Saturday, September 8: For the past year or so now, Grand Rapids has been preparing for a city-wide festival to declare Jesus Christ to anyone and everyone who cares to listen. It was called City-Fest. Over 400+ churches in our city joined together to sponsor, fund, and facilitate this event. Luis Palau and his organization were asked to come, and there were many Christian bands there to celebrate Christ as well.
I was pretty sure that my four kiddos would NOT want to be downtown for very long during this event--and I predicted correctly. The crowds were HUGE and for these guys, quite overwhelming. The music was super LOUD (but it was good) and the lines were LONG for some of the kids' activities. But having said all of that, I'm glad we tried it anyway. Matthew and Christopher played something called "Ga-ga ball" (I'm sure I am spelling this incorrectly) and told me that they play this at Three Mile. They entered right in and, naturally, were very competitive about it.
Christopher was just certain he would win ... but there were a LOT of young men down there and a lot of them were just as competitive as Chris!
I was still glad to see the boys enter in and PLAY. CityFest Kids had inflatables (that's where the long lines were) as well as puppet shows, and other interactive stuff. It was well organized and very well put together. Oh--and there were food vendors EVERYWHERE too. It was quite a party.
We got downtown right around 5:00 (it had started at 4:00) and by about 6:00, we were told they were shutting down the Kids' stuff and pointing people towards the stage areas for the music and message. So we did walk over to the main stage area--but basically got into a people jam, super THICK. We did stay for a few songs, but Kaity was holding her ears, and Emma looked like she was going to faint, and the boys just looked ... well, I'm not sure! So, rather than stay and have the children continue in their misery, we walked back to the car (which was parked at quite a distance) and then came back to my house.
We settled in here and played for awhile. The boys played a rather rousing game of Battleship, and had a nasty time of it! These guys just cannot play a game together without a lot of strife and hardship. And that is sad. But ... there is nothing I can really do about that except to encourage kindness, tolerance, patience and love them through their conflicts. There seems to be so much anger and resentment in the boys. It is difficult being their ages. I do remember, too well actually, how hard it is to be an early teenager. I will continue to pray that God will have HIS WAY in their hearts and minds. God is certainly able--there isn't anything TOO HARD for Him!
We did have our Bible story. We've been studying the Kings and prophets of the Old Testament. Our story took us to the end of King Saul's life and all of the bitterness and tragedy of his life. We had a good lesson together. I'm just thankful that they come to the table, do some art work, and ask questions. I haven't any idea whatsoever if they remember any of these great stories or not. But GOD SAYS that His Word never returns empty and that it WILL accomplish what HE DESIRES. So, I simply must continue to prepare these stories ...
Sunday, September 9: I signed up to volunteer for City Fest. I'm really glad that I did! In fact, I signed up for the perfect task (for me). I got to be the Trash Lady! Yes, I know--it doesn't sound that great--but IT WAS! I had more fun picking up trash, meeting nice people, greeting people with a smile, listening to music, people watching, praying, etc.
The above picture was an artist's rendering of the "end of racism" and unity of all people groups. I thought it was at least an effort to bring this issue respectfully forward. Below is just a picture I snapped of our beautiful Grand River ...
Luis Palau is 82 years old now and has Stage 4 cancer. He was present Friday night, but his son Andrew brought the message (which we did not hear). I was rather anxious to hear how he would present the GOSPEL Sunday night. I thought he was super clear about the choice we have as individuals--to believe and receive Jesus into our lives as Lord and Savior, OR to reject His love, death, resurrection for us and just go our own way. Andrew Palau emphasized the consequences of a negative decision, as the Bible teaches, and the wonderful reward to those who follow Christ. He called it the road from Grand Rapids to Heaven. There were people walking among the crowd giving out the Gospel of John to anyone who wanted a copy. There was a big tent marked "Do you want to pray?" and there were people walking around just asking people if they wanted to talk about Jesus or be prayed for.
There was a lot of energy down there both days/evenings. People were very happy to be there. I met SO MANY nice people and I had so much fun ... just picking up trash. I go told a dozen times that I was "awesome" ... which is completely OFF since there is no one anywhere in the known universe or elsewhere who is AWESOME except the Triune God!
I'm thankful for many things about CityFest. We had prayed that the weather would be okay, and it was. Aside from being a bit too "cool", it did not rain, it was not humid, and unlike the weekend before, it was not devastatingly HOT. And the turnout was above what anyone anticipated. And people were KIND, and the GOSPEL was spoken freely and clearly. I pray that anyone who was downtown last weekend, who has not come in faith to Jesus, will DO that and be adopted as a child of God.
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