Too Much Has Happened

I'll start with an update. Back in my March 25 blog, I copied you a letter from a girl and I would like to update you on her. She has written me a couple more times and they have been very encouraging. she recently sent me two letters dated about a month apart in one envelope. One told of deep struggles she had been having, pondering about what it felt like for me to see girls come to Christ, requests for prayer and study material for specific topics, a desire to travel the world to tell her story about what God did for her, and a yearning for God to hear her. It was both heart wrenching and extremely edifying to read as someone who has spent hours praying for her, writing her, and encouraging her.

The second letter she sent in that envelope, (written approximately a month later), was full of joy and rejoicing over her first ever experience of hearing God speak to her very clearly. She is patiently waiting, and seems to understand that God hard at work in her life and is truly excited about that. She also told me of her upcoming court date...which was this past Friday.

At her court appointment, good things were said of her and the things that she had accomplished. The director of the place that she is at mentioned her desire to travel overseas and the judge actually (beyond belief of me) encouraged her to do so! The Judge even asked me when a tentative date was (next summer Don and I would love to have her travel to Fiji with us to tell her story). Even though the Court deemed it good to keep her in placement against her hopes, I am confident that the Lord still has a bit of work to do on her before she goes home. I will write her today.

So that happened. And last week too a total-God thing happened to me too. I had a meeting with a lady, the Executive Director of Barnabas Ministries (not the Barnabas Foundation) about that half-way/transitional house I have a dream for. She was a very insightful and intuitive woman of God. Her and I talked about God's plan and God's call on my life (far from the how does this happen conversation I was planning on). I had walked out of that meeting extremely encouraged and with what seemed a clear understanding of what we were to do in life. She ended with the story in the Bible about Elijah...you know the one that Elijah heard God in the whisper and not the storms, fire, or earthquake. Her leaving comment was 'You need to listen to God's quiet voice.' (I'm not always being good at quiet around people).

In recent years being quiet was something in my life that has probably improved the most. As I walked out and drove home, I prayed that God would put me/keep me in that place where I am quiet before him just listening. I honestly, don't think I'm far from that place but asked that anyway. Hour and a half later - no joke - I'm sitting in a meeting with a friend of mine who is telling me about this great transitional/foster care home that her and another one of her friends had started. Her friend moved away from town to get another job and left her 'hanging'. I burst at the seems pouring out Don and my hearts desire to do that. Her eyes lit up because that is still a passion and desire of hers too. Time ran out for us but we made an agreement to continue that conversation. I'm totally encouraged.

Antwionette has started volunteering with us. That is huge. Two other girls have started going to church with one of the JJM Girls volunteers. Teen Parents has a strong start. New Student Orientation was yesterday and my first Grad School class is tomorrow morning. God is good.

Brain Tired

I am brain-tired. Last week I was in Boston for Course One for the Juvenile Justice Course I'm taking. And I haven't been in school for five years and it hit me like a rock! We had class from 8:30a to 4:30p and about 1:30/2:00p last Monday I was definitely ready for it to be done!

It was fabulous though! I learned a lot, or rather, I learned how to teach my volunteers about this sort of thing. So that's my next big thing: to start writing/putting together some sort of Volunteer manual.

The rest of my classes for this semester is scheduled to start August 27. I'm excited.

That's all for now.