Love Across the Storm

"A harp stood in the calm, still air

Where showers of sunshine washed a thousand fragrant blooms;

A traveler bowed with loads of care

Struggles from morning till the dusk of evening glooms

To strum sweet sounds from the songless strings;

The pilgrim strives in vain with each unanswering chord,

Until the tempest's thunder sings,

And, Moving on the storm, the fingers of the Lord

A wondrous melody awakes;

And though the battling winds their soldier deeds perform,

Their trumpet-sound brave music makes

While God's assuring voice sings love across the storm."

Dear fellow pilgrims,

Today was a spectacular day. I had the opportunity to pour love into every single aspect of the day. This morning I went to a wrap-up meeting going over the final assessment of a Walk for a Healthy Neighborhood that, of course, I wasn't here for. It was really cool to be a part of a lively and positive meetings. There were flowers given, speeches made, awards presented to the biggest fund-raisers and the most improved. It was really cool.

It made me forget that I got lost on the way there, had to get directions from my hostess, and then went into the wrong building once I got there and I had to hike across the landscape to find the room! ;0)

After the meeting, i got lost coming home. NEWS FLASH. Harrisburg West Shore is FULL, completely FULL of one way streets. Got that? ONE way. *sigh* I think i made three circles before landing on the right street to take me across the bridge. lol. Believe it or not, I actually had a lot of fun. I surprised even myself. Jesus was totally with me. Kid you not.

In the afternoon I hung out with Marisel, and did some work for her to try and make her life less stressful. That was lots of fun. I folded Bulletin covers, and made a spread sheet. I am also continuing to file, and teach her how I'm filing, as the process continues.

Then the fantastic Kim made us lunch! Spaghetti, and a Boston Creme Pie (which she swears she made herself... haha, her partner in crime was the store. ;0P) It was delicious, no matter where it came from. lol. She did make the spaghetti on her own though, and it was pretty spectacular.

*Brief pause while Jen goes to sleep for the night*

Good morning!!! :0D

Later that night we had Agape-Satyagraha....translation? Unselfish Love-Truth Force. It's a program that helps kids control their anger and sharpen conflict resolution skills. It was developed by Pastor Gerald to help the urban kids, and now it is spreading across the nation. Pretty cool huh? Well I worked with a young girl, of 12 who was only coming out of 5th grade. Her name is Samera (rhymes with Sara). She was the hardest attention in the world to keep focused!!! Finally, by the end of our time together I started making up a metaphor to help her understand and remember the different elements of what we were going over. get this=

Firework = Samera

Anger Trigger = Lit Match

Anger Cue = Sparks.

Believe it or not...she got it by the end of the night.....now....will she remember next week?!? This is yet to be determined. lol.

After Agape, I got some reading material from Pastor Belita that I'm pretty excited to read. Woot woot. and went off to Praise Band practice. This was, up and away, my favorite part of the day. BY FAR. :0D I think i've fallen in love with Jesus, guitar, and singing all over again. Since our regular praise band members are away on vacation for the next few weeks, it's the dynamic trio of Mr Mitchel (Belita's husband) on the keys, Josiah on the Bass, and Myself on the Guitar. Josiah named our little band Occam's Razor. teehee. Ever seen the movie Contact?

Anyway, we are singing some really cool songs. I was surprised that I could play them all half decently. I still have some chords I have to learn by Sunday to be spot on, but I'm super stoked. :0D

Best part of the night: one of the songs we are singing is called "Guide my Feet" with Mr. Mitchel leading. So Josiah and I follow him. When we were done singing through the song Josiah goes, "That was pretty good for never having sung together before." I said, "Jesus knew what he was doing." And we all giggled. it was fantastic.

Well I best be off my friends, I gots to eat breakfast and be off to work.

I love you. I miss you. Take care,

love

~ME

**Worship