Day 50

No problem is too small for God, no person out of His reach. He cares about the cranky old man who cusses about bingo because that old man wasn’t always old. He wasn’t always cranky. He used to be one of the kids at Bible Club, eager to learn stories about a God who sounded too good to be true. Years of being ignored and looked past made him the man that he was but to God that didn’t matter. God still loved him just as much as He did when he was the six year old boy tearing through the obstacle courses at Bible club. He loved him when he was thirteen and being recruited for a local gang. God loved him when he was twenty six and a father to three beautiful children. God saw him when his three year-old son was shot in a drive-by and his wife left him for another man. God saw him and still loved him when he turned to alcohol and tried to forget the pain in his life. God never stopped loving him, not even when he was forty-seven and on the verge of suicide. God kept loving him because he was God’s child. God didn’t forget about him even when he felt like he had been forgotten by the world. God was with him when his house was broken into and he lost everything he owned. God loved him when he moved into the nursing home owned by the state and met his roommate who was a devout Catholic. God saw him every day as his sorrow became too much to handle and he lost all motivation for living. God also saw an eager young girl from Illinois on her first mission trip spending an afternoon in the nursing home. God smiled when she told the man that God had been watching him and that He loved him. God rejoiced with His angels when the man realized that he wasn’t alone and that he could spend an eternity with a Greater Love than he could ever understand. Three weeks later God opened up His arms and welcomed His new son home. Forever.

Day Twenty Nine

3 - The number of Dewars Peanut Butter Chews I ate before 11:00 am. I can quit anytime I want to...

4 - The number of Bible Clubs that ran this morning.

5 - The number of team leaders I talked to on the phone.

6 - The number of water bottles I’ve drank so far today.

7 - The number of times I called a very evasive youth minister. Still haven’t talked to the guy!

26 - The number of Dewars Peanut Butter Chews I handed out to the staff. They loved them of course!

55 - The Psalm I read this morning for Devotional. It’s awesome!

6:45 - The time I wake up every morning.

156 - The number of T-shirts I counted, recounted, and folded.

Day Nine

“May integrity and uprightness protect me, because my hope is in you.” -Psalm 25:21
Sometimes it’s a little intimidating to be in a position of leadership. You don’t want to mess up but you also don’t want to get caught up in rules and regulations and forget why your there in the first place. God’s been teaching me a lot about this lately and I feel like this verse finally sealed the deal. This summer I’m going to try to forget the standards used by the world and measure myself according to God’s standards. It’s not possible for me to do this so it’s going to have to be God. His integrity and uprightness is going to protect me because my hope IS in Him!

Day Seven

It's my sixth day in Memphis and I'm excited to have the rest of the staff in tomorrow! It's been a great week with the Jackson's (Katie and Eric) and we can't wait to have teams come in! I can't wait to see how God is going to use us in the community this summer. He's already doing so much in the community it's crazy. I get so excited when we're driving around because I know that God's plan for this city is so far beyond anything we can imagine. It's so neat to be a part of something much bigger than us because our God is greater, stronger, higher than ANY other! I'm already missing my sweet friends and family but I'm trying to keep the bigger picture in my head. Life is about so much more than knowing the "right" answer and going to church on Sunday mornings. I'm ready to stop waiting for a revolution to happen. I'm ready to be a part of the revolution. So be the somebody and make today THE day. Yeah.

Day Three

So I’m back in Memphis for another Summer on staff with Street Reach. It’s just Katie, Eric and I here so far. We’ve been reviewing policies, designing staff shirts, preparing for the summer, folding t-shirts, sending Bubba (our t-shirt guy) 39402348 emails a day and taking the craziest pictures on my mac. So far it’s been a great week! On Monday night some good friends, A Love Not Lost, (www.myspace.com/alovenotlost/) were playing a show in town. It was great to see Alex, Nathan, Preston, Tyler, Josh and Mitchell all the way out here in Memphis! I felt like it was a little piece of Georgia which was beyond great on my first night back. They did a wonderful job and their show was definitely a new experience for Katie and Eric. On Tuesday we talked about shirt colors for thirty-five hours, bought a new washer and dryer, did some grocery shopping, had a Taco Bell excursion and Katie and I found out why Bubba’s name is Bubba. Good times. Today was about the same as yesterday. We made some schedule changes and I called five or six stores about cereal dispensers. Those might have been some of the most interesting phone conversations I’ve ever had. No, really. Right now I’m thinking there is NO way I’m eating any cereal this summer if it’s not properly dispensed WITH portion control AND an air tight seal to keep it fresh. The cherry on top was a Lecrae dance party with the Bible Club crew. Looking forward to Thursday!