#2 What These Eyes Have Seen: Thxgiving Thanks

Some know of my long journey through college...squeezing 4 years into 5 and a half :/ Anyways, that part of my life was a huge growing and transitioning period for me. I learned a lot in my time at Hannibal-LaGrange College. I gained wisdom from men of God who graciously and lovingly took me through the scripture and even some through life. For these men and their ministry I am eternally grateful.

I also did some awesome internships and got to work along side some of the guys who do ministry best in the state of Missouri. My last summer in college (summer of 07) I was going to be interning at FBC Raytown and then graduating in December of that year. All the details were worked out and I was excited to work with 3 awesome youth guys at a youth ministry of 200 plus students. Before that time in life I had only been a part of my youth group growing up (20 at most) and others not reaching even a 100 students and most times no more than 30. There was even the infamous phone call with Brett that I'll probably never forget...ask me another time and I'll tell ya.

As the Spring semester in 07 was winding down I got a call to come to the Registrar's office. I am getting ready to go into my last semester in college and they tell me I owe over 2,000 dollars to come back. I was floored. I didn't have that much money and neither did my parents. So, I called Brett and told him I couldn't come...this absolutely broke me! I was so pumped about this internship. Ryan Langford had asked me to come the summer before when I was interning at the Baptist Building with Matt Kearns and the team. I had been looking forward to this for a long time.

I went home. I didn't want to but I got a job waiting tables at Country Kitchen. I did that for two weeks when I got a call one morning. A friend of my mom's had called her to see if she could meet with me. Having just got home I didn't want to get on the phone because I had been at work all night waiting tables of cranky drunk people but I talked to her anyways. And glad I did...she wanted to meet me at Starbucks so I gladly obliged lol.

We met and she asked me if I still wanted to go to KC and intern at FBC Raytown. Weird question I thought because they had already started and I was trying to make money to go back to school. She told me if they would still let me come she knew a family that would pay the money it took for me to go back to school. I was speechless. I didn't deserve this.

I called Brett and after talking to Ryan they said I could still come. So I packed up the 1989 Chevy Astro and headed for KC. I'll never forget how grateful I was that day. And on top of that my manager at Country Kitchen totally understood and told me to enjoy life...didn't see that coming either! I learned a lot there that summer and I look back at all the lives I was able to get to know, the people I did ministry with and how my relationship with the Father grew. I miss Graham, Tyler and the 32 Langford children too ;) but also the students!

Thank you, Jesus, for your blessings I don't deserve!

FBC Raytown Underground

What These Eyes Have Seen: Thxgiving Thanks #1

I figured with Thanksgiving so close around the corner I would share a wonderful story of the Grace of our Father in heaven. Before I dive to deep into that I wanna first note a few things I love about Thanksgiving.
1) Of course the wonderful meal we get to share with family
2) The football games on...can't go wrong with family, food and football (f3)
3) Family...I love hangin' with my family. This will be my first Thanksgiving with my step mom and step bro...pretty excited about that and also about seeing my other family...let's just say it's "interesting"...
4) When Thanksgiving is over I begin Christmas celebration...Although Santa be a fluke I will continue in my own tradition from college and watch Elf about 37 times a week until Christmas.
5) The most important thing: Being thankful...and that's what this post is about

I reminisced with the students at Ashland Baptist Wednesday on a story of grace that happened to my family. It was Thanksgiving time 1999. Money was short...A big thanksgiving dinner did not seem likely...bills took priority. Having this explained to me helped me swallow this a little more. But I can be thankful w/o a traditional meal right? I thought it would be ok...just difficult to see that time be severed.

About my normal duties as a teenage boy just starting high school I was chasing our cat, Butterscotch, through the living room because he had gotten into something and if my cat got stuff on the carpet it would be my backside cooking instead of turkey. Standing next to the front door, cat in hand, the door bell rings. DING DONG! I opened the door and no one was there...now before you just shrug this off as no big deal you have to understand our front porch was big...front yard, real, real big...you couldn't walk across our front porch without causing a ruckus for three country miles to hear and you couldn't escape the front yard without having felt like you prepped for the Boston Marathon. Knowing this I was beginning to conclude that Superman or Rocket Man had escaped upward without being seen...I know, I know...kind of irrational to think Rocket Man would be able to leave without much racket.

I dismissed all nonsense and looked down...seeing what was a red bag I slammed the door. "MOM!!!! There's a bomb on the porch." My poor Mother, of the paranoid clan, freaked and came to my rescue pushing me and butterscotch backwards and being braving the front door. Now my hero because although I had done the same act it was out of sheer ignorance...my Mother was a regular William Wallace. She looked down, "Jay, that isn't a bomb!" Easing my pain as I had rendered Superman as a true villain to have done such an act.

We brought in the red bag. Un-cinched the string and began to look at what was inside. My Mother closed the bag and began to cry. I was so confused. I began to pull stuff out and inside the bag was a turkey, all the fixins for a dinner and $50...I now knew my Mothers tears were ones of gratefulness and thanksgiving.

To this day we still have no clue who gave us that food. Doesn't matter. Whomever it was, a local neighbor or Superman, God had provided a gracious gift...Give thanks with a grateful heart!

GOD IS GOOD!