Thursday and Day 4 of Mission Peoria

Thursday morning started off good.  After being extremely tired Wednesday, I woke up refreshed on Thursday.  I got to work early to try and get some paperwork done before I started seeing clients.  I had two messages on my phone from a former client.  I was a little leery to call her back because I wasn't sure what she wanted to tell me, and I honestly assumed it was bad news.  It turned out to be the most edifying conversation.  She called to tell me a couple of success stories.  Not only was she crying, but I almost started crying as she shared with me skills she is using to maintain her family.  She also shared some things she continues to work on that she wasn't quite ready to work on when I was working with her.  She stated that if it wasn't for the work she did with me, her family would have fallen apart over something that happened recently.  I was on a client-success-story high!  :)  Which was a good thing because all of my clients were no shows for the day and I would have been really frustrated otherwise.

So I was able to get off work early and meet up with Dad to follow him around as he ran errands and drove to the different MetroKids sights.  This was fun because it was a new experience--normally I'm not off early enough to do this.

Then Thursday night Andy spoke at the worship service.  He talked about the dead bones passage from Ezekiel.  He illustrated, with a balloon, how God breathes life into us.  A balloon without air cannot function as a balloon should, just like we cannot function as God wants us to unless we allow Him to breath life into us.

He then had everyone come down and write on a piece of paper what they wanted God to breathe into them.

After the service, they headed into the sanctuary where they received a balloon to attach their card to.  And then they went outside.

When they rounded the corner, there was a hot air balloon in the parking lot.  The band led everyone in a worship song.

And then Andy led them in a prayer and when he said Amen, everyone released their balloons into the air.  It represented releasing those things to God and letting Him breathe them into our lives.

It was a good illustration that I think the kids will remember for a long time.