We were assigned a fellow worker to write about in this week's blog and here is the one that I wrote. Hope you enjoy!

~~YO CANDICE! She's a real cool cat. She's got a lot of this, and a lot of that. We all think that she's real neat. So come check out my sweet new beat. She's always fly, even on the jet plane. Always on time, never in the traffic lane. She cracks the whip, when Jorge's bad, and holds him like a baby when he's sad. She sweeps, mops, and hands out food,and she'll "slap ya in the mouth" if you're rude. She'll blow up your vocab, when you blab, don't try and spell, its just a drab. She's got the power. You know the, soOOULL POWER! Don't mess with her Satan, she'll pray you out, and leave us on the floor, all fallin' out. She talks like a boss, walks like a boss, better count the cost, before you get all cross. All in all, she's ridiculously awesome, stay around her too long, and you can't help but blossom. The End.

So that's my rap for my good friend Candice and pretty much the expanse of my creativity. Candice is one of those people that I love having next me in such challenging arenas like children's programs. She is trustworthy, hardworking, and focused on the task at hand. She is direct and honest about things she likes and dislikes, which is a rare, but needed trait in leaders. She has a consistent, genuine, care and love for the children. Being around her continually makes me a better man, and that is the type of godly woman, like all the urban women, that I enjoy working with. Candice, may God bless you and keep you!~~

The Blessing of Serving Hearts

Do you believe that those we bless are often times the ones we least expect to? A lot of times we don't even know when or where it happens. Previously, I was feeling drained and certainly more pessimistic than normal. A lot of this was due to poor resting habits, stress, and an unspoken tension among the team. However, God gave me an opportunity to see some of my own flaws and bad tendencies that I have been allowing to slip into my character over the past couple of weeks and a new spark to finish strong this summer.

Much of these realizations were from having some new Christ-centered laborers, visiting all the way from Kentucky, along side of our Americorps team. Seeing their heart for the children and an amazing spirit of inclusion put the much needed spark back into my summer. It was their enthusiasm, not their criticism, that spurred me to pick myself up and continue laboring for kingdom victories. They were not afraid to come along side of you and get their hands dirty and always invited you to join in on their home cooked meals, which were amazing. After the kids left one day, we had an outdoor gallon challenge that, after walking inside and coming back to milk that had been heated up on the asphalt, gave me a new perspective on Revelation 3:16 - So, because you are lukewarm--neither hot nor cold--I am about to spit you out of my mouth. I know that the Kentucky team's focus wasn't on me but it's amazing what an enthusiastic heart to serve can do to bless those around it. I know that I am a man of many flaws but I hope that someday I also will be characterized by a passionate serving heart that spurs on other Christ-centered laborers. Shine on!

Hurt Left Unhealed

Heart break was the theme for what I was experiencing last week at urban. On Tuesday, I found out that one of the sweetest girls in my group of 6&7 year olds tried to jump out of a moving car and also attempted to "seriously" attacked her sister. She was then enrolled in the psychiatric ward at a nearby hospital and studied for a while. I was broken over the news. She is one of those kids that melts your heart and rarely gives you any problems. I later found out that she was on medication during the day to keep her calm and due to some "home" problems, she was experiencing a lot of anger.
This same week, I sat outside with a 13 year old girl talking about how angry and short tempered she was at another girl and that it all stemmed from her dad being murdered a few years before. For 45 minutes, with her face streaming in tears of frustration, we talked about having self-control, the consequences of anger, and the healing power of God. I knew that God was the only one that could take her pain away and draw her off of the bad path she is headed down, but she spoke of God as being the one who allowed her father to die. All I could say was that an angry man with a gun killed her dad, not God, and that I truly believe that there is a better and bigger plan for her than the things she is doing currently. My heart was heavy with sorrow for each of the girls, but these are just two stories of the many here at the Lincoln Heights Courts. There is so much pain lurking behind the cute faces here at urban and it is a shame that they all have to be young children. Why does the world overlook things that are going on here, good and bad? Why don't ALL the people of God turn their deafened ears towards the cries of these children and to all the pain left unhealed. I know that I was oblivious to it all once, but if you have ears to hear, let them hear. We can no longer hide behind the "that's not my calling" smokescreen, or "I don't have time" excuse. Jesus speaks of them in them in such a direct way that you would have to be a pharisee to hide from it.
1 At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, "Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?" 2He called a little child and had him stand among them. 3And he said: "I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. 4Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. 5"And whoever welcomes a little child like this in my name welcomes me. 6But if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a large millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea. 7 "Woe to the world because of the things that cause people to sin! Such things must come, but woe to the man through whom they come! 8 If your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life maimed or crippled than to have two hands or two feet and be thrown into eternal fire. 9 And if your eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into the fire of hell. 10"See that you do not look down on one of these little ones. For I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father in heaven. 12 "What do you think? If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off? 13And if he finds it, I tell you the truth, he is happier about that one sheep than about the ninety-nine that did not wander off. 14In the same way your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should be lost.
So Jesus is passionately seeking after all the little ones in San Antonio, but the question is, "Are we?" Are we seeking to be God's guiding and healing hands and feet or are we just being kept in the pockets of our own selfishness like too much change that clangs around in some annoying repetitive fashion.