By His Grace

Everybody smile!

Last week my Life Group had to say goodbye to one of our founding members: Jeff Laforteza. He is heading to Seattle to work on staff with Campus Crusade. To send him off, we decided to host a scavenger hunt and the have dinner together. Jenny Platt kindly put together the hunt, so that I would be able to join in the fun and we met on PCH to select teams. Then it was off! We had a really long list and only 1 hour to be at Mimi’s Café.

It was a blast! I haven’t laughed so hard in quite some time, what with the jumping out of the car, running into stores and restaurants to collect items and pictures of certain things and driving around like a maniac. When my team ran into “In n Out” we got a weary look from the guy behind the counter who asked, “how many teams will be coming in?” But he played along, giving us the hat we needed from our list. We even had to make a sand castle on the beach at 8:00 at night. Digging in the sand trying to get the specified 3’x1’ size as absolutely fast as possible will make even the most serious person laugh. Finally, the teams finally arrived at the designated spot, out of breath and smiling. Over dinner we counted the points and Jeff’s team won by a slim but real margin.

For any Life Groups looking to put some fun into it, I recommend this crazy adventure. You can’t help but smile.

Marriage Mentors

Well finding the time to Blog definitely has been challenging! I worked 7 days and 70 hours last week and never had a chance to even catch my breath and write anything. The good news is we held our first ever Marriage Mentor training last Saturday, and it was a huge success. 20 couples are now involved and ready to build relationships with other couples who need life transformation. They have tools, training, and support that will help them bless others.

The vision of Revolution is about the communities of Long Beach being transformed by God one life at a time. For the past year, I have dreamed of starting a Marriage Mentoring ministry where Godly couples can help other couples learn tools to handle challenges and ways to understand and effectively love each other. At the same time they would be encouraged to grow closer to God and each other, bringing peace and joy into their lives. God is glorified in a healthy marriage as the couple is able to serve those around them – children, friends, those in their communities rather then spending their energy fighting with each other. To see the vision become reality is incredibly exciting to me. I pray it grows and we see many lives transformed.

BTW If any of you reading this have been married more than 5 years, call me! We need more mentors as the demand is high. You don’t have to have it all together – no one does! You just need to be willing to share your life, offering encouragement and challenge to others. Randy and I have been mentoring a couple for about 4 months and it’s been incredibly rewarding. It always sparks great conversations after each meeting and we have grown closer in the process. Please pray about getting involved.