and share His lvoe everyday. Thank you all for worshiping in unique and special ways.
Hope you all get out and enjoy the weather and the many blessings God has for us. Hope to see you this weekend or next week around the center. Amen.
Friday, September 30, 2011
October coming
How was your week? What challenges did God present to you and how did you deal with them? We just never know, what our days will hold, so can we say thank you Lord for being a part of our lives.
Scott, Momma T and Dr Phil reported they did not see as many friends as usual. Not sure why, but we will see what happens this week. Hopefully other groups are opening up on the weekends to help with the needs.
We continue to be blessed by our homework activities. We have had as many helpers as we have had children, so we are able to have one on one groups working. It is really nice when we have these type of numbers, the noise level is way down and some quality work is being accomplished. There are some new pictures up on our face book page of the afternoon activities. Note one of the pictures showing, apples and milk being served during the afternoon. Wow, I think Ms Sarah is the reasoning behind this. Thursday the kids, got carrots and dip. The surprising thing most all the children enjoyed the snacks.
Our Wednesday meal was delicious and served up by our Grace youth. Our numbers were down, but that is ok because we get a chance to visit with more of our community. Everybody seems to be doing fine, just struggling with the hot weather and lack of rain. We had a treat this week from one of the area Boy Scout troops. The Boy Scouts had a can food drive and we received half of their donations. With the amount of food we got, Mr Scott did not have to go to the store and buy any food. What a blessing.
Ms Lisa and her lawyers came by on Wednesday and were still there as we were leaving. The community seems to be getting more comfortable with the lawyers and willing to talk to them about their situations. It is so gratifying to see the lawyers take it upon themselves to get personally involved to help out our community. One of the lawyers, our friend from Grace, could not get our printers to work, so he saved all the information and was going back to his office and print up all the documents needed. Pretty cool.
With our new lawn person, the grounds are really looking nice. It is great to drive up to a yard where the sidewalks are edged and the lawn is mowed.
We gathered for our meal and Bible study Thursday evening. Always good food and conversations. We did not get through much of Acts in Chapter 16 as a discussion came up about the Holy Spirit of Jesus and God. Are there two Spirits? After some discussions, we came to the conclusion does it matter? When some of the Philistines came to Jesus and Jesus said, I do not know you, go away from here. We need for God to know us and know our hearts by allowing the Holy Spirit to dwell within us. The Holy Spirit will guide us in our journeys and the paths we need to be on. We read about Paul not going a certain direction because the Holy Spirit told them not to go that way. May we all become so in tuned with the Holy Spirit, we can decern the direction God is asking us to take in our lives.
Prayers were lifted up for Mr Brian's son and daughter-in-law as they prepare to be new parents. Krysten as she travels. Prayers for the hiring of doctors to help Dr Phil. Prayers for Chuck and Byron as they struggle to make a break from their past. Wes as he continues to teach in China. Prayers for the beginning of our U 2 Saturdays. For the fruitful blessing of the Haiti garage sale on Saturday at Sarah and Scott's home. Prayers for friendships, that they may grow and develop. Prayers for Joey, as he reflects on his car accident. No body was hurt other than his pride. Lomax as he starts building new relationships with other communities.
Started thinking about October and all the events, so thought I would list them.
October 8 - U 2 Saturdays, 10 -12.
Brookwood Servant Saturday
22 - Book fair- Barnes and Noble
15 - Breakfast
19 - Clearview youth coming to serve
27 - First Thursday meal
Chapel worship
Fall Festival
I am sure there are other events, but those are the ones that come to mind. All exciting activities and hope you all can come and be a part of them.
Hope you have a great weekend. The temperatures are suppose to be cooler. Get out and enjoy it all. See you around the center.
Scott, Momma T and Dr Phil reported they did not see as many friends as usual. Not sure why, but we will see what happens this week. Hopefully other groups are opening up on the weekends to help with the needs.
We continue to be blessed by our homework activities. We have had as many helpers as we have had children, so we are able to have one on one groups working. It is really nice when we have these type of numbers, the noise level is way down and some quality work is being accomplished. There are some new pictures up on our face book page of the afternoon activities. Note one of the pictures showing, apples and milk being served during the afternoon. Wow, I think Ms Sarah is the reasoning behind this. Thursday the kids, got carrots and dip. The surprising thing most all the children enjoyed the snacks.
Our Wednesday meal was delicious and served up by our Grace youth. Our numbers were down, but that is ok because we get a chance to visit with more of our community. Everybody seems to be doing fine, just struggling with the hot weather and lack of rain. We had a treat this week from one of the area Boy Scout troops. The Boy Scouts had a can food drive and we received half of their donations. With the amount of food we got, Mr Scott did not have to go to the store and buy any food. What a blessing.
Ms Lisa and her lawyers came by on Wednesday and were still there as we were leaving. The community seems to be getting more comfortable with the lawyers and willing to talk to them about their situations. It is so gratifying to see the lawyers take it upon themselves to get personally involved to help out our community. One of the lawyers, our friend from Grace, could not get our printers to work, so he saved all the information and was going back to his office and print up all the documents needed. Pretty cool.
With our new lawn person, the grounds are really looking nice. It is great to drive up to a yard where the sidewalks are edged and the lawn is mowed.
We gathered for our meal and Bible study Thursday evening. Always good food and conversations. We did not get through much of Acts in Chapter 16 as a discussion came up about the Holy Spirit of Jesus and God. Are there two Spirits? After some discussions, we came to the conclusion does it matter? When some of the Philistines came to Jesus and Jesus said, I do not know you, go away from here. We need for God to know us and know our hearts by allowing the Holy Spirit to dwell within us. The Holy Spirit will guide us in our journeys and the paths we need to be on. We read about Paul not going a certain direction because the Holy Spirit told them not to go that way. May we all become so in tuned with the Holy Spirit, we can decern the direction God is asking us to take in our lives.
Prayers were lifted up for Mr Brian's son and daughter-in-law as they prepare to be new parents. Krysten as she travels. Prayers for the hiring of doctors to help Dr Phil. Prayers for Chuck and Byron as they struggle to make a break from their past. Wes as he continues to teach in China. Prayers for the beginning of our U 2 Saturdays. For the fruitful blessing of the Haiti garage sale on Saturday at Sarah and Scott's home. Prayers for friendships, that they may grow and develop. Prayers for Joey, as he reflects on his car accident. No body was hurt other than his pride. Lomax as he starts building new relationships with other communities.
Started thinking about October and all the events, so thought I would list them.
October 8 - U 2 Saturdays, 10 -12.
Brookwood Servant Saturday
22 - Book fair- Barnes and Noble
15 - Breakfast
19 - Clearview youth coming to serve
27 - First Thursday meal
Chapel worship
Fall Festival
I am sure there are other events, but those are the ones that come to mind. All exciting activities and hope you all can come and be a part of them.
Hope you have a great weekend. The temperatures are suppose to be cooler. Get out and enjoy it all. See you around the center.
Friday, September 23, 2011
Fall Back
Have you done your part, today is the first day of autumn, as a new season is in front of us. I don't about you, but I am ready for the change. This summer, with it's high temperatures, drought conditions, has been a challenge. The cooler mornings, lower humidity has put a little zest in our steps and maybe the rain will come to give us some relief.
As most of you know, Friday afternoons is goof off day for me. A group of us meet at the golf course and act crazy for several hours. Since my play is pretty lame at best, my main focus is giving all the others a hard time and whining the whole afternoon about my bad play. As we were fixing to hit our first shots, I glanced back at the club house and a figure walked into the club house. I said to the others, that almost looked like Sione. A few minutes later, out comes Sione from the club house and he joined us. What a treat. He looked good. He seems to be doing fine at his new church. Being the kind of guy I am, I played the worst round of my life, so Sione could beat me and have a good afternoon! Thanks Sione for coming, we had a great time, glad you beat me!
Saturday morning we had a great gathering of folks for our breakfast. Momma T and Curtis prepared a buffet of scrambled eggs, ham, biscuits, gravy, orange slices, hash browns and good hot coffee. Just as we were finishing up, Sione surprises us again by a visit. The little we had left over, our Centenary friends packed it in boxes and we took it with us on our visits. We had big crowds at each stop, where Mr Scott worked his magic handing out his goodies. Some how, we always seem to have just enough for the last person we see.
Joey asked us to mention to some of our friends about coming to the Friendship room. When we saw the guys, and we asked, they couldn't wait for us to come back and pick them up. Joey, Ms Hat, Gus and others have started something that is becoming an important part in our outdoor friends lives. One of the guys, said, I can't wait to get there are watch the movie we started last week. It is simple things, that make the greatest impact on their lives. At some point in the afternoon, the guys had a barbeque outside the center with ribs, potatoes and all the trimmings. Hate I missed that.
Tutoring went really well this week. Some days we had more helpers than we had kids. Those days, we can sit down with each child and have one on one help, which makes for a great afternoon. You can see the Centenary students beginning to develop relationships with the children. Thursday, the Centenary students brought their friends to help out. Our new Centenary students are Mara, Jeremy, Kayla and Alissa. Ms Lisa one day, had a vocabulary quiz with the children. Asking them if they could say the words and what each word meant. Some children did better than others, but all were well behind in their grade level.
Wednesday, we had a nice visit from North Point Methodist church and it's mission leader Mark Williams. Mark is a former member of Grace and was always supportive of our ministry in Cedar Grove. He and his wife would be at our meals and they were a tremendous help at the beginning of our Kitchen Angel ministry. It was great to see him and the others he brought. He said, he is hoping to come once a month and bring more from his new church. Ms Sarah brought her youth, so we had a nice group of helpers.
Joey missed tutoring Thursday because he was in the kitchen preparing the meal of beef stroganoff and rice for our meal on. It was delicious. Momma T brought dessert and we had a good evening. Our group was smaller than usual but it was nice. We read Acts Chapter 15. We talked about the Jews complaining about the Gentiles not being acceptable because they had not been circumcised. Which brought us into a discussion about, are we accepting to all who we come in contact with. Since they look different, maybe come from another background, don't dress the way we do, do we open our arms to them? Peter told the Jews, it is not about what you do, the rules you follow, the traditions you teach but about your heart. God knows your heart and He will make the judgement.
A church emailed me about coming the end of October to help. I said ok but got to thinking about our board discussions of changing our meal time. I asked several folks and all agreed the board decided to move our Wednesday meal to Thursday evenings starting October 29. If our chapel is ready, we will have worship at 5 and then supper at 5:30. We have asked Pete Bollinger to get us started with the music. We need to have someone share a few words? Ms Sarah, said she and the youth would have a Fall Festival set up also.
We talked Thursday evening about with our change in meals, what do we do with our Thursday night Bible study. One suggestion was to move it to Tuesday or Wednesday nights. Another suggestion was to have it after our new meal time and open it up to the community. Joey said, if that gets too big we can divide up the groups. Wouldn't that be a nice problem to have. Be thinking about what you would like to do and we can talk more about it in the coming weeks.
Prayer concerns for Byron and Chuck. They have gone their separate ways and each struggling to make a new way for themselves. Challenges of life forcing them down. Thank goodness for Hat and Joey who are the one constant force in both their lives.
Prayers for Sinotra. His probation officer came and met with us about his progress. He has struggled in the past but at the moment seems to be making the right choices in his life. She is hoping he has changed his path of disobedience and moved on. Sinotra came by Wednesday and gave everybody a hug.
Krysten as she decides on a new job. She has been offered a position at First Methodist church.
Lomax and his grandmother. She is making progress in her life dealing with the loss of her husband and for Lomax as he becomes her comforter in that process.
Stress. As I see each of you in your various areas of ministry, hear your challenges, witness your triumphs and watch your struggles, I also hear and see your stress. I just want us to take a breathe. Maybe even step back for a moment. And ask, are we allowing God and His Holy Spirit to lead us in our journeys? As we continue to move forward, we are always asking questions of the unknown. Where will the money come from? Who will lead this? What is not working? How are we going to do this? I need to get this done. If I don't do it who will? Questions with no answers lead to stress if we allow it. I am the world's biggest stress producer or maybe I should say, I use to be. Our faith will handle our stress if we allow it to. We do not have to know the answers, if we know we are in God's will. I told Mr Scott Saturday, don't stress over funding for our outdoor friends. Evidently right now, God is asking us to be obedient and provide for His children. Even though we want to do it another way, that way has not happened, so we must be present in this path He has laid out for us. When it is time for a change, He will provide that change.
All of you are so special to our community, to God and us as a family. We need to enjoy God's majesty. We are here for such a short period of time, we need to enjoy God's blessings in our lives. We need to have fun. We need to enjoy each other's lives. We need to sing praises about our community.
Have a great weekend and great week. See you around the community. Amen.
As most of you know, Friday afternoons is goof off day for me. A group of us meet at the golf course and act crazy for several hours. Since my play is pretty lame at best, my main focus is giving all the others a hard time and whining the whole afternoon about my bad play. As we were fixing to hit our first shots, I glanced back at the club house and a figure walked into the club house. I said to the others, that almost looked like Sione. A few minutes later, out comes Sione from the club house and he joined us. What a treat. He looked good. He seems to be doing fine at his new church. Being the kind of guy I am, I played the worst round of my life, so Sione could beat me and have a good afternoon! Thanks Sione for coming, we had a great time, glad you beat me!
Saturday morning we had a great gathering of folks for our breakfast. Momma T and Curtis prepared a buffet of scrambled eggs, ham, biscuits, gravy, orange slices, hash browns and good hot coffee. Just as we were finishing up, Sione surprises us again by a visit. The little we had left over, our Centenary friends packed it in boxes and we took it with us on our visits. We had big crowds at each stop, where Mr Scott worked his magic handing out his goodies. Some how, we always seem to have just enough for the last person we see.
Joey asked us to mention to some of our friends about coming to the Friendship room. When we saw the guys, and we asked, they couldn't wait for us to come back and pick them up. Joey, Ms Hat, Gus and others have started something that is becoming an important part in our outdoor friends lives. One of the guys, said, I can't wait to get there are watch the movie we started last week. It is simple things, that make the greatest impact on their lives. At some point in the afternoon, the guys had a barbeque outside the center with ribs, potatoes and all the trimmings. Hate I missed that.
Tutoring went really well this week. Some days we had more helpers than we had kids. Those days, we can sit down with each child and have one on one help, which makes for a great afternoon. You can see the Centenary students beginning to develop relationships with the children. Thursday, the Centenary students brought their friends to help out. Our new Centenary students are Mara, Jeremy, Kayla and Alissa. Ms Lisa one day, had a vocabulary quiz with the children. Asking them if they could say the words and what each word meant. Some children did better than others, but all were well behind in their grade level.
Wednesday, we had a nice visit from North Point Methodist church and it's mission leader Mark Williams. Mark is a former member of Grace and was always supportive of our ministry in Cedar Grove. He and his wife would be at our meals and they were a tremendous help at the beginning of our Kitchen Angel ministry. It was great to see him and the others he brought. He said, he is hoping to come once a month and bring more from his new church. Ms Sarah brought her youth, so we had a nice group of helpers.
Joey missed tutoring Thursday because he was in the kitchen preparing the meal of beef stroganoff and rice for our meal on. It was delicious. Momma T brought dessert and we had a good evening. Our group was smaller than usual but it was nice. We read Acts Chapter 15. We talked about the Jews complaining about the Gentiles not being acceptable because they had not been circumcised. Which brought us into a discussion about, are we accepting to all who we come in contact with. Since they look different, maybe come from another background, don't dress the way we do, do we open our arms to them? Peter told the Jews, it is not about what you do, the rules you follow, the traditions you teach but about your heart. God knows your heart and He will make the judgement.
A church emailed me about coming the end of October to help. I said ok but got to thinking about our board discussions of changing our meal time. I asked several folks and all agreed the board decided to move our Wednesday meal to Thursday evenings starting October 29. If our chapel is ready, we will have worship at 5 and then supper at 5:30. We have asked Pete Bollinger to get us started with the music. We need to have someone share a few words? Ms Sarah, said she and the youth would have a Fall Festival set up also.
We talked Thursday evening about with our change in meals, what do we do with our Thursday night Bible study. One suggestion was to move it to Tuesday or Wednesday nights. Another suggestion was to have it after our new meal time and open it up to the community. Joey said, if that gets too big we can divide up the groups. Wouldn't that be a nice problem to have. Be thinking about what you would like to do and we can talk more about it in the coming weeks.
Prayer concerns for Byron and Chuck. They have gone their separate ways and each struggling to make a new way for themselves. Challenges of life forcing them down. Thank goodness for Hat and Joey who are the one constant force in both their lives.
Prayers for Sinotra. His probation officer came and met with us about his progress. He has struggled in the past but at the moment seems to be making the right choices in his life. She is hoping he has changed his path of disobedience and moved on. Sinotra came by Wednesday and gave everybody a hug.
Krysten as she decides on a new job. She has been offered a position at First Methodist church.
Lomax and his grandmother. She is making progress in her life dealing with the loss of her husband and for Lomax as he becomes her comforter in that process.
Stress. As I see each of you in your various areas of ministry, hear your challenges, witness your triumphs and watch your struggles, I also hear and see your stress. I just want us to take a breathe. Maybe even step back for a moment. And ask, are we allowing God and His Holy Spirit to lead us in our journeys? As we continue to move forward, we are always asking questions of the unknown. Where will the money come from? Who will lead this? What is not working? How are we going to do this? I need to get this done. If I don't do it who will? Questions with no answers lead to stress if we allow it. I am the world's biggest stress producer or maybe I should say, I use to be. Our faith will handle our stress if we allow it to. We do not have to know the answers, if we know we are in God's will. I told Mr Scott Saturday, don't stress over funding for our outdoor friends. Evidently right now, God is asking us to be obedient and provide for His children. Even though we want to do it another way, that way has not happened, so we must be present in this path He has laid out for us. When it is time for a change, He will provide that change.
All of you are so special to our community, to God and us as a family. We need to enjoy God's majesty. We are here for such a short period of time, we need to enjoy God's blessings in our lives. We need to have fun. We need to enjoy each other's lives. We need to sing praises about our community.
Have a great weekend and great week. See you around the community. Amen.
Friday, September 16, 2011
Relationships
Another week has come and gone. A touch of a cool breeze has blessed us these past two days, more to come. We even had two rain drops Thursday afternoon! By the time I got my windshield wipers unstuck from the glass, the rain stopped! We know the rain will come, just not time yet I guess.
Mr Scott and Catfish had 3 new folks join them on the visits Saturday morning. 3 Centenary students have kind of adopted us and wanted to experience everything we do, so they came. Great young people. Mr Scott said, our number of friends has increased again and served over 40.
The rest of us joined in on our Board meeting and 6 hours later we had talked ourselves out. As most of you know meetings are not my thing, but ever so often we need to come together and talk about where we are going as a community. It is always good to hear what God has placed on our hearts and how that may impact our community. Ms Lisa will send out the minutes when she is able to complete them, so you will have an idea of everything that went on.
Some dreams that come to mind, is Momma T and Ms Patti will be starting on Saturday October 8, U2 Saturdays. Momma T has been praying and thinking about this for many months and said she is ready to move forward on it. It will be an enrichment type activities learning all sorts of stuff, geared towards the young people but also any adults who would like to come.
Dr Phil shared his dream with us of providing housing and jobs for those who do not have a place to live and want to work. He is partnering with a friend of ours in the construction business and will be building "tiny" homes in our neighborhood.
We again talked about moving our weekly meals to another night, either Tuesday or Thursday evenings. Nothing set in stone yet, but looks like we will definitely try it and see what happens. The main reason for this move is to allow other churches and groups who normally have functions going on on Wednesdays, an opportunity to be more of a presence with us. With the completion of the chapel getting close, we want to start our chapel time to coincide with our meals and days other than Wednesday might allow musicians, speakers and others to help out.
We talked about our desire to become intentional in meeting our neighbors. Adopting a block at a time, getting to know everybody in every house and sharing our lvoe of God with them. Learning from them what their hopes and dreams are and can we work together to make them happen.
We talked about having some sort of fundraiser either the end of the year or first part of next year. I am not comfortable asking for money but now that we are in our building, we need funds to operate the lights, air and water. Most grants do not fund these type of items, so we need to come up with monies to maintain our building.
John and Tania shared the drawings of the new kitchen. It was "Amen" to go forward and here we go. Lots of changes and challenges awaits us but oh how amazing it will be when it is completed. They are in the process of obtaining materials from various places and hopefully in the coming weeks we will have work days to begin the work.
Monday and Tuesday we had a ton of kids for tutoring and we had a ton of helpers, wow. Monday, I think we had the entire Centenary campus with us. We had our three new students we also had Mary and Macy. Anna you need to come and we will have all our family together!
Tuesday, our volunteer Ed, completed the tiling of the chapel floor. We next need carpet to cover the raised section, some clean up, some chairs and we will be ready to go. It looks very nice. Excited to see it finally coming together.
Wednesday we had our extended family return. Ms Sarah Mr Scott and their youth joined us again for their help and smiling faces. So many youth showed up, I sat down all during the meal and enjoyed the supper. Ms Abbie kept eying me to get up, so I looked the other way! So nice to have them back with us. I did have to get up from my chair to give to others and in fact Lomax and I had to go and get more tables and chairs to seat everybody.
Thursday, we gathered around the table to experience the fixins of our new chef Lomax. He prepared our main course of red beans and rice with sausage. It was great. Momma T had a pasta salad and dessert. It was good to have William and James with us again. Both had been sick.
Following our meal we continued reading from Acts 13 and 14. Looking at my notes, I see filled by the Holy Spirit, sent out by the Holy Spirit, filled with joy from living by the Holy Spirit. Sounds like that is the key to me, Jesus went to be with his father, but did not leave us by ourselves. He provided a partner, a friend, a companion, one who looks out for us, who wants the best for us, one who will accomplish things we can not do ourselves only if allow the Holy Spirit to be a part of our lives. We all too often try to complicate things, try to say the right stuff, do the right things, be the right way, but we as humans will never be able to do that, and really we don't have to. All we have to do is humble ourselves, allow the lvoe of Jesus, His Holy Spirit to flow in and through us each and every day. Amazing things will happen when we can do that.
Don't forget, this Saturday is our breakfast morning. Be there at 9 to taste some of Momma T's amazing cooking. Biscuits, ham, eggs, cheese grits, gravy, no fried bacon Ms Sarah, hot coffee and lots of good conversations. Bring a friend, see you there.
We continue to lift up Wes as he journeys to his new home in China. The last we have heard he has made it to Beijing but nothing since. The internet is slow at best in the country, so his mom and dad are awaiting his email or phone call.
After Beth and Charley saw Wes off, they drove to New Orleans to visit old friends and places. They had a chance to visit with Sione and Beth and both seem to be doing great. Sione did express concern for his talk this Sunday. It seems the Saints are playing at noon and he is concerned there maybe no body left in the sanctuary when he is finished preaching! Good luck Sione, at least you will know why they left, not because of what you said.
Prayers for Hat as she travels. For Lomax's mom as she travels here to visit with him for a few days. It will be good to see her again.
Relationships. As we as a community continue to decern God's direction in our lives, I relate it to our relationships to God, each other and to others. When you first meet someone, you say, how are you doing, smile, maybe shake their hand and go about your business. As time goes on, and that relationship continues to grow you begin to see beyond the smile or the words and see their heart, their hurts, their needs. Sometimes it is good, sometimes it is not. There will be times when that relationship maybe strained. There will be times when that relationship will be great. I see us at that point in our community.
Years ago, I think it was ok for us just to be there. To provide a place where the children could come and feel lvoe. Where adults could come and get a bag of food, some clothes, a meal. But I think God is asking us to go deeper in our relationships with our community. He is asking us to go out and meet our neighbors. To listen to them. To hear their hurts. To witness their triumphs. To become a part of their lives and help them achieve their dreams.
He is asking us just not to be there for the children but to train them in the ways of Me. As we have seen over the years, the children are survivors because that is all they know to do. Education, manners, dress, attitudes are secondary at best to them because that is not important to them. I would like us to see how we can provide a place where those who have a desire to get an education to do so. For those of them who are surviving and need a place to feel safe provide a place to do so.
As we go deeper into our relationships, it may get messy. Life is messy. We may not like what we hear. We may get discouraged. We may not want to continue. But if we do, if we continue to humble ourselves for others, if continue to allow the Holy Spirit to flow through us, I guarantee the rewards will be mighty. We are at the beginning of something special. God is preparing a way for us, that we have no comprehension of what is about to take place. Community as we know it now, will be different, new, alive. Are you ready? Do you want to be a part of this Kingdom building? Please pray and ask God how can I use my skills, my talents, my gifts in the coming months and years as we all journey together.
Have a great weekend and looking forward to seeing you all around the center next week. Amen.
Mr Scott and Catfish had 3 new folks join them on the visits Saturday morning. 3 Centenary students have kind of adopted us and wanted to experience everything we do, so they came. Great young people. Mr Scott said, our number of friends has increased again and served over 40.
The rest of us joined in on our Board meeting and 6 hours later we had talked ourselves out. As most of you know meetings are not my thing, but ever so often we need to come together and talk about where we are going as a community. It is always good to hear what God has placed on our hearts and how that may impact our community. Ms Lisa will send out the minutes when she is able to complete them, so you will have an idea of everything that went on.
Some dreams that come to mind, is Momma T and Ms Patti will be starting on Saturday October 8, U2 Saturdays. Momma T has been praying and thinking about this for many months and said she is ready to move forward on it. It will be an enrichment type activities learning all sorts of stuff, geared towards the young people but also any adults who would like to come.
Dr Phil shared his dream with us of providing housing and jobs for those who do not have a place to live and want to work. He is partnering with a friend of ours in the construction business and will be building "tiny" homes in our neighborhood.
We again talked about moving our weekly meals to another night, either Tuesday or Thursday evenings. Nothing set in stone yet, but looks like we will definitely try it and see what happens. The main reason for this move is to allow other churches and groups who normally have functions going on on Wednesdays, an opportunity to be more of a presence with us. With the completion of the chapel getting close, we want to start our chapel time to coincide with our meals and days other than Wednesday might allow musicians, speakers and others to help out.
We talked about our desire to become intentional in meeting our neighbors. Adopting a block at a time, getting to know everybody in every house and sharing our lvoe of God with them. Learning from them what their hopes and dreams are and can we work together to make them happen.
We talked about having some sort of fundraiser either the end of the year or first part of next year. I am not comfortable asking for money but now that we are in our building, we need funds to operate the lights, air and water. Most grants do not fund these type of items, so we need to come up with monies to maintain our building.
John and Tania shared the drawings of the new kitchen. It was "Amen" to go forward and here we go. Lots of changes and challenges awaits us but oh how amazing it will be when it is completed. They are in the process of obtaining materials from various places and hopefully in the coming weeks we will have work days to begin the work.
Monday and Tuesday we had a ton of kids for tutoring and we had a ton of helpers, wow. Monday, I think we had the entire Centenary campus with us. We had our three new students we also had Mary and Macy. Anna you need to come and we will have all our family together!
Tuesday, our volunteer Ed, completed the tiling of the chapel floor. We next need carpet to cover the raised section, some clean up, some chairs and we will be ready to go. It looks very nice. Excited to see it finally coming together.
Wednesday we had our extended family return. Ms Sarah Mr Scott and their youth joined us again for their help and smiling faces. So many youth showed up, I sat down all during the meal and enjoyed the supper. Ms Abbie kept eying me to get up, so I looked the other way! So nice to have them back with us. I did have to get up from my chair to give to others and in fact Lomax and I had to go and get more tables and chairs to seat everybody.
Thursday, we gathered around the table to experience the fixins of our new chef Lomax. He prepared our main course of red beans and rice with sausage. It was great. Momma T had a pasta salad and dessert. It was good to have William and James with us again. Both had been sick.
Following our meal we continued reading from Acts 13 and 14. Looking at my notes, I see filled by the Holy Spirit, sent out by the Holy Spirit, filled with joy from living by the Holy Spirit. Sounds like that is the key to me, Jesus went to be with his father, but did not leave us by ourselves. He provided a partner, a friend, a companion, one who looks out for us, who wants the best for us, one who will accomplish things we can not do ourselves only if allow the Holy Spirit to be a part of our lives. We all too often try to complicate things, try to say the right stuff, do the right things, be the right way, but we as humans will never be able to do that, and really we don't have to. All we have to do is humble ourselves, allow the lvoe of Jesus, His Holy Spirit to flow in and through us each and every day. Amazing things will happen when we can do that.
Don't forget, this Saturday is our breakfast morning. Be there at 9 to taste some of Momma T's amazing cooking. Biscuits, ham, eggs, cheese grits, gravy, no fried bacon Ms Sarah, hot coffee and lots of good conversations. Bring a friend, see you there.
We continue to lift up Wes as he journeys to his new home in China. The last we have heard he has made it to Beijing but nothing since. The internet is slow at best in the country, so his mom and dad are awaiting his email or phone call.
After Beth and Charley saw Wes off, they drove to New Orleans to visit old friends and places. They had a chance to visit with Sione and Beth and both seem to be doing great. Sione did express concern for his talk this Sunday. It seems the Saints are playing at noon and he is concerned there maybe no body left in the sanctuary when he is finished preaching! Good luck Sione, at least you will know why they left, not because of what you said.
Prayers for Hat as she travels. For Lomax's mom as she travels here to visit with him for a few days. It will be good to see her again.
Relationships. As we as a community continue to decern God's direction in our lives, I relate it to our relationships to God, each other and to others. When you first meet someone, you say, how are you doing, smile, maybe shake their hand and go about your business. As time goes on, and that relationship continues to grow you begin to see beyond the smile or the words and see their heart, their hurts, their needs. Sometimes it is good, sometimes it is not. There will be times when that relationship maybe strained. There will be times when that relationship will be great. I see us at that point in our community.
Years ago, I think it was ok for us just to be there. To provide a place where the children could come and feel lvoe. Where adults could come and get a bag of food, some clothes, a meal. But I think God is asking us to go deeper in our relationships with our community. He is asking us to go out and meet our neighbors. To listen to them. To hear their hurts. To witness their triumphs. To become a part of their lives and help them achieve their dreams.
He is asking us just not to be there for the children but to train them in the ways of Me. As we have seen over the years, the children are survivors because that is all they know to do. Education, manners, dress, attitudes are secondary at best to them because that is not important to them. I would like us to see how we can provide a place where those who have a desire to get an education to do so. For those of them who are surviving and need a place to feel safe provide a place to do so.
As we go deeper into our relationships, it may get messy. Life is messy. We may not like what we hear. We may get discouraged. We may not want to continue. But if we do, if we continue to humble ourselves for others, if continue to allow the Holy Spirit to flow through us, I guarantee the rewards will be mighty. We are at the beginning of something special. God is preparing a way for us, that we have no comprehension of what is about to take place. Community as we know it now, will be different, new, alive. Are you ready? Do you want to be a part of this Kingdom building? Please pray and ask God how can I use my skills, my talents, my gifts in the coming months and years as we all journey together.
Have a great weekend and looking forward to seeing you all around the center next week. Amen.
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