God Gets The Glory

    I have been over thinking what to write about over the past few weeks. There is so much to tell, yet there is also so much I'm not ready to share. However, after this last week, I think I have it figured out. I have been thinking a lot about stories in the Bible and even people I have met that have been through the wringer, tested beyond their limits, and can get up every day, stand one more time, and praise God for all He is. I have faced more challenges here recently than I feel like I have the entire time I have been here, however when writing this, I just want to give God all the glory for how He loves His own, and for all He is. I would be in far worse shape than I am if He didn't faithfully continue to work in my life. He calls us to actually work, to pull up our sleeves, pour out our sweat and tears, go that extra mile, and just when you think you can't go anymore, He reminds you of why you started, what you're really working toward, and how He hasn't let you out of His sight since the very beginning. 

    We have just wrapped up our daycare for the month of July. Ms. Pearl tries to take some time off in July or August in order to get some type of rest before we head back in a full sprint when the school year starts. July was jammed packed with children, every day they seemed to multiply. And then if it wasn't the kids, we had volunteers to add to our number, which also adds a little extra work in the planning department. We were blessed to have the people come help us, it is heart warming to see them come and love on my kids. However, at the same time I feel a little sorry for them, for they don't get to know the full stories behind each toothless smile, deafening screams, endless hugs, or silly comments the kids share. But even for just a short time, Jalia gets an extra hand to hold and arms to hug her tight. Mark has a new buddy to learn how to tie shoes with. Ka'Mya and Darchae have another person that can play the mom when they play house. Nevaeh has someone else to tell what to do as she plays the mom. Sherman has a new friend to learn new tricks from that he can try out later. Jalila, Trinity, and Zenna have another set of eyes to watch over them as they develop and learn what it means to become a preschooler instead of a toddler. Lorenzo has a new body guard to shelter him from flipping or jumping on anyone else. Janiyah has another opportunity to charm you with her sweetness and wear you out with her energy. J.D. and Lorenzo have older kids to talk to and experience adventures with and learn what it means to be a young Christian man. I value and thank God for the hearts of every volunteer that walks through our door. They have no idea how much joy I get from seeing the happiness that comes from those kids when volunteers pour into them. Even though they experience a whole new kind of exhaustion, I am almost certain, that each person experiences a different form of God's love as they spend time with our children. 

He didn't think it was cute when I did it!

    In fact, I have been blessed with seeing another side of how God works in my life through this ministry, through even just one child. We were wrapping up the end of the day, waiting for Bible study to get out, so the moms could come pick up their children and I was on Lorenzo duty. This kid has more energy than I have ever seen. He is full of life and curiosity and always ready to get away just long enough to make you have to chase after him. So as you can probably imagine, I was all over the place trying to keep him preoccupied, and was failing miserably at that. He was running around and crawling under tables, and Ms. Wendy was ready to stop chasing him. So I pick him up and put him over my shoulder and go sit in the chair with him. As soon as I sat down and got him situated, I realized what I had done. My neck was stuck at a 45 degree angle and if I tried to move it in any way, there was intense pain telling me to stop moving. I let it go for about half and hour and then came to the conclusion that this wasn't just going to go away and I had really hurt myself. Meanwhile, Lorenzo looks at me with that little grin all kids get when they have just thought of a new idea and starts running around again. I had given up at that point and told Ms. Tay Tay that I was done, and had to see how to mend what Lorenzo had broken in my neck. To make a long, extremely eventful, and painful night spent in the emergency room shorter, I was given a shot in my hip and a pain killer for a severely strained muscle in my neck. Praise the Lord it wasn't anything worse than that. I also have to share with you, that even though it just happened to me, I had people around me who went above and beyond to help me. Ms. Tay Tay willingly stayed with me the entire time at the hospital, doing all she could to make the best of the person throwing up behind us, or the crazy lady threatening people who would look at her, and all of the other lovely customers in need of medical attention. We had quite a time when we finally got to a room and heard all of the other stories happening around us. Not only can I not thank her enough for being there, I also couldn't have gotten there without her, since I could move my head, I couldn't drive either. I praise God for supplying a friend to help, to distract, and to love me even if I was on medication. Ms. Pearl came down to support me as well, and then got us both some Popeye's and Baskin Robbins that we got to enjoy around 12:30 in the morning. The next day I was awakened in my room and saw it was full of my kids coming to check on me before they went to go play. It was one of the sweetest things anyone had ever done for me. And then I was blessed more than I ever deserved by about eight people who came together to help get me home, since I wasn't supposed to drive with the pain medication I was on. It took one child to "break" me, but God surrounded me with more than I ever thought possible to help put me back together! 

    This week brought another set of kids, volunteers, and workers for the new building. I don't know if they realized it, but the group that came this week truly blessed my heart. They reminded me of my high school kids in my youth group back home, and made me realize how much I miss working with them. I miss the silliness of pretty much everything, but at the same time, their ability to be transparent and open about who God has made them to be. It is such a privilege to work beside young adults who are aspiring to be all God wants them to be. And a huge shout out to the people who came to put up insulation and hang drywall this weekend! With all the other stuff going on, sometimes I forget that there is more going on inside the brick building next door. We had around eleven or so men working on all sorts of things in that building this weekend, it was so exciting to see walls that used to be just metal studs. Some more inspections were checked off and we couldn't be more blessed by how God helped us in our time of need. One of the groups that came to help with the drywall came from my home church, Smyser Christian Church and I can't tell you how encouraging it was to see faces that I knew, relationships that had already been made so that jokes and slams could be thrown around to pass the time. It is wonderful to meet new people that God has placed in my life, because there have been quite a few that have passed through our doors, but nothing has topped the joy that filled my heart to see the people in my church come support what God is doing in Roseland. I can understand a little more of what Ms. Pearl means when she tells me that God is building this building. Humans may put forth the effort, but God resides in their hearts and brings them here. It is truly amazing at how He works in the midst of the roughest neighborhood, in the hearts of the toughest people, and brings about a glorious hope, that no one who encounters it could ever deny. 

Had so much fun watching them be a part of this ministry!

It gets more real every day!