Lunch with PL and a Blessing

I tried to post this several days ago but had some sort of technical issues and had to rewrite it!

I had my first "Lunch with Pastor Lori" for this school year. I met with a 4th grader, Jayden, and had a great time chatting and meeting some of her friends. I LOVE going to schools! Kids are so funny...sometimes you discover a whole different side of them when away from the walls of the church. Jayden is a sweet girl, tender hearted and loves Jesus. She blessed me so much when she said, "I couldn't hardly wait for you to get here!" Of course, you get the others kids curiosity stirred up when you arrive. They ask if I'm the mom, the grandma, why I'm there, if I'm staying all day, etc. When they find out I'm a pastor, they usually look at me as though they have never seen a pastor outside a church building before. That's sad if true!

I'm doing a lunch a week and to take away the pressure of deciding who I should meet with, we have a new element in Building 2-52. At the end of second service, I draw a name from our new lunch box and whomever is drawn had a date with me. I got a metal Looney Tunes lunch box (thanks to my friend Debbie!) and anyone who wants a date has their name added to the mix. I then call parents so they can in turn call the school and give the okay and let them know what day I'm coming.

I was incredibly blessed to meet the pastors of the Hispanic Assembly of God church here in Union City! Pastor Villa and his wife were sharing their passion and vision for Asambleas de Dios Juan 3:16 with me and I was in awe of their determination and sacrifice. They moved here 8 years ago from New York to plant this church. They face many hurdles, mainly with language barriers. The children of their congregation are bilingual but not many adults are so the Villas end up doing most of the work and teaching of the church. They tell the children they are raising them up to be the church! I'll be praying for them and hope the Lord allows me an opportunity to help in some way. Sure wish I knew how to speak Spanish!

Building the Team

I have been working and praying to fill some team positions. I'm so excited to have Brian and Amy Johnson and Jaime and Amanda Winstead join the Building 2-52 gang! Brian will be leading the technology department, Amy is my big event coordinator and they both will be in children's church. Jaime and Amanda take on the nursery coordinator position. I also recruited some additional people for the nursery schedule. Woot woot!

Now, I praying for a bus pastor. I am in charge of our bus ministry and it's been an area that I have had to learn as I go. So far....not too much success but I know a bus pastor is the only way this area will grow. I simply do not have as much time as it requires. So I'm praying for the person or persons that will commit to reaching out to some kids that have a pretty tough life. Someone who will be willing to invest some time to visit homes and really know these families. We are working on a 65 passenger school bus. We are painting it and getting it all "kid friendly." Of course a school bus requires a CDL and some folks willing to take the test. I'm working on mine.

Building a team takes more time than I'd like. It would be nice to just make a list and assign the positions! It's helping me grow the fruit of patience. :)

Be Careful What You Preach

It seems as though God is stretching me right now. I feel a little like that old toy Stretch Armstrong, remember that one? Several weeks ago, the Lord changed the direction in Building 2-52 from Superheroes of the Bible to Fruits of the Spirit. Okay...I'm cool with that. I want to be going exactly where the Holy Spirit is leading...not doing my own thing. Well, let me tell you, I am relearning some of the very things I'm preaching.

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control." Galatians 5:22-23

Love - we ALL should constantly be challenged to love like Jesus. Some people are just not very lovable but.......you know. :)

Joy - I had to choose whether I was going to be joyful a couple of weeks ago when Randy was put into the hospital. Would I let the devil steal my joy? No way, forget it, not gonna happen. As I preached to the kids, the true meaning of J-O-Y is putting Jesus first, Others next and Yourself last. I'll keep my joy by keeping Jesus FIRST.

And now to peace - Wow, I have been tested in greater ways with this one. I really don't want to go into a lot of details but last Thursday was a tough day for us. We had a pretty big disappointment and then to top the whole day off, Micaela had a car accident. She is fine...car not so much. But Satan would have me in such turmoil and confusion and then even attack one of my kids that it proves what a liar and thief he is. Have I completely gotten the peace victory? Honestly no, but I'm working on it and rereading the scriptures from my Sunday sermon.

So this week I'm preaching on patience. Hum...

I will NOT deviate from where the Lord is leading me so bring it on Stupid Head. (does the devil read my blog?) 1 John 4:4 says "Greater is He that is in me than he that is in the world!" 1 Cor. 15:57 says "But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ."

This is an awesome verse Keaton gave me as an encouragement this week....Matthew 19:29 "And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life."

The scripture from Luke 12 that teaches, "to whom much is given, much is required" has come to mind often in the past few weeks. I'm trusting in you Jesus!

Obion County Fair

Giving a cup of water in Jesus' name....Mark 9:41

Julie and me...do I look goofy?

We had a great time this week passing out free bottled water, church fliers, and balloon animals. Thanks to all of our awesome volunteers...especially my friend Julie who was there every night!

Obion County Fair

Our church has a booth at the Obion County Fair. We are doing something simple for the second year in a row. We are giving a cup of cold water in Jesus' name. Free bottled water, a packet of church info with some candy in it, a friendly face and just an opportunity to be Jesus with skin on. Last night, I added some balloon animals and passed out some of my business cards. It's fun to watch the kid's faces when you tell them they can have a free balloon. Not much is free at the fair except boring business stuff that most kids could care less about. We will be at the fair three more nights. I'm praying for divine appointments and favor in our community. I want to be ready for that one person who may be at the fair that is hurting and open to a new friend. Lord, give me your eyes and ears tonight. Speak to me in the busyness of the evening so that I might show your love in a greater way.

My Man is Home!

Finally, Randy was sprung from the hospital!! His blood level was thin enough after seven days of being bed-ridden. He arrived at the hospital and was put to bed last Friday at 10 AM and we left his room at exactly 10 AM this morning. I'm so thankful he's home. He has to be off of work for two more weeks and as the doctor said, "You may putter." So I guess that means light duties and using caution.

He still has three blood clots but we are believing the Lord will dissolve those quickly. Thanks to all who have been praying and those who came to visit. We sure appreciate everyone's support.

Horses and the Hospital

We've had a hectic few days around here! Friday, Randy was put in the hospital with a blood clot in his leg...well, we found out today it's actually three blood clots. He will be in the hospital a few more days until they can get his blood thinned out a bit more. They have not determined how he got the blood clots but I hope they do before he leaves the hospital. He is being a good patient but I know he is getting tired on being in bed. He cannot be up at all! You can only watch so much TV, read and such before you go nuts. He can't even really play solitaire because he isn't allowed to sit up much. His leg has to be elevated at all times.

Randy had started his new job just four days before this all happened! He will have to be off of work for two weeks after he goes home and will have to ease back after that. So far, his new employer is being very good about all of this. We know that God is in control and He is going to work it all out for His glory. Everything from Randy's physical healing to the financial end of it. We don't have any health insurance and so this is an awesome opportunity for our miracle working, supernatural God to show the world how He takes care of us.

In the midst of this, I had a big day planned at church. Round Up Sunday was planned as a dual purposed event. Celebrating back to school and getting families back into the regular church attendance habit after the summer slump. You might be thinking, "Back to school?" Yes...our schools are back in session as of last Friday and today. Crazy, I know. So anyway....all went well even with making hospital visits and decorations for the big day. We even had two horses for some fun rides in the church yard between the two morning services. The kids had a blast and it was so fun to watch them enjoying the horses. The horses were so gentle and didn't even mind all of those kids getting off and on them. Great day even if we didn't have as many kids back as I would have liked. The kids all looked adorable in the western wear. We had some prizes for the best outfits and some crazy pictures of everyone in a "Wanted" poster.

Thanks to all who have been praying for us! We sure appreciate all of your love and concern. We'll keep you posted.