Defying Gravity

Have you ever been so excited about serving God you can barely stand it? I have this overwhelming excitement right now that makes me feel all goofy. It is so awesome to get to see God working and to be used by God. Powell is a ministry I have absolutely fallen in love with. Jessie and I came home last night and we were talking a mile a minute because we are so excited to see how the Spirit is working at Powell and through this ministry. Last night, seven kids from Powell came with us to church, which is about normal, but two of the boys came for the first time to an actual service. Now, they have always been willing to go to VBS, get school supplies, and hang out with us at T.A.G., but church was a scary and uninteresting event.
I remember trying to take one of them to church a few years and when we got there he began to cry uncontrollably and made us take him back. I felt that it was an end and that with him we had reached a road block. I don't have favorites at Powell, but I do have my own special connections with some and I have an even stronger desire for these two kids. I have often felt guilty about it, but I decided that if Jesus can pull three of his disciples aside and have his special times with and maybe even saw them as special projects, then it is OK for me to pay special attention to some. I think it is the potential that I see in them that is so overwhelming to me and I can see the impact God is having on them and I can see the potential they have to do some great things in the church. I loved getting to listen to them on the bus as I got to hear a new side of them, a side with their guard down. No longer did I have to joke with them about how shy they were because they were only nodding thei head to all my questions. They were talking like we were best friends and they no longer feel like Jessie and I are some strange people who invade their territory.
I will not share their whole life stories over this blog because they are too dear to them and to dear to us, but I am so excited that they are allowing us to become a part of their life, and though they might not realize it-letting God in too. It has taken four years, but I am finally a part of the community. When I walk around, people don't look at me funny and wonder what I'm doing there. They know who I am and why I'm there and they respect that. It has always been that we've hung out with the kids, but now I'm even getting to talk with the parents, the adults, the older syblings, and the staff.
I was singing with the radio today and caught myself saying these words: "I wanna be your hands, I want to be your feet , Go where you send me" and I realized that though I've been a christian for almost eight years I've only just started to gain that attitude and actually allow God to use me as his hands and feet. I told Jessie that I am so scared that we are gonna get tired because we're riding the excitement now and I don't want to let this community down and I want God to use us. The idea of "what goes up must come down" is something that plays in my head and it scares me. Human nature tells me by the laws of gravity that because I am way up high that I will fall. But thats a human law! If we're truly allowing God to work in us the laws of gravity have no authority.
I doubt many will have made it to this point in this blog because it is extremely long, but I haven't been on here and I have a lot to say. Well, I'll talk about Cincy another time. My fingers are cramping up!

The Town and Dark Colors

My father's family lived in a small town along the river in West Virginia. My Grandmother still lives there and when we go to visit we get to hear about the people from the town. This is always extremely humorous to Jessie, my mom, and myself. The conversation will go something like this:
Well, did you hear that John Doe, you Know, Karen's sister with the one eye because she got stepped on by a cow, its her middle son, he had the three younger sisters who barely escaped the fire, and the three older brothers, one who died in the war, one who left when he was twelve and they never heard from him, and the other whose workin' for the legislature, he just had his fifth child with Annie Sue Brown Doe. The first two were mute, the third had a tail, and the fourth was deaf and blind, but plays a mean harmonica. This one seems normal for now, except that he weighs 26 pounds and was born last weekend.
Now, I exaggerated it a bit, but not as much as I wish. It has seemed to me that if you lived in that town, trouble was bound to happen to you. My Dad is 50 years old and already more than ten percent of his graduating class has died. It is really weird and very sad. I used to tease Dad about what weird thing he was hiding or what weird thing would happen to him. About a year ago my Dad was diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease, a heard of but fairly uncommon disease. The disease affects your nervous system and leads to the most noticeable symptoms of uncontrollable shaking. My Dad is in the beginning stages and seems to be doing pretty well, but this is a trial he will be dealing with the rest of his life. As easy as it is for Dad and my family to get discouraged by this we do our best to look at the positive. Lately, when I've talked to my Dad he has been telling me about different conversations he has been having with people while walking through our community. He has been walking to help keep himself limber as a way of fighting the disease. Knowing a lot about my father's heart I can imagine that he had prayed for years for the Lord to give him opportunities to let his christian light shine in his community and to his neighbors. God answered my father's prayer and gave him Parkinon's Disease.
You might tell me that God doesn't give people horrible diseases, but thats your opinion and I would disagree with you. This thorn of the flesh that God gave my Dad has given him opportunities to encourage, love, and share with people from our neighborhood. Many of my high school friends have seen Dad walking and have walked with him for close to a mile just sharing with him about their plans for life. I can't help but think that God has given this to my father as a gift. Yes, this will be a rough trial to overcome, but it reminds me of the deleted scene from Bruce Almighty. God shows Bruce, Lance Armstrong( Tour De France winner of like 7 times and also Cancer survivor) and tells Bruce to paint a picture like that sometimes you got to use dark colors. Some dark colors have been added to my father's picture, but they are there to paint a beautiful picture for God.