Our home away from home...

One of the MANY things I LOVE about our church is that we are ministry and mission minded. We love to get together, but more often we love to get out and do things with and for others in our community. My particular love is our "remote" ministry. When my best friend, Hollie, and I came to SBC 10 years ago, we fell in love with a neighborhood by the name of "Boddy Projects". We rode a bus every Wednesday night and brought many, MANY, many kids to Sinclair. It was loud, crazy, rough, and at times, not so great...but we loved it. We loved riding the bus, we loved the kids, we tried to love their families, and we made many memories that will last a lifetime. As time went on, and things changed, we no longer ran the bus. There were still the faithful few that we picked up, and still do, but there were no more bussing kids in.

And then...the unthinkable happened...

Someone got the idea that we should take "church" to the neighborhood. WHAT? You can't have church outside the walls of a church, can you? Isn't this the way we have ALWAYS done it though? YES! IT IS! Our pastor OFTEN says, "If you keep doing what you have always done, you will get what you have always gotten." He is so right. The remote ministry got off to a rough start, but a little over a year later Chris, Gage and I (and all of the people who help us) have made a lot of friends, loved on a lot of kids, and spent some precious and quality time in the neighborhood.

I love for Gage to ask if we are going to church, but I love even more when he asks when are going to see our "friends in the neighborhood". I also love to hear him say, "Mommy, I see Leroy, Squirrel, and Kenny." Tonight he met a lady named Peaches, and he is probably still laughing at how funny she is.

We pray that they see God in us. We pray that it's not taken as a "hand out", but rather, time spent between friends talking about Christ. Everyone learning from each other. Everyone growing together, and maybe, just maybe, if they don't know Christ, something we say or do will lead them to Him!

Do you ever...

have those days when you look at your "baby" and think...where did the time go? Do you ever let them stay up just a little later because you had a late day at work, took a while to cook dinner, and you just needed a little longer to soak it all up? Do you ever listen to the things they say and just laugh...right out loud...and so hard your sides hurt? Do you ever watch your husband watch your child and you just swell with happiness because you see the love he has for him? Do you ever look at your little one and wonder what is going on in that sweet little brain of his? Do you ever close your eyes and listen as your little man sings "Jesus loves the little children, all the children of the world, red and yellow, black and....mommy what about orange, pink, purple and brown? Precious! Do you ever BEG God to keep them innocent as long as possible, and to draw them to Himself as early as possible? Do you ever just stop for a minute, push pause in this busy life, and thank God for the here and now? The right now? It's the simple things in life that make it all worthwhile! Today I am thankful I had a great Spring Break last week, I got to return to a great job that I LOVE, I got to catch up with Hollie and my momma on the phone. I am thankful for the chance to cook dinner with Chris while Gage played trains in the middle of the kitchen floor, go visit with Stephanie and Becki and then to top of the night Chris and I gave Gage a bath and put him to bed. It is a simple life, but I love it. May I never take a day for granted and may I always take time to thank for God for little things! Do you ever?