Last night was a tough one.  Monday nights always find me in Blackley, helping with Jigsaw 2 at St. Andrew's Church.  Jigsaw 2 is an outreach ministry to the kids of the neighborhood who are between the ages of 10 and 12.  We meet for an hour, during which we play games and try to teach a short lesson that will point them to God in some way.

Last night during game time, the kids were quite wound up.  A few unkind words and actions almost became fist fights.  The games were all games we had played before with great success (meaning the kids actually enjoyed them and participated), but for some reason, the kids just wouldn't cooperate last night.  I arrived home last night frustrated and discouraged.  These are the same kids who were so well behaved on my last night of ministry last semester, and now it seemed like they were taking three giant steps backward!

Fortunately, that's only part of the story...  Right now I'm doing a Beth Moore Bible study called "Believing God".  Part of our "homework" every day is to spend some time before bed meditating on the day and trying to see how God was at work in and around us during the day.  As I did that exercise last night, I thought about Jigsaw and wondered how God could have possibly been working through all of that.  But then I remembered that the night wasn't all bad.  During the first 10 minutes of the evening, as Ruth talked about bullying and God's love and getting strength from God to face hard times, the kids actually sat and listened.  I'm not sure how much actually sunk in to their minds and hearts, but I at least know they HEARD.  God was at work, quieting their mouths and opening their ears to the Truth.  Please join me in praying for these kids and the seeds that have been planted in their hearts.