Concrete for a Bed

When the Heaventrain bus pulled up I saw a pile of clothes by the black iron fence. It was curled up in a tight ball. A shirt and pants. Nothing unsual.

Then I saw a shoe with a foot attached to it. It was a Heaventrain kid!

My heart sunk to the bottom of my chest. Here was a little boy sleeping on the cold concrete. He came to Heaventrain but fell asleep before he could get on the bus.

I walked over and tried to wake him up. His little head rolled to the side and he was back to sleep. He was using the cold concrete for a pillow.

 It looked uncomfortable.

He looked forgotten.

It was sad.

He smelled of urine.

His clothes were covered with dirt.

But this was one of my kids and I could not leave him like this.

I sat down next to the fence and picked him up. He took his head and put it on my shoulder and went right back to sleep.

While I was sitting there I started seeing myself as this little boy. Wrapped up in my Heavenly Father's arms finding quiet rest.

He slept for two hours on my shoulder. As the kids were leaving a little girl came up, put him on her back, and carried him home.

Urban ministry is unique.

It is not predictable.

It takes you out of your comfort zone.

It can be amazing.

It can be heart-breaking.

Experiencing it can be the best thing that every happens to you.

Sharing

Question: Would you share your lunch if you thought you might not have any food for dinner?

 I'm not sure if I would. The Heaventrain kids are better than me! I watch the children share their food with each other all the time.

In fact, they will always share their food. Today when we ran out of food on Heaventrain at Cedar. We went from 200 a week to about 300 today.

4 year old boy: Is there any food left?
Me: I'm sorry we ran out.

Answer: I watched a family: big bro about 10 , little bro, and two lil' mamas. Take their food out of their bags and share it with him.

The little guy ate everything they gave him right there.

"I was hungry and you fed Me"

Then I remembered I had bottled water in my van so I gave him a couple of them and he went on his way.

" I was thirsty and you gave Me something to drink."

Women of Faith Conference in Cleveland

">He does not weigh out his love for us grain by grain; he doesn't squeeze out forgiveness one tiny drop at a time. Not our God—he pours out mercy in a flood. He loves us more than we know. He's unrestrained. Excessive. Outrageous. OVER THE TOP.
 Join Lighthouse, Inc. for the awesome OVER THE TOP event September 17-18 at Quicken Loans Arena, and purchase your tickets through Kristen Batten.Tickets are $89.00, which is the group rate and $10.00 off the individual ticket price. Then $5 of your ticket cost goes back to Lighthouse, Inc. for ministry. 

 

It's an open group so feel free to share with your friends, family, Sunday school and work colleagues. Contact Kristen Batten, for further questions.

Sharing the Vision

Lighthouse, Inc. has been a part of Central Cleveland for 30 years. It all started with Rev. Phil Batten and a BIG vision. On July 12, 2010 Phil was recognized for his service and commitment to the inner city of Cleveland.

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and then Andy shared about sight and vision

Checking Up On Faith

I love it when I feel like God is sending a message and it's tailor made just for me! It hasn't happened very often, in fact I can think of only one other time. It's in those times that I realize that I am not a number to Him. He knows me intimately enough that he sometimes provides even before I bow my head and pray. Have you had one of these moments?

I live in a neighborhood where the crime seems to be increasing. Since we moved here two years ago we have had the car broken into and a catalytic converter stolen from our truck.  The neighborhood has quite a few gangs and prostitution around the clock. This really didn't make me feel unsafe.

Day 1
Recently, though a couple of houses down the street were broken into.

Day 2
The the next door neighbors shed was vandalized and items were stolen.

I needed money for a security system but didn't have it!

Day 3
Next night, the lady across the street house was ransacked while she slept.
With each passing day I was loosing sleep and worried that something was going to happen.

Day 4
The next night, at 3AM a man goes running in front of our house screaming, "Call the police, I've been robbed!"

Four nights in a row and four neighbors were robbed.

Day 5
Then the next night, our next door neighbor started screaming in our window, "Someone is trying to break into your garage!"

Make that FIVE nights, and it looked like the fifth time it would be our house.
Thankfully, when we checked on the garage everything was in its place. Since our neighbors were up, I spent most of the night sitting on their front porch and my husband drove around the neighborhood looking for any suspicious activity.

Another sleepless night.

Day 6

In the morning we called a security company and got an estimate. The estimate was for over $1,700 dollars. Having that piece of mind was going to cost me! Security is not cheap.

Day 7
We asked the company if they would take a couple of installment payments-thankfully they agreed. I remember thinking, "Thank you Lord for allowing them to take the payments instead of the lump sum." At that time I was so grateful and I knew He was looking out for me. He was pouring out His love for me! I had just experienced it. It's easier for me to understand faith when I can feel it, touch, it and see it in action.

But God's love for me and you is over the top and abundant!

Not ten minutes after finishing the phone call with security company, I walked into my house. Laying on the floor was a little envelope that had come through the mail slot in our door. I picked it up and I couldn't believe my eyes! Before I opened it I could tell it was a check. It was a reimbursement for our real estate taxes. Not a little check, like a couple hundred dollars, it was for more than enough for the security system.


Have you ever had a moment like this when you have to pause and pinch yourself because it seemed to good to be true? You know the feeling. The hair stands up on your arms and you get the chills. You start to remember all the times before when God has provided for your needs. I realized I was in one of those moments. I was holding my faith in my hands. I was seeing it, touching it and feeling it! We serve a generous Father who pours out His love for us-ABUNDANTLY. Whether you're waiting for an answer to your prayers. Hoping to hear that you have a new job. Our looking to see Him show himself to you so you know that you are not alone. He is there.

A Love So Deep

My grandparents just celebrated their 60th Wedding Anniversary. I sat down with them to learn more about how they met and this is their story.


One evening when Grandma was visiting her girlfriends house in California she met my grandpa. Grandma says, " All of a sudden a handsome slender man came around the corner."  He was her "prince charming." Charming indeed as he came around the corner in - nothing but a bathrobe. A passion was ignited between them on that day. Shortly after they started seeing each other. Grandpa tells of taking a paper route together so they could be with each other every day.  They started dating in January and on May 13, 1950, five months later, they were married.

They had been only married a couple of months when Grandpa was called up for active duty in Korea. With tears and goodbyes to each other they made a promise. They would write each other every day.

True Colors

 The Heaventrain line was starting to fill up and I was making my rounds asking the kids if they had a good week. I was delighted to hear from a little girl that she was learning her colors at school. Her brother was listening and started quizzing her.


"What color is the bus?" She responded, "Blue." "What color is your shirt?" and she responded with more confidence, "Pink" Which she added," and that is my favorite color." Then her brother pointed to a friends' face and said, "What color is this?" I was immediately interested in seeing what she was going to say. It took her a little while she kind of turned her face to the side and just stood there then answered,"Brown." Her brother instead corrected her with, "Dark-skinned?" Then he pointed to another child's face in line." And what color is this?" She replied, "Dark-skinned." The young man seemed to argue a little bit with her. In fact her told her that he was light-skinned and not dark-skinned. Then her brother pointed to another child, she replied, 'Dark-skinned." Then back at the boy who said he was light-skinned and not dark-skinned. She replied, "Light-skinned,"

Then he pointed to my face. I was expecting her to say, "White" and instead she said, "Just like him,"she pointed to the young man in line next to me," She is light-skinned!" Her brother looked at me, then her, then back at me and smiled.  I was proud of her brother for not correcting her and giving her a lesson in race that day. That would come soon enough.

 I learned a lesson that day about being color blind vs. race blind. I was reminded how children are so innocent and impressionable. She was not color blind. I had witnessed this with my own eyes that she knew her colors. Instead she seemed to be race blind when it came to the color of someone's skin.

I was reminded of an excerpt from a song War/No More Trouble on Playing for Change and it goes something like...when the color of someone's skin is not more important than the color of their eyes.