And my God will meet all your needs

As many of you know, our church community here in Chalmette is The Gathering. Our intention is always to be the Hands and Feet, and, to be obedient to our Lord and Savior in showing our Love to each other and our community.

Recently, The Gathering has agreed to lease a property from the Archdiocese that has been used as an ongoing volunteer housing center. The lease had been held by the Parish government to this point, with a brief stint of time for BP oil after the spill, but as of this week, it will be taken on by The Gathering.

This is an exciting opportunity for us to serve the community by hosting those that are coming to help with a still not fully recovered South Louisiana. The possibilities for ministry here are only limited to What God has Planned. In other words, we'll see what He brings!

This also offers new opportunities for housing with Crossroads short term missions groups. We will be housing and helping run the facility in any way we can. I ask that you partner with us in prayer for guidance, leadership, and patience for God's wisdom and direction. We are currently looking to those that will step into leadership roles in this endeavor.

We have around 1100 scheduled already, not including Crossroads, with I'm sure more to come. Please pray for a smooth transition into what could be a “God Awesome” advancement for the works of His Kingdom!

Peace, Bruce

Dear Friends,

This is Bruce saying “Hey” from New Orleans and hoping you have had a Blessed Holiday season and Hope for the New Year. I pray that God has revealed Himself to you in the ways only He can do.

As I move into a new year, new season, and new challenges I am faced with many uncertainties and unknowns. Though these anxieties may be nerve wrecking at times, I can't help but think of the one certainty that has been revealed to me time and time again, especially over the past three years. It is certain that the One True God, whom I serve, Loves me beyond measure!

There, that's it. Simple huh? Yes, it should be. Unfortunately I bottleneck that Love sometimes with all of my finite human actions, thoughts, worries and fears. But like I said, He loves me beyond measure. When all of that Love gets bottlenecked by me, He waits patiently for me to regain focus on Him and what He desires for my life. That is, to be part of His plan and to carry out the day to day tasks He has for me to do. What an Amazing God we serve! What an Amazing God!

So I say all that, to say this. As I head into the New Year I don't have “all” the answers. I have “The” answer. God loves me and He is faithful. He will provide those answers that I need , when I need them. Just in time for me not to mess things up... as is often the case. This is so counter cultural, especially, in todays society of “long-range” planning. We want a definitive plan laid out so we can work and rework it to perfection. Funny huh? He gives us a perfect plan and we want to rework it. As I move further into this adventure in full time missions, I find myself doing something quite often. I intentionally don't look at all the “Overwhelmings” ahead, but I turn and remember all the “Faithfulnesses” in the past. Excuse my sniglets.

What this seems to do is take all the emphasis off the anxieties and put it on the One who deserves my attention in the first place. I can spend quite some time recounting the endless ways in which He has been so faithful to those that are seeking His will. Being in the position that I am I'm also blessed to have other followers to know, and observe, the way God has been faithful to them. These anxieties turn into opportunities to reflect on God's goodness. Amen? So, I begin this New Year looking back at God's faithful goodness.

I also look ahead to the ways God will provide for us. God loves me and will not abandon me. This step of faith that our family has taken has had it's challenges, to say the least. But , these have also been opportunities for God to reveal His mighty power and provision in so many ways. I can't recall all the times in the past three years that I've been overwhelmed with one thought. “Wow”. That's it. Seems simple doesn't it? It is. He is “Wow”. When I've put those unknowns and needs in the trust of the God that loves beyond measure, and that's what I've gotten, Wow!

I have to tell you that the wow factor, so many times, comes in the form of love expressed from you, those that love and care for us. I thank you, and thank God, for your love and support of our service here and in the meeting of our needs. I am truly a blessed man to see that kind of Love and admiration expressed to our family. It's hard to say, but had we not taken that step I don't know that this blessing would have been so revealed. Again, Thank You for your love.

Probably need to wrap this up but it is hard to conclude on such topics as God's faithfulness and provision. Can't keep rambling like I normally do though. If you would pray with me about a few things I would be grateful. Pray that God would continue to reveal His plan for The Dales. Pray for Deb, Briar, Clara, Connor, and even little Brandi, who is such a special “Wow” in herself , that God would keep using each one of their special gifts and talents for the glory of His kingdom. Pray for provision that we can keep doing what we are to do in His name. Pray for safety as we move in and about some challenging areas. And lastly, pray that we stay awake. Stay awake to all that God has done in the past and to all that he has yet to do. Giving Him full Glory and Honor! Peace!

Humbly in the Name of Jesus Christ, His Son,

             Bruce

Wow! It's 2012 and almost three years since we moved to New Orleans, Louisiana! It's hard to believe how quickly time has passed and how much we've experienced and been a part of.  We confess, 2011 was a very "quiet year" with our communication. It's no doubt been a blessing to have a new little one in the family, but Lord knows, she keeps us hoppin! So, in nutshell, it's been a big year of transition for us. :)

Here's a spotlight on some of our bigger family events over the last year (Crossroads update will come in a separate post) ~

• Two high schooler's, one middle schooler, and a newborn...that says a lot right there!
• For Briar -  "made 16", took drivers ed toward the end of the summer and got his permit in October. Woo hoo! He spent 3 days a week over the summer volunteering at the FUEL Youth Center, and continued to serve on the Youth Advisory Council for the parish and the music team at church. Started on a homeschooler's basketball team in the fall. And is praying about how to serve the Lord after high school.
• For Clara - "made 14", got to be in the Princess Court for the Irish Italian Islenos Parade, worked a lot with teams at the homeless shelter and on several building projects, and served on the music team at church. She is attending two youth groups right now - one from TG and one from another church in town.
• For Connor - "made 12", played football for the rec league and made his first touchdown!!! Woo hoo! Worked with Deb a lot over the summer at the Desire for Change Summer Kids Camp, served on the music team at church and made some new friends in the neighborhood.
• For Brandi - a BIG year for our Lil' Miss! She quickly went from laying, riding along, sitting, crawling, and rolling to standing, walking, climbing, and now scaling!! She is a mess! She has a mouth full of teeth already, loves fruit and veggies, walks outdoors, and chasing the cats. She also has a peculiar fetish with cat fur (she kind of reminds me of that scene in Elf where he's poppin' cottonballs in the doctor's office.) So far she's saying da-da, ma-ma, sis-sis, bu-bu, bu-bee, ap-ple, and goo-girl.
• For Deb - busy, busy, busy...with being a "new mom" again, schooling the kids, teaching several classes for homeschoolers, on the Teaching Team for The Gathering, helped direct and teach for Desire for Change's Summer Kids Camp, working on a couple different projects for church including the Women's Retreat coming up at the end of January, having various miscellaneous responsibilities for CR, AND managing life and home as we know it!!
• For Bruce - presently the Field Director for CRNOLA, working with Julie Whiteman (once full-time intern, now permanent Group Care Coordinator - woo hoo!) and beginning the selection process for this year's interns, has spent a good amount of our "off months" working with the Thompson Center (homeless day shelter for men) and several other partners, as well as several "tentmaking" jobs trying to earn some extra income. Bruce is also one of our Elders at The Gathering.
• For our family - we got to take a week's vacation to Deb's brother's house (and lakehouse) in TX with her family (all to celebrate her parent's 50th Anniversary), took a trip north in November to visit with four different churches we've "made friends with" in KY and IN, got to visit fam while there, got to take a plane ride in a little 4-seater that a pastor-friend of ours flies (THAT was amazing!!)

Praise the Lord! It's been a great year! Although we've had some "downs" with the "ups", the good Lord has indeed been faithful. Here's to a new year! A new beginning! And a fresh new spark to fan into flame.

Okay, it's time to get back on the horse! Brandi is almost 7 months old and I'm feeling reeeeeally guilty about neglecting our blog. Somehow, having an infant around the house can change everyone's schedule -- not just mommys. :) My prayer lately is just that the Lord will help me to be more disciplined, and that His order would reign my day.  I'm also challenging all my "troops" to start contributing to the blog. So, in the weeks to come, I hope to be back to sharing more about our lives here in New Orleans. There is no doubt that the last two years have been quite a journey for all of us. New home. New friends. New baby. New things happening at Crossroads. We really do have a lot to talk and write about.

So, stay tuned. The trail has not gone dead, so to speak. We are still here, living life for Jesus, finding all kinds of ways to serve Him, and trying to share His love with everyone we meet.

Thanks for hanging in there with us!