Coat Drive in full swing now...

We are having a "Good Used" Coat Drive at the Ministry Center for the month of April and the first two Sundays in May. The deal is that folks can drop off coats at the Ministry Center on Sundays from 8:30 a.m. - 12 noon. A drop box will be provided! Hope it gathers lots of good coats for Joseph House and the Christian Shelter.

5000 plus youth in one room...

Wow... what a large group of Senior High youth are gathered this weekend at the O.C. Convention center. Last night's speaker was okay... the band was better. I did manage to fall asleep several times during the sermon... but not because the speaker was so bad... just because I was so tired. Slept all night, even though the guys in my room were up till 2 a.m. Don't recall waking up too much!

I hope they are having a great time today! I came back this morning and have been hard at work cleaning out a closet and getting ready for a yard sale. NOW I am really TIRED!

What a meal...

In a previous blog about the shelter in February... I made the comment that at Community of Joy, we don't give out "half-eaten hamburgers"... and that we don't! Thanks to Tri Townsend who was willing to ask a guy he knew at Texas Roadhouse, Texas Roadhouse in Fruitland donated 60 - 14 oz. rib eye steaks... they even cut them fresh yesterday! What an awesome donation! The guys really loved them! It was a real treat!

Needless to say... next time you are looking for a place to eat... consider Texas Roadhouse... Sharon and I ate there Wednesday night!

Tired....

Last night was my last overnight at the shelter. It closes tomorrow! A lot of the guys are really stressing about what they are going to do.... so sad!

It's now 6:30 a.m. and I will stay awake until the family gets on the road and then I will sleep as long today as I can, because I am on duty this weekend at the youth retreat in Ocean City... which means little sleep. Hopefully I have someone coming tomorrow to stay the night Saturday with them.

Pray today for Donna Clark... she is meeting with some influential folks who have a vision for a day center, shelter, and job opp for the guys... all in one location. If that happens it will be a dream come true! And it is so needed to help some of these guys get their lives turned around an headed in a new direction!

Awesome Prayer....

The last two nights at the shelter... the guys were asked who would like to say the blessing for the meal. Both nights received an immediate response. The first night, the guy who prayed said the "God is Great" prayer that most of us learned as a child.... that was cool to hear him and see him be so willing to pray. Then last night, the guy who prayed... had an original prayer and it almost brought me to tears... hearing how grateful he was for the blessings that he had experienced that day... the biggest one was life! And the greatest request was for strength to do what was necessary to survive. So humbling and yet profoundly beautiful.

Serving out of comfort zone....

It's great how God made all of us with different passions and interests! That allows us to be concerned about more things than if we all had the same interest.

One of the things we are learning at Community of Joy is to let people serve out of their passions and interests. Doing the homeless shelter is not for everyone! And we need to be okay with that.... there are other areas of ministry that those folks have interests in and serve well in and maybe those areas are ones that the folks who love serving at the homeless shelter don't like serving in so well. It's all good.... but only if we work hard at not making those who aren't comfortable in a particular ministry feel guilty.

When we all serve out of our giftings and passions... look out... we can do so much for the kingdom of God... BUT when we heap guilt on folks or force them to serve in ways they aren't comfortable in... we don't do so well.

For instance, I love youth... but I don't like serving in youth ministry so well... because that really isn't my area of passion or expertise...and so, I realize that because I am wired that way, I put a wet blanket on youth ministry sometimes and I don't serve as well as I could or as well as I do in the homeless ministry area. Same deal with me and children's ministry... not an area I am particularly gifted in nor do I like serving in that arena... but I am so glad that others do and can serve well!

What an awesome picture we paint when we all serve out of our giftings and passions and we allow others to do the same!

Gotta love the people at Community of Joy!

What an AWESOME bunch of people God has assembled at Community of Joy! We sure know how to serve others and to do it with flare! Last night we served the BEST chicken corn soup and the BEST Pork BBQ and the BEST chocolate cake with chocolate icing! The hot cherry cobbler and white cake looked good too... just didn't have any! The guys were really appreciative and the staff really took note. Had lots of people telling me what a great group we were! Tonight we will serve fresh cut steaks from Texas Roadhouse... grilled by the Master Chef in Training... to order. By the way, Texas Roadhouse donated all 60 steaks! I am sure they will be good... Sharon and I ate there last night and they were wonderful!

The challenges of helping the poor....

I knew it would be hard to be part of the last week of the Community Emergency Shelter Project... not because the guys have made it so... but because it is tough saying so long to the guys... many of whom are back on the street when this is over.

I know that each person has a story and most are responsible for finding themselves right where they are.... still doesn't make it any easier. I also know that when you are down on your luck, it doesn't take much to put you farther down. And once you loose so much, it is a real hard battle to get yourself picked back up! Consider how hard it is to get a job, when you have a couple sets of clothes and no ability to wash them... or don't have a phone number to give out so a potential employer can call you... or for that matter, don't have an address to give them... then there are the issues of job skills and earning a living wage... even if you get a job, it takes several weeks to get a paycheck (Caroline has been working three weeks and just got her first check). Then there is the security deposit and if you are in a place of your own... the electric bill, gas or oil, if that's how you heat. Not to mention food. And if you are in a hotel room... even the economy hotels, you face the challenge of what to eat and how to fix it.

Needless to say it isn't easy.... even if you are trying hard to change the situation you are in!

This is why we desperately need a day facility and transitional housing apartments. I hope in the next year we can find both!

Getting old....

Gonna help Caroline buy her first car. We took it for a ride tonight and shook hands with the people who own it. It is just the kind of car we were hoping to find for her... one owner, low miles, great shape, well cared for, below kelly blue book price. The folks who have it were so nice, they took it today to have the oil changed and tires rotated before we got it. They took $200 off the price because it is Caroline's car. Sweet folks... nice clean car... she is so EXCITED! Now I have to get it inspected and tagged so that she can learn to drive it for her big test in a month.

We will loan her the money and she can pay us back over time, now that she has a job. Gonna be an experience! But I am happy for her!

This chapter... sure makes me feel old! I can remember when I bought my first car, dad and I went into Talbot Bank and he helped me get a loan and then I went to Easton Ford and bought a Ford Escort.... guess what Caroline's car is ... a Ford Escort!

Shelter...

Once again, we are helping in a BIG way with the homeless shelter! It is so awesome to be part of a group of people who are so willing to reach out and help. Several of us have and will spend the night, we are providing the supper meal twice and lunches once as well as others are helping to serve meals, register folks, etc.

Last night we had 40 guys... more tonight! This is the last week for this shelter. So many sad cases... sure wish we could encourage more of them to make wise choices that would turn their life around. It is so hard for guys in this position to get the breaks they need to get out of the hole. So glad to be part of a ministry that is helping as much as we can!

An interesting experience....

I am a little uneasy blogging about this experience, because I don't want to be misunderstood, but it was such a teachable moment... I want to try. Please know at the outset that this is NOT a slam on our sister church-- Bethany Lutheran, and I am looking forward to many more joint efforts.

We had our outside Sunrise worship gathering in our lot combined with the Lutherans... there were lots of things that distinguished us.... they were dressed up... we were in casual clothes.... we knew contemporary songs, they didn't as well.... they knew the response to "He is risen" and we didn't!

But the biggest divide came after the gathering was over and it was time for breakfast... but first the Lutherans needed to do communion in the sanctuary... the invitation was open and a few of our folks went... BUT when I walked into the fellowship hall 20 minutes after breakfast was to have started and it wasn't even being served... and I looked around and noticed that the gathered body was largely CoJ folks... who were waiting patiently for breakfast... I thought... this is a teachable moment.

How many times do we in the church do what is so important to us at the expense of excluding those who aren't part of the tradition? It was definitely an insider/outsider moment! When we are trying to reach out to others... we must watch these occasions. This morning gave our folks a good taste of what it feels like to be a stranger in foreign territory. The goal is to make strangers feel welcome and want to connect with us and ultimately with God.

Awesome Easter 08!

Today was an awesome day! The sunrise worship was well attended and the sun was gorgeous! We could have been a little earlier so that we ended just as the sun crested. It was a little cold but folks seemed to enjoy our combined worship gathering. Pastor Kevin Wackett had a great message and Joy Miller did a great job leading our singing.

Easter Sunrise...

Tomorrow @ 7 a.m. we will have our first ever Easter Sunrise worship gathering. It will be in our lawn, but will be jointly held with Bethany Lutheran Church (our neighboring church). It is exciting to see two churches working together for the cause of Christ! I hope this is one of many many times we will do so.

Breakfast will follow and will be in the Bethany Fellowship Hall.

This week, I was visiting some of our folks and one, who happens to be in her late 80's told me with great enthusiasm that she was so excited about this sunrise worship. In all her years she has wanted very much to attend one and has never been able to do so... and this is the year she was sure she would be able to come! Can't wait to talk to her afterward. Imagine that... 80 some years of wanting to do something and finally getting to do so...wow!

Week Two...

Saturday night, Community of Joy will jump into our second week of the Cold Weather Shelter for homeless men... this time we won't be hosting the guys at our ministry center... don't have room to host all of them (60). But will be supplying support staff to the efforts of Donna Clark as we host them at Blind Industries. Looking forward to this opportunity to serve some very special people. This will be the last week of the shelter.... the guys will be on their own once again.

Please pray that it goes well... I've been told that Blind Industries will be watching closely and if they see things they don't like, they will shut us down.

Tonight... one of the most meaningful...

Tonight @ 6:30 p.m. at the ministry center, we will participate in one of the most meaningful worship gatherings ever... We call it the Love Feast. It is taken out of John 13... Jesus' last supper with his disciples. We spend some time reflecting and sharing, then we eat a simple meal together and then you guessed it, we wash feet. Finally we receive communion, sing a song and go on our way.

Lots of people get freaked out about the feet washing deal... but Jesus calls us to be humble servants and there is not an act we can do in worship that is more humble or servant than wash some one's feet.

Always a highlight for me... looking forward to it!