nadianeil - Home is a Pretty Place

So, we are back from our exciting spirit-filled adventures in New York.

This week will be a time of transition, a time to fight the mundane, and the daily routine and busyness that threatens to take away our focus. We are called to serve God, to follow Him. As my friend Austin said, we are distracted here at home. We saw God move because we were there working for Him, expecting Him to move in the lives of those we met. We need to remember the experiences that have changed our perspectives and not drift back into our former selves. We should expect Him to also move here.

Vacation Bible School

Just a quick peek into our small ministry at the church we were staying at. VBS could have went better, but I think God brought those kids who will make a great impact on their communities if they so choose. One kid especially that stands out in my mind, who we had to kick out the last day, was just so unruly (always loud, obnoxious, interrupting) and influenced the other kids to behave similarly. I was upset that he was acting out because we were trying to help out by giving them a chance to learn and have fun, but then I noticed that he had worn the same exact clothes every day that entire week. What kind of eleven year old is allowed to wear the same clothes every day? Either one who has no more clothes to wear, or one who has no parents telling him to change. Looking beyond the superficial is difficult for me, unless I am doing it intentionally.

CHIPS and Bay Ridge

We worked at a couple of soup kitchens while we were there that fed hundreds of homeless each week. Sitting with those people and just listening to their stories worked on our hearts. We saw one extreme to the other. Complete bitterness to complete faith. And, the whole thing got me thinking again to a conversation that Rachel and I had a little while back. When I see people struggling to find their next meal and imagine how much worse it would be in countries without all of the outreach programs we have, I realize how rich we are. So back to our conversation, this verse is what we discussed:

"It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God." (Matthew 19:24)

For some reason, most of us blow this verse off. We do not consider ouselves rich. But, do we not have houses, clothes, food? Though we are experiencing "hard times" have we ever really had to wonder if we would have enough to eat or somewhere to sleep for the night? We ARE rich, maybe not by America's standards, but in comparison to the rest of the world how can we think otherwise?

PLEASE PLEASE PRAY:

In the last two weeks, our county has experienced two major tragedies. The first during the week of our VBS at home, the death of a child. Pray for the family who lost their precious fourth grader last week to realize that He is now in the presence of a God who loves Him better than we could here. The second was during our time away; we lost the Uncle of one of our group members to suicide. Pray that the family draws closer to God through these uncomprehendable circumstances, and that they can find comfort and peace where they now feel a void. Please also pray for the healing of our close-knit community because these events grieve us all.

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Home is a Pretty Place

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