Winding down, trying to be ahead of the game, & angry kids. August 7, 2008

This is me today. Well not EXACTLY the picture was taken a few weeks ago, but this is how I feel today. I have reached the part of summer where I need to step onto my tightrope (or whatever that thing is called that im walking on in the picture... guard rail?) . Summer is almost over, 1 more week, and it will fly by for sure! So now I need to start planning for after-school program again. I cant completely forget about summer camp though, thus walking the line between the two.

Summer has been so amazing and God has provided and worked in so many ways! Yesterday I was talking to one of my younger kids who has serious rage issues. He was angry because he was taken out of the skit because he wasn't co-operating, and so he was wailing at the side of the room while said skit was being performed. Once he had calmed down and we had worked out the details of what had happened with the skit we began to discus his anger. "Does God want us to just be happy all the time?" he asked. This is something I have wrestled with so much as a leader to these kids. So often I see leaders (and even myself) get upset at a kid for being angry, its easy to do. A kid is freaking out at the side of the room where you are trying to get the rest of the kids to have fun, kind of frustrating! I've prayed a lot about this and was reminded of the verse in Psalm 4:4, and Ephesians 4:46 that says "In your anger do not sin". I told Jack (yes I changed his name) this verse and I said to him "God doesn't say "don't get angry", even God gets angry, but he does say that when we are angry we must not sin." Then we talked more about what that meant. Throughout the conversation I was amazed at how much of our Bible study teachings Jack was spouting out to me, showing me that he had really thought about each lesson and was trying to apply it to his life. He told me about how much God loves us, and how He loves all of us, and how we are all brothers and sisters and need to love each other.

Jack is 7 years old, he has grown up with a brother who has the same dad and different mom and they are the same age. His family gets very angry and they express their anger by yelling (a lot). I believe Jack's dad has been shot twice since I've known him, and this makes me wonder what kind of life he is exposing his children to.

God is working in Jack's life and he is working hard. I am so fortunate to have the opportunity to see this work, and to be able to nurture it. God has also allowed me to talk to his dad and start building a trusting relationship there. Please pray that God continues to work in both of their lives. Pray for safety in their community, and for peace in their family.

As for me; please pray that God shows me how much time to give to each area of ministry that I need to focus on. I've been fortunate enough to have some amazing reunions with past interns and catch up with them and maintain those relationships. Their visits have reminded me of the importance of investing that time into my present interns and their struggles and joys of ministry and life.

I praise God for each of you who hold me up in prayers and support my ministry. Thank you for allowing me to continue to share God's love in this community!

HIS grace and peace,
BElla