Back to His Arms

Last week kicked my rear end was crazy hard.  I admit it...I was drowning/sinking/floundering/stumbling/staggering; call it whatever you wish, but, basically, I was wallowing in self-pity.  I wanted our referral and I wanted it NOW {or yesterday or the day before}.

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I wanted to believe all my sadness was justified.  I mean, really?  11 weeks with no referrals?  (Not to mention multiple families in the final stage of bringing their children home reporting delay after delay.)  Think of all those orphans who need homes and here I  am, waiting so patiently for a call that just doesn't seem to ever come! 

So, there I was...whine, cry, frump...when, BAM...I got slapped in the face with the gospel!  OK, maybe that's a bit of an exagerration, but truly, I got me some CON.VIC.TION!

Because, the truth is, my lip service was NOT matching the state of my heart.  Don't get me wrong, I want desperately to believe that this journey is not in vain...that I am enduring this wait because this is exactly where God wants me, and I DO believe that, but my heart was just not feeling it and I was sinking into a dark place.  And, the bottom line is I wasn't as close to my Jesus as I need/want to be.  Instead of drizzling my sorrow in Christ's redemptive love and promise to stay by my side {even when days are dark}, I was relying on myself to get me through.  Not. Pretty.

This seed of longing for more began early in the weekend, so when I went to church on Sunday morning, I just knew I was meeting Christ there and that I was ready to lay it at His feet, to start this wait over {in a sense}, to get back to the arms of My Savior.  And, guess what?!  He did it!  He met me there and He held my hand and he spoke to me through the sermon.  We began a study of Hebrews and dug into verses 1-4 of the first chapter, which our pastor, Randy Gariss, summed up like this:

"It is impossible for you to have too high a view of Jesus."

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So true.  My Jesus will carry me through this difficult wait.  Wasn't he faithful to Noah, Moses, Job, David, Abraham, and countless others?  He shows me over and over again where a child-like faith leads and yet, I somehow lost sight of that.  And so, I am done.  I can't do this wait alone or even based on the strength of my family and friends.  I need HIM and He promises to carry me, hold my hands, and walk beside me.  And so I'm reaching for Him...

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I'm determined to hold tight to the following verse from Hebrews:

Hebrews 10:23
Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.



God's Resort VBS

On Sunday, June 12th, I received a phone call from our Middle School minister at our church requesting my help with Vacation Bible School at one of our community outreach buildings called God's Resort.  Now, let me first say that I have never directed a VBS nor did I even know much about God's Resort, but, you know me...I was excited about the opportunity and that they had even thought of me to help.  So, I quickly agreed, having NO IDEA how much this project would bless my heart.

The next day we met at the newly acquired Community Center and I got the full story.  God's Resort is a block of 33 apartments located in Northwest Joplin {exactly 5 blocks from the tornado damage for those of you whose best reference to Joplin is the tornado} that was purchased several years ago in an attempt to "clean up" the area of the crime for which it had become known.  {Before it was God's Resort, it was known as "The Last Resort" as it was ridden with crime, drugs, and 80+ police reports per month!}  Since the acquisition, police reports have been reduced to an average of 4 per month and GR is now self-sufficient.  The residents must abide by strict {research-based} requirements which help to maintain the high standards of the Resort.  Recently, the GR board desired to purchase a Performing Arts Center {which is an old church} just half a block from the apartments.   They prayed fervently for the Center and the day they decided to purchase it, the owners had dropped the price by $40,000!  A total God thing!!

Anyway, in an effort to reach out to the kids in the neighborhood, College Heights {our church} ran a three day VBS.  A team from Nebraska came to bless the neighborhood through their work at the Community Center and through helping to run VBS.  They worked tirelessly for three straight days and were such a blessing to this ministry!

The Nebraska Team

Each day, we had craft time, Bible story time, game time, and music time 

On the last day, Camden and Melia came to join the fun

After VBS on the third day, we had a carnival! 

This hot guy showed up to grill burgers. :)

It was super fun and such a blessing to the kids and the workers!

Great Day of Service 2010

Our church sponsored the Annual Great Day of Service this last Sunday.  This is the second year we have gotten the opportunity to be a part of it and it truly lived up to its name!  We had a blast and Miss Melia was such a great helper this year!  The pics in this scrapbook really say it all. :)

Free digital scrapbooking design made with Smilebox

To be honest, it is my goal to serve others more and more and this day was a great way to just set aside everything else and place other people's needs and share Christ's love through service as the only things on our priority list.  I really want to strive to make it a Great LIFE of Service instead of just a day!

Jen