A heavy heart.....

It is with a heavy heart that  I sit here and write this out.  This has been a week of ups and downs, moments that make me want to throw in the towel and moments that push me to do more, to be stronger, and never give up.

I have been in my office for the past couple hours enjoying a "Pumpkin Pie Spice" candle (if you want one I have the hook up), a hot cup of Dutch Bros Coffee (only in the western US, visit and I will treat you to one), and prepping for Teen Night.  All that sounds and is amazing but my hear is still heavy, as I sit here I can hear a still small voice and it is saying "It is okay, your heart breaks for what breaks mine and all I ask is that you don'y give up keep fighting for what is mine."  That loosened up the tear ducts a bit.

 As I mentioned above there have been some ups and downs.  A few that I will share with you are Stephanie and I recently celebrated 8 years of marriage, we got to enjoy a night out last evening no kids just the two of us (thanks KARI MILLER), another is Madison our soon to be 5 year old has been begging to go on a date with daddy (just like mom) and that will be happening tomorrow.  Madison has it all planned out and knows exactly what she wants to do Chik-Fil-A, Costco, Nami (vegan bakery), and the Mall (did I mention she is only 5).  Some other exciting things are we have a yard full of green grass, neighbors that are amazing, and most importantly a Savior that promises to never leave us or forsake us!

Now for the heavy heart; all the above lifts it up but it still hearts for others who need Jesus.  A few weeks ago a young guy that I have been working with was arrested for the second time in a month and a half.  This young man is one that I had the privilege of helping baptize this summer as well as create some very meaningful memories over the past couple of months.  Due to his current charges the road ahead looks very rocky and very difficult and it breaks my heart.  It breaks my heart when young people that we have been working with for a while leave little to no room for God in their life.  My heart breaks when I see brokenness in young peoples lives; when I see them searching in all the wrong places and the answer is right under their nose. It is very easy to let all this get to me and bring my spirit down and cause me to feel like I have failed but my faith is in someone who never fails, who never leaves my side, and who always loves.  I know I haven't failed I know we are continuing to do what God has called us to do and that is share the Gospel with young people here in downtown PHX.

Please keep Stephanie, Madison, Carter, myself, and Aim Right in your prayers as we continue to reach out to young people.

Check out Psalm 136
 

His Steadfast Love Endures Forever 

Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good,
    for his steadfast love endures forever.
2 Give thanks to the God of gods,
    for his steadfast love endures forever.
3 Give thanks to the Lord of lords,
    for his steadfast love endures forever;

4 to him who alone does great wonders,
    for his steadfast love endures forever;
5 to him who by understanding made the heavens,
    for his steadfast love endures forever;
6 to him who spread out the earth above the waters,
    for his steadfast love endures forever;
7 to him who made the great lights,
    for his steadfast love endures forever;
8 the sun to rule over the day,
    for his steadfast love endures forever;
9 the moon and stars to rule over the night,
    for his steadfast love endures forever;

10 to him who struck down the firstborn of Egypt,
    for his steadfast love endures forever;
11 and brought Israel out from among them,
    for his steadfast love endures forever;
12 with a strong hand and an outstretched arm,
    for his steadfast love endures forever;
13 to him who divided the Red Sea in two,
    for his steadfast love endures forever;
14 and made Israel pass through the midst of it,
    for his steadfast love endures forever;
15 but overthrew[a] Pharaoh and his host in the Red Sea,
    for his steadfast love endures forever;
16 to him who led his people through the wilderness,
    for his steadfast love endures forever;

17 to him who struck down great kings,
    for his steadfast love endures forever;
18 and killed mighty kings,
    for his steadfast love endures forever;
19 Sihon, king of the Amorites,
    for his steadfast love endures forever;
20 and Og, king of Bashan,
    for his steadfast love endures forever;
21 and gave their land as a heritage,
    for his steadfast love endures forever;
22 a heritage to Israel his servant,
    for his steadfast love endures forever.

23 It is he who remembered us in our low estate,
    for his steadfast love endures forever;
24 and rescued us from our foes,
    for his steadfast love endures forever;
25 he who gives food to all flesh,
    for his steadfast love endures forever.

26 Give thanks to the God of heaven,
    for his steadfast love endures forever.

Your Last Cup of Coffee.........

I know it has been a while since we last posted on here, this is proving to be more difficult than I had originally thought.  All that aside things are going great for the Reed's here in PHX.  The past couple of months have been busy but a blast, they have consisted of birthday parties, Bible Studies, Kids Klubs, Teen Nights, hiking trips, fall parties, and half marathons.

Recently we spent a week at a resort in Scottsdale for a mini family stay-cation.  We had a blast spending some quality time together as a family, we got to hang out by the pool, play putt-putt golf, and eat lots of ice cream.  As with any vacation there is a little bit of shock when you enter back into reality but Stephanie and I look back and know that God used that time to help us continue to grow as husband and wife and as a family.

Today I want to challenge every person that takes time to read this post.  Recently I was talking with one of our Pastors from City of Grace a local Church in Downtown PHX that Stephanie and I are a part of and he left me with some encouraging words.  I am rewording it a little to help paint a picture of how it looks for me.
Imagine with me that you were sitting down for one last cup of coffee (I love coffee, the darker the better) with your best friend, brother/sister, mom/dad, a non-believer, you fill in the blank.  Upon sitting down with this person you know that it is going to be a long time till you see them again and there is a possibility that you may never see them again.  What would you talk about?  How would you approach that last sit down to coffee?  For me and probably most of us it is easy to answer that question ahead of time, it is easy to think I am going to pass on as much knowledge and wisdom to them as possible.  When we get into the actual conversation if we are not intentional about every moment we have with that person we may miss an opportunity that God has placed right in front of us.  An opportunity to share the Gospel, to Encourage, and to speak life and truth into that individual.  Paul in 2 Corinthians 6 says "I tell you, now is the time of God's favor, now is the day of salvation."  Later in the NT James tells us in James 4:13-17 that our life is just a mist that appears and then vanishes, he says we don't even know what will happen tomorrow.  Is this how we approach every day and more particular every person we meet?  When Pastor Jon shared with me that he looks at every opportunity as possibly the last that he can share the Gospel. encourage, and speak what the Spirit leads him to speak it made me look at my own life.  Do I actually do that?  Do I take advantage of every opportunity?  Since our conversation I can definitely say that I am working on this and trying my best to take advantage of every opportunity God sends my way.  I don't write this to point a finger at anyone, I write to encourage and challenge each one of us that if we approach life this way that God will open up the Heavens and pour His love and grace out one each person.  If we approach life in this way we will see lives transformed, relationships restored, bondage's broken, and the list could go on.  Isaiah 55:11 (read the whole chapter) says: so is my word that goes from my mouth: it will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.


We pray that this is as encouraging to you as it has been to us, have a great week and know that God's Spirit is living inside of you to go with you through every part of life.  Know that God has called each one of you to build His Kingdom, it is only by His strength and grace that we can even begin to do this.  Check out this video in closing.

Anticipation

Good Friday morning to everyone, I pray that you have had a fantastic week and are looking forward to a weekend full of family fun, working outside, or whatever you may have scheduled.  All week long I have been anticipating today, looking forward to it like it's my birthday or another special occasion.  Some of you may wrinkle your nose at this but my excitement was that I was going to be able to see a young man that is currently in the Juvenile Detention Center.  Earlier this week I contacted his PO and requested that I be added to the visitation list and she said YES!!  I arrived this morning to the detention center walked through security into a world that I am somewhat familiar with. No I have never been locked up but had plenty of jail tours with my dad growing up (he is a Deputy Sheriff).  When I got to the desk to check in she came back and said that my name was not on the list and my heart sank.  I went from total excitement to disappointment in seconds, walking out of the building I wanted to shake my fist at the PO, yell at God, etc.  The exact opposite happened, I got to the truck sat down and said "God I know that you are in control and that in your time I will get to see the young man, until then I will pray and ask you to be near to him."  On the drive home I just spent time worshiping and crying out to God to intercede and take control of this situation and the peace that came over me was a peace like none other.  At this point I am anticipating the appointment that God has set up for me and this young man.

Tonight I am going to be talking about "Our Purpose" during Teen Night and how there is an invisible war going on around us to keep us from living in the Will and Purpose God has laid out for us.  This morning was a reminder that there are evil forces out there trying to keep us from fully following after God and fulfilling the tasks He has called us to do.  Ephesians 6:12 says For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 

If I would of given into frustration this morning that would of opened a door for the evil one to attack me and cause me to become bitter and angered.  It is not always easy to respond by praising God but when we do there is a power that comes over us to push back satan and his attack on us.  In Ephesians 6 Paul tells us to put on the full armor of God, not just some of it all of it.  We need to align our lives with Jesus at the center and equip ourselves with the armor, then we will be able to successfully push back the attacks of satan.  David also tells us in the Psalms to Meditate on the Word day and night, not just Sunday mornings or once a week but daily. 

My prayer today is that this is an encouragement to whoever reads this and that it will challenge us to always go to God in the good times and bad times.  I am including a link to a song that helped me out this morning "No Other Name" by Hillsong Worship.  Please take the time to listen to it and allow the truth of the song to speak to you.  

Thanks for your time and have a super duper weekend.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wku9OphQ7JE 

First Time for Everything

Well I can honestly say that I thought having a blog was going to be great and that I would be super excited about posting every week.  The truth is that I have put this off day after day and here we are a couple months since starting this blog.  

I want to just take a couple minutes here and get you up to speed on what has been going on the past couple of weeks.  Upon arriving back home we took a family camping trip up to Flagstaff where we had a great couple of days just relaxing and regrouping as a family.  The weeks to follow consisted of prepping for our upcoming programs as well as reconnecting with the youth, our friends, and Church family.  We had so much fun camping in Flagstaff that we decided to join some friends and do it again, that trip was cut short by rain and ended with a leaky tent, colds, ear aches, and memories.  I look back over that weekend and the week to follow and could easily get frustrated, upset, and so on but we did create some great memories.  You can check out Stephanie's FB page for pictures.  

Last week marked our kick-off week for most of our programs, and it was a great week.  We had a good turnout to all of our events and definitely had opportunities to share the LOVE of Jesus with many young people.  Our current Bible Study series is covering Spiritual Disciplines, at Kids Klub we are talking about Jonah, and the theme for Teen Night is Experiencing God.  Please shower these events with your prayers as we definitely need them.  

In closing I would ask that you would pray for the health of our family, we have been dealing with colds etc, also that we would continue to passionately follow God's call he has placed on us.  Thanks and have a great week!!

 Enjoy a few pictures from our recent mobile pantry.