"It is for you"

So tonight I had a new and wonderful experience.......A kid we have known for a long time, but haven't seen in a while came into the building with a friend. After looking around for awhile he looked at me puzzled and asked:
"Why are you building this?"
I was taken aback, and it took me a second to answer "It is for you and the other kids in town".
To see the shocked look and to hear his amazement such a great reminder. To him it was odd that we were building this for other people. To me it is what we do, what God has asked of us, and what He has put in front of us, but to see the fresh look from one of the people we are building for was so encouraging. To be able to say to this and many other kids that "this is for you" is amazing!! To be able to tell God-this is for you-unbelievable. It is very easy right now to get lost in the plans, and people, and building, and code, and financials and forget why we are doing this and who we are doing it for, but God is so faithful that He brought that reminder right to me today-as if to say "don't forget". Today was a monster 12 hour day for me, and 15 hours for Buck and worth every moment, but they all fade away and that one conversation sticks out. I want every moment of this project to be filled with fresh wonder that there is a love so great that He provides something so tangible and real for this special group of people. Something that speaks their language and their interests. He is a God that loves them so much that He would do this for them. I want all the youth to know that they are so special and they deserve a place made just for them!!

To God be the Glory!!!

I Think the other amazement came from this kid when he took in the MASSIVE piles of lumber that has been graciously donated and the painted walls, ceiling, half finished skate park and tons of little blessings like tv, games, food you name it!! We have the guys from Team Pain up here donating their time and tools to build a professional sk8 park!! We have so many amazing contractors that are blessing us with their incredible building talents! Everyday God keeps bringing more and more then we could ever imagine. Very rarely do we get to experience God on this level and it is a challenge to even take it all in!!

We have 2 youth groups coming to work this week and we will be ripping out and installing new carpet, installing the chain link divider and finishing the drywall and electrical in the offices. We have been so blessed and since almost everything so far has been donated we are ahead of budget!! We will be looking to do some easy fund generators in the weeks to come. If you have an idea to help please let us know! We have do have some practical needs this week:

A new industrial metal sink
Snacks and bottled beverages for the workers
Soups/chili for our crock pot so we all have lunch when working
Pray we all stay healthy
I need 2 square black simple book cases-6-8 feet tall. Either new or in really good shape (please nothing broken)
We need an extra MAC laptop cord
We also could use another Mac laptop or desktop. We all share one little laptop and it is very challenging. We can use a used one in good shape

Thank you for walking with us on this journey!!!
Tara