GO LIBERTY!

Near the end of last year, I volunteered to start coaching girls basketball at the Boys and Girls club down the street. I was unsure about it at first, but realized that I didn't need to be too skilled to teach 6-8 year old girls! My team is the Liberty. We practice each week and play a game on Saturdays. It's been a lot of fun and exciting to see their improvement. We've come from a game in which the girls barely made it through and we had a lot of tears to actually winning most of our games! So far we are second place and getting ready for the finals this Saturday :) This has been a great way to get more involved in the community and connect with others who are passionate about our kids. As a result of being involved there, I have had a couple of parents ask me about their children getting involved in our program. Also, I've been asked to teach an art class...I'm still praying about this possibilty and might tag-team it with my roommate!

Our Provider

Just before Christmas, one of our families was surprised by a local radio station and received a wonderful blessing. It was incredible to see God work this situation out and use a secular station to help a family in need- and through it all He received all the glory. One of our grandmothers recently received custody of 4 of her grandchildren and have many others stay with her on and off. She was in need of beds along with many other things. Over the past few months, she has been coming to church faithfully on Sunday and Tuesday nights. Up until her car was broken into, she was bringing the kids on her own. Since then, I have been picking them up. But I love that she not only sends the kids, but is committed to coming herself. When I come to pick this family up, they alone can fill up our van! That house is always buzzing with kids and activity!

One of the women who dropped off a Thanksgiving food box at her house saw the needs of this household and wrote a letter to a local radio station...and this is how the ball got rolling. A few days after the station surprised this family, I stopped by their house and the grandmother excitedly told me about all that happened. To me, the best part was that she gave God all the glory! Not "Mojo in the morning" and his crew, but she knew this blessing had come from God and saw his hand in the whole thing.

Below is the link to listen to the podcast of this surprise visit. You'll need to scrow down to "Christmas breaking and entering: Grandma Marilyn" and it has two parts (let me put this disclaimer on that many of the titles of the podcast are inappropriate and I am not at all endorsing the station!)

http://mojo.channel955.com/cc-common/podcast/single_podcast.html?podcast=MojointheMorningPodcast.xml

As I listened to this podcast, one thing that stood out to me was how impressed this station was with our grandmother's commitment to her family. And they were very right. However, its not as rare as some people may think. I wanted to tell them to come down here more often! She is not the first and only grandmother who is committed to her family and raising her grandchildren when it is needed. Many times (and sometimes sadly because of the situation causing it) this is the norm, not the exception. There are some exceptional people here who are committed to their families in a way many of us have never seen. I have been challenged many time by the faith of some of these women!

I hope you enjoy listening...and as you do, remember God uses whatever means possible to take care of His people and receive the glory!