Connections

Many of you know our car was broken into on a recent trip back home this summer.  As we were retrieving a police report,  I found myself caught in a sea of people at the Shelby County Jail.  We were checked, had to walk through 3 metal detectors, even had a temporary ID made with photo and everything.  It was a very new experience to me.  It got me wondering about the families that come here regularly to visit loved ones.  It got me thinking of the way of life of those who for whatever reason find themselves in a life of crime.  Then God brought my thinking to him, or her, or they.  Whoever it was that stole our things.  I wondered what their life was like.  What was it like for their family?  I realized whether I liked it or not, I was connected to this person.  God had me "walking in their shoes" for a bit that morning.  I found my anger melting away.  I found myself with mercy and concern.  God connects us for all kinds of reasons.  God has created us to relate to one another and He allows things to happen that connect us.  Some connections are simple and strong.  Like the connection that is made between a baby and its mother or father.  Or connections that little kids make over a ball or game.  Maybe its a quick connection, like the ones that happen daily.  The kid that sells you your Starbucks coffee, or the guy who helps you know when a cantaloupe is ripe at the grocery store.  And even sometimes he connects us to those who we would never pick to connect.  I have found God bring to mind this person more than a few times to pray for them.  He has me thinking about the other connections He has for me and wondering if He wants more from me through these connections.  What about you?  Are you seeking what God would have for you through your connections in your life?

There is something different there.....

Last week I was talking with a neighbor of mine.  She told me of the story of how a teenage boy was asking where the americans live.  She and her family are really protective of us and she began to ask him why.  Turns out he was a classmate of one of the kids in our Hope Program.  He was just coming over to do some homework together.  She gave him directions and in a little over an hour he returned.  Norma asked him if he found his friend and how he study time went.  They began to talk and he shared that he had carried a lot of burdens with him as he entered the B2B property.  He said as he walked through our gate, he felt different, like something had lifted from his shoulders.  As Norma explained to me what he said, she said to me, "You know I have felt something different there too."  It was the perfect opportunity to share with her, that I thought that something different was the Holy Spirit.  It was yet another conversation with her to tell her of the great life she can have with Jesus.  That we receive the Holy Spirit as a free gift when we ask him into our lives.  She seemed intrigued but still wasn't interested in having Jesus in her life.  Please pray with me that God would continue to draw her closer to Him and one day bring her to a saving faith in Jesus Christ, the one that makes a difference.

Thank you FCS

Just like I promised, I saw you all depart at around 4:00 am (really it was 4:03) this morning.  I can prove this as I saw many of you with your Shelter shirts on and I especially saw Ruth's right forearm as she waved goodbye.  She was wearing the bracelet Jackie made and that Leslie gave her this week.  

Thank you for serving alongside of us this week.  Thank you also for praying for my mom as she had her surgery this morning.  Everything went well even better than expected.  Thank you for supporting her and me through your prayers.  It was a pleasure to get to know each and everyone of you and pray that God allows our paths to cross again.  Come back soon.

First Day of school photos

Can you believe we have a third grader, fourth grader and a seventh grader. Our boys are blessed to have three great teachers this year. Miss Ruby will teach Mark again this year. And Miss Jessica and Miss Hope will teach Luke and Ben. These are complete pictures as our borrowed camera ran out of battery life. Hopefully with the help of other parents we will post more.

How can we ever understand the love of God

We are back home now, and as I sit and think about all that God has brought us through, I realize that we are truly blessed. How does God love us so when we don't deserve it. Sometimes we have acted well and gave God the glory He rightly deserves and other times not so much. Greg praising God and asking for the salvation of the robber. One time on an elevator in the Shelby County Jail building someone asked me how I could be so happy on the Monday. My first response was "cause everything is working out right" as I walked away God whispers in my ear " because I love you". Truly I was reflecting the Joy of the Lord as I was experiencing his shelter and care in a storm.
In this whole ordeal of our car theft, God has opened my eyes to how He loves us. How He keeps other things from happening. And how when He allows us to experience bad things He is there to love us, to hear us, to comfort us, to teach us. I love that no matter how much I try I will never understand how much our Lord loves us.
He loves us, oh how He loves us, oh how He loves us, oh how He loves.