Tea and Sweatpants...

I shared in my previous post how God used a few of us simple folk to witness his mighty works. God has called this wonderful experience a step further. Remember house two? Yeah, this mom and I have developed a very new, refreshing and loving relationship. Out of that split second of a moment that Celina encouraged me to knock a new friendship was born. Our friend has been to our gatherings with us and we talk about every other day. I often see her because the playground that I take my boys to is about 30 steps from her front door and her little ones come out to play! Yesterday her 3 year old son was teaching my 2 year old how to play catch with the football:) Oh how the love was flowing in that park.

This is what I moved here for.

This is what I believed God called us to.

Missional Living!

This is what I prayed for.

It's been happening on our own street for the last year or two but not like this. I know part of it is due to being a mom and having that as common ground. Part of it is maybe I'm more willing to share me. Anyway all I can do now is be faithful, continue to pray for this friendship, and be willing to choose others before myself even more.

I want to share with the world how God used my body and my words today but I want to protect her privacy so I'll do my best to share my story without sharing her soul.

Nick scheduled home visits for me today and I wasn't too excited. We visit our Manna Truck families once a month to build a relationship and see how we could meet some of their most basic needs. Usually it's tough to break the ice, things are a bit awkward, and we leave still just being a "service" and not a friend. I've been discourage by this because some families we've seen several times and much more frequently than once a month and still there was such a wall.

Today, my prayer was that conversation would deviate from meeting needs for more than just 5 minutes and we would find at least one thing to talk about.

The first house started as usual, "how was the order last month, what can we find for you this month, how are things going in general?" Then I started to make lame jokes about my life being sucked dry by my two sweet boys and how that's quite a change. She relaxed a bit more, a few more awkward pauses, and some conversation. It was tough, but she relaxed even more and felt free to begin sharing some of the things that are really bringing her down and some things that are really bringing her joy. It was lovely, I really enjoyed our time there and actually felt welcome in her home!

House two. This mom is really hard to get a hold of, it's usually by chance that we catch her. Walked up to the house and heard loud music and lots of laughing. I told Celina maybe we should just come back another time or call first. She suggested we knock and ask when another time would be. So...we knocked:0)

The door opened a crack and I said "hello" all nervous but chipper. The door closed and I heard, "turn that down, you got two white chicks at the door" "oh yeah, let them in!" As soon as the door flung open the mom smiled almost with relief to see us. She invited us in as usual and we sat down to chat. Within minutes she became very vulnerable and very real. For the next hour she shared her heart with us, let us hold her and cry, and we read scripture together. The power of the Holy Spirit was upon us. It was so amazing.

I am so blessed to have been an avanue to God's hands at work. So many things could have kept us from seeing her today and from her sharing. But, as usual, God made it happen.

All of you who have been praying for our ministry and our family, please say a prayer for these two moms. Pray that I would follow through as a friend to see how they are doing. Pray that I would be obedient to the leading of the Spirit so these friendships can grow.

Thanks.

I offically quit the Y this week! Talk about new beginnings. It was hard to take this leap of faith and say goodbye to a secure job in such tough economic times. As I truly assessed how I was doing as a mom, wife, and as a disciple and thought about adding even just 12 hours to my week...it didn't quite add up. Our sons are doing amazing, however two toddlers of any kind are far beyond a full time job. So, after crunching numbers a million times and praying a lot we decided to take the leap. The first 3 weeks with the boys were almost entirely without income from our regular jobs and yet all bills were paid plus we were blessed with so many gifts and food to keep us going through strong! I fully trust and believe that if the time comes and I MUST work that God will provide the job that will be just right for our family. So...to all of you who have blessed us with gifts or prayers, THANKS!