Praising God with a heart filled with Thankfulness

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

 

This summer during a Memorial Road bible class, stopped in the middle of the prayer to reflect on/ discussing what we were thankful for. People said things that they were thankful for including: love, church, friendship, Jesus, and the list goes on from there. 

This made me get engaged on reflecting with the events that had happened that past week. I was realized even more how thankful that I was and am for my coworkers I worked with this summer.  Even more this summer the group begin feeling like a family. That also includes all the members, I have in the Capitol Hill church family. There are some that are called more volunteers, the members of church, or working on just the staff but to me we are all the church family. 

The week at 4 of July was a very hard week for me. When I got home on the 2nd for my weekend I found out that my grandpa who I called, "bob bob" passed away. We headed down to his house there that next day. I slowly told people what was happening. It was a hard week. The funeral was on Wednesday. I was in a sort of a funk during that time period. I might have snapped at one or two people. 

 

Kyle (on the ladder), Zac, and Remi working on the hallway.

Later, the next week the class rooms got repainted on Monday and the next few days, Meredith (a beautiful person with a huge heart) was going up to paint decorations on the walls and groups came up with her on our time off to help her. These one of the times that I really enjoyed. During the days that we drew, painted, and decorated the rooms was a great days of fellowship (this helped me because Quality time is my strongest Love Language).   There were other work days that we worked up at the building taking joy in our church. Like it says in,  Jeremiah 29:7 "Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.” Relationships that share one common love can last a lifetime. These friends inspire me for all the love and commitment that they have to this community. I am thankful for the ways that they challenge me to serve and grow more.

Some of the multitude of school supplies given.

Starting in the last two weeks a few of us stood at tables to ask members of the surrounding churches to adopted a child from Capitol Hill to buy school supplies. This year, I felt challenged to adopted a teen because my love for the work and the need.  I helped both times from giving out papers, to collecting, sorting the school supplies, and handing them to the van drivers/families. The support and the generosity of the surrounding churches who gave to this community inspired me. This was the taking joy in the city.  I was thankful for God showing me in this community and the ways He is moving. 

I am starting to enter a new season in life this week. I have started my last semester in college at OC. It is also a slowly realization that "bridge" that "I will cross when I come to it " is vastly approaching. I also have a birthday approaching quickly (anybody know the date?). The moments of things I am thankful for is something that I will take with me.

I am so thankful for the time I have spent with friends this summer and the times I know that I will spend with them in the future. 

 

Love, Evynn

 

P.S. This is a poem I wrote about the morning prayers we shared before picking up the kids. One of my favorite times of the day. 

Blessed Moments:

One of my favorite times of the day
When the line of vans hit the highway
The trails gets shorter as the exits appears
For a short few miles we are united as one white line
At the exits it becomes a race on who will be the last
Moments from when we circled up to pray
One has made their first stop to pick up the precious cargo
The community of the prayer for safety
Follows us as the vans become more full of children
Few have a long journey till the first stop
But that doesn't stop the wheels from moving
Minutes before we are waiting for the stragglers to fall in place
The space between us in the circle has become smaller
As the relationships have matured from acquaintances to friends even to siblings
For our purpose is not our own
We are bigger plan
The minutes that there is trail of vans
Falling one another is one favorite thing of mine
Uplifting and encouraging each other in a way we only could understand
Blessed interns of C-Hill