GoG 30: The Maggie Friendship :)

My friend, Maggie, and I have been friends for a lot of years. 17 years this month, actually. She and my "big brother" Adam are my two longest friends. Maggie has been one of my very best friends for 17 years. Wow. .... On Saturday, I threw her a baby shower. My best friend of 17 years is having a baby. Wow. We played games, ate fruits and veggies, even had some ice cream. But during the opening of the gifts, I got all sentimental. (Not unusual for me, I know.) ;) I was watching Maggie open her gifts, as did everyone else. I was standing in the back ... and as I watched her, I started thinking ... "Gosh, she is gorgeous." Then I thought ... "Wow, she's having a baby!" And then ... "We've been friends for such a long time ... that's so weird she's having a baby!" And ... "Maggie. She's been one of my best friends for 17 years!" .... "Gosh."

That's about how my thoughts went.

My friend, Adam, and his wife just had a baby last month ... that was weird too. .... It's weird seeing people you grew up with (and were/are close friends with) getting married and having babies. It just is. .... The glimpse of grace was just that, I think. Maggie. She is among the dearest and closest and most treasured friends I have. And we have been friends longer than I've been friends with anyone. And I believe we'll be friends forever. .... Friendship. Genuine friendship. That's my glimpse of grace for the day. :)

GoG 29: The Compliment

I've got another one-liner as my GoG for the day. :)

I've been going to FCA at the Danville High School for the past couple of weeks to offer support for the students there, and I was there this past Friday morning. On my way out, I walked with Mr. Burdsall. He is the FCA sponsor, and he and I have been friends since I started my FCA "officership" my sophomore year of high school. He was headed to the cafeteria for some coffee before first period, and I was headed to the front office to sign out and head home. We were chatting about FCA, and I said, "I'm glad to see that FCA is still kickin'." And he replied with ... "Yep, it changes every year. They're doing a good job. ..... You did an excellent job with FCA when you were here." .... And that was it.

I was surprised at how much that encouraged me. .... When I was in high school, I did choir (several choirs) and FCA. Those were the big things I was involved with. I loved FCA, and I took it very seriously. I did (and still do) consider it a HUGE privilege. We have the FREEDOM to worship God, proclaim Him as Lord - even!, in our schools all throughout this country. It is such a blessing! ... Such a privilege. (Ha! I'm going off again.) ;) ..... FCA just meant a lot to me in high school, so I did the very best I could with it. .... Mr. B telling me that I did a great job was just a great blessing that morning ... and more of God's grace in my life. Thank you, Lord!

GoG: 28: The Amazing Tutoring Session

On Thursday, I spent my second Thursday of the semester at IUPUI, tutoring papers. I had only one session scheduled for the whole day. A student came in, asking for help with an essay for an internship. She told me she needed to send it out later that day and that she came in for some last minute help. ..... I went into the reading of the essay thinking, "Okay ... some quick grammar, and we're outta here." But it turned into so much more than that.

Get ready ... only English majors get really excited about what I'm about to share. :)

At the IUPUI University Writing Center, we do so much more than just "check your grammar." And so it is awesome to have a student like Amanda sit down at the tutoring table ready to work. ... She told me she had been to the writing center a couple of times for this essay, and I could tell she was eager to get more help from me. That always helps the session go better, just knowing that the student is excited for feedback. We started reading, and in the first paragraph, we took a look at her "main idea," the idea that she would point back to throughout her essay ... the reason she wanted to be apart of the internship. We organized the sentence in such a way that her idea was not only clearer but introduced the idea rather than just throwing it at us (the audience) out of nowhere. When we finished and started to move on, she said, "Yeah, I really like that."

As we continued through the draft, we came across some good ideas ... but they were quite broad. At this point, we had the chance to discuss specific details. Specific details are a lot of fun to talk about with tutees because the writing turns into more of a conversation. A lot of students like to use general terms like "opportunities" or "things" or "jobs" or "this" or "that" etc. If you notice, these are very vague terms. We can go so much deeper than this kind of language. And that's what makes a conversation. With Amanda, I had the opportunity to ask her questions, probe a little deeper into what she was wanting to convey to her audience. She found out that she had some really good stuff to put down ... she just didn't realize she needed to. .... For all you writers out there, specifics are always good. The more specific you are, the better. But also, keep it narrow enough that your audience doesn't get bored and lose ya. ;) .... So we talked about specific details ... and really had a good ... well ... chat. :)

Lastly, we worked on some good ol' organization. In the drafting process, it is always good to just spit your ideas out. I like to say ... "Just puke something out onto the paper, and then go back and clean it up!" You wanna get all of your good stuff out before you forget it, right? :) .... Some students do that, but then they don't clean it all up afterwards. And some students just have a tough time with organization. Organizing your thoughts is a tough job. .... Well, Amanda did a pretty good job of organizing her thoughts ... but we did some final touch ups ... and it really turned out nice in the end.

What I liked most about the session is that it was a conversation about Amanda's writing. Some sessions are teaching lessons ... I find myself teaching the tutee about certain elements of the writing process. Teaching is good! We do that in the writing center too! But overall, tutoring should be a conversation between the tutor and the tutee. So it's always great when it turns out that way. ..... The session was one of the best sessions in my 3 years at the writing center. Probably in the top 5. :) .... And it was just a huge blessing! .... My goal for the semester is, what I like to call, "the three c's" ... Be Clear, Concise, and Confident. And that's what I did ... all three in one session! It's always great to be confident in your abilities. And confidence is just another act of God's grace in my life. :)

GoG 27: The Child's Prayer

Wow. Golly, I am behind! .... On to day 27.

Wednesday at after school, Hannah Crane prayed for our dinner. Hannah is the cutest (almost) 7-year old girls I know. She's a little white girl with long brown hair and big, gorgeous brown eyes. Sooo cute! She volunteered to pray for us on Wednesday, and instead of closing my eyes, I decided to watch her face while she prayed. Who says you have to close your eyes for a prayer? ;) .... It was the cutest prayer ... thanking God for the food, for the leaders who were there to help them (the kids) with homework and spend time with them ... but what I loved most about the prayer was Hannah's face while she prayed. She had popped a tootsie roll into her mouth right before the prayer, so she was chewing and praying at the same time. She was also closing her eyes really tight and squinting. It was as if she was concentrating really hard ... I guess it was hard to speak and chew and focus on what she was saying all at the same time. Ha! .... Well, it was about the cutest prayer ever, and I took so much joy in watching her little face as she prayed. I think tears came to my eyes. A child's prayer. Even the smallest of people can talk to God. And He hears them. :)

Samwise and Us

The Lord of the Rings has been one of my favorite movies since it came out a few years ago. I went out and bought the extended edition trilogy as soon as it came out in stores. The story of Frodo and the Fellowship is pretty great, but what I loved most about the story was one little character - Samwise Gamgee. I fell in love with him after seeing the movies once. (I'm sure I would be even more in love with him if I read the books, but y'all know me ... I don't read. So we'll just stick with his movie character self, which is pretty daggone heroic and honorable and loyal and all of those good qualities.)

I love Samwise because he is all of those things I just mentioned and so much more. He is, in many ways, my hero! No joke! It's goofy ... but if you think about who Sam really is, he is an amazing example for us to follow, and we can connect his life and his loyalty to Frodo to us and our loyalty to Christ.

Stay with me ... this is good.

Sam CHOSE to follow after Frodo in his mission of the ring.

Sam not only followed Frodo but PROTECTED him and STAYED TRUE to him.

In other words, he was LOYAL beyond imagining.

Sam laid his life on the line for Frodo every single day of the journey.

It did not matter what he might endure, Sam was not about to let anything bad happen to Frodo.

He was not about to let Gollum turn Frodo from the path of Mount Doom if he could help it!

Sam gave up his food and drink so that Frodo could go on.

Sam fought, defeated, and almost died protecting Frodo from Shelob.

Sam carried Frodo up the side of Mount Doom.

Sam is truly amazing.

No matter what the cost, he carried on (and carried Frodo!), honoring Frodo, and really, the rest of the Fellowship and all of Middle Earth, by remaining loyal, steadfast, courageous, and selfless even when it cost him everything. Wow ... I love Samwise!

Sam could be seen as Jesus in our lives .... he gave up everything so that we could live.

But I want to look at Sam as being us ... or rather ... how we SHOULD be.

Sam is our example in this case.

He served and loved and remained loyal to his master (Frodo) no matter what the cost.

Are we doing that for our Master and Lord, Jesus Christ?

I want to!

I want to be loyal to Christ no matter what!!!

To be loyal means to be faithful.

And as I've thought more and more about this character,Samwise Gamgee, I've thought more and more about what it would take to be like him. And I've come up with three important things.

#1 - Prayer.

I cannot be loyal to Christ on my own. I am fallen and lazy and selfish. I do not want to work at this thing called a relationship with Jesus in and of myself. So I must ask ... I must CRY OUT to Jesus to help me say "NO!" to my fleshly desires and instead, live a life that honors my Master.

Psalm 86:11 says, "Teach me your way, O Lord, and I will walk in Your truth; give me an undivided heart that I may fear Your name." ... That's what it takes. If I want to be completely loyal to my Master, I must ask Him for His help.

#2 - Obedience.

My two favorite scenes in the entire LOTR trilogy show Sam living in obedience, sacrifice, and loyalty to his master, Frodo - when Sam fights and defeats Shelob in her lair and when he carries Frodo up the side of Mount Doom. In Shelob's lair, we see Sam crying over Frodo's (presumed to be) dead body. "Don't go where I can't follow," Sam says to Frodo, as he cries for the loss of his friend and master. At the foot of Mount Doom, Sam shouts, "I can't carry it for you, but I can carry you," as he picks Frodo up and carries him, with tears in his eyes. .... That's what we need to do. Just as Sam was obeying his promise to stick with Frodo every step of the way, no matter what, we also need to obey Christ in every area of our lives ... even to the point of tears. Joshua 22:5 says, "But be very careful to keep the commandment and the law that Moses the servant of the Lord gave you: to love the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways, to obey His commands, to hold fast to Him and to serve Him with all your heart and all your soul." We must hold fast to Jesus, remain faithful to Him, obey Him, and serve Him ... love Him with all that we've got! That, is when we walk in true obedience.

#3 - Sacrifice.

Sacrifice is probably the most important thing to keep in mind when striving to remain loyal to Christ. Keeping Christ at the center of our lives does not come easily. As depraved beings, we desire selfish, sinful things. We don't want to work. We don't want to be pure and lovely and excellent and praiseworthy. We don't want to honor Christ .... not in and of ourselves, we don't. So loyalty requires sacrifice. Matthew 16:24-25 says, "Then Jesus said to His disciples, 'If anyone would come after Me, he must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for Me will find it." Jesus told us ... warned us that living for Him is not easy ... far from it. He told us ... "Hey, look here ... if you really want to follow Me as my closest friends and companions, you must deny yourselves. You must get rid of yourselves! You must forget your desires and take on Mine!" That's a hefty order, eh? .... God wants us. He wants ALL of us. And that's what loyalty is ... giving God EVERY piece of yourself. Did you get that, Mical? Being loyal to Christ is giving Him, entrusting Him with, and honoring Him with EVERY piece of your life.

Sam gave up EVERYTHING to follow Frodo, to serve him, protect him, love him ... honor him. And we must do the same.

GoG 26: The "Single Days" Chat With Jeremy

Jeremy, Nathanael, Marianne, and I met at Wendy's today for a frosty and some youth pastor talk. The four of us meet every Tuesday for a couple of hours just to catch up, praying for one another, share burdens, joys, time with our youth, etc. After Nathanael left and Marianne was getting some dinner to go, I was headed out the door, when Jeremy looks at me and says ... "So ...." I shut the door and come back in. And he says again ... "So ..... how's it goin'?" This by itself was a blessing. In the bigger group, it's hard to really know how someone is doing ... so he was taking the time to really find out. Gosh. That's awesome.

I said, "It's goin' alright." He said, "Yeah?" And he said, "I've been prayin' for ya." And we started talking about something I was a tad bit taken off guard with ... only 'cause it's Jeremy, and we don't usually talk about my "single days." It started with talk about SoZo, since that's our commonality. But I made a comment like, "It would be even better if I could find some youth pastor guy around here who could work with me in youth ministry ... even if it was part-time, that's fine with me." And for there, we talked about me getting plugged in to a singles/young adult group somewhere, etc. We also talked about how I'm lonely 'cause most of my friends are married or getting married and having babies, and they're leaving me in one way or another. It wasn't a conversation I was expecting, but it was really encouraging. Just that Jeremy took the time to dig a little deeper than the surface ... and then tell me that he's been praying for me about this area of my life. That's simply and amazingly amazing. And just one of the many glimpses of God's grace today. :)

GoG 25: The Stranded Malibu

7:08pm. I left Hannah's parent's house.

7:22pm. I took a curve too fast and drove off the road, getting stuck in a muddy, snowy cornfield in what I thought was Brownsburg, Indiana.

7:24pm. I called my dad to say ... "So I kind of drove into a cornfield, and I'm stuck."

7:26-and-a-half pm. I called Hannah to make sure I had my coordinates right.

7:29pm. I called AAA and told them my "right" coordinates.

8:15pm. My dad calls to tell me that he has taken 425 N. all the way, and I was not there.

8:32pm. The 9th stranger who stopped to offer his help arrives right as my dad calls for the 6th time.

8:34pm. That same 9th stranger talks to my dad, telling him that my initial coordinate were all wrong ... and in fact, I am in Pittsboro, Indiana ... near 450 N. and 250 E.

8:38pm. I get back in my car as that 9th stranger offers to wait in his truck until my dad gets there.

8:52pm. My dad finally arrives, shakes the 9th stranger's hand, and I climb into the car with my dad.

9:49pm. The AAA guy arrives with his big truck and chain.

10:04pm. We leave that spot way out in the middle of non-Brownsburg, Indiana (and nowhere) and head home at a crazy-slow 15 miles per hour.

10:29pm. Dad and I pull in to our driveway ... home safe and sound.

Hahahaha! Believe it or not, that excursion in the cornfield was my glimpse of grace for the day. Not hard to believe, it was very humbling. .... I've never run off the road before. I've never gotten stuck. Never had to call AAA. And only had to call my dad for help once ... mmaaayybee twice ... in all of my (almost) 6 years of driving. And I had to sit there for an awfully long time ... feeling like a total idiot.

So the glimpse of grace was #1 - Being humbled.

#2 - About 14 people passed by, and about 11 of those people stopped and asked me if they could help me. That's awesome! That was a huge blessing by itself.

#3 - My dad wasn't super mad at me ... he was a bit frustrated when he was trying to find me ... but when he got there, and we sat in the car together, he just laughed.

#4 - The AAA guy was really nice about it all and very helpful.

#5 - I even got a little worship in while I was waiting.

It was an excursion alright. A bit frustrating at a few different points ... but humbling and a blessing in a few ways. Ha! It funny how God works, eh? ;)

GoG 24: The Confidence and the Glory

"You guide me with Your counsel, and afterward, You will take me into glory."

Psalm 73:24

This verse has meant a lot to me in the past ... just one of those verses that God threw at me right when I needed it. And I stumbled across it again recently. .... Actually, I was reading something else in my Bible, and whatever I was reading made me think of this verse. But at the time, I couldn't remember where it was found. Let's see .... what was I reading that made me think of this verse. Let me go get my Bible. Un momento, por favor ....

Ah, yes. I think it was Psalm 71:5. I've been reading through several different books in the Bible lately. Psalm is kind of my quicker read ... the "study" I do on nights that I don't make the time to read more fully. So ... I AM admitting to my laziness here. I'm working on it. ;) .... Anyway ... a few nights ago, I was reading through Psalm 71, and I came across verse 5 and thought, "yeah! I need that tonight. Thanks, God!" Psalm 71:5 says, "For You are my hope; O Lord God, You are my confidence from my youth." ... That night, I was really struggling with the whole singleness scene ... mostly 'cause almost all of my friends are getting married and having babies. I'm one of the last ones. They're all leavin' me in one way or another. I was just really bummed the other night, and I read this chapter ... and boy, it was great! The whole chapter is full of encouragement. .... I've been reading through Psalms and picking out the names/descriptions of God. In this one chapter I found these ... Refuge, Upright, Deliverer, Rescuer, Savior, Rock, Fortress, Hope, Confidence, Sustainer, Help, Strong, The One Who Makes Me Great, Comforter, Truth, The Holy One Of Israel, and Redeemer. That's a lot! So this chapter helped me readjust my perspective. ... I was basically having a pity party ... bummin' out that my friends are leaving me ... wanting a season that is not what God wants for me right now, etc., etc. And God, through Psalm 71, was reminding me that HE ALONE is all that I need ... HE ALONE is the refuge, Savior, Hope, and Confidence of my life. HE ALONE is the One who makes me great! That is some good stuff, yo!

Alright ... so how the heck did I start with Psalm 73:24 and then go on about Psalm 71:5 for so long?? Well, it's me we're talking about ... The Tangent Queen. He he he. :D ..... For me, Psalm 71:5 reminded me of Psalm 73:24. I couldn't find 73:24 the other night, but I read it tonight in my devos and got all excited that I found the verse I was thinking of the other night. I think these two verses connect for me because they both ... well ... it's kind of hard to put my correlation into words .... hmm ............

71:5 talks about God being my confidence.

73:24 talks about God guiding me.

71:5 talks about God being my confidence.

73:24 talks about God taking me into glory.

God is my confidence because He is my guide.

God is my confidence because He is my glory.

Therefore, I have no need to dwell on the things of this world ... the season of life that I am in ... the friendships that are changing ... the instability of this life ...

I have no need of them because God is my confidence. God is the One who is forever.

Confidence and glory are nearly the same in my mind because when they are set in the right place in my life (on Jesus Christ), they do not fail ... ever! When I put my confidence (abilities, strengths, hopes, dreams, etc.) in God, I am not shaken. I do not fail. I continue on, looking to Christ instead of my circumstances. When I invest my life into glory (God's purpose for my life - glorifying Him!), I am not shaken. I do not fail. I continue on, looking to Christ instead of my circumstances. ....

Perhaps it can also be said this way ... My confidence is found in the glory of God. I have confidence when I spend my time and life, heart and mind, honoring Christ with my life. .... Yep, that be the correlation between the two verses. When I focus all of my energies on bringing glory to Christ, my confidence is nurtured, awakened, alive!

What I've Learned About Forgiveness

A wise woman once told me that I should write down the lessons God teaches me either while I'm going through them or shortly after them so that I will not forget them. She said that no matter how impactful the lessons, she almost always manages to forget them eventually. And don't we all? ... So I am taking her advice.

I shared these thoughts with the Danville High School FCA on Friday morning, and I was looking over them tonight during my devotions and decided to write 'em down .... so that I won't forget 'em. :) We'll call these thoughts ('cause titles are just fun!) "What I've Learned About Forgiveness." Or rather ... What I've Learned (and continue to learn) about Forgiveness ... 'cause forgiveness, like every other lesson, is a life-long process. ;)

Over the past year or so, I've learned a thing or three about forgiveness.

#1 - Forgiveness is a process.

When I need to forgive someone, it's because I've been hurt. That is NOT profound. But it is true. I've been hurt, and pain often brings selfishness. I must fight. FIGHT! I must fight hard to run from my selfish ambitions when I've been hurt. My selfish self wants to scream and yell ... wants to cry ... wants to wallow in self-pity ... wants to tell that person off ... wants to gossip ... want to ... get the picture? ... Forgiveness does not happen over night. That pain is gonna take a while to heal. It may take time to forgive too. But we must! Time is not an excuse for unforgiveness. I must cry out to God every single day until that person is totally and completely forgiveness.

Note: Forgiveness also works the other way. If I hurt someone else, it might take a long time for me to let go of that. I HATE hurting others. It happens though. And I am still learning NOT to beat myself up but ACCEPT forgiveness when it is given.

#2 - I can't change people's actions, but I can control my own.

I always want to fix problems, wrongs I've committed, etc. I can always try. And I'm supposed to try. When I wrong someone, I must go to them, humble myself, and ask for forgiveness. I can continue being their friend no matter what happens. But whether or not they accept my apology, accept my friendship, accept anything and everything (or nothing) I give, I can't change them. All I can do is keep loving them, keep seeking and crying out to Jesus in the situation, and keep keep on keepin' on. Giving up is not an option. I can't change people, but I can control my own actions, attitudes, and words with the power the Holy Spirit gives me through Jesus Christ my Lord.

#3 - I reap what I sow.

I've been learning a lot about reaping and sowing lately. My pastor and my surrender sister, Alex, both talked to me about reaping and sowing within a month of each other ... as well as ... God continued pressing it upon my heart ... all of this within a timespan of a month or two .... (It's like God is in control or something! Ha ha!). I reap what I sow. I don't plant one season and get the harvest the very next season. I plant ... then I cultivate ... then I keep cultivating, nurturing, waiting ... and finally, a few seasons later, I reap my harvest. If I sow bitterness and anger and jealousy and well, sin upon sin ... I will reap sin upon sin upon sin upon .... I think you get my point. I must, like I said in #2, seek Jesus and cry out to Him in the midst of the process of unforgiveness. I must sow good things ... love, grace, hope, and forgiveness (one day at a time) ... and then ... only then! ... will I reap a good harvest.

Forgiveness is a process. Don't beat yourself up about the process if it is long. Just keep striving for forgiveness. Keep surrendering the issues (or issues - plural!) every single day. Keep seeking Jesus and crying out to Him for help and strength. Keep using self-control and sowing good things. And allow God to teach you mighty things about His power and purpose.

Some verses that have helped me over the past year or two have been Psalm 73:26, Philippians 1:6, and Colossians 3:2 ....

Psalm 73:26 - My flesh and my heart may fail, but GOD is the STRENGTH of my heart and my PORTION forever.

Philippians 1:6 - Being confident of this, that HE who began a GOOD work in you will carry it on to COMPLETION until the day of CHRIST JESUS.

Colossians 3:2 - Set your mind on things ABOVE, NOT on earthly things.

GoG 23: The Hodgins' Situation

So I don't watch a lot of TV. I try not to 'cause there really are better ways to use my time. But there are a couple of shows I enjoy. I used to watch Family Matters and The Cosby Show a lot growing up. These days, I've been watching Chuck and Bones. Chuck is the only one I've been sort of keeping up with. I've gotta find out if Chuck and Sarah ever really get together! ;) .... Tonight, my mom was out shopping for food for The Porch (Stop by sometime! The brownies are amazing!!!!! And the other food too.), my dad was watching college basketball, and my brother is at USI. So I decided to take some rest time ... just chill for the evening. I got on "hulu" and watched some episodes of Bones.

One episode had a situation that I identified with a lot ... and I'm gonna call it my glimpse of grace for today. :) There are two characters in the show named "Hodgins" and "Angela." They are scientist-type people who work in the lab on the show. Well, (last season, I'm guessing) they were "together." Then they broke up. This season, Angela is with another guy, and Hodgins is having a hard time with it. He thought he had moved on and was fine, but when Angela and the new guy started dating, he realized he was really struggling.

Thankfully, I'm not going through that NOW. But I was a few months ago. I know what it's like to "break up" and miss that person. While that person was single, it wasn't toooo bad. But when he finally got a girlfriend, "it was like someone stabbed me with a knife." Hodgins said that ... and I remember saying something similar last year. ...... But what I liked most about this part of the episode was that Hodgins went to his psychologist friend and told him that he wanted to be happy for Angela and the new guy ... that he didn't want to be mad or jealous. They continued to talk, and the psychologist friend said, "I don't think you're jealous. You're grieving over what you lost." And I immediately said, "yes!" ..... I don't think I was ever jealous of my friend's new girlfriend. I was happy for them. But I still had a stinging feeling every time I thought of him or "them" being together. I truly was sad, grieving, even ... over the loss of the relationship ... and even the friendship.

This may sound like an over-dramatic depiction of my past, but it's what happened. I'm so thankful that I still love and respect that friend more than he knows, and I think his girlfriend is an amazing girl .... 'cause even though I'm healed over that situation and so happy for the friend (and new friend), it was rough for quite a while. And it WAS grief. I lost something ... someone. Thankfully, it's pretty much better. I'm actually excited about things again ... and really starting to grab hold of the lessons that God taught me through the situation ... seeing that God is "finishing the good work He started" and "working it all out for my good" ... just like He promised. So Hodgins' situation was just another reminder of the lessons and the grace that God gave me and continues to give me in the process every single day.

GoG 22: The Awesome Spring Semester

I like to talk to myself ... all the time. And I talk out loud with myself. I have full-out conversations with myself. It's very productive. ;) ..... Yesterday, I was driving home from working in the writing center, chatting with myself about the day's efforts. We haven't had many people come in for tutoring 'cause it's the first couple of weeks of the semester. I've had one tutee per day this week. But we find ways to stay busy in the writing center. .... On my way home, I was thinking about the writing center and how good it has been for me over the past (almost) three years ... and how much I've enjoyed working there. I also started thinking about how this semester has been and will continue to be great because I'm doing the things I love! :)

This Spring I get to spend my time working at Calvary prepping for time with my SoZo kids ... planning activities, lesson plans, events outside of youth group, praying for them, etc. I get to work with people and their writing every Thursday and Friday ... chatting with them, serving them, and hopefully, making their day better. I get to hang out with my Eastside kids every Wednesday and Thursday afternoon ... loving on them, helping them with their homework, running around and playing games with them. I also have more time for nurturing friendships, exercising, and spending time with God (something I need to do more of!). Life is just plain good. :) And it reminded me of God's grace because He allows me to not only enjoy but have time to work in my callings and get paid for it!!!! There is no greater blessing!

GoG 21: The Mr. Cory

Behind again. I have a feeling this is gonna happen all 365 days ... ha ha!

Thursday's glimpse of grace came in the form of one sentence.

"It's always good to see you."

An amazing guy named "Mr.Cory," as we kidos and helpers call him, visited us at after school on Thursday. He leads the Bible study for the kids on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, so I see him every Wednesday but not usually on Thursdays. It's always a great surprise when he pops in on Thursdays from time to time.

Cory is probably one of the coolest and greatest men I know. I've said before (mostly to myself) that if he were 10 or 15 years younger and single, I'd marry him in a heartbeat! He's just awesome! He works in kids' ministry and has a great passion for it. Loves the Lord with all he's got and really "gets it" about Jesus ... he's not just a fire insurance kind of Christian - he is a mighty follower of Jesus Christ. He is a big kid in a lot of ways too, so he works well with the kids. He's got a loud personality that just screams Jesus and fun! He's just great. ... I've been working with him through the after school program for almost a year and a half, and he's just one of those people that brings joy to your heart when you see him.

On Thursday afternoon, he was sitting at the table eating dinner with the kids, and I was standing across the table. He looked at me and said, "Miss Mical, how are you doing?" And then he smiled at me and said, "It's always good to see you." And I could tell that he really meant it. ... And I told him the same 'cause I love it when he comes to after school - he lifts my spirit just by being in the building! His passion for the Lord and fun-loving personality are amazing! I wish I could work alongside him more often. I hold him in such high esteem. And for him to say, "It's always good to see you" was a great encouragement ... and it really gave me a glimpse of God's grace in my life.

I usually only see Mr. Cory once a week ... and it's usually only for about a half an hour. He comes just in time for the Bible study and leaves shortly thereafter. He's a busy kids' minister at College Park Church in Indianapolis. And he serves so often and across broad projects on the Eastside. We've had a number of conversations about inner city ministry, what I wanna do with my life ... and a couple of "Mical, I can see you here on the Eastside" and "Mical, I've seen real character in you" kinds of conversations. It has been a tremendous blessing getting to know him and working with him in ministry. He truly is an inspiration and an amazing man of God. Ha! Can you tell I think this guy is cool? :D ....

God allows these kinds of people in my life everywhere I go. I get to work with my pastor in ministry. I've worked with my youth pastors, Michael and Shelley. Mr. Doug and Mr. Derrick from after school. James Nilsen. Tim and Keri McRoberts. And Mr. Cory. All of these people have been a huge blessing in my ministry life. God loves me enough to allow me to work alongside amazing men and women of God in His heart's desire - people. And not only that ... but these people love and appreciate me in the process. They encourage me and provide opportunities for ministry. It's an amazing blessing to work with such people ... and it's just another sign of God's grace in action in my life each day.