May 07, 2012
May 05, 2012
May 04, 2012
May 02, 2012
March 10, 2012
Giving it all
The other day Shelby came up to me and handed me this note...
"Dear Daddy, Guess what! I saved up enough money to do a Compassion each month! I already know what girl I want. I will show her to you. Love Shelby :)"
She was so excited when she handed me the letter. Here is the part I'm not proud of - as soon as I read the letter I thought she was asking me for permission. I couldn't see how my 9 year old daughter could possibly sponsor a compassion child. My mind began swirling with questions, "How is she going to sponsor a child at $38 per month? Where is she getting this money from?..." I said, "Shelby, I will talk to your mommy about it." I figured the two of us saying 'no' would make me less of the bad guy. Shelby immediately said, "No Daddy. I'm doing it. I already have the money." I still didn't believe her. (Aren't I just filled with loads and loads of faith?)
I checked with Tammy and sure enough, Shelby had it all figured out. She saved all of the birthday money that her grandparents had given her and several weeks/months worth of allowance. She had 4 months worth of support raised already! Her plan is to save her allowance every week and apply all of it toward her sponsorship, she will also save any extra money that she finds or has given to her. Basically this means that every dime she comes across will be going to sponsor a child. One way or another Shelby is determined to make sure that she sponsors a child in need.
The day after handing me the letter, Tammy and Shelby got on the Compassion website and made all of the arrangements for Shelby's sponsorship. Meet Worekenesh...
Shelby chose Worekenesh because she had been waiting for a sponsor for nearly 9 months. Shelby told me that it concerned her that Worekenesh was old enough for school but couldn't go because she didn't have enough money and no one had chosen to sponsor her yet.
Worekensh is part of our extended family now. Letters have been exchanged, prayers have been prayed, and photos will follow. Because of a faithful little girl across the world, Worekenesh has clean drinking water, medical care, an education, and most importantly Worekenesh will hear about Jesus.
I'm so proud of Shelby. Her generosity to bless someone else by giving all that she has humbles me. Shelby's willingness to give all that she has reminded me of the woman at the temple who dropped in two small coins. Jesus noticed her generosity and remarked that she gave more than any other person; it was all that she had, but she gave it all. Mark 12:41-44
February 09, 2012
Don't Tell Tammy
Don't tell Tammy but I'm thinking about getting her this for Valentine's Day...
She doesn't have neck problems, I just think it looks very fashionable. I think she will really like it.
February 06, 2012
Everyone Has a Twin
I had a very interesting text conversation with a friend back in Indiana who is taking college courses. Here's how it went...
Him: WGS guest speaker looked so much like you. Hope all is well.
Me: Poor fella :)
Him: The guest lecturer was not a fella.
Me: haha [Internally I was thinking he was being funny here - but wait...]
Him: Yes, very glad I did not go up and say dude how's it going. Women Gender Studies takes a lot of attention and so far outside the box I can't see the box.
Me: Yikes. SHE looked like me!? Oh my.
Him: Yes she looked like YOU! I have a pic of you in my contacts and showed it to a classmate. She did a double take.
Me: Lol. This conversation is hilarious - I may have to put in a blog post :)
Him: I would have taken a pic to send you but we are not to have phones or laptops out during class.
Me: I will just look at myself in the mirror & picture the poor lady.
*{shudder}*
February 04, 2012
Love Regardless
Here is an audio link to last week's message (Jan. 29) at The Branches Community Church - "Love Regardless"...
Click HERE
Or you can paste the link in your address bar:
http://mediastorage.cloversites.com/thebranchescommunitychurch/media_player/1%20John%202%207-11.mp3
Click HERE
Or you can paste the link in your address bar:
http://mediastorage.cloversites.com/thebranchescommunitychurch/media_player/1%20John%202%207-11.mp3
December 25, 2011
December 15, 2011
The Branches Update December 2011
Merry Christmas from The Branches Community Church!
We pray that you are enjoying the season with family and friends. The Branches is looking forward to celebrating our first official Christmas together as a church family. On December 19th we will be sharing a Christmas meal together and enjoying one another's company. The great thing about being a young church is that we get to enjoy many "firsts" together. A few weeks ago we took our first communion with one another. It was a very meaningful time for us to corporately remember the sacrifice that Jesus has made for us.
Our desire as a church is to reach out with Christ's love into our community. Frequently we do this by generously giving to others. In November we approached a local agency for names and addresses of families in need. Just before Thanksgiving we gathered at the Harris' home and put together Thanksgiving baskets to pass out to families in Escondido. Brand new festively decorated laundry baskets were brimming over with turkey, potatoes, pies, stuffing, etc. Each family who put a basket together then delivered it to families we had never met before - it was a great evening.
One of the people at The Branches that I wish you all could meet is Tom Clare. Tom and his family are a powerful team caring for the poor. Tom's first direct encounter with ministering to the homeless was on October 29th, less than two months ago. On that Saturday our church provided a barbecue meal to the homeless in the park. Tom volunteered to purchase all of the meat and to grill it. When I arrived at the park Tom was already there, I could barely see him through all of the smoke wafting up from the grill. When the smoke cleared I saw Tom's smiling face as he flipped the burgers and was making sure that the homeless who were flooding over to the table had everything they needed. Later, He told Pastor James, "I don't think I could ever throw out leftovers from my refrigerator knowing that there are people in my community who are hungry."
After the meal Tom and his wife Shellie stuck around with Pastor James in the park to minister to a gentleman who needed counseling. They put the man up in a hotel for the evening and Tom offered the gentleman his phone number in case he needed to talk again some time. God was definitely doing something in Tom's heart that day at the park.
Just a couple of days later Tom and Shellie made their way back to the park on their own with a large pot of soup and provided soup for dozens of people. He sat and talked with people in the park and simply listened to their stories. He learned that many of them could use coats as colder weather approached. That week at work Tom organized a coat and blanket drive. Within a day his truck was packed with gently used coats and blankets and shoes. Over the month of November Tom and Shellie made several trips back to the park on their own to feed those who are hungry.
A couple of days ago Tom's workplace had a Christmas party and there were 8 full trays of food left over. There was no way he was going to let it go to waste so he called Pastor James. James contacted the homeless shelter in town and told them that we had food to provide; the shelter said that it was great timing because they didn't know what they were going to do for the soup kitchen the next day.
Currently, Tom has a new project that he is inviting all of our church family to participate in. The winter season is a very difficult time for the homeless in our community so we will be collecting socks, rain ponchos, McDonald's gift cards, etc. to pass out to those in need.
Less than 2 months of ministering to the homeless and Tom is a "fireball poverty fighter"! Men like Tom humble me. A couple of weeks ago I caught Tom after church, I said, "Tom I think it is so awesome the way that you are ministering to the homeless in our community." Tom looked at me with tears in his eyes and said, "I want to thank you and James for everything you're doing, because up until now they were invisible to me."
Those who were previously invisible are now visible; seems to me like he is seeing through Christ's eyes. Tom's life is changing, and Tom is changing lives… and it's all because of Jesus.
Glad the manger was filled and the tomb is empty!
Kris
We pray that you are enjoying the season with family and friends. The Branches is looking forward to celebrating our first official Christmas together as a church family. On December 19th we will be sharing a Christmas meal together and enjoying one another's company. The great thing about being a young church is that we get to enjoy many "firsts" together. A few weeks ago we took our first communion with one another. It was a very meaningful time for us to corporately remember the sacrifice that Jesus has made for us.
Our desire as a church is to reach out with Christ's love into our community. Frequently we do this by generously giving to others. In November we approached a local agency for names and addresses of families in need. Just before Thanksgiving we gathered at the Harris' home and put together Thanksgiving baskets to pass out to families in Escondido. Brand new festively decorated laundry baskets were brimming over with turkey, potatoes, pies, stuffing, etc. Each family who put a basket together then delivered it to families we had never met before - it was a great evening.
One of the people at The Branches that I wish you all could meet is Tom Clare. Tom and his family are a powerful team caring for the poor. Tom's first direct encounter with ministering to the homeless was on October 29th, less than two months ago. On that Saturday our church provided a barbecue meal to the homeless in the park. Tom volunteered to purchase all of the meat and to grill it. When I arrived at the park Tom was already there, I could barely see him through all of the smoke wafting up from the grill. When the smoke cleared I saw Tom's smiling face as he flipped the burgers and was making sure that the homeless who were flooding over to the table had everything they needed. Later, He told Pastor James, "I don't think I could ever throw out leftovers from my refrigerator knowing that there are people in my community who are hungry."
After the meal Tom and his wife Shellie stuck around with Pastor James in the park to minister to a gentleman who needed counseling. They put the man up in a hotel for the evening and Tom offered the gentleman his phone number in case he needed to talk again some time. God was definitely doing something in Tom's heart that day at the park.
Just a couple of days later Tom and Shellie made their way back to the park on their own with a large pot of soup and provided soup for dozens of people. He sat and talked with people in the park and simply listened to their stories. He learned that many of them could use coats as colder weather approached. That week at work Tom organized a coat and blanket drive. Within a day his truck was packed with gently used coats and blankets and shoes. Over the month of November Tom and Shellie made several trips back to the park on their own to feed those who are hungry.
A couple of days ago Tom's workplace had a Christmas party and there were 8 full trays of food left over. There was no way he was going to let it go to waste so he called Pastor James. James contacted the homeless shelter in town and told them that we had food to provide; the shelter said that it was great timing because they didn't know what they were going to do for the soup kitchen the next day.
Currently, Tom has a new project that he is inviting all of our church family to participate in. The winter season is a very difficult time for the homeless in our community so we will be collecting socks, rain ponchos, McDonald's gift cards, etc. to pass out to those in need.
Less than 2 months of ministering to the homeless and Tom is a "fireball poverty fighter"! Men like Tom humble me. A couple of weeks ago I caught Tom after church, I said, "Tom I think it is so awesome the way that you are ministering to the homeless in our community." Tom looked at me with tears in his eyes and said, "I want to thank you and James for everything you're doing, because up until now they were invisible to me."
Those who were previously invisible are now visible; seems to me like he is seeing through Christ's eyes. Tom's life is changing, and Tom is changing lives… and it's all because of Jesus.
Glad the manger was filled and the tomb is empty!
Kris
December 12, 2011
October 06, 2011
Branches Community Church Update
As a church we continue to preach the Gospel and do our best to live it out in our community. On the last Saturday of each month we have "PB&J at Grape Day". We put together sack lunches and pass them out to homeless and others in downtown Escondido at Grape Day Park. This has been a great opportunity to practically meet needs and interact with others in the community. The last Saturday in October we plan to ratchet it up a notch with a large barbecue in the park.Clean up at San Pasqual High School after the football games is in full swing again. We meet as a group at the end of fourth quarter and begin the task of cleaning up the stands when the fans leave. We generally follow up our night of service by hanging out at Chili's with one another.
Our Men's Bible Study recently completed the book of Luke (it only took us a year to get through it :) Last Monday we began our new study in the book of Acts.
The number of new faces seems to be picking up each week in our Sunday services. We have had new guests almost every week for the past several weeks; it is always a shot in the arm for us to see and connect with new folks. Most of our guests are coming as the result of fellow "branches" inviting their neighbors/coworkers/relatives to join them at church. The challenge becomes developing community outside of our Sunday morning services with those who have recently begun attending.
Our mother church, Brookville Road Community Church, will be having their annual Missions Banquet on November 16th. I will be back in Indiana from November 10-17. I would love to connect with you while I am back. I'm looking forward to catching up with many of you and hearing about what the Lord has been doing in your lives. To stay current with where I will be, please feel free to follow me on Twitter: @changeisgood4u or "friend me" on Facebook - You can also email me at changeisgood4u (at) gmail.com
Pastor James and I would like to thank you for your prayers as we are in the infancy stages of The Branches Community Church. Please continue to pray for favor for all of the families who have moved from Indiana to start this church (Pinkerton's, Harris', Canady's, & Sorensen's) Please pray that the Lord would open doors of opportunity for us as we desire to spread the Gospel to as many people as possible in as many places as possible.
Glad the tomb is empty!
Kris
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