God plans our steps

Praise the Lord! God revived my heart today.

I must have spent months in a funk when I realize how much time has passed. I've been at Atlanta Bread for just over a year now and tonight I realized how complacent and apathetic there. I remember when I first started working there I wanted God to use me to reach out to my high school kids, I remembered them in prayer in hope that God would reveal himself and they would become Christians. Well as time went by I stopped praying and instead wondered more and more what I was doing there and wanting to leave. I became more grumpy and less patient and more annoyed at the kids for goofing off and being just what they are, high school kids. Recently, I have been praying for God to help me change my attitude and be more cheerful and to help me let my light shine. Well, this has not come easily. This weekend was the first time I saw improvement. On Friday I maintained a joyful attitude despite the fact that 3 people called out and I had to close with only one other person. Luckily, the manager Dom and owners Debbie and Jim stayed because we were really busy and I know that my joyful attitude would have finished and probably my employment there too. Even yesterday I was in a pretty good mood.
Today I thought I would be, but saw that I was on the schedule for next Sunday again and will be working 5 days in a row. That put me in a bad mood for the rest of the night. I was in a rush to get done and just wanted to get the store cleaned so I could leave earlier. I grumbled everytime a customer came in the store and kept making mistakes trying to get everything done quickly.

I decided that enough was enough, I needed to go to the Bridge even if it meant I would have to go late. I haven't been able to go for like 6 weeks and I felt really moved to go. The speaker was a photographer who took these amazing beautiful photographs and talked about how God plans your steps and he knows what you need to see to or where you need to be to find ways to meet with him or worship him. Amazing how his point tied in so perfectly with the night. After he finished speaking and the band started to play, I looked behind me and recognized someone who looked familiar.

His name is Darwin and he is a friend of some of the kids who work at Atlanta Bread. They all go to the same highschool and all know each other, and this guy Darwin never worked at Atlanta Bread, but has been coming in to talk to some of the boys who work there for the past year now. I never really had a conversation with him and I didn't know much about him except for the fact that he was an Athiest. So is his friend Erik, on of the kids that I was praying for when I first started working there. So I was suprised to see him there at a Bridge service. I was so excited to see him because it meant at least someone invited him to come and he might be dabbling with Christianity or at least open to it. I looked behind me at him again and he was standing up worshiping and a little later had his hands in the air offering them up. I was nearly moved to tears. It put so much joy in my heart to see this guy who once was a hardcore Athiest, worshiping God. I almost couldn't wait until the service was over so I could approach him and tell him how happy I was to see him here.

I did talk to him and this was his first time at the Bridge. One of the new kids, Dan, invited him but may have left before I arrived. Apparently he started to take his faith more seriously around the time Darwin accepted the Lord. Darwin told me he got saved this past March. He said that God kept revealing Himself little by little until he couldn't deny Him any longer, and has been going to youth group bible studies and Church ever since. It was awesome on so many levels to see how God has changed his life. It put so much joy into my heart to be able to welcome him in to the family. To know that God can change the doubters heart and now he is a new creation. It gives me hope because if God can change Darwin's heart, he can change Erik's and all the other teens from ABC who need Jesus too. And to not stop praying just because I don't see immediate changes.
I really needed this it is so awesome to see the passion in a new Christian, it is almost intoxicating.
I could probably go on and on, but just know God is moving, even when we don't see him or feel him moving, doesn't mean that He's not working. He knows what we need. My heart has been renewed and I feel it.

Double Deer

The deer are out to get me!

Tonight I was driving home from the crossroads celebration and I see to objects off in the distance...my car came to a hault just in time to see two fawns standing facing each other in the middle of the street. They looked at me like "what are you doing here?" and didn't budge. I was stopped in the middle of the road patiently waiting for them to walk away...Finally just as I was about to blare my horn, they casually walked off the road. If I hadn't been so generous as to stop the car there could have very well been a double homicide!
I drove off and then found myself breaking again for another deer. What is it about my car that attracts deer? Or what is it about the deer that attracts my car?
I really really really hope that I don't have to write about any more tragic deer stories here. At least this one has a bit of a happier ending.

oh DEER!

Shame on me, I have been a MIA blogger. But I'm back.....well at least for now.

Haha...so even after all this time..not much to report on. Obviously, a lot has happened in the past few months....there is a lot I could go into...but for the sake of time and space, I will just report on the current sad news.

I was driving though Valley Forge on the way to work on Monday, (actually, I had to drive to Philly for a meeting) I was just driving and out from nowhere this deer was suddenly in the path of my car. I couldn't really swerve or slam on the brakes to avoid it because there were cars behind me and on the opposite side of the road and the next thing I know is there is a THWACK! I never really even had time to react. As I drove by, I saw the deer made it to a grassy patch but its back legs were giving out on it as if it were about to go down.
I managed to contain myself despite the fact that I cried the first (and only) time I ran over a squirrell.
I had to call Becca because I always call her whenever I kill or injure animals by way of vehicular homicide. She reassured me that no, I would not be damned to hell...(just kidding) I'm not that parinoid. But she was helpful.
So now I think I have to stay clear of Valley Forge for a while to avoid the crazed, suicidal, over-populated chicken-playing, deer and the like.