pretty little isyss

I work with children in the inner city & the suburbs and have done so for over 20 years. I so enjoy watching kids grasp life concepts and grow into people I can live life with! It's been so cool to see kids I worked with 15 years ago at my church now serving as leaders. This is so fulfilling to me!

Today at school I watched a 7 year old girl, Isyss, stand before me with tears streaming down her face. She had disappointed her mom and got disciplined for it. Her arm was swollen and appeared to have a serious injury. She didn't want to talk about what had happened. I could see her childhood spark fading from her eyes...it is a slow fade that happens here.

Working in the same place for so many years, I've seen a second generation of children come through the doors. It grieves me that the cycle of hurt and lack of emotional growth continues to effect the youth of our community.

Please join me in praying for our families in the Mahoning valley to experience an awakening to the patterns of destruction that stand before us. And along with your prayers, model love, acceptance & forgiveness to others who don't understand it or how to apply it in their lives.

It's a slow fade when the change comes- good or bad....let's work hard to let the fade move in the right direction and bring hope into the eyes of all the Isyss' out there.

time flies when you're having fun

Come to Me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest...Matthew 11:28

The kids in my neighborhood would hang out in my front yard because we had a bright mercury lamp in the yard. One instance came to me today. It was fall and there were dozens of huge maple trees on our street. Jeff, Danny, Brian & I took our garbage cans up and down the street to collect all the leaves we could and deposited them in my yard. It was some of the best leaf jumping and burying we ever had. I don't have any idea how long we were at the fun, but our parents kept calling us in for the night. My dad had to break up the party.

We were all bummed that the fun was over. We didn't want it to end. I had so much fun! But, I was so exhausted I didn't know how weary I was, but my mom sure knew! I took a warm bath, put on clean, comfy pajamas and ate a bowl of cereal. I'm pretty sure my dad had to carry me to bed that night.

The next day, we all gathered in the yard after school and played in the leaves again. I'm sure we had to rake those leaves up that day and get them ready for the street sweeper.

As an adult, I've had to learn to set a limit to how much I can do because sometimes I still don't want it to end. I'm so exhausted I don't notice weariness setting in. When I come to God, He rejuvenates me. He relaxes me. He fills me up with courage. He gives me strength and rest to do it all over again tomorrow, whether it is jumping or raking the leaves.

Don't let too much time fly by without resting in God!