God's concern in the little things....

I've been struggling to find or get some inspiration for another post and I noticed that I have been pretty lax in my daily time with Jesus. DUH! You know the drill...you get busy and distracted...you work long hours and suddenly you're missing your best friend. That was me this morning. Even though I've been a bit distant, Jesus still made His presence known through the craziness.

Every week, Tim and I ask Jesus to give us some creative ideas for the work week. When you've done this group home job for as long as we have (which hasn't been too long), going to places like Science World, the Aquarium, and the bowling alley become tiresome, boring and extremely costly. The kids also become spoiled, mouthy and just plain ungrateful. So we have been cutting back on the big outings and doing cheap things.

With school ending and the kids getting excited for summer, we were anticipating a crazy kid schedule and some extreme hyperactivity....Yup...that's what happened. But God was so faithful. On Friday, the girls, Tim, and I played "Pictionary" on the bathroom mirror with "Windowwriters" (a must for every parent struggling to keep markers OFF the walls!).... great fun and a time waster with some educational flares! Then on Saturday, we went for a LONG drive to a strawberry patch and picked 18 pounds of strawberries! Then we ate them! (oooh the bellyache!) And then we went to dear Aunt Sylvia and Uncle Bob's house and played in their cool townhouse park!! The day went by so fast and the kids were so distracted and excited that they didn't have time to even think about being naughty! That was a God-thing.

THEN the boys came. They are our hardest group. We were concerned as they didn't have very good weeks at home and we were in a place of disciplining them....ouch. Our hardest day with them is Sunday....but God was faithful again!

The boys kept asking me for money or if they could 'borrow' money (which would easily turn to taking money) so they could go buy toys...a big no-no in our job 'cuz these guys have WAY too many toys and it's never enough. But I told them they could EARN the money if they thought of a creative way of making it. They looked at me dumbfounded. I told them to set up an "iced tea stand" or something. Their eyes lit up!! No joke...I didn't think they'd take me seriously, but they were all over that! They asked if I would make the iced tea and what else they needed and they went right to work!

Thirty minutes later, they were taping signs down the street, setting up a table in the yard, and loading up the cooler with iced tea, ice cream sandwiches, and handi-snacks. All the while, they were arguing and fighting with each other like an old married couple. We ignored them. It was pure bliss. :p The picture above is the unmanned version of their stand.
Then they got their first customers. One iced tea and one ice cream sandwich. The boys were on cloud nine! Then they got a moving van! Five ice cream sandwiches! I was thanking the Lord for successfully keeping the boys occupied with something that required them to cooperate with each other! AWESOME!

Then three hours passed. No customers. They were getting antsy....and annoying, but still claiming they wanted to be out there. Good for them. Perseverance! In the end, they earned $7 total that they were able to split. The day was done and Tim and I were blessed. He just sat on the lawn making sure they were okay and I tended to the garden and made dinner. One of the best Sundays with these boys EVER!

Jesus always has the best ideas. Without them, I know our weekend wouldn't have gone as smooth. He cares about the littlest need and shows His love in small ways, too! And so I pray...
Psalm 40:5
"Many, O LORD my God, are the wonders you have done. The things you planned for us no one can recount to you; were I to speak and tell of them, they would be too many to declare."
Thank you, Lord for a great weekend at work!