The Grace Place Campus has been buzzing since we have welcomed new church planters, students from Fuge, shoppers from the community and all kinds of angels that continue to bless us with donations.  As always, the excitement level is high with the staff, planters and volunteers all appreciating what God is doing, as we look forward to even greater things in the coming months.

It’s not hard to anticipate great things, when we realize and believe we serve a great God.  We are in the continuing process of letting the Lord get us organized and are looking forward great line up of activities and ministry opportunities that will take place on and off campus during the unfolding summer.

We are very excited about the ministries that God is allowing us to be a part of.  And we are looking forward to all the folks that are coming to partner with us by sharing their own unique and special ministry gifts.  In the days ahead, we are looking forward to some special concerts, guest preachers and a even surprise or two.

We have a great group of planters and volunteers.  We are very proud of all the hard work and ministry that is performed on a daily basis.  We are very proud of the accomplishments of our team.  We believe they provide excellent and meaningful ministry and that this ministry is making a huge difference and impact on, in and through our community.

We also know that when you are serving a higher calling, that there are going to be difficulties.  We choose to see the difficulties as learning and growing opportunities.  The truth is:  We live in a dark and sinful world, but we have been called to bring the bright light of God’s love into this world and this we will continue to do with everything we’ve got!

Thank you for your prayers and for the ways that so many of you help the Grace Place light to shine a little brighter in the darkness.  I love and appreciate you.  People ask all the time:  How can I help?  Tell people about us!  Donate to us!  Join us!  Pray for us!  And above all – make sure you experience, share and grow in His grace!

One of my favorite titles in life is the title of Dad.  I am very blessed to have two beautiful and amazing daughters.  Gracie (12) and Hope (7) are full of life and adventure and they have taught me much and grown me in incredible ways.

Father’s Day is just around the corner and I thought I might share a few ideas about some amazing journeys that we Dad’s can go on with our children.  My hope is that these ideas will spark some ideas in each of our lives that might allow us to eperience some shared memories that we will never forget.

Nature Walk!  Take some time outside with your kids.  Look up at the sky and talk about the clouds or enjoy the majesty of the stars.  Investigate trees, flowers and bugs.  Maybe go for a hike, camping or at least a pic-nic.  Just get outside in nature and enjoy it together.

Reverse Education!  Find out what your kids are better at than you and let them take you to school.  Ask them questions about what they like or think about.  Ask them how they feel about certain things, and when they answer, really take the time to listen and learn.  This will actually help you to become a better person.

Road Trip!  Plan an excursion and take the scenic route.  Where you are going is not necessarily as important as how you get there.  You might get out a map, pick a destination and then let your child help guide you there.  Just have fun as you take in the sights, sounds and smells along the way.

Serving Others!  It is very important to teach our children about serving others.  It may be by picking up trash on the side of the road, visiting a shut in or serving in a soup kitchen.  Find something you can do together and do it to make life better for others.

These are just a few of the many ways that you can invest quality time into your children’s lives, as well as your own.

Remember:  The best way to spell love is TIME and the best time is QUALITY!

If God allows something bad, hard or tough to happen in your life, then you can count on and believe that it is ultimately for His glory.

Life is hard and you can expect to be hurt.  It does not matter how hard you work to avoid it, the plain hard reality is that if you live long enough, then life is going to take a bite.

Often time the hurt and pain will come from those that you have allowed to come the closest to you.

Their closeness is one of the things that hurts so bad.  You just can’t believe they would do or say some of the things they do and say, but they do and there is nothing fun about it!

Most of us have been through this at least once and many of us seem to have it playing like a broken record.

I was reading through my Bible and came across these words of FORGIVESS and FREEDOM that Joseph spoke to his brothers after their mistreatment of him, that took him on a horrible and very difficult journey.

His words help us to understand the attitude that we must posses, if we are to claim, experience and live in the victory that God has for us.

“You intended to harm me, but God intended it all for good. He brought me to this position so I could save the lives of many people.”  Genesis 50:20

Others may do what they do to harm you, but if God allows it, then He has a plan to use it all for good.

The good that God wants to use it for, is to bring your life to a place where with and through your life; He can save many for His glory.

Hang in there, trust God and know that He has a plan bigger than anything you could dream or imagine.