Reflections of life

I have to admit that I am tired. Very tired.

Working so much and spending so much time in the car is definitely taking its toll on me. Add to that the nearly non-existent time I have with Andy and the emotionally draining work that I do and at the end of the day I could just be bitter and worn out.

But I'm not. I'm tired, but I'm not dead.

I am blessed beyond belief and am so extremely thankful for the provision, the love, and the mercy that God gives me every single day of my life.

This weekend we had a youth retreat and I had to drive A LOT to pick up my kids and take them to this retreat. Truth be told its been quite exhausting.

As I was driving down to Warner Robins to pick them up on Friday I was reminded of a time when I was a kid sitting in the back of the van excited about a trip to youth councils. I was reflecting about how much I was loved and cared for and about how much fun I had learning about God with other kids my age. Someone spent many hours in a van taking me to and from several youth councils.

Now I am that person and I am thankful for the privilege I have to do it for other young people. My prayer is that these experiences will transform their lives like it did for me.

God continues to amaze me and bless me. Thank you, God, that you have chosen me to do your work!

"Save-the-world-itis"

Georgia has so many strip clubs is really angers me. There are so many interstates running through Atlanta...so many truckers...so many desperate people. People are spiritually hungry. I really believe that we as the church aren't doing our job in "feeding" them because we aren't spiritually feeding ourselves...

It's just disgusting.

I met a stripper. She gets paid $7,000 a night to do her thing at the AFB here in town. Her husband is her manager. She wants to have another child, but can't do that until she finds a new job. The problem is that there is nothing else that will pay her even close to what she makes now with the "good" hours and she has no other training or skills.

This girl is young, beautiful and has tons of questions about God. She seems to be angry at Him for a very sad situation in her past, but she knows He's there and she keeps the questions coming. She's really keeping me on my toes. I love it and I love her.

The conversations I have had with her and will continue to have with her remind me that what I am exactly where God needs me to be. I am anxious to talk to her and we never have enough time to talk about everything.

In my neighborhood in Atlanta there are three strip clubs within walking distance. We went on a prayer walk last Friday night. As I was praying out loud the bouncers began to laugh as us which only made me pray louder. They eventually got quiet...they became silent. The ground in front of the strip club became Holy ground.

My brother Mike has said that I have "save-the-world-itis" and I do. I want to save everyone. I want to take the strippers and prostitutes off the streets and put them into a salvation factory. Same with the drug addicts, the homeless, and everyone else that society has forgotten, chooses to ignore, doesn't see, or won't commit sufficient funding or intelligence to to fix the sick problems of our society.

LORD, help me to be faithful and to love how you love.

Kids say the darndest things

There's a family of children that another adult and I take home each week. We sometimes stop by a pond on the way home to throw some old bread in to the ducks and geese. These are the kind of kids whose mom is never wondering where they are when they're 30 minutes later than usual getting home.

We stopped by the pond recently and the kids were throwing bread in the water and we were all chatting and singing camp songs when one of the little girls asked, "is that grease in the water?" The other adult with me (Ms. Vickie) explained that it's either algae, pollen or a combination of both. The young girl seemed satisfied.

A few minutes later we were all talking and the girl had a few more questions and then she became very confused with the answers since we were all talking at once and she asked, "how do you know the grease is Canadian?" and her sister said, "it's not Canadian grease....it's Canadian GEESE!" Her brother then chimed in and said, "they're not Canadian geese, they're Cuban geese." A bit puzzled Ms. Vickie looked at the child and said, "what makes you think those geese are Cuban geese?" The boy told her that he thought they were Cuban because they could swim!!!!!!!!! Once I collected myself I asked him about it and he said that he learned about it in school.

Wow.

Hidden blessings

Have you ever had something happen in your life that just didn't make logical sense at the time?

It's in these times that God reminds us that He made us in His image and that his promises are true. He is faithful and He will take care of us. God is in control.

As busy as I am I need to make sure that I take time for myself. It can be kind of difficult when I am driving two hours each way to work a few times a week and when I feel like I just can't catch my breath with the workload, let alone sleep a full night or make it to the gym.

But guess what? The work will still be there the next day.

I am going for a run in the morning before work and I am going to enjoy it. I am vowing to not think about everything that needs to be done during the day, but to just spend some time with God as I figure out a new route to run. I bought some new running shoes last week and I want to try them out.

I am counting it all joy. This is a hidden blessing.