4-square fun!!!

Yesterday, I got to play 4-square using 9-square rules. We played in my driveway. 4 adults playing 4-square in the front yard - sooooo much fun!!! I haven't played 4 -square in so long, and it was a blast. Adults should play 4-square or 9-square way more often. Why do we get so serious as adults? Why do we quit doing these fun things? I know people do fun stuff all the time, but for me it all seems to be so planned out. This was just a spontaneous game of 4-square, and I had a blast!

My mom, who is in her late 60's started shooting hoops again with some neighborhood kids. She used to be great at sports, and I'm so glad to hear that she is playing Horse and 21, and even though she says she comes in last most of the time, I know it's doing her some good to get out there and just do something fun.

I'm so thinking 4-square or 9-square needs to become a part of the small groups I am involved in, whether it's the 6th grade Fusion Freaks, my accountability group, or our community group. Could it be that 4-square is a community builder? I think it could be.

Hope to see you in the squares!

I scribed from Matthew this morning about Jesus calling Simon (Peter), Andrew, James and John to be His disciples. I so want to know more about this. I would love to be able to see this scene go down in real life and get the feelings, thoughts, words, actions of these first 4 men Jesus called to be His homeys. I know it says they left "at once" and "immediately", but there's got to be more to it. Could it be that simple to give up everything and follow? And what was their "everything", family, a home, a boat? What did it really mean to give up everything during the time they were on this earth? Did they know Jesus? Had they heard about Him? What were their lives like up to this point? Were these men unhappy with their current circumstances? Were they desperate? Had they been baptized by John? Were they present when John baptized Jesus? God knew who the 12 would be, so I don't see it all as a big mystery, but I would love to have a little more insight into the lives of these men.

a page is turned

Today a friend of mine leaves for Tanzania. She's giving up her life here in America to be the hands and feet and heart of Jesus in Tanzania where people are dying and children are starving. This life change is something she's dreamed of, worked towards, and God has beautifully brought it all together as her heart has heard His call and she has so willingly answered. Another chapter in her life begins today. I can't wait to hear and see what this chapter of her life looks like.

Bright Morning Star, I humbly and earnestly seek Your guidance and grace regarding the chapters of my life. May my storyline be more in line with the story You have written for me. Seeking and hoping!!!

the Open Door

A man met us at the front door. A man who was once homeless and a crack addict, who had the most welcoming eyes and tenderness about him, in spite of years of harshness he faced on the streets. He showed us to the kitchen and dining room where we would be serving the food we had prepared, and we met a younger man, just out of college, checking things out in this community we were visiting. He was there by choice. What choices led to him making the decision to graduate from college and go straight to living at a Soup Kitchen called the Open Door in downtown Atlanta, I have no idea, but I have a huge feeling it had something to do with God. When we go back, maybe I’ll find the specific answer to his riddle.

We met many lovely people at the Open Door, about 20 or so people who live in this big old house downtown, people who serve those who are labeled “less fortunate”, the homeless, addicts, and/or “needy” people of Atlanta. It’s so hard to define these people who I am beginning to see through God’s eyes. There are so many Atlantans who are needy and have homes, much less those who are needy who do not have homes or family to take care of them, that I hesitate to add that label, but they are people in need.

I am a needy person. One of my needs was met as my friends and I spent the evening at the Open Door - my need to step outside of myself and do something nice for someone else. We went to the Open Door to feed the servants who give up so much of themselves to serve homeless/less fortunate people every day. It is their life to live in this house in community with 20 other people and take care of the needs of others. It is such a beautiful place. I kept thinking, “I feel so at home here.” We were welcomed into the family with no hesitation and no judgment.

We were shown around the big house, and shown how everything works. It was all so organized and not like what I had imagined at all. The Open Door offers an opportunity for those who are usually not treated with dignity a chance to feel dignified. It’s a place to get a meal and eat in a nice dining area, take a shower, get a change of clothes, a new pair of shoes, and even something as small as using a bathroom, which is a huge problem for street people, because Atlanta has done away with public bathrooms and it is against the law to use the bathroom in public, so what is a homeless person to do?

Good grief! I have so much I want to share and can’t organize all my thoughts into one blog posting, so I guess more will have to come later. The one thing I do want to say is that it was an honor to go to the Open Door with the beautiful friends God has blessed me with. Each has their own special gifts and one of those is sharing the love of Christ with me and others.