Anyone know when I'm supposed to spell out numbers?

For those of you who like numbers, here are a few from our After School Program over the years.  If you don't like numbers, skip this next paragraph because it will bore you.

This school year is the 4th year of our program!  It started back in the 2011-2012 school year.  Although 12 total kids were a part of the program that first year, the most kids we had on any given day was 10.  In the 2012-2013 school year, we had 11 kids, but two of them left the program, so a typical day meant about 9 kids.  The next year, 2013-2014, comes around and 15 kids at some point were in the program.  Due to kids signing up and leaving at various points of the school year, we maybe would have 10 or 11 at most on any given day.  This school year, although it's difficult to say if all the students that are signed up will be in the program the entire year, we have 17 kids signed up, and on most days they all show up!

Why is having 17 kids such a significant difference from last year?  Well, those of you who are teachers may have anywhere from 15 to 25 students in their classroom that you need to teach.  This year, we decided to open up registration to students that attend neither Brentwood nor North Shore Elementary.  The only requirement would be that they live within our ministry's target area, the Brentwood neighborhood.  Our 15-passenger van can seat 13 students, a driver (me), and a passenger.  This is the first year that all of the seats are full.  The remaining 4 students get dropped off at the program because of this new rule of being allowed to attend different schools.

I've been a volunteer of the program for two years, and this is my second year directing/co-directing.  With three years under my belt, this fourth year has thrown me a few curve balls.  First, both Brentwood and North Shore are in session for an extra hour this year due to test scores last year.  This means the after school program had to be designed to still carry out our mission to Live the truth of the gospel, Learn as scholars, and Lead their community forward, with an hour less of program time.  Second challenge, we have 17 kids!  Seven of them are in 2nd grade (the most we've ever had) and five of them are in 5th grade (the most we've ever had).  With a wide range of behaviors, grades, skill levels, leadership abilities, and knowledge, it can be difficult to expect similar things from everyone.  With each student being so unique, so much attention of them is required in order for them to thrive in every way, intellectually, physically, spiritually, and socially (Luke 2:52).

My responsibilities during the program consist of running the schedule, transitioning the kids to the next parts of the program, and talking to the kids who have moved their clips down twice.  On some days, I can go home feeling disheartened about the result mainly because I've had to talk to three or four kids that have been displaying disrespect or attitude problems.  I often forget about the other twelve kids having a good day because I don't get to see them as much.

In my efforts to blog and update more often, it is my hope that at some point from now until June 2015 that I will talk about each of the 17 students in more depth, how you can pray for them, and also praise God for them.  Hopefully this will keep me accountable to continue writing.

To start, I'd like to introduce Ferrell to you.  In one word, awesome.  I knew Ferrell when he went by his first name Jai'Juan back in 2010 when I was an intern.  He was 5 at the time.  He's in fourth grade now and this Tuesday, he turns 10.  This is his third year in our program.  He is hilarious and friendly.  He's a big kid who loves science experiments, has a killer football throw, can sing on pitch and rap like nobody's business, and has an incredible imagination.  He once told me that in his science class, he taped a small cape on the back of an ant, flung it in the air with a spoon, and it landed in a puddle.  But don't worry, it landed on its back so it wouldn't drown.  Ok, so, he may try to convince you that one of his made-up stories actually happened, but he still is fun to talk to.  I got the opportunity to spend time with him today during our Action Day, where our ministry, as well as people from churches around Jacksonville help mow lawns, plant in a garden, pick up garbage, and be a loving presence in Brentwood.  I decided to invite Ferrell because I thought he'd enjoy being around a lot of new people helping out in ways he's never experienced before.  He was raking, bagging garbage, and cutting weeds and branches when he wasn't encouraging and humoring the other volunteers.  He loves making people happy and is great at it.  Please pray that as Ferrell continues to grow, that he'd see Jesus Christ as his savior and want to live to make Him happy and bring glory to Him.  Pray also that the things in his life that try to get a firm grip on his heart and pull him away from God would be unappealing to him and would be as slippery as the stairs that he raked leaves off of today.

I hope you have a blessed weekend.


More numbers!!!
-37 different students have been through the two:fiftytwo After School Program since 2011 (18 boys, 19 girls).
-24 of those 37 have had either a sibling, cousin, or relative in the program with them at some point (we intentionally try to build relationships with families).
-9 of the students have been in the program for more than one school year (Six for more than two years, two since the program's inception).

Ripples

Before you read this, I'd like for you to do an exercise for me.  Don't worry, I don't want you to exert any physical energy, but mental, yes.  Take about five minutes, turn off the noise, quiet your mind, forget everything on your to-do list, and cast your cares on Jesus and let Him handle them.  Now in those five minutes, picture somebody that you know.  Who is the first person to pop into your head?  Perhaps a significant other, a relative, maybe a friend.  It could be a neighbor, or a friend you haven't seen for years.  Depending on how old you are, the number of people who have entered your life, no matter how brief, is high.  Now that you have this picture of a person in your head, think about how you met them.  After picturing how you met, go through your entire relationship with them from start to finish.  If it's just an acquaintance, really prolong that encounter.  Where were you both?  What were you both doing?  If it's someone you've known your whole life, you may need to speed through memories.  What were your best memories with them?  How do you feel about them?  How is your relationship with them different now than it was when you first met them?  (Please take time to think about them)  (The rest of my blog will be here when you come back)
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
Most of my daydreams are random, pointless, and on accident.  For me, taking intentional time just now to think about one thing was kind of refreshing.  If the person you pictured is someone you don't necessarily have the greatest relationship with, those last five minutes may have actually been painful for you.  Maybe you two once had a great closeness but now you are most comfortable in a world that pretends they don't exist.  Bringing bad memories back to life is hard.

I doubt anyone will take me up on this, but if you want to take the exercise a step further, go take a walk...in a cemetery.  Missi and I have been wanting to do this for a while since there's a cemetery within walking distance from our house.  We walked by thousands of tombstones.  It was quiet and it seemed like another world.  It didn't feel like we were in our neighborhood anymore.  New flowers, dead flowers, no flowers on every grave plot.  Some were covered in moss, some still bright white marble even after a hundred years.  Every stone had a name on it.  That name represented a person who once was living and breathing as you and I are right now.  April 14th, 1988 will be the first date on my gravestone.  I do not know what the last one will be.  But I do know that there will be a day that, like those thousands of once-people, I will no longer live.

Think of that person you just pictured.  What's their last name?  Not to be a downer on your day, but picture that name in all CAPS, carved into a stone.  They will die someday (or perhaps they've already died).  Whether or not your current relationship with them is rich or poor, how does Jesus feel about that person?  I'll help you out.  He loves them.  He loves them more selflessly and sacrificially than anyone could love.  They are precious to Him.  He does not want them to die and be lost to Him for eternity.  Eternity is so hard a concept to grasp.  Those gravestones we saw today, some date back to before the year 1900.  Over a hundred years.  But that cemetery, that land where the cemetery is, has been there for thousands of years earlier.  Those huge old trees weren't even born yet.  Reverse time-lapse.  The trees shrink.  Gravestones disappear.  People who are now buried there are up walking around in that same cemetery.  Construction of the cemetery seems to erase a function for that land.  Who knows if Florida even existed thousands of years ago?

That person is deeply loved by God and was thought of before He even said "Let there be light!"  He knows when they will die.  He knows how much time they have left.  But more importantly, you don't know!  Thought of calling someone recently to ask about their day but just haven't done it quite yet?  Do it.  You have no idea what that call will do for them.  Pray for someone.  It's impossible to deeply invest in lots and lots of people, but it's definitely doable to show someone you care, even in one moment.

I'd like to confess something.  Although I have little dancing ability, my love for the artistry through self-expression called dance is great.  So You Think You Can Dance is one of my favorite shows.  On its season finale this past Wednesday, I saw what might be one of my favorite group performances ever on the show.  I'll let you watch it first before I talk about it.

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IHGc7WbLK0o

"The smallest act of caring for another person is like a drop of water.  It will make ripples throughout the pond."

I've watched this video more than once and I gotta be honest.  I may have cried at one point, being touched by how the dancers and song communicated this idea of love, influence, and pouring out of yourself for others.

-A guy with headphones helps up a complete stranger after she fell.
-An in-love couple notice a struggling couple and they give the young man a flower to give to his girl.
-A homeless guy gets rejected by many when asking for spare change.  People walk away from him, but one man decides to show him attention and their synchronized dancing demonstrates just how similar the two of them are despite financial differences.
-The guy with dreads has passion flowing inside him and can't do anything but get it out through dance.  Others take notice and join in.  He looks back and sees what his passion has done to those around him.  He continues dancing, full of joy and intensity.
-A moment of love, a dream, a laugh, a kiss, a cry, our rights, our wrongs, most things we as humans will experience at some point in our lives.

Building cup towers for our Friday activity

How will you love those around you?  You are going to die.  Those around you are going to die.  We are fragile.  Little things can ruin our day.  Five pounds of weight can feel like fifty.  If the person you were thinking of earlier does not know the Lord, if you do not know God for yourself, I want you to know that He loves you, sent his son to take your place by dying on the cross.  We, in our pride, selfishness, lust, greed, deceit desire to be our own God, living for ourselves.  Accept His free gift of salvation and let him wash away all your sins.  He will forgive you, I promise.  He doesn't want your death to result in being separated from him forever.  My pastor always says, "If you're born once, you'll die twice.  If you're born twice, you'll die only once," meaning that when you accept Christ, you are reborn.  If you don't accept him, you will die (one) physically and (two) spiritually.  I'm sure the devil's best trick is to lull you into an I'll-do-it-later attitude when it comes to loving others.

As we are three weeks into the school year already, I hope to see the students, volunteers, and the families of the students as finite beings who need Christ, who need to see the love of Jesus.  Pray that Christ would shine through me as I hope to live this out every day.  I will soon share more about the kids, the program, how things are going in ministry, and how we (you and I) can co-labor in prayer to not only influence those in Brentwood, but also wherever you live.  I've been very blessed to be able to see some ripples in the kids that came from some very intentional drops of water.