She's got "it"

I wasn't going to do a blog entry tonight but God woke me up at 3am with different ideas. (It was either Him or the black beans combined with M&Ms I had for dinner)

This is Jess from Jersey back in June when she was here with her team. This is a great mother and daughter moment.

I shared one of those special moments with her this morning before church started. Sorry Mom but this one was for me!

Jess has "got it". The "it" is something that happens when you come here, when you work for the Lord, when you have that heart of a servant, when you have a love, a deep love, for people who have been hurt so deeply. As we were talking Jess said she now realized how awesome it was to be here longer than the usual coming in and leaving in a week. She feels the draw, she feels the Holy Spirit tugging at her heart. She feels the love for the people, for people she doesn't really "know" as we would in the "real" world, but she feels it none the less. It's that draw to want to do something to help them. It's that draw to want to share Jesus with them, not necessarily in the verbal, more in the actions. She talked about how she has only been here a week today and yet it seems as though she has been here forever. She talked about how she bonded with the MN team and how she misses them, yet she is also now bonding with the PA team and they are becoming family.

She and I both talked about family. She does miss her family at home, her biological family as the world would call it. But . . . God has extended her family here. She now has family from places she would have never dreamed of.

Yet she realizes how God is stretching her. One area she has been working on is communication. She used to be a quiet child. God has other ideas for her and she is realizing them more and more each day. She has spent alot of time with the "younger" long term volunteers here, time talking, time praying and time in God's word. Not something you would expect of kids in the 18 to 28 year old range. One of those "God-things" again.

I write this to prepare you, those of you back in Jersey who call Jess family. She is changing, God is changing her. God is doing a work in her heart, her mind and her soul. She is growing. She will not return to you the same young woman, she has been touched by God and she is changed. Embrace the changes, encourage the young woman to continue to walk with God, to continue to follow His calling.

Jess from Jersey is special. She is called by God, she is chosen by God and He has a wonderful plan for her life. Thank Him for sharing her with you.

We thank Him for sharing her with us! Our lives have been touched, our family has grown and we will never be the same.

Until tomorrow . . . Susan and Monty