It's our normal procedure to keep exterior doors locked during the day, even if staff is in the building. That means you'll hear "tap-tap-tap" on the door a few to several times a day. If it's a child of a more energetic nature, the sound is "whap-whap-whap."
Just as the airlines have frequent flyers, we have frequent knockers. That is all I will say about that, because frequent knockers require frequent patience (our frequent knockers are 12 and under).
Yesterday morning, the first knock came during a meeting. On the porch was an older man who frequently roams the neighborhood, talking to himself. Despite his garbled speech, one word was clear: "Food." Caleb gave him some granola bars, and he happily went on his way.
Also on the porch, though, was a woman and her daughter. The daughter smiled and asked, "Do you remember me?" She was taller than I remembered, but she did look familiar. She and her brother had come to Aim Right regularly for a few years; one day they moved, and we lost track of the family. Here she was on our doorstep five or so years later, wanting to come to church again. It was so good to talk to her--a quite mature junior in high school--and hear her dreams of going to college next year with the goal of "getting a good job" to help her family.
Early in the afternoon, a light tapping on the door turned out to be a 1st grader, who sometimes stops by for help with his homework. Later in the afternoon, it was one of Colby's Boys Club boys who knocked. He had arrived early for Kids Club, and I think he was more than tickled to be allowed in early to "help" with Kids Club preparations. I was working in my office when he came up with an invitation to "come hang with us."
I am continually amazed at the people God brings right to us. We have seen a lot of new faces at our programs this fall. However, it isn't because we've been canvassing neighborhoods with invitations (although it would be awesome to have the volunteer capacity to do that); it's because friends are inviting friends, cousins, and neighbors.
A lot of these new faces are looking for direction in life. At our Monday evening Bible study for teens, the questions kept flowing:
"How do I help my friend who is struggling with [ ]?"
"What does God say about [ ]?"
Thank You, Father, for these windows of opportunities to speak truth and love into young lives!
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It's beginning to look like Christmas around here. This afternoon, Kari's Girl Club transformed plain gingerbread into wonderfully sweet winter homes. These gingerbread kits were St. Mary's finds and actually Haunted House kits. I came across them recently in our newly organized supply closet, and had to laugh when I saw that they had been re-labeled "Blessed" House kits by our clever interns. Here are some blessed homes in the making:
And some photos of Kids Club from yesterday evening:
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