Beautiful Things

By far, one of the best things about being back in Lancaster is hanging out with our dear friends from kid's clubs. I missed the little boys' mohawks, the Spanish nicknames, the overabundance of the name 'Luis'.

"Remember your Creator in the days of your youth..." graffiti-d wall at kid's clubs.

My brother Patrick and I got to hang out on South Ann St. for a little bit Saturday night.  Ann is "our" street, where we always hang out in the summer, where we know the most kids, where we wish we lived. It was so good to be back...it almost felt like home. 
And last night was the second Monday night clubs since we're home.  Galen, the Bible teacher, taught about the Trinity and used an egg as an illustration.  And when the egg fell on the concrete floor, Daylinn (one of the especially rowdy boys) jumped out of his seat and stomped on the egg.  Just to be sure it was really smashed, I guess.
Galen told the kids how God has a plan for each of their lives, and gave an example of how God had saved his life as a young boy. Then Keysha, during snack time, told me how God had saved her life when she had tripped down some steps and landed in the fire where her mom was burning trash.
Even when the whole kid's clubs thing sometimes feels pointless, God is taking all the little seeds and making them grow.  I'm thankful for that...

I often wonder what God is trying to teach me in all of this...moving home early from the mission field, trying to re-enter life here... I do want Him to take this hard time and use it for His glory.
I've been listening to this song ALOT lately...



"You make beautiful things out of the dust...You make beautiful things out of us." 
I love the album art on this CD... The whole picture is made up of skulls, bombs, fighter jets, guns.  But it's pretty.  A good visual of what God wants to do with each of us.