Snack Thieves and the Gospel

Bethany and I have not blogged in a while so here is an update on the various arenas of our lives from beautiful Tucson.

Recently at two houses we have found kids sneaking treats and have had the privilege of determining what other tasty treats they would miss out on as a consequence for their greed. One culprit stole two packages of Sponge Bob Square Pants fruit snacks and the other was more ambitious taking a box of fruit roll ups, several packs of gushers, pop tarts and multiple beverages. As you can imagine, we are saddened when kids eat poorly because they think that is the one area where they can have control in their lives.

I have continued to be able to use the technology skills I developed last year at Lamprey Networks to contribute to the efficiency and professional appearance of GAP Ministries. I have created an internal website and have continued to patch up computers. Every once in a while my computer work even results in some extra cash.

House parents have begun to be able to use our new expanded apartment to relax and it seems to be serving the tired parents well. For this month it looks like Bethany and I may recoup the cost of the extra room.

Bethany and I have discovered startling ignorance displayed on the official paperwork of the Arizona Department of Economic Security. Here in the desert of Tucson I wear two types of clothes everyday: t-shirts and shorts, neither of which you will see displayed on the paperwork below. I imagine this paperwork has been used to record the belongings of thousands and thousands of children. If I recorded the clothing I bring to each house on this sheet it would appear I only have underpants and shoes. And if the Department of Economic Security is recording that the children of Arizona are all running around in underwear, then I expect a larger clothing budget for them.

Praise Report: God has provided opportunities for Bethany and I to share the gospel with our kids this month and to see fruit! So thank you for all of you who are praying. The past respite Bethany and I explained the gospel to two children and on their own accord they wrote about Christ taking away their sin the next day. The white paper below says, “God's the one and only holy person. God is the one who has created us and sent himself … he died on the cross to take away all of our sins.” This was written the day after we shared the gospel with no prompting!
I also got to talk to a young girl who was willfully choosing to sin while calling herself a Christian. I talked to her about why a Christian would stop sinning. I informed her that there was one major difference between myself and her. I said, “I do not choose sin over and over because I have the Holy Spirit living inside of me which makes all those sins you are so interested in pale and meaningless compared to God's love for me and my desire to do what God wants. I want to not walk in sin because my love for God is greater than my love for myself.” It was neat to see this young lady who was so intent on doing what she wanted stop and ponder those words. I only pray God makes His word effective.

Prayers: We are about to embark on our largest respite yet with 11 kids awaiting our arrival this evening. We are tired from the past 3 respites and are struggling to find the energy for the kids and for each other. A lot of energy gets zapped because of the kids arguing and the level of drama that happens in the house with the pre-teen girls. If anyone has suggestions on how to deal with teen girl drama, please send us your ideas!