Tea, a Little Poetry, and Some Thoughts From Me

This week I got to go out with my disciplee,
We had a lovely cup of loose leaf tea,
A warm gooey croissant with ham and cheese,
Just the thing for our stomach's hunger to appease.

Talking about Christ and what God has done,
Talking of life and laughter and fun,
Our friendship has started to blossom and grow,
Eyeing eachother over teacups with faces aglow.

Our time marches on and is over too fast,
Getting that fro yo was quite a blast,
Our hats were almost blown off once or twice,
But it made us feel pretty and made the day nice.

We talked of our lives on the drive back to the Ranch,
And shared of Gods preservation of our piece in His branch,
He watches over us even when we are going astray,
And when we get lost He leads us home His way.

This is such an enjoyable relationship to have and I feel so blessed to have the particular diciplee that I do. God is using her in my life to remind me of his constant sunshine that can't help but filter through. His light is there and is always shining and overcoming the darkness and so I have hope that even though there are many students here who have much darkness that the light is greater and that they will not leave here quite as dark as when they came.

It's one of the aspects of living here that I have been able to feel the contrast of the light and the darkness, which may seem weird but it's true. It's not that I've never felt darkness before but I have not felt it as strongly in the day to day. This place really is a battle ground where we are pushing back the darkness in the lives of these young people.

I think in many ministries people experience this but I think it's especially true for 24/7 ministries where you have to live with the people that you are mentoring.

The sunshine is too bright for people not to be affected by it here. It has been quite the adventure that God has brought me to and I am not sorry that He brought me here.

Coming to a Hard Blessing

     A day here at the ranch is always new. There are new challenges, new adventures, and new things to learn every day. I have really enjoyed being a part of this ministry.

    The way I heard about this place in the first place was because of a couple of families from my church. They came to an event up here and heard that CEM was looking for interns. On the same Sunday 3 different people from the 2 families came up to me saying that I should apply to be an intern. I think God was definitely involved in speaking to me that day through those people.
    So here I am working among at risk youth and pouring what God has given me into them as He moves. It really is an awesome experience.

    I have laughed with them and let them cry into my shoulder, and have let go of my own tears. It is hard but good. It's good to see the growth in the students and see how my first view of them has changed. It's also hard to see how even though they are growing in some areas they seem to be behind in other areas.
   I have heard more of thier stories and have shared more of mine. I'm learning that everything I have gone through in the past was not necessarily going to have to wait till I was in my 30s or when I "grew up" so to speak (by the way, does anyone truely reach the state of being fully "grown up"?). God is using my story right now and not just in the form of a book but in person.
   I was told by a very wise friend that it's important to share your testimony with others because you never know when or how God is going to use that in someone else's life. Recently it has become clear that God not only may use that testimony in someone else's life but also in mine. It has helped me to see how far I have come. It has helped to reinforce the fact that God has continued to work on me even if I can't always see it right away.
     Every day is new. It is challenging and beautiful because God has made it for us to learn to lean on Him more. That is a blessing beyond measure.