“A
Season of Thanksgiving”
The fall season is in full swing!
People are busy enjoying pumpkin spice lattes at their local Starbucks, the
trees are changing colors, and the weather is cooling down. Football has taken over
small towns under the Friday night-lights and on many televisions in homes
across the country, on Sunday afternoons and Monday and Thursday nights. With
the fall season comes lots of celebrations. From children dressing up and
enjoying a variety of sweet treats, to pumpkin carving, and gathering friends
and family around a large table and giving thanks before eating themselves into
oblivion, many memoires are made in the fall.
When it comes to the military
culture, families don’t always get the opportunity to be with family during the
holidays. Oftentimes, families are separated by deployments, large distances or
other duties that prevent them from all gathering around the same table to
celebrate. The students and families we serve through Club Beyond have come to
view us as family and we help stand in the gap to fill that emotional void that
comes from the empty chairs around the table.
With the fun festivities of fall, in
the military life, a lot of heartache and sadness can often accompany the holidays
for our students. For example, one of our middle school students lost her
mother very suddenly almost 2 years ago and her dad is deployed more often than
he is home. Other students are preparing to move for the 8th or so
time, and still others are wondering with whom their holidays will be spent
with due to impending divorce of their parents’ marriage.
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| The guys were SO ready to prepare their steaks! |
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| Enjoying their cooked steak! |
Every fall, our Clubs down here in
Southeast Georgia gather together to celebrate life and all that we’re thankful
for together as a Club Beyond Family. Annually, our fall season consists of 2
awesome events. First, the guys enjoy a “marathon” day. For 12 solid hours, our
middle and high school boys gather together and sweat, compete, and are
encouraged to push outside of their comfort zone to be challenged in ways they
never have been before. We encourage fathers to attend with their sons and
enjoy spending the day together bonding. The evening culminates with a
testosterone-filled, action-packed movie and time is allotted to educate each
young man on how to marinate and grill the perfect steak. With the addition of
Amy joining the ministry in a full-time capacity, we now have the opportunity
to plan more events for our female students. This year, our middle and high
school girls get the opportunity to enjoy a nice lunch together and a photo
scavenger hunt at the local shopping mall.
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| Steaks cooking! |
We have
the amazing opportunity to celebrate life each week with our students and
introduce them to the Life Giver. We allow them space to play and just be the
kids that they are, since typically demands and expectations at home are very
high. The second event we plan each year involves a good old-fashioned family-style
dinner. We set aside time every year the week before Thanksgiving and students
are given the opportunity to dress up fancy, thrift store chic, or just as they
are and enjoy a fully prepared Thanksgiving meal together with their peers that
have become their family. As civilians, Amy and I are forever grateful for the
service that our United States Military provide to protect our nation. We also
understand that service extends beyond that of the soldier and also includes
their spouse and children.
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| The group of Hunter girls gathered during their day together at the mall. |
In our season of Thanksgiving, we
are grateful for each moment we are able to spend speaking truth into and
building relationships with our students. We never know how long they’ll stay
here at Ft. Stewart or Hunter, but they know that they’ll always be family and
have a place at our table and in our hearts. Our gratefulness also extends to
simply being able to minster in this capacity. With the climate of our nation
and faith-based programs continually being limited, we are glad God continues
to keep us here allowing us to serve through Club Beyond. We are grateful for
our amazing team of volunteers that help us bring Club alive each week. Without
their assistance, we wouldn’t be able to continue the mission. Our volunteer
team this year is the largest we’ve had, and God is working in such awesome ways
through them. For the first time in a long time, we are able to provide small
group ministry to all of our age groups consistently each week in addition to
regular Club which allows our students to dig deeper into Scripture and explore
where they are and where they want to be on their personal faith journey. Our
network of partnering community organizations continues to grow and we are
grateful for the help of the Ft. Stewart and Hunter PWOC (Protestant Women of
the Chapel) ladies that come alongside us to feed delicious meals to our
students and to the Marne Community & Spouses Club that fund scholarships
for our students to attend summer camp each year. Amy and I are thankful for
the global network of other Club Beyond locations and are glad we can help students
get connected when they move away. It warms our heart to know that although
club may look a little different from one location to the next, there are
people with similar visions and hearts ready to serve these military students
and their families. Our list of thankfulness could go on forever, but it
certainly wouldn’t be complete without each of you. Your ongoing prayer support
and financial gifts are vital to the success of this ministry and our continued
presence here in Southeast Georgia.
We pray that as this fall season is
upon us, and the holidays are quickly approaching, that you are fully blessed.
We hope that you pause for a moment and take inventory of all that you have to
be thankful for. May your hearts be filled to overflowing in this season of
Thanksgiving.
