As I look back at March 13 when I was blogging about my purpose here in missoula, not knowing what the future would hold at that time... God is so good. The future from march 13 to now is now past, some not so easy, some not so hard. I am amazed at every few months, looking back, I don't know how we made it this far, and I don't know how we are going to make it in the future.
But we will. we will make it and God's will will prevail. How awesome is that? I continue to pray that he stretch and mold us in the way He sees fit, to help others to know who He is. WOW! God is amazing. The wrld i soo messed up, but we can rely and have Peace in God!
Sitting in a room, a room that reminds me of maybe my highschool, White, shiny,cynderblock walls windows on 2 of those walls, trimmed with bright turquoise paint. A bold contrast of trim. Perhaps school colors? Pride in school? These windows don't lead to the bright sun, but windows to the hallway, and more windows covered with two way mirrors. theres another room with a basketball hoop attached to the wall. sometimes there are boys in there, bouncing balls. maybe a 2 on 2 game. As I sit in a classroom singing praise songs there are 9 students sitting at tables looking down at the floor mumbling the words of the song quietly. One student has a wonderful voice, singing out everyone in the room notices. to sing and worship. The walls are covered in large sheets of red and white paper. The word LOVE is artisticly Drawn, and colored in large letters near the door, there is a beautiful dove drawn right under the word love. A peaceful, loving classroom right? The stdents wear orange, all orange, a pair of red sandals and orange socks. Orange shirt orange pants. "Its aa whole new take on the color orange" one of them says. Freedom is something these kids don't have. Are they "Bad Kids"? maybe. I can tell you one of them has a voice of an angel. She even looks like a "normal" kid. her hair well kept and that beautiful voice. If you were to run into her on the street, you wouldnt ever think she would have been here. All of these kids awaiting court dates and hoping the judge will let them go "home". Why does society put the labels on these kids? Are they Bad? If you were to see them in their Highschool, would you think the same way about them? Is it their clothes? Is it the Orange? Why are they here? maybe paroll violation, maybe a cocane bust, maybe selling of ones soul,and body? Maybe theft? Are these kids marked as bad kids? some are as young as 12. some as old as 17. Do these kids have hope? Can they be somebody someday? why are they here? Are they failures that should just flush their lives and give up now? Do they have hope? No I am not talking about the "hope" like people say Obama will bring, but Hope for a "Normal" life? to find freedom, and stay free, to live a legal life. Is there hope? These children, they are children, not too mch older than my own, what kind of life have they had? Is mom a druggie? is Dad a dealer? maybe Dad is Mom' pimp? maybe they grew up in a meth house? maybe dad steals motercycles, and sells them? Maybe they never had a chance from the day they were born, maybe they never had the oppertunity to dream. Maybe they have been raising their siblings since they were very young. Are these kids forgotten? Who is to blame? Is is society? Is it their parents? Do we ignore these kids until they wrong us or their lives directly affect us? I watch people rush around daily, get to work get to appointments get to the store, looking down, or just so focused and in their own worlds, no smiling, no have a great day, no holding the door open for the person behind us. so many times it shuts in that persons face, does anyone notice? NO we are too buisy in our own world and this "great" new invention of bluetooth, um.... ok... so we can stay in our bubble even more, and wow, an excuse to not have to relate to people face to face. why bother if it isn't convinent to me?After all I am the only one who matters right? We can't do this on our own. we cant live in our own little bubble! We are here to share ourselves and our Joy with others and to share the real Hope we have in God. He has totally changed my life. I have seen Him make amazing changes in the lives of others. We can't expect these people in our communities to change on their own lives as we walk by making a business deal on our blootooth headset, and looking at them, and thinking... "oh what a thug", or "punk teenager". How are we to help these kids see? Is there hope for them? can we help them see?
Please pray for the kids that we are in contact with in the jail ministry, some really believe they have no hope. I believe they all have great potential, there is hope in Christ for each one of them, if they want to see it. Can we help them see that? How?
