March 2022 - Created creators

" 'Then God created man in his own image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the heavens, and over the livestock, and over all creation, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.' So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them."  Genesis 1:26-27

Even in the room I'm sitting now I see the life of man-made things. The wooden table I sit at now was once sent to a furniture store, built in some factory, cut down from a tree that grew in some forest, first created by our Creator. The curtains above our windows were once sent to a store, woven and dyed in some factory, used from some thread from somewhere in nature, first created by our Creator. Our printer, our microwave, the TV, couch, floors, roof, all made, constructed, manufactured, built and bought by man. Thinking about mankind as miniature versions the ultimate builder has been a beautiful thought. Why do we make unless it was in us to make? If we have been made in his image, and he created all things, we too have it in us to create.

I've enjoyed my March at 2nd Mile. Normally we have mission teams from colleges come for their Spring break, which I really do enjoy, but this year we had the year off from college visitors. With no after school program, I took that time to indulge in an alternate life as what I'd imagine an architect or a landscape designer does. We've received a couple grants this year specifically for improving our garden. A couple improvements we are looking to make our updating our old and rotting raised garden beds, creating a walking path with cement pavers, and as well as adding a few unique touches (a grill, a little library, a water fountain). Where these would be placed was up to me and I got to play around with locations best fit for these additions to the garden. It makes me wonder what the Garden of Eden would have looked like at the very beginning. It was probably perfectly planned out, everything in bloom/fruit, no rotting, no death, enough food for all creatures, enough shade when it was hot, enough open space for the sun to shine down. Needless to say, in the upcoming months, we hope to improve not only the functionality of the garden, but also its aesthetics.

Back in early February when the BLOCK Middle School program was painting our picnic table completely white (to be later spray painted), Devaric, an 8th grader, was painting some of the basketball court lines and his mind was working. "We should paint more of the basketball court." Why hadn't I thought of that before? With permission from the church's pastor and a lot of paint, we made plans to execute this vision from this middle school aged young man. Originally, we were going to just paint the lanes one solid color. Not if Devaric could help it. It was great to give him and the others creative freedom (within the boundaries of the "paint", the area under the free throw line). He sprinkled every color of paint we had onto the unusual canvas, like he was a chef adding a little salt and a little pepper to his masterpiece. It's fun to think of how God knitted us in our mother's womb, perhaps with a dash of joy, a pinch of compassion, a sprinkle of wonder. That will be an unbelievable conversation one day. (More pictures are on instagram at block_brentwood.)

Be on the lookout in the future for how we will use our creativity on an even bigger canvas, hopefully in the next couple months. 

Prayer requests (because God responds to us):

-That the relationships being made and built continue to grow towards a love for God and others.

-That all the programs, and fun, and activities would not distract from the importance of knowing God, ourselves, and others.

Praise report:

-We ordered a van!! A huge thank you to anyone who donated over the new year to help us upgrade. Our old 2010 Chevy Express has had many issues in the past few years and a generous donor picked up a big chunk of our remaining costs. Hopefully by June, we will be finally enjoying some working AC in the hot and humid Florida summer.

It will look something like this