I can’t get my mind off of our second Grace Dinner!  What a beautiful crowd that we were blessed with!  I was so excited to see as some of our new friends began walking in the door and I was blessed to see my spiritual family reaching out to touch, minister and serve!  They just kept coming and we kept adapting to accommodate, serve and share the Grace of God!  It was such a beautiful thing!

As I think back about the evening, I just wanted to say “thank you” to the team that helped to make the “dream” work!  We had children, teens, adults and senior adults all working together to make sure that everything was taken care of.

Thank you for listening to and following my directions.  I am not a leader, if I don’t have followers and because you are willing to follow, we are able to accomplish some incredible things.  I could not do it without you!  It takes a team to make the dream work and I am so thankful for the team that God allows me to coach – you guys and gals are amazing!

I can’t be everywhere at the same time, I can’t do everything and so when I was not around to give instructions or to take an action, you guys and gals decided what you thought I would do and did it!  You took care of our guest, you ministered to their needs and did your best to accommodate their every need and share the love of Jesus.  Thank you for taking the initiative and getting the job done!

We glorified God last night!  We blessed lives with GRACE last night!  We crossed lines that make the enemy squirm last night!  We didn’t just tell our community we love them, we showed them love last night!  We worked together and at the end of the night, we were tired physically, but energized spiritually!

I can’t say all that I feel inside, but I hope you know:  I love you and I am so glad that we get to work together in sharing God’s Amazing Grace!  Thank you for remembering that we live on a mission field!  G3!

Today while I was visiting the hospital, I could feel a headache coming on and felt the need for a Diet Pepsi.  I found a vending machine and put in my dollar and then when I got ready to put in my other dollar for the $1.25 drink, it would not take my dollar.  I tried again and again and again, but with no luck.  I noticed that two senior adult ladies were watching and getting quite a kick out of watching this motorcycle dude having a hard time with the drink machine.

I walked over to ask them if either of them had four quarters.  I thought since the machine would not take my dollar, that maybe it would take quarters.  I got the quarters and tried each one at least twice and they ran right through it.  I then got the idea that maybe the machine was full of dollars and could not take anymore and maybe it was full of quarters, so I asked my new lady friends if they had two dimes and a nickel for a quarter.

I tried the dime and bingo, it made it in!  Now one more dime and nickel accepted and I would be enjoying a cool Diet Pepsi!  The machine would not take another dime, nor would it take the nickel.  I ended up having to trek across to the other side of the hospital to get a refund.  I met a very nice young African-American girl and when I got my refund, I headed over to the other side of the hospital, to the emergency section, because I was sure the drink machines would work there – they did and I got my Diet Pepsi!

I sat there and enjoyed my Diet Pepsi and a pack of crackers and then headed back to see the family that I was visiting and just so happened to run into an old ministry friend.  We talked, shared, caught up and encouraged one another and we both felt better about life and our ministries, because we had the time together!

Now what is the moral of this story?  I typically would have become unglued, frustrated, discouraged and missed a lot of blessings along the way, because I would have been too focused on things not working the way I wanted them to, and less focused on everything around me!

Today I did not miss those blessings, because I stayed calm and took in every moment!  I met some nice senior adult ladies and I made them smile and they made me smile too!  I met a nice young African-American girl and had a very encouraging conversation that I think blessed both of us.  I had an encounter with an old friend that made my life better and I think made his better too!

Rather than get impatient, I stayed calm and got the most out of every moment and it was all good!  God is always at work and today, He let me see how He works in the most simple and powerful of ways.  He is interested in every part of my life and that is so very cool!  All I wanted was a Diet Pepesi and I ended up with my Diet Pepsi, a pack of crackers and a whole lot more!

My soul craves, but for what I am not sure.
I’ve tried it all and nothing seems to satisfy.
My whole life has been a quest to find nourishment.
Yet my soul never seems to get enough!

I think I know who I am, only to discover that I don’t have a clue.
I know there has to be a unique place for me in this world, but I can’t find it.
I am more than flesh and bones, I have to be.
I travel this path of exploration looking for I don’t know what.

And then, almost by accident it would seem,
I find, discover, meet up with, bump into –
The answer – a Friend, the Savior, my God!
And discover it was really no accident at all!

I want this, I need this, I crave this!
This fulfills me, gives me purpose, fulfills my destiny.
The sun is up, night has turned today.
I am ready to face whatever may come my way!