Fountains, beaches, sunshine and sleep

Just a few of things I have experienced in the last few days:)
I am taking a break from work and enjoying the beach, while visiting a long time friend, Shelah and her husband... Gabe came too.
A short update on my living situation...The girl that had committed to living with me has decided she is not going to anymore. This is the second time that has happened so now I am back to square one again. Please pray.
A quote for the week: "But in order that life should be a story or romance to us, it is necessary that a great part of it, at any rate, should be settled for us without our permission. If we wish life to be a system, this may be a nuisance; but if we wish it to be a drama, it is an essential."
Just something to think about as we try to control our little world around us, but wish for excitement and romance...and at the same time question God when things happen that we don't understand.
"The thing which keeps life romantic and full of fiery possibilities is the existence of these great plain limitations which force all of us to meet the things we do not like or expect."
Both quotes come form the book Heretics by G. K. Chesterton.

NOT FOR SALE!

I just found out this week that Atlanta is the #1 city in America for Human Trafficking, a $32 billion/year industry, and Atlanta is #5 in the world! I was dumbfound by the numbers...27 million people are forced into slavery today %50 are children. Its time for us to do something about this! I will continue to post on opportunities to fight this epidemic, but for now YOU can do something...RAISE AWARENESS!

SOme websites:
Notforsalecampaign.org (non-profit organization)

Slaverymap.org (Where anyone can go and report Human slavery...check out your town you might find out where it is happening near you, or go to the police station ask about any human trafficking cases that have happened recently and post it on the website...anyone can post)

SlaveLaborProject.net (My small group leader's blog)

Read the book Not For Sale by David Batstone.

RAISE MONEY:
Free to play- sports teams can donate $1 for every goal/basket/touchdown they score.
I am trying to set up donations on my unit for every delivery we have we put 10 cents in a box.
Get creative you to can contribute.

Any questions about this post a comment for me!

Father's Day

In light of Father's Day (yes I know it has already passed but I wanted to post anyway), I just wanted to comment on how thankful I am for my Dad. In a society where a lot of fathers are absent in their children's lives I think my Dad has done an awesome job of staying connected to his kids. He always made sure when we were younger to set aside time to play games with us or read books to us. He would even leave his computer home when we went on vacations to make sure that he wasn't tempted to do any work.
A statistic that i heard at my church this weekend: Of all the kids that are taken to church each week by their mothers alone only 17% of those kids will continue to have a relationship with the Lord, on the other hand of all the children that are taken by their Father's to church not including their mom 68% continue to stay connected to God. That is so shocking to me. My pastor also commented on how most of the generational curses or sins that we have to this day stem from fatherlessness. He continued to preach an awesome message to the Father's... here are a few points from his sermon that are the 5 strategies Satan uses to get past the Doorkeeper of the house (ie Fathers).

1. Disorder - He has made it very unpopular for a man to lead his family and, consequently, many men have abdicated their authority to their wives, contrary to the order God has established throughout Scripture.
2. Distraction - He tries to get men so caught up in their careers, hobbies, sports or whatever that they withdraw from their families and stop paying attention.
3. Deception - He tries to get men to remain ignorant of, or forget the power of media and allow things into our homes that are not of God via the Internet, TV, movies, music, etc. Once we fall for this deception, we are easily bound.
4. Division - Knowing that a house divided cannot stand, Satan works to sew discord and disagreement wherever possible. It's the man's responsibility to make sure his house is in a place of agreement. If you and your wife aren't in agreement, it's your responsibility, men, to do what it takes to bring that agreement.
5. Desertion - Satan tries (and all too often succeeds) to convince men into leaving their families altogether. This can be physical desertion, when the father actually leaves for whatever reason, or emotionally; he may be physically present, but he's completely checked out otherwise.
6. Here is a link to his message http://victoryatl.com/p/11998/Default.aspx, click on the doors series and JUne 15 message. I strongly encourage any Father's reading this to listen to the message or any men that are going to be Fathers at some point, it is very empowering.