Family Promise, Report thru Thursday . . . California Fires

The FP week continues and everything is going well. The Higginbotham/Cobleigh small group were the feeding team. The spaghetti was good tonight. Spaghetti is my most favorite meal. I usually eat a ton of it and tonight was no exception. All of the families continue to progress at their own pace. One of the persons in the program and I had a protracted conversation concerning God. He has been a Christian for 5 years, and is definately a lover of God. He has a well thought out understanding of God. He has some obstacles concerning his present lifestyle and some decisions he needs to make to realign his relationship with God. We have offered our hand to help in these matters, pray that he will do the right thing. What a unique opportunity God has given us to spend time with people who have needs that we can fill while sending a message to them concerning Christ. Making them feel welcome enough to find Christ is the goal. Pray for us as we serve them.
California is burning as we write this tonight. Josh Parrish is in Chico on the front lines. Josh is chomping at the bit to do soemthing for the community that has been hit been by these fires. Disaster Relief Effort from Nashville is responding with a truckload of goods as we speak. I am trying to assess the situation and formualte a plan of action. There are lots of fires in alot of locations.Pray for God to guide us to help some. Pray for God's guidance for Josh and Tiffany as they respond in their area to these fires.

Family Promise continued . . .

We had another good night with the FP crowd. A new family arrived last night and are assimilating into the program. The families are a joy to be around. They all seem deligent about the task of "getting" out of the program. They all have a few hurdles to overcome, but they are all working on their respective issues. The Barkus small group made dinner last night. Sheila's nineteen pound roast was a big hit. The challenge is to not gain weight during the FP week. Their is an abundance of good food every night.
We have one of our new families at Davis Park hosting, it should be a real experience for them.

pray for us as the week continues,

Buddy

Family Promise. . . . Helping those who want help.

We are on day three of this current cycle of Family Promise. We have a good group of folks who are struggling with the hands that they have been dealt. A young couple trying to overcome several issues, but working hard to get it right this time. A single mom trying to raise a young daughter and a grandmother overwhelmed with the responsibility of raising two grandchildren.
I am still amazed at this program and the opportunity afforded churches to help people who want to perservere through tough times and emerge victorious. This program brings people to your doorstep and drops them off. One of the moms asked for a bible for her daughter who starts meeting with a teen group tonight. One mom cried when she found we host an Al-Anon meeting in our building.
Last night Rick's small group hosted the evening meal. It was awesome food, various smoked meats, salads and great deserts. Jim and Doty brought their grand children to "sleep in church." It is cool to have a multi-generational touch to servanthood.
More updates coming up . . .

Alcatraz . . .

About six months ago Mike Crowley my fellow minister at Davis Park talked me into swiming across San Francisco Bay with him. Neither of us had ever swam open water before, and I was in ridiculously bad shape physically. The swim starts with a six block walk to a ferry that takes you out to the island. At the island your feet never touch dry land, you exit the door of the ferry straight into the water.

The moment of truth is the time when its your turn to jump. The water is 57 degrees and everyone before you has screamed as they enter the water. At the start line are 700 other people with black suits and yellow caps. All of which are being wound up by a guy with a bull horn and ever decreasing body temperature.

Finally the boats horn blasts and its time to sink or swim. The obstacles are many, feet, elbows, waves, fog(couldn't see the GG bridge). From the water the shorline looked miles away, although it was only 1.5 miles. So, thats what you do, you swim, you drink salt water involuntarily and occasionally you tread water to see if you are any closer to the shore line. Eventually you close in on the opening of the aquatic park, you dream of the nice calm water of the park and how close that is to the finish line. Then your in the park and you have about 25 percent of the race to finish.

At the finish line you come out of the turbulent water to find solid ground that is not mimicing the undulations of the water. Your first steps are awkard and the triage person asks you if your OK. Rule 1 is to lie to this person or she puts you into the care of a teenage emt, who is all about pestering you until you tell him to bug off. It was great to see friends and family at the finish line and it was great to be at the finish line before Mike. The good news is that we both survived the race without any major damgage to our bodies.

Thanks for all your prayers in this quest.

Buddy