Getting my car inspected...

A friend of mine has a blog where he discusses faith, life, God, etc... yesterday he randomly asked me for a "word" to spark his thought process for a new blog. This is what immediately popped into my mind:

"Inspection - I gotta take my car in to the garage later today...

Now with the new one, it's a very different experience, but with our old cars, the day I dropped off the car for inspection was nerve racking one... how much will it cost this time? Is this the end of the road for this car?

How does (or should) inspection play a role in our walk with Christ... does self-examination make me squirm the same way that car inspection day does? How do you feel knowing that God can see "under your hood" all the time?"

Here at Water Street and Teen Haven, "self inspection" is part of our growth process - as individuals being transformed by Christ (both staff and clients) and as an organization. Honestly, some days it feels like I'm taking the old '77 Chevy Caprice Classic into the shop and I know the mechanic is going to give me a laundry list of repairs needed... other days are like yesterday (my car passed with flying colors - although I had them rotate the tires for good measure).

The good news is we have a mechanic who is more than willing to work with us... he knows our vehicle better than we ever will... he can find the beauty in in the most beat up old hoopty (or jalopy)... and he already paid the price for all the repairs we need.

Knowing the mechanic makes "inspection" day a lot less nerve-wracking.

Jack Crowley, Teen Haven

PS - my friend ended up just using my thoughts for his blog... so I thought it would be OK to steal it back - you can check out some of his other thought provoking posts at http://radaph.blogspot.com

God's Provision in the Heat!

The Lebanon Free Clinic (Satellite of Water Street Health Services) is located in a row house in Lebanon city and has wall unit air conditioners. Guess what – last week in the heat of course, the AC’s were not working well, freezing up, not able to keep up and the staff, volunteers and patients were suffering from the heat and poor ventilation. Difficult for one of our staff in Lebanon who has asthma and couldn’t breathe!

A call for help was sent out to the Lebanon community donors and we now have a new AC unit in the treatment area and a gently used one for the front waiting room! God, as always, meets our every need!!

Gale Thomason • Executive Director, Water Street Health Services

Refreshing Treats at Teen Haven Camp!

This Monday at Teen Haven Camp, Vinny Mikusow was waiting for the campers to arrive and praying for wisdom and discernment about the schedule of camp. On a week with such record breaking high temperatures he wanted to be creative about how to keep the campers cool, and refreshed, so that the boys could have a really positive time at camp. Just about this time... up pulls a vehicle that is literally brimming with food donations for the Camp. From fresh sweet corn, ripe tomatoes, pastries, and fruit to 6 gallons of ice cream!

I was , one of the people that happened to be praying for camp, and for God’s grace to guide the staff and camp counselors as they welcomed the 9-11 yr. old boys to camp! And if you know me well, you’ll know I happen to be a bit of an ice cream fanatic. This donor’s willingness to give so generously reflected God’s perfect timing to meet Vinny and the campers with a very real and tangible need. Afterall, what tastes better than ice cream on a really hot day??

As Vinny helped unload the donations, he watched as slowly the countertops of the kitchen were filled. One of the many delicious blessings of this donation was that the camp staff decided to use the ice cream to bless the campers with a surprise ice cream sundae party, to conclude one of their evening activities!

God's faithfulness, in using his people is a beautiful thing. In this story, he was answering Vinny's prayers before the campers even pulled in to camp.

Janae Dagen

Teen Haven Secretary