Most of the time life at Shelterwood is defined by the unexpected and unusual. I often find myself unintentionally dominating conversations with church friends and neighbors with unending Shelterwood tales. Would this week be any different? I had a chance to speak during our chapel time on Thursday. It was a cool October morning and we met in the Girls Lodge with a nice fire brewing. The view behind the fireplace is the picture I placed next to this Post. Anyway, I shared about Jonah and the life of change God brought him through. You see, we have a unique and, possibly a one-time situation here at Doulos: ALL have experienced change. Usually it's just the Residents or Leadtimers but this time it includes everyone. Staff has relocated, Leadtimers have committed to a blind-year and the Residents are placed by parents without warning. The point is simple: God has brought me (and everyone else) to this point in His relentless pursuit of our hearts. Yeah sure, lots of big-picture "ministry" takes place around here but it is always about the individual. Your life is no different. Don't miss it.
The Leadtime class meets each Friday morning for about 90 minutes to worship. This week it was my pleasure to join them and lead worship. It was an amazing time. Our young adults are truly here to serve and it shows in the way they worship. One of our young ladies is from Israel (isn't that cool?). Anyway she has been struggling all week with back pain to the point of scheduling a doctor visit on Friday afternoon. Well...God inhabits the praises of His people and on Friday morning during worship she was completely healed of her back pain. Yeah, really. We didn't stop to pray it just happened while the LT'ers were praising. I saw her this morning in the dining hall and we chatted while sharing some coffee. She was still beaming from God's grace and told me that she had followed up on the doctor visit Friday afternoon. Doc had no explanation.
Jena and I have been blessed with a beautiful home here in Independence and we love to have company as evidenced by the revolving door in our home. This past week there were no scheduled events or parties in our home but the following folks passed through: Tom, Cindy, Nick, Pam, Leah, Jason, Luis, John D., Dusty, Kenny, Myles, Carter, Nate, Pam's parents and little sister, Heather and McKenzie. If you ever come to KC, let us know and add your name to the list.
