Blessed Portion Update for 6-16-17

Mark 10:13-17 " One day some parents brought their children to Jesus so he could touch and bless them, but the disciples scolded the parents for bothering him. When Jesus saw what was happening, he was angry with his disciples. He said to them, "Let the children come to me. Don't stop them! For the Kingdom of God belongs to those who are like these children. I tell you the truth, anyone who doesn't receive the Kingdom of God like a child will never enter it. Then he took the children in his arms and placed his hands on their heads and blessed them."

Hello Everyone,

This update is a day late I know - But I have been trying to take in all what happened Friday night and have been praying on how to explain it to you. Earlier in the day Friday as I was reading my Bible I came across the verse posted above. I thought and thought about it and while I understood it God brought home the point even more as we were with our friends Friday night. We of course had a great night..........no lost keys, no accidents, no bloody women to help, had enough food, enough supplies and plenty of sweat as it was stinking humid out!!!

Couple things though that stood out to us was how blessed we were to help out a family with shelter for the evening. We are blessed to have volunteers who go above and beyond to make things happen in a quick second when need be. A family needed help and we were able to step in and help. Second thing that tugged at our hearts is about the little boy in this picture whose name is Andrew --he is the son of Chelsea Born, and William Born. He has a sister named Chloe and an older brother named Billy. William has been serving with us for about two years now I believe and has made some major turns in his life for the better. William and Chelsea Born have not had an easy road and yet they are finding their way more and more each day I believe. Their children are pretty special to our team, and we love them.

On Friday night as we were trying to hand out some needs we saw William and his family show up- thinking they were there to help as always, but quickly found out that was not the case. William pulled me aside and asked if he could have some private prayer....seeing the look on his face as tears were welling up I quickly realized something was wrong. He mentioned how they had just come from a funeral. Two of their friends were robbed and killed in their home and that was the funeral they had just come from. William and Chelsea said that my little buddy Andrew asked his parents if they could come down to the park to see me because he knew I would pray for them. As I then looked over at Andrew he was BROKEN...............and the tears that little boy shed broke all our hearts. Looking around at William and Chelsea, Chloe, Billy and I saw they were all BROKEN... and so I got Tommy and we prayed. We prayed for the families that are left behind to deal with this major loss, thankfulness that their child was at Grandmas that night and was not in the line of those men who took those lives, and we prayed for the Born family. That God would comfort them, help them to see that while this is awful and evil GOD IS STILL GOOD! That this was not Gods plan but the work of the evil world we live in.

As I drove home after being downtown I was reminded of the verses above that God led me to earlier and I thought of Andrew. I thought of what he had to have been thinking on that drive home to make him ask to come to the park. The faith and boldness he must have. For him to recognize that he and his family needed prayer, knew where he could get it and pursued it showed me again that the faith of children is so amazing. For Andrew he has that child like faith- that faith to seek his Jesus..............and that inspires me more and more to have that child like faith as well. I also thought of the family that we were able to provide a bed for as well. knowing that another child was safe and secure truly showed the beauty and faithfulness of the God we serve. I was reminded that the circumstances to which we met both families may not have been the best, BUT God has used it to further His Kingdom and truly God doesn't ignore the prayers and cries of those who call out to him--especially for these children that Friday night!! Also to William Born and Chelsea Born GOOD JOB!!! Thank you for allowing us to be in your life, thank you for raising children that want to include Jesus in their life....and thank you for letting us love on all of you. We will be praying for this whole situation and for your hearts as they start the healing process.

So, a different update then normal but then again all Fridays are different. There is always a lot going on downtown and sometimes those events are a ripple effect from something else. Meeting William in a time in his life when he didn't know what would be --what maybe the next minute even looked like and to see where he is now because he was introduced to a loving Jesus AMAZES US AND ESPECIALLY ME!!!! Thank you Jesus for allowing us to do YOUR work and for giving us the words to say, the freedom to do it, the supplies needed, the prayers that are lifted up for us and our friends and for all who support us. Truly this ministry has many facets to it and we are blessed!!!