That.

It is most often in the drive to and from that the hot tears roll down my cheeks.

It is such a privilege to do what we do.

My mind rages. On one side of the battle I weep, wanting this whole thing to go away for the family. On the other side I trust, knowing God will bring beauty from this. In fact, HE already has.

The love that this community has shown is a preciously beautiful thing.

Every time we gather to serve my heart grows and the boundaries of my life expand. I am offered the opportunity to express abundant gratitude and deal with complicated situations that are thrown at us. I succeed and I fail over and over but always in a forward direction. God is constantly moving and showing Himself to us.

It is the gentleman who showed up to work asking, “Is this the Harvest project?” And he had only been attending church at Harvest for three weeks.

It is the anchor team member who, after a rough day in the real world, stopped by for encouragement and prayers.

It is another beloved volunteer who went home after a late night and opened his Bible for the first time in years.

It is the widow who serves and serves, who has become a much looked forward to friend.

It is the invaluable contractor who went into surgery two days after the project ended, but made sure everything was done with beauty and quality.

It is THAT.

That is what I want more of in my life…SO MUCH that it spills over to my kids, my family and my friends. I want so much of it that it would be impossible to go back to a small world, constantly on edge by petty things.

The ministry was never created for the Springer family. We pray to be of service to them and do our best to help, but we know they would give it all back in a heartbeat to have their son not have to travel this road.

The ministry was created for the volunteers. PUTTING FEET TO YOUR FAITH MAKES YOU UNIQUE. It is our prayer that there is genuine connection fed during the projects. Connection to the needs that bring us, connection to the people you serve along side of, and connection to God who has brought us all together, knowing (trusting, believing) when that connection happens each of our lives is made richer. Do you know, really, how lucky that makes us?

As a leadership team our hearts are overflowing with gratitude. To everyone who served, gave, and prayed we send you our deepest thanks. To God, who has carefully and lovingly carried us through a nearly 2 year dry time and brought us to the well of abundance, we are in awe. HE was so gracious. Behind the scenes we have worked and prayed and learned and grown, and we felt this project was the sweet reward for that journey.

We ended on time. The four of us gathered and prayed–all smiles–before we went home on the last night. There are no follow ups. We can go back to our families and begin a season of rest. The ministry has grown and is in great shape when we are ready to re-engage in a few months. We were reminded how much we love you, our volunteers. We believe we answered God’s call and pray that the Springer days will be made a wee bit easier because of the work done.

THAT is something to be grateful for.