Hungry

Fasting for 30 hours, nourished only by juice and water. An egg-cracking challenge -- forehead style. Meaningful times of worship. Making and distributing 50 lunches for the homeless. This occurrence. The smell of hot dogs at hour 27 and wanting to swipe one for yourself. Games and laughter. Challenging teaching on being hungry and desperate for Jesus. Praying for the homeless, huddled in sheltered areas to stay warm and dry. Learning how richly blessed we are.

This was Aim Right's 30 Hour Famine weekend.

Ann Voskamp is a gifted poetic writer, and her recent post, A North American Lent: When you Want to have an Appetite for More of God, is worth reading. Ann expresses so well some of the themes that were threaded throughout the Famine. A few excerpts from Ann's post:

"Buy more, consume more, have more -- and it'll suppress any appetite for God."

"When your comfort food is comfortable stuff -- when do you hunger for the comfort of the Bread of Life?"

"Ruin your appetite with stuff and you have no appetite for Christ."

"What God's graciously given you is always enough to be abundant grace for someone else."

"I'm done ruining my appetite with stuff."

"Nothing you can buy, order, save for, can compare to giving yourself away."

"Give us a Lent that fasts from the flyers and the free shipping that ruins our appetite for anything less than God. Give us a North American Lent that lends to the Lord and fasts from consumption because we want to consume God."

I grew up knowing more about the lint that came from the dryer than what it means to observe Lent, and I still don't attend a church that encourages its body to observe Lent. But I know this: Jesus calls us to give up and let go so that we can follow Him more fully. That's actually an every day challenge, but if you can let go of something for 40 days, it's a start.

Wrapping up February

Recent February happenings...

Children "gettin' their praise on" at Kids Klub:

Doing homework, painting, and enjoying our glorious weather at Rec Center:

Auction items arriving nearly every day:

Time will tell if this is catastrophic or brilliant, but Aim Right is officially entered into the Phoenix division of this contest:



You can visit our campaign "page" here to support us with cash or jumps.


The Monday night teen Bible study group has been challenged by the "Not a Fan" series by Kyle Idleman. He challenges youth (all of us, really!) to not just be a "fan" of Jesus but a committed "follower."



And, finally...youth will be wrapping up February by participating in the 30 Hour Famine this weekend, with a focus on being spiritually hungry. Please pray for strength to complete the fast, good attitudes, and a blessed time of learning and growing.

Saying Good-bye

The time has come.
Your days are done
Storing
Leaking
Peeling
Dangling
Clanging
Fighting entropy.

You will rest in peace
from our
Shoving
Slamming
Glaring
Staring
Scrubbing
Fighting entropy.

It's been a long time in coming, but Lord willing, a kitchen remodel will soon take place!

Friday Links

FAQ: Fear
The Stanley clan, a family living and serving in the inner city, answers a simple question and delivers some deep truths.

Bible Minded Cities: 2014
Out of 100 cities, Phoenix is ranked 93. Ouch.

Locally Grown: 58,000 Pencils
Give each of the kids at your church $2.00. Ask them to use it to earn money for missions.

Kids Klub 2.12.14

Yesterday evening, Christian taught the Bible lesson to the older grades.

Then we split into two classes and reviewed the memory verse using a balloon game. There's something about getting to pop balloons that is "cool" for 5 year old's to 12 year old's. As the balloons were popped one by one, the memory verse words disappeared, and the classes were soon saying the verse with little help at all.

Rec Center Action

The fun level seemed to be quite high at Rec Center this afternoon!

These girls were doing the cha-cha-cha.

Teen Night 1.31.14 and Christmas Project Items

The Rec Center snack stand is now open and has been a big hit already. As you can tell from our price list below, the corner store doesn't stand a chance. They may have a broader selection, but we keep our prices low, and that has gained us some customer loyalty. Extra-tall cans of flavored iced teas and Gatorade are popular items, but if you want a chocolate bar or a fresh-from-the-microwave Hot Pocket, we've got those, too.

The snack at Teen Night? Tostadas!

We encourage healthy eating by letting a cute 4-year-old serve the lettuce. You wouldn't deny her the pleasure of piling lettuce on your plate, would you?

Caleb's object lesson on Friday evening involved a large container, ping pong balls, and rocks. The rocks represented "meaningless" choices, like what kind of cereal you eat for breakfast or what color of socks you wear. Caleb explained that it's easy to go aimlessly through life, making lots of "meaningless" choices without taking the time to focus on the "important" choices. The "important" choices were represented by ping pong balls and included categories such as God, Health, Friends, College, Marriage, and Jobs, to name a few.

If you fill your life with only meaningless choices (rocks), the container fills up, with no room for the "important" choices. BUT if you focus on the "important" choices (ping pong balls), prioritizing a relationship with God, healthy friendships, and good habits, the ping pong balls and the rocks all fit nicely in the container.

Pictured below are a few of the items we were able to purchase with funds that donors contributed towards our Christmas projects. Thank you to all who gave!