Dear friends,
Recently, I came to the bittersweet end of the best thing in
between sliced bread. A dear family friend chose to give me a container of
their homemade strawberry preserves and they were the most decadent tasting
thing on a peanut butter & jelly sandwich. For those who may or not know me
that well, PBJs are a staple in what I eat. Heck, single guys need something
basic. For nearly two months, I got the wonderful pleasure to enjoy this
amazing taste of something a store couldn’t even come close to making on their
shelves. It wasn’t just the product itself that made the difference but it was
the amazing time, thought and love that it took to prepare them.
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| Fort Stewart guys playing ultimate football together! |
In the month of September, I
had the awesome chance to spend
intentional time with our young men at both the installations I oversee,
Fort Stewart and Hunter Army Airfield. When originally announced to the groups,
most of the girls will just go ‘ewwww’ and not be interested, but not my guys.
They knew for weeks ahead they were invited
out for the ‘guys marathon day’ to
spend their energy from 9am to 9pm playing, competing, hanging out,
sweating hard and eating – a LOT. Not only did they know they would get to play
some of their favorite games, but they knew there was something desired and earned
at the end of the day – a 16 ounce sirloin steak to cook to their perfection.
We would spend time talking through how to marinade it, cook it and then enjoy
it; no forks or knives were given – we were guys so we were going to eat with
our hands!
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| Snapshot of the size of the steaks each guy got! |
These guys came together, intentionally to hang out all day
with guys that they knew from Club as well as guys they didn’t know so well.
These guys brought it. They came ready and played hard and fully embraced the
teamwork and competition as it came together. They cheered one another on as they played
basketball and arm wrestled . Energy
rides high throughout this day together.
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| The Hunter guys together enjoying 4....yes 4 hot dogs each! |
Intentionality with everything we do. Just like the amazing
strawberry preserves that were carefully prepared and then amazingly given to
me to enjoy during my time in Georgia. We do everything with Christ’s focus of
living well with one another. Christ gave us that focus of coming alongside
others and getting our hands dirty so we can experience life alongside our
students. Life is crazy, joyful, sorrowful and everything in between. But as
one of our students shared with me recently on the way home from the guys
marathon day – this is home for him. He loves Club Beyond so much. The ‘normal’
at his home right now is a place where he has to put on the father’s clothes
and do things that non-military students do daily. Club Beyond’s intentional
life-inspiring, live-giving from the Life-giver Himself allows this young man
to come and feel like a boy again.
Please join me as I continue to pray for our students at
both locations that they can come to Club Beyond and be themselves. Also, pray
for the leadership teams. We have been blessed with a growing group of adults
who want to pour Christ’s love into these great teens.
It’s truly an honor to be able to work with students of
those who have served or are currently serving. As for you who have been
praying and supporting the ministry and God’s call on my life, He has been
moving mountains. Continually I hear comments from Chaplains and families that
we are doing things that have never been done before on this installation. It’s
because of YOUR awesome support and love! God is great and has provided amazing
victories and opportunities in front of the ministry.
Obediently honored to do this,
Phil
Phil
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