Glimpses of hope ...

I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. It is right for me to feel this way about all of you, since I have you in my heart; for whether I am in chains or defending and confirming the gospel, all of you share in God’s grace with me. Philippians 1:3-7

Today I was reminded of something. We were having our Impact class this morning and we did an activity that involved worshipping together, praying together, and taking the Lord’s Supper together. Eight boys in our class and I sat in a circle and read from the scriptures. They partnered up and said prayers for each other that brought a couple to tears, and they sang songs that sounded so beautiful that we had people standing outside the doors worshipping with us.

Since the boys were partnered up, I was the odd man out so I sat out of the experience and allowed the boys to all play a part. One of our boys stood up towards the end of the time and brought me the bread and the juice. He asked another of our boys to continue in song while he prayed for me. I sat there and allowed him to pray over me and I took the communion. I was actually brought to tears, because this boy thought of me. So often there are times when we wonder whether or not the people we are teaching, actually get it. This was a “Yeah God!” moment where I wanted to shout it from the rooftops and stand and say, “Hallelujah, they are getting something!”

We had another moment like this at Winterfest, where a few of us house dads were given the honor of having our feet washed by some of our boys. That was just another time where God used the bits and pieces of the Message that we have all been bringing into the lives of our boys, to truly start a transformation process in their lives.

I chose the passage in Philippians because that is something that I can see myself saying about some of our boys right now. “A good work,” has begun in the lives of our boys. God, who began that good work, will carry it on to completion. I celebrate and thank our God that he is showing these little glimpses of hope that our ministry is definitely not in vain. Not that I ever thought that our work was in vain, but we all need a little “Yeah God!” moment in our lives now and again.

If you have had some of these moments in your life, please share them with us all, because we all need a chance to celebrate in the great things that God is doing in our lives and in the lives of those we love so dearly. There are many different ways of practicing Celebration, but seeing those glimpses of hope and God’s glory in our ministry are definitely something we all need. Celebrate the great things that are happening in your life and ministry by sharing them with your co-laborers, with your family, and with your friends. Praise God for those we love and wrestle in prayer over. Thank God for those you love, and tell them!

Thanks for allowing me to be a part of this ministry with you all!

Jason