I love when we are goofy at the same time.
June 5th, 2015 also marked another less-exciting "milestone". The two:fiftytwo After School Program completed its fourth year. This past year was the first year that I led the program on my own and I definitely grew from the experience. I've never talked in front of a group so constantly and consistently before. I found that my biggest struggle was not getting sucked into one-on-one interactions when I had to oversee the whole program. Despite learning a ton, I did recognize that being the front lead guy was not for me. I know God had me there for a reason and I'm sure that the experience has helped me develop confidence and a voice that I haven't used as much before. My future plans currently are to remain with 2nd Mile Ministries, attend the after school program and take a smaller role, start attending Connect (our middle program), and take a couple counseling classes. I've been curious about counseling for a few years now and I'm hoping God will either open or close this door definitively. At times I can be a very quietly opinionated and judgmental person, but often when someone is going through a difficult time, I've visually seen God's power heal people just through simply listening and praying with people. Philippians 4:6-7 has become reality for some people in my past, "Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." Many kids in this neighborhood go through so much mental and emotional struggles that often translate into some very negative life decisions consequently.
Please pray for Missi and me as we approach our second year of marriage still learning the ins and outs of scheduling, communicating, resting, and being intentional with our lives and each other.
Lastly, I want to mention Summer Day Camp (SDC) coming up! In exactly 8 days, approximately 65 kids between the ages of 5 and 12 will walk through North Pearl Baptist Church's doors to enjoy Challenge Circle, worship, healthy snacks, dancing, music, education, reading, sports, art, and Bible lessons. The past two years, I've led the Sports Station and helped with the Music Station. This year, I'll be venturing new territory by leading the Education Station, the Bible Station, as well as leading a circle in our loud and active Challenge Circle game. Pray I don't lose my voice too many days. I feel like this will be the very best year of camp so far because we will be focusing on continuing their learning, reading, math, and writing skills that are so often forgotten and not worked on over the summer. Last year, we experimented with a Book Reading Program that had huge success, even awarding the top 6 student participants a day at Jacksonville's Adventure Landing (an awesome water park)!
If you have any interest in donating sports equipment, art supplies, or Dollar Tree toys/school supplies/etc., they can be sent to North Pearl Street Baptist Church at 4003 N. Pearl St., Jacksonville, FL, 32206. If you'd like to donate financially to the camp, or even the ministry as a whole, you can at 2ndmile-jax.com and click the "Donate" tab and make a one-time or monthly donation.
Now that I've caught you up on the vague details of my life the past few months, I'd like to tell you about Boys Day.
Boys Day is just how it sounds, a day with just the boys, and male leaders. All 7 boys were able to come which was the most we've ever had for a Boys Day. Dionte, Mekhi, Ferrell, Christian, Jovan, Caden, and Agel were picked up, driven to Firehouse Subs where they paired up and shared sandwiches, then driven to the beach where they all ran into the ocean and began playing "Moss" with the football (to Moss somebody is to make an incredible catch with others going for the catch as well, like wide receiver, Randy Moss). Unfortunately, some very dark thunder clouds caused us to leave twenty minutes later. All of the boys were behaving, having fun, and including one another in their games. In years past, the new kids to the program often got left out. I'm glad we waited until the school year was out. It was awesome to see certain boys previously exiled now included and building their friendships. We drove back to the church and played board games and Moss outside. Despite the unpredictable weather, it was an amazing end to a solid year of the program. Although there were times throughout the year that I wanted to strangle a kid (figuratively), I left that year with a genuine love for each and every one of those kids. It is incomprehensible the feeling of being clearly used by God. He doesn't need us in this neighborhood to display His love and power, but I can see where Mekhi was in 2nd grade, often sad, medicated, occasionally throwing chairs in anger, fidgety and now he's going into 5th grade, often laughing, no longer medicated, creative, rarely angry. I see a 2nd grade Challah, so kind-hearted and full of joy, now finishing 5th grade getting to put that kind-heartedness to use by making friends with some of the unpopular girls in the program. Even though there are new 2nd graders in the program who have problems with conflict and their academics, I now have evidence, experience, and confidence that God can and will continue to use us in their lives as well as their family's to bring them closer to Jesus.
