Cherished Outreach - September

As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. ~ Ephesians 2:1-10

This was the chapter I read for my quiet time today, and it was so perfect for the outreach tonight. I was once dead, and now because of God's grace am alive. I go to let people know God loves them, people who are the same as I was before I surrendered and was saved by grace. It sounds so cheesy and "christian" to say, but it's true.

Tonight was really good. My friend Sarah went with me, and we took chocolate chip cookies for the guys and mug with packets of hot chocolate in them for the girls. A few women from church got together and painted the mugs. They all either said "You are Loved", "I have loved you with an everlasting love" or "She is worth far more than rubies". I prayed so hard that they would be taken in the spirit they are given, and that no one would be offended or feel preached at. All the women we saw acted very blessed and seemed to like them, so I hope the other girls who come in later feel the same way.

We walked in and talked to the guys (2 bouncers, bartender and dj). They were friendly and I was struck by what a difference it is from how cold they were for the first 10 months we were going in. One of the bouncers gave me his email address so I could invite his wife to a playdate, which I'm really excited about. They have 2-year-old twins, so we always talk about kids. He promised to give her my message when I email him. We made small talk with the other guys and I asked the dj about coming to church (he's said over and over he's going to come), and he ducked his head and said he'll come sometime. I told him I'd keep after him about it. :-) He doesn't mind my asking him about it, which I'm thankful for.

Then we went and talked to a dancer and the waitress who were sitting at the bar. The dancer was very excited because she is going to be reunited with her son in the near future. He's been with a family member for almost 6 months, but she's been able to visit and call. Now she's almost done with a program and classes and has done everything she was told to do to get him back. I'm so excited for her. She almost cried when she was telling me how long he's been gone and how much she missed him. I also invited her and the waitress to church, and the waitress was quick to let me know she still attends the church she grew up in. :-)

We took the mugs into the dressing room and talked to the girl who was getting ready in there. She was very friendly, but it was surface-level conversation. As we were starting to prepare to leave, 2 more girls came busting in and one of them seemed angry. Her boyfriend (?) was talking to her from the other side of the "door" (it's a curtain) so we packed up to leave, but then he left. We said hi to the girls who came in, and they liked the mugs, but it was time to go. But when I gave the first girl a hug as we left, one of the others reached to give me a hug. I'm so lucky to get to do this ministry. It means a lot to me that she wanted a hug. When we left I asked Sarah about her perspective and she said the thing that stuck out to her was how much I touch the girls. I hug them, but more than that, I touch their arm from time to time while we talk. I learned in the training we did in LA that it's really good to give 'healthy touch' as much as is comfortable for them (and me!), as it might be the only healthy touch than they get all night. Mostly it's just another way to let them know we care.

I love these girls. Please pray God brings them out of this darkness and they want Him.

Look at me, regularly posting!

I know that two posts in two weeks doesn't really count as "regularly posting" but it's a start, people.

Yesterday was the best day ever. Maybe not ever, but it really really helped my life. To catch you up, I've been to the eye doctor way too much lately. I lost a contact a while back and that led me to get an updated prescription for my glasses. Then I found said contact and barely wore my glasses for a while. Then I started seeing "floaters" in my field of vision and went to have that checked out - totally normal apparently, and you just have to live with it. It's proteins floating in your eyeball, and sometimes you can see them. It's like having lint just float through your eye every once in a while, and you can't do a thing about it. Blech. THEN last week I completely lost my contacts. Woke up, went to put them in and my contact case was empty. I have cleaned more in the last week than usual, and cannot find them ANYWHERE. So in the meantime, I'm wearing my glasses, of course. The problem is, I start noticing that the glasses are not as good as my contacts. Everything more than 5 feet away starts to get blurrified. Which makes me utterly miserable. And our insurance won't pay for new contacts until January 30th, so that's when I'll go get more. I know that I shouldn't allow my circumstances to determine my mood or affect my peace, but it really did. I just felt like I was in a funk. Ergo, less posting.

But then yesterday happened. I finally was fed up enough to call Dr. Bizer's and ask what it would cost to re-check my prescription, because it's really that bad. (FREE!) So I dropped the kids off at my Mom's yesterday morning (so glad to say see ya later to a fussy, teething baby for an hour) and went to check my eyes. And thank goodness, it wasn't just me. They really were as bad as I thought. Dr. Swartzentruber told me I had had a drastic change in my prescription in just one month, and that she thought it was good that I lost my contacts. Her thought is that my (hard) contact lenses were re-shaping my eye in a bad way, and now that I'm not wearing them, my eyes are shifting back. So she gave me FREE contact lenses to wear for a few weeks to see if my eyes revert more. If they don't, we'll go ahead and get me new glasses, and if they do, we'll get new FREE contacts to wear until my eyes quit and we know what prescription my glasses need to be. This way I'm not getting new glasses every month. I was naturally concerned about whether or not my eye would just keep reverting until I was blind, but she said that wouldn't happen. She better hope not. :-)

So now I can see, and my life is better. I came home and did a bunch of cleaning because I could see the dirt more clearly. Happy day.

A Random Post to Catch-Up

Well team, it's been quite a while since I last posted. And I would say the reason for that was first business and then because all I could think to post about seemed like complaining, and I hate when people only use blogs and statuses and tweets to complain. It's annoying. But after a while, I started to think that maybe the 'nobility' of not posting to not complain smacked a little of laziness and ungratefulness for all that is wonderful in my life. Ok, maybe more than a little. :-) So here I am, back in black. (Actually in a gray EKU t-shirt, but you get the picture).

A quick recap on some of the highlights of the last month:

• Stella is starting to get that pudgy, stuffed animal feel to her. I LOVE when babies feel like that. I just want to squeeze her to death! But I won't.
• Josiah is awesome. I kind of thought that because I enjoy Stella so much I would start to think he was less fun, but that definitely hasn't happened. He's so funny, I love that we're getting into the "Kids Say The Darndest Things" phase. By far my favorite, though, is how he randomly shouts, "I LUB YOU MAMA" from whatever room he's in. It makes me so happy.
• My husband is AMAZING. Our basement is looking so so good. I'll try to take some pictures so you can see, but it's been crazy how the more walls he's put up, the bigger the basement looks. We now have a bedroom, a couple of closets, and the bathroom walls up. Joe moved down last week and Stella moved out of our room and into her room upstairs, WHICH I LOVE. No more waking up everytime she grunts in the night. This past Saturday we had my family over to watch football in the basement and TJ even swept and mopped it for me. I am so blessed to have such a hard-working husband.
• Yesterday was super-fun. DeeAnn Miller and I (and Stella) went up to Lexington to Once Upon A Child and Plato's Closet. I had a load of stuff to buy and to sell, and also picked up some fall boots at Rack Room. I am in love with my boots and am looking for excuses to go places so I can wear them. TJ initially asked that I get heeled boots, but all the heeled boots make me look like a pirate. Slouchy boots are definitely not flattering (at least for me). So I got the go-ahead for riding boots!! :-) I also did really good getting stuff for the kids, but I won't bore you with the details. It was a fun trip.

So those are just a few of the things I have to be happy about. I will admit the thing that does have my mood dragging a little bit is that I've lost my contacts. Not one, but both of them. I have absolutely no idea where they are. I thought they were in the contact case on the counter, but when I went to put them in, it was empty! As were all the other contact cases I have. I went through the trash twice (which was disgusting because everyone except for me has a cold) and looked in every crevice of the floor and toiletry bags I keep in the bathroom. No luck. Josiah says he played with the, but I'm not sure he actually did, as the case was exactly where I left it, with both sides closed. I think if he had been playing with it, it would have been in a different place and probably open. But I could be wrong. On the upside, I just got new glasses that I really like. On the downside, it seems that as I've gone without my contacts, my prescription is slightly blurry on the right side. I wear hard contact lenses, so they re-shape your eye. I imagine that the longer I go without them, my eye reverts to its bad shape and worse eyesight. It's extremely frustrating knowing that I would see more clearly if I had my contacts. But I keep telling myself I should just be happy I live in a country and time when I can get glasses to help me see as well as they do. Feel free to pray that my contacts turn up though.

Alright. Time to fold some laundry. I promise to more faithful in the posting. :-)

Cherished Outreach - August

Is it already Friday morning? I feel like this week and yesterday flew by while I was standing still. The outreach last night went really well, and it was so great to see what God will do and has done for this ministry.

This month we made chocolate chip cookies for the bouncers/bartender/dj and "Rolo Pretzel Bites" for the girls, wrapped in bags and tied with ribbon. We also took a note that said "You are Loved! Enjoy a treat!" to put on the mirror by the extra treats for girls that hadn't come into work yet. Andi Moore (those of you from VCCR know her as the girl who does the signing on Sunday mornings) went in with me for her first visit, and she did great. Everyone was comfortable with her and clearly knew she genuinely cared about them. We went in at 6:15, but there were only 2 dancers and 1 waitress there. We chatted with the guys (staff) for a few minutes and gave them their cookies, and I was able to invite the bouncer's wife to do a potential playdate soon! He acted like she would be very interested, so I'm excited about that possibility.

The 2 dancers there, "C" and "P", are two girls that I met almost 2 years ago when we first started going to the club. They've both been gone for different, not good reasons and are back now. They were happy to see us though, and we talked about how their kids are doing. P said that the night she got back she was asking the girls when the "church girls" had been there last. :-) At the end of our conversation we invited them to church and they seemed open to it. At the very least, they weren't put off by the invitation. I'm so happy to feel like we've reached a point where I can invite them to church/church events without making them feel that something might get shoved down their throats. With most of them, I think we're past any suspicion about our intentions. I'm so thankful God has opened their eyes to our - and His! - genuine love for them. Please keep them in your prayers, especially as school starts. The girls seem to have mixed feelings, not looking forward to college guys (who don't tip well or treat them well, as a group) but obviously wanting more business. One of the girls said her boyfriend didn't want her dancing, but she couldn't find a job, so I let them know of places I knew were hiring. Continue to pray for their dissatisfaction with working there, and a longing for God and a different life. Pray that they take us up on our invitation and come to church.

Thank you so much for your prayers and support of this ministry. It is vital, and so encouraging.

I think I overuse commas.

Yesterday started out great. Aunt Beth sent me the picture above on Pinterest, and it totally made my morning. Of course, Dynamite was then in my head for the entire day. :-)

The first bummer of my day came when the brand new breast pump I had been given (after a friend found out that mine had broken) didn't work. Maybe I wasn't doing something right. I've never used the 2-at-a-time kind, so I'm going to try again, but it was a major disappointment. Siah is convinced that it is an airplane, but I think that it looks more like the Starship Enterprise - at least until you attach the bottles and horn things. Breast pumps in general are kind of creepy and strange. Oh well. The freedom for a few hours is worth it. After finally giving up on that, I decided to attempt the t-shirt scarf craft project I had pinned online. We started out well. I found a cute green t-shirt that I will never fit in again, unless I can magically turn 12, and started cutting. The problem came when it was time to make it ruffle by changing the tension and stitch length on my sewing machine. It just wasn't ruffling as much as I had expected. So I started to make the ruffles in the traditional way, which takes a lot more time. Then my bobbin ran out of thread. UGH. So I had to halt my project, rip out the line I had just sewn, re-thread the bobbin, and then put it in the machine again. For some reason, I could not get the stupid thread from the bobbin to raise. I was seriously about to start crying, I was so frustrated. Which only made me more mad, because bobbin is not a good reason to cry. Thank God, I finally figured out what I was doing wrong, changed my playlist to something a little more happy, and was on my way again. I decided to quit trying to do traditional ruffles, finish the project the way it is online, and be done. Of course, in the midst of all this sewing angst I have a toddler demanding more Mickey Mouse and Oso (a bear with apparently no skills whatsoever, but he learns how to do things like stand in line and pet dogs), and a baby that decided to have a fussy morning. Such a princess. But do I make things easier on myself and decide to finish tomorrow? Absolutely not. The project finally ended with a rather sad, limp (yet ruffly!) t-shirt scarf with TERRIBLE lines of stitches that could have been pretty if I had waited until I had green thread and taken the time to make sure they lined up well. My mom was super encouraging though, telling me to see it as a learning experience on how to deal with a very difficult fabric (thin stretchy knit). For someone who can be very insecure about a lot of things, I always think that I can sew anything quickly and beautifully, no matter what the project or fabric. Wrong. But I'm glad for the practice, and a new, very cute dust rag.

After getting my house picked up, some laundry done, naptime and a shower, my mood improved considerably. And today was gone much better. Stella's asleep, and I'm going to take Josiah outside for some "mow the lawn" time.

Cherished Outreach - July

Last night's visit felt really short, but it went really well. A great friend from church, Diana Trantham, made pretty earrings and bracelets and Stephanie Liby donated free haircuts, so our gifts were pretty great this month. I also made Mississippi Mud bars for the guys on staff. Janice Wood (Mom) went with me.

Before the visit I felt the urge to make sure that I asked girls if there was anything I could pray for them about, so I went in expecting God to have something going on. We went in and chatted with the guys (bouncers, dj, bartender) who were all sitting at the bar hanging out. One of the bouncers talked more than usual and even showed me pictures of his twins on his phone, and asked to see pictures of Stella. They ask how she is every time I come in now, which is encouraging as far as relationships that have been built with people at the club. I really want to make a point to reach out to that particular bouncer's wife - she's a stay-at-home mom with 2 year old twins! So please pray that God provides a way to have a playdate, or some kind of interaction with her. I talked quickly with the dj, who's dad recently passed away, and he told me that they spread the ashes this week. He seemed pretty ok and I invited him to let his girlfriend (former dancer) know about the free haircut. He and she both used the coupon the last time we gave away free haircuts. I talked to the bartender, and his grandfather passed away last month, but it was expected and he's fine with it. He told me that he's moved to Lexington, and I told him about a great church up there near where he lives, that TJ and I went to when we lived in Lex (Center Point). He was quick to tell me that he is still a member of his home church where he grew up, and that he spent 9 years playing church league basketball, but that right now working two jobs has him too tired to make it to church on Sundays. Please pray that he is driven to check out Center Point, or any church and feels a desire to know God on a deeper level.

We met 3 new dancers tonight - the girl I talked to last month really wasn't kidding about most of the old girls quitting or being fired. I chatted with one of the new girls - "R" - for a while, and asked if there was anything I could pray for her about, but she said she was fine. She did dance in Lex for a while, so she had met the ladies from Bruised Reed (Southland) and really liked them. It helped make her more comfortable with us, I think, which is great. Mom was able to talk to a new bartender and get to know her a little bit. She is attending church, but had been having trouble with money and is a single mother. Almost all of them are. When we went to the dressing room to leave the rest of the gifts on the counter for anyone to came in to work later, we met another new girl, "L", who has only worked there for a month. This is her first experience dancing, and she hates it. We had a great conversation with her, and she asked us to let her know if we knew of any place that was hiring. She is also a single mother, needed some extra money, and couldn't find a job for a couple of months before she applied at the club. She gave me her phone number and I'll be calling her with some ideas. Please pray for her. It feels like there is a short window when someone first starts in this line of work when they hate it and can get out before it gets really difficult and they've been sucked into the life, or feel they can't do anything else. She also attends a church, and wanted to make sure we didn't tell anyone about her for fear that where she's working might get out. Please pray that she is able to get a different job and gets away from dancing quickly.

Thank you so much for your prayers. We know that this is not a battle against the people working here, or the customers coming in, but a battle against Satan and his hold on them all. Keep it up!

I am so excited - it's 8:25 and I am halfway through my first cup of coffee from my new coffeemaker! TJ's mom saw on my facebook that my old coffeemaker had died, and bought me one! I am immensely blessed.

This weekend has been great so far - this weekend TJ's Granny, Mom, 2 aunts and sister all came in to Lexington to celebrate Terri's (his mom) 50th birthday. I took Stella and Josiah up last night and we all ate at the Melting Pot, and today they will be coming down here to visit and check out our house (his aunts haven't seen it). So naturally, I've been cleaning and organizing like crazy. I also baked a birthday cake this morning and need to get that iced before they get here. But it's great to see them, and we're excited for Aunt Sonya and Aunt Donna to see the house (even if it is a work in progress!). On top of all that, Todd and DeAnn Miller & Co., who are moving to Richmond in September to be our associate pastor, came in for the weekend. On our way home I took Siah and Stella by the house and hung out for a while. Have you ever met one of those people who are just so attractive you want to hang out with them all the time? When you're with them, you have fun, you feel loved, cared for, and clean. Like you're hanging out with Jesus. I feel that way about the Millers, and I'm really excited they're moving here. I so long to be a woman like that. I want to love Jesus and follow him so closely that when people hang out with me, they get a taste of him. They feel built up and special. I don't think there's a special trick to it, just one of the perks of being close to God. I hope he rubs off on me that way.

I started re-reading This Present Darkness by Frank Peretti this week. It might be one of my all-time favorite books. Maybe if I was more intellectual I would like The Screwtape Letters more (and I do love that book as well), but for me, they both accomplish the same job. I am reminded how subtly Satan works in my life through things like Complacency, Pride, Laziness, and many others. I'm reminded that I am in the middle of a war, and prayer is not only vital and powerful, it is my primary weapon. Sometimes I feel like what I'm doing as a mother and wife may not be important, and I'm so thankful when God reminds me that it IS important, and I'm filled with a renewed sense of purpose.