Kids and freedom.

Hello! Melanie here, and Janelle. We wanted to tell you a little bit more about what we did this past week. Instead of playing soccer when the kids visited on Wednesday, Janelle and I (and Lexi, I believe) played with sidewalk chalk with some of the girls. In particular, we played with Jasmine, who was probably about six or seven years old and was a delight to be around. We drew houses, cats, dogs, and monkeys. After every drawing was finished, Jasmine would trace over it to make it her drawing too. When we got bored of that, she decided to use the chalk dust to paint our faces. Why do we tell you all this? Admittedly, it's partially because Jasmine was overflowing with cuteness that just had to be shared. But these kinds of experiences with the kids also made us realize how important Restoration Ministries is, that it keeps adorable kids like Jasmine safe and entertained and gives them love. It made us more excited that we had spent that time organizing the craft closet because now Jasmine would have some more fun crafts to do. It was hard to leave those kids, even though we were all tired from playing. Hopefully, they'll remember us for a long time--I know we'll remember them! Melanie (that is, me) also wanted to talk about another of Pastor Zan's messages. This particular message went far past it's allotted time, but I can't say I resent that. For me, it was the most powerful of his sermons. He started by talking about God and Adam, then Eve, and then the Fall. He told of how, before the Fall, Adam greeted God joyfully, even ecstatically, and God greeted Adam the same way. He said that God was just as excited to see Adam as Adam was to see God. However, after the Fall, Adam hid from God. He was different than before, stained with guilt and fear and sin. Then came the cross. Zan said that God offered a sort of trade, taking Adam and Eve's (that is, humanity's) sin and giving them the holiness of Christ. Then that sin was nailed to the cross with Jesus. We were set free. All the chains binding us to our past, to our mistakes, to every time we've fallen or failed, have been broken. After telling us this, Zan invited us to form groups of three and tell each other that we had been set free. Then we gathered around the cross and Zan prayed over us as we committed or recommitted our lives to Jesus. It was, to put it simply, powerful. And it's not a message I'm likely to forget.