Deep Breath!

This has been one of the most challenging months of our ministry. The reason for there being no posts these past weeks is that I have not had enough fuel in the tank to sit down and begin to put into words the events of the past few weeks. Even now as I am typing this there is a heaviness knowing what I must try to express.

We lost another close friend, in fact Ali was more than a close friend, he was our #1 encourager and he had the biggest heart for kids ever. Ali was a giant among men, gentle and attentive. You never left his presence without feeling better about your God and yourself. I was richly blessed and experienced "Holy Ground" because my life was connected to Ali Park and together we were in Christ. Ali is now for sure enjoying his reward and heaven will be resounding with his laughter and maybe a spot of DIY in true Ali fashion. My heart is heavy at the loss of a dear brother and there will, until I'm called home, be an Ali Park gap in my life. However, my spirit is strengthened and my faith is by far the richer because of the "Christ like" transformation Ali lived out in his life.

It struck me that we have lost 3 huge influences in our life in these recent times. The first was Barby Smith, then there was Dean Curtis and now Ali Park. I cannot begin to tell you the impact these godly people have had of our family. The amount of wisdom, insight and instruction we have gleaned from these giants is immense. These three would certainly make up my personal Hebrews 11.

There has been so much beauty these past weeks in our ministry and of course I have no way of communicating all of it, but I will mention the journey I have shared with Thomas Dickie these past years and most importantly the last 6 weeks. Thomas has been coming to classes for over 7 years. He is now 16 and tonight he will be our new brother in Christ! I had been teaching a series of lessons on who Jesus is and Thomas responded telling me it had all started to make sense. From that point we began meeting every week 1 on 1 to study and talk through the need for Jesus in God's plan for our salvation and God's desire for our committed life to Him. After 6 weeks Thomas said he was ready to commit his life and tonight we will witness his new birth! I have spent some time with his parents, Shari and Billy, who are totally supportive and delighted at his decision.

I promise it will not be so long to post from this point forward - God willing!