Kairos through the eyes of Mom

I'm so excited for Gary.  As I type this he's at work diligently serving the teachers and staff to get as much technology as possible updated and ready for their return.  He's training, working, communicating and helping.  He's being interrupted and adding to his infinite "to-do" list- and he's doing it for the Lord, for our family, and for our community.  Gary's job in some way impacts almost every member of our community.  His job impacts every staff member, every teacher, every student, and by extension every family.  His job impacts not only our community now, but for the future and I"m so very proud of him.  It's an overwhelming job full of frustrations and there is no such thing as "normal" or "caught up".  He handles it so well and even though he does not always get the recognition, I know people appreciate him.  I also know the Lord blesses his diligence and perseverance.  It's hard having a behind-the-scenes job.  He does it well with a joyful spirit and always with the goal of serving people through the Love of Christ.

Matthew 25:43-45

I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’ “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’ “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’

When I first heard of the Kairos ministry through our church it intrigued me and I immediately thought, Gary would be so good at that.  He doen't realize what an encourager he is, and what a servants heart he has.  I see it in him every day though.  Just this morning he took our youngest daughter to speech therapy allowing me a break from an extra early morning of getting kids ready and running around.  It also gave him some one-on-one time with her.  What a blessing to all of us! Less stress for mommy, more sleep for the other kids, and time with Daddy for our littlest one.  I hope it was a time of blessing for him as well.  But either way, that's Gary- always willing to step in and help where needed and show love in any way he can.  The team building/training meetings have been so good for him.  To have a group of like-minded men and women to worship with, to learn from, and to fellowship with has been wonderful.  It always helps to focus on the Lords work when we can be encouraged by those around us.  I know I feel that every summer when I attend a weekly Bible Study at our church.  Those 6-8 weeknights are one of the highlights of my year.  Gary's experience will go several steps further as he not only is given the chance to worship, fellowship and learn, but also to love and serve, encourage and teach others about Jesus.

While's he's had extra time away from home we've tried to use that time to work hard on our schoolwork (we homeschool).  We've worked on learning some new chores and skills that will help mommy when the new baby comes. I've also tried to really encourage a continuation of the servants heart we were able to put into practice this summer.   Practicing patience, obedience and other character qualities God requires is hard work, but we hope as parents, that this training will pay off for our children as they grow older.   There are many ways to get involved as a family with Kairos beyond prayer.  We're getting our schoolwork done so that we can take some time off in the next two weeks to bake cookies.  We also have some small projects to finish, and we work to find ways to serve daddy when he's home so that he can relax and be refreshed.   I want our home to always be a place he is sad to leave and anxious to come home to.  It's not always that way, but it's one of my (many) goals!

I want to personally thank those of you who have been diligently reading Gary's posts and joining us in prayer for this ministry.  Consider signing up for one or several blocks of time durring the visit weekend to pray so that the entire ministry will be covered.

James 5:16  

Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed.  The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.

Please continue to pray for the men and women of the team, and their families. Please also commit to praying for the residents who will be participating in the weekend visit that is only a few weeks away.  This is a huge opportunity for THEM to be loved, encouraged, strengthened and grow in their faith, or even come to a new faith in Jesus Christ.  It is our passion to share the love of Christ, and these men are hungry for love, acceptance, grace, forgiveness and the freedom that Christ gives!  They need discipleship and strength to live out their faith through the rest of their lives. Pray for their families as well.  Each resident has left a family at home and life is hard for them too.  Their lives will be impacted for Christ more and more, the stronger the faith of the residents when they are released.

Most of all I want to impress upon you something God has been teaching me.  This is not a one time, temporary ministry.  I'm not asking you to pray just for the weekend, or just for the cookies, or just for Gary, or me, or the residents.  When we commit to praying for someone or a situation it's not temporary- it's for life.   People are NEVER outside the need of prayer.  The way you pray may change; the frequency, even the passion with which you come before the Father, but the obedient act of prayer should never end.  The team and residents will continue to need prayer for continued discipleship and guidance beyond this big weekend.  There are also other teams and residents of prisons in other cities and states all over the country.

This is so much bigger than Gary or our family or even Gary's team.
You are praying for the work of the Lord.
The furthering of his kingdom.
The strengthening of His people.
The eternal lives of many rest on our prayers.

So when I thank you for your prayers it's not just a flippant "thanks".  It's from the bottom of my heart and with the full knowledge that you are truly partnering with the entire team, furthering God's kingdom and helping bring people to the Lord.
 May God Bless you for your obedience, sacrifice and love.

1 Thessalonians 1:2-3
We always thank God for all of you and continually mention you in our prayers. We remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.

A very long week for sure.... (Kairos Meeting 5)

This past week was very busy for me to say the least. Working for a school district has many advantages but the last two weeks before school starts and the first two weeks of the school year are really rough.  They require lots of patience and also a lot of my time.

As I have been preparing for my first Kairos experience I have had to juggle many things.  But this past week has been the busiest for sure.  As I got to the end of it on Friday night I realized I had not really devoted the time to prayer, writing letters or preparing my talk that I should have. I was also very tired and did not really feel like doing it then. However,  I was reminded of the exciting time last weekend and felt a bit of energy fill my body. So I composed 7 letters (officially putting me more than half way done) and read through my talk outline again. Upon doing this I re-read the scriptures and began to get excited again.

On Saturday morning I woke up and got ready to go. Still feeling groggy I said a quick prayer for energy for the meeting.  Over the next 5 hours we spent time praising God, praying together, practicing talks and getting to know each other better. During the prayer time we learned that the member who got new employment and was worried about being able to take time off right away was granted permission to join us on the weekend in TCI and all the Saturdays leading up to it. Not only that but he could work extra other days and not lose any pay. This was a huge answer to prayer for him and us.  How awesome it was to again be reminded that amongst all the attacks by Satan, God was at work.  During our prayer time a request was brought by a member of the team who is really struggling with employment and seeing and providing for his son.  It broke my heart for him!  He so badly wanted to do the right thing, but was struggling to figure it all out. We prayed for him as a group and rallied around him in support.  I know it will be a hard road ahead for him but he is loved and supported by a God that is bigger than anything this world can throw at him!  He is also loved and supported by a band of brothers (his Kairos Brothers) who want to see him succeed.

As we now take a two week break (as we are not meeting next week) I pray that I keep preparing and do not lose site of the big picture. That is the fact that we are on this planet to love others and reach them for the kingdom of God. While I am focussed on this for our weekend in TCI, I have been challenged to apply this to my daily life as well. This is hard to say the least.  While it is important to get my tasks done at work and be ready for the first day of school in a little over a week, it is not the most important thing. The most important thing is glorifying Jesus by how I serve my family, the church and the people at work.  I need to do all things with an attitude of love and in a way that shares Jesus with them always. This is a hard thing and I am learning to be better at this everyday.

Pray for the Kairos team members as we continue to prepare for our time in TCI and also for our daily lives as we attempt to live out our love for God everyday!

Surely, the presence of the Lord is in this place.... (Kairos meeting day 4)

Having grown up in the church I have sang this song many times before.  If I am being completely honest, while the words of this song are powerful, it was not one of my favorites. I typically prefer more up beat songs with a health dose of electric guitar mixed in.  However since the first Kairos meeting 3 weeks ago, this song has taken on new meaning. We sing 'Surely the presence of the Lord is in this place...' at the conclusion of each meeting. I can tell from my limited experience it is clearly evident that the Lord is working in this ministry. Without fail, every meeting is filled with a healthy dose of worship, prayer, laughter, crying, life altering testimonies and of course the presence of the Lord.

Today a young man who has been looking for full time work for 4 years shared how he was blessed this week to finally get full time employment.  This opportunity came after many months of working part time for minimum wage at the same place.  His hard work and dedication was noticed and rewarded. He was so thankful to see the Lord's provision shortly after learning his family was expecting another child a few weeks ago.  He has been faithfully seeking the Lord for provision and the Lord has seen this a blessed him.  It was an awesome time of sharing and reflection.  It was awesome to see someone so dedicated to Jesus and so on fire for serving Him.

Then at the end we again sang the same ending song and we had another reminder how we surely were in the presence of the Lord. What an awesome time!

Kairos meeting day 3

This week was another great week at our team building meeting. I am beginning to get a much clearer vision of what our weekend in the prison will look like.  I will be serving on the worship team playing drums as well as giving one of the talks on the last day. It is so awesome to take part in a ministry with men and women who are so passionate showing God's love to the residents of the prison. I am honored to be able to play a small part in this upcoming adventure.

It has become more and more evident that the devil is attacking the team members.  Last week three team members shared how the devil was attacking them by bringing life threatening sickness into their family.  This week the devil has continued to attack all the members of this team in various ways. I even woke up one night in a cold sweat with this sick feeling wondering what I had gotten myself into. I realized after a few moments and some time in prayer that the Lord would protect me and the devil was trying every trick in his repertoire to derail me. Please pray for all the members of the team that the Lord would protect us and prepare our hearts. I am also asking for you to add the Kairos team to your regular prayer time. One way ou can pray specifically for me is for my time management.  This is a very busy time of year at work and it is easy to get lost in the work.  You can also pray for my extended family as we have several things going on with various members.

Lastly I wanted to update other ways you can get involved. The two primary ways are by praying and baking cookies. Besides praying in the weeks to come for the preparation of the team we are also seeking prayer throughout the entire time we are in the prison. We are seeking individuals to sign up to pray in 30 minute blocks. If you are interested in partnering with us this way please follow this link (prayer vigil signup) to get involved. Please feel free to sign up for as many time slots as you want.  Your prayer over the next few weeks and those 4 days is so important.  The second way you get involved is by volunteering to bake cookies. Each team member is needing to provide 160 dozen cookies. While in the prison we give 2 dozen cookies to each resident and each employee of the prison.  This is one way for us to show God's love.  I am grateful that my wife and kids are helping bake cookies, but we need help.  Click on this link (baking cookies) to view more details about this.

Thanks in advance for your prayers and all your help.  I am so excited to see the Holy Spirit at work and will blog regularly to keep you posted.

Faithfully Serving Him,
Gary

Kairos meeting day 2

Originally I was not going to be able to make the meeting this week. My father-in-law Tim was getting married and we planned on going up north to help prepare early. Well as things worked out I was able to go to the morning session before we left.

I am so glad I was able to attend after all. The morning started out singing to Jesus. We sang a familiar song This is the Day. It was cool to hear nearly 50 people singing this song. After that we had a time of prayer for three men who are going through some tough times with their wives. It was a blessing to rally around these men and pray for them. Please pray for these three men as they travel the paths the Lord has led them on. They need continual prayer for sure.

We spent the rest of time talking about the acts of Agape love we are going to shower the residents of Trumbull Correctional Institute (TCI) with. I was so excited to learn about these. The main reason I was excited was that my family and friends could partner with me. While you cannot go into the prison with me you can help me prepare for the weekend in September. There are several ways you can get involved. One is by baking cookies. On the weekend before the team goes into the prison, I need to provide 160 dozen cookies. In the weeks to come I will post more information about this and how you can help. But in the mean time get ready to bake. Another way is by making posters of encouragement. These posters will be taken in and hung for the residents to see. The main idea is to show them that people care about them and love them.

The biggest way you can help, though, is to pray. It is so exciting to hear what the Lord has done on the past teams. It is also exciting as I believe He is going to do mighty works on this team as well. But Satan is on the attack and will continue to be. Please pray for the team and the residents of TCI as we lead up to the weekend in September we go in.

Please check back for more updates and information about how you can partner with the Kairos Team.

What a weekend!

One thing in life I truly enjoy is spending time with my family. This weekend was one of those weekends that was such a blessing because of the time that was spent with family. What made this weekend special was how the time was spent with various parts of my family.

It started Saturday morning with my second Kairos team meeting with a Kairos team that is quickly becoming like family. The men and women of this team love the Lord so deeply it is contagious. Not only that but the passion they have for reaching the residents of the Trumbull County Correctional Institution for Jesus Christ is awesome to say the least. I feel so blessed to be a part of this team.

Later in the day we traveled North to take part in my Father-in-law Tim's wedding. It was a festive time where we became part of another family. I believe you can never have too much family. This time was great.

Sunday morning was spent worshipping our Lord with our church family. We were led in worship by Dale Mills and the rest of the worship team. Dale also brought a great message that was challenging and right on point. We then got to eat lunch with my parents and grandpa. It was cool to have 4 generations eating at the same table.

God has blessed us so much. I am so thankful for all my family. But I want it to keep growing. Not necessarily only my biological family but the family of God. It is my desire to keep reaching people for Jesus. Today is a day that will spur me on towards that goal.

Thank you Lord for reminders like you gave me today.