Christmas in July

Yes, we celebrated Christmas Eve last night with all of the volunteers. My apologies for not blogging sooner, but it has felt like December in Nashville with all of the running around and hustle and bustle of the holidays. We played white elephant gift giving and had all the eats that one would have for the evening, including a year round Christmas tree at Pat’s place. July has been crazy!! The children have been out of school for three weeks and the teams and individual volunteers get involved to try and keep the kids off the streets. They spent about 4 hours each day playing games, feeding them, loving on them and sharing the gospel in their own kind of way through drama. Then the last week we brought in a new ministry called Upward Sports. It is a very big program in the states and we kicked it off here last week. It lasted only a couple of hours each day which left Mike and me to figure out what activities we could do with the volunteers for the remainder of the time. We had some afternoon work projects where we worked at Living Way and then the last day we cleaned up the inside of the Masi Baptist Church and rehung all their curtains. We had someone come in and clean the carpet but unfortunately that will be an ongoing problem. They have lots of sand around and no way to get rid of it. We have had as many as 4 teams here at one time and that means lots of hello’s and goodbyes and how’s it going and are you happy with what you are doing with your team? Then we have had some emotional college age individuals that want freedom from authority yet want someone to come and check on them so they are not forgotten We are grateful for all God has given us to do here but we are ready for a little R&R in mid August. We are planning a little get away so we can unwind and get ready for the next whirlwind of volunteers. Speaking of Christmas it is right around the corner and we will be making plans soon to be coming back early December. Please pray for us for the coming year as we know God has someone in mind to take over as Volunteer Coordinators but we haven’t heard from them yet.

Who am I to Judge?

I opened up my computer this afternoon to find another shocking story of a person who has died long before he should have. Steve McNair seemed so much closer to home than Michael Jackson or Farrah Fawcett, because of his ties to the Tennessee Titans. I am saddened of the loss but it reminds me of how important it is to live my life in obedience to what God would want me to do. As I look back over the last couple of weeks at the people we have lost, I am reminded of the lives these folks have lead and it seems that no one has a testimony of a relationship with Jesus Christ and where they might be now. I believe it is so critical to know what you believe so that if your life should end so abruptly that you are at total peace with where your soul will be. Michael Jackson was not at peace with himself and Steve McNair was a married man. I believe God can take our lives at any moment and it is in my best interest to trust that the Bible is right, that Jesus is the only way to have eternal life in heaven(John 14:6). I choose not to take my chances, miss the boat and live in eternal hell. I don’t want to be critical or judgmental about these folks but their public lives did not lead me to believe they were people of God. I hope that when I die that people will say she was a person who was faithful and lived for the purpose to serve “An Awesome God.” When I am in heaven I hope to hear “Well done, good and faithful servant!” (Matt 25:21)