Billy's Place: Looking Forward...

Happy 2013 everyone! There is always something refreshing about entering into a new year. It almost gives us a chance to draw a line under the previous year and muster a whole new perspective for the year ahead. There is a real sense of effort and change amongst many of the youth group and although much of it may well dwindle over the coming weeks, it is still a joy to see them with renewed purpose and opportunity for growth. I have come to realise that any time a soul makes a conscious choice to renew their focus toward godliness is an opportunity for them to deepen their relationship with their Father.

This is our second week of classes being back since the Christmas break. The early signs are good and as ever cause us to sit down and consider how we can best accommodate the development of faith in the group as a whole. This is always a bit of a head scratcher with the limited help and the vast array of ages and faith! Last night was the perfect example. There were around 30 kids there from 6.15 to 8.00 pm. The age range was between 5 and 20, funnily enough so are the attention spans! This term we have the same skeleton crew of teachers who have to balance the needs of kids with hunger for spiritual things against the needs of the kids who have hunger for attention. Funny, as I am writing this I am getting flashbacks to the fact that this is not a new issue :) Yes, in an ideal world we would love to have more helpers who love kids and allow us the ability to cater for a more tailored needs based program, but that is not where we are. The opportunity we have is beautiful and it causes us to rely heavily in the provision of God, rather than in our own strength or ability. Yes, there are times we are tested to the extreme. Yes, there are times a lesson does not impact the way I had thought because of attention seeking outbursts. Yes, there are times we question if real growth is occurring. In spite of all this I am reminded DAILY that God brings about the increase in His time. There are times we sit and struggle over individuals who, in our thinking, we would be better off without. However, we know that their lives are in chaos because too few people sit and struggle over their well being. So, is ministry easy? Yes, it can be, if we choose not to reach out to the lost and the broken.

We had a lovely Christmas holidays! Fenella and I have often looked at each other, since Amy and Beth have gone back to Uni, and know we miss them sorely. It was complete JOY to have the house full of family! Of course, we are delighted with their choices and the direction their lives are now heading, but we now know what it feels like to live with and without them. Holly and Hannah had their big sisters home and made the most of every day! There were few nights when the four of them didn't find their way into the same bedroom for sleepovers and movies. Fenella too would deliberately go up to bed early and shout down stairs for one of the girls to come up and keep her company till I would come up and thank them for making my side of the bed nice and toastie. It is God who brings peace and love into a home.

We have much to be thankful for and in spite of some challenges that will follow us into this new year, we are able to say with confidence, "I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength."

The days ahead a already getting busy and the list of events and commitments are growing. One of our priorities is getting our older teens and young adults to enjoy Christianity and to find real joy in their lives. Even though this world is screaming in their ears our prayer is that they will listen to the still quiet voice that whispers to their hearts. We will be taking a group to a retreat in mid February which will be on the banks of Loch Lomond, hosted by the Cumbernauld Church of Christ. This is good timing for some focused time with the group away from the noise and into the stillness of fellowship with godly people.

I am allowing myself to get excited about the arrival of JR and Daisha Sheets! For a while we have prayed and anticipated their arrival, but it always seemed to be away in the distant future, but now it is almost time! The 21st of March is the date everything is pointing too for the move over here. Please be praying for this. They are now going through the process of applying for their visa's and we need this to go smoothly for them. God's plan has been obvious and His hand has and will carry this through to fruition. Although this is just the start of a new chapter we have seen so many twists and turns through out this partnership that it has been a story in itself getting to this point :)

Much of my daytime ministry is taken up with visitation and meeting up with young Christians to encourage and help out in any way I can. I am still active with schools, but I have cut back on the amount of my time spent within the schools. It became clear a while ago that working in large group settings is good but there has to be a balance and time devoted to building more one on one relationships. Again in an ideal world it would be great to have more like indeed people to share in outreach opportunities like these, but I must prioritise and have a more rounded outlook to developing our youth and encouraging the struggling.

It has been a welcome change to have Fenella back to her 3 1/2 days a week rather than the full time hours she was doing the months leading up to Christmas. I know that I function better knowing on Wednesday's we get to spend the day doing something together. It usually means a simple trip down to Simpsons Tea Room, but it's sometimes the simple things in life that are the best :)