“Jesus of the vigil, you told us to keep watch, to stay alert for what is coming. Bless us with the strength to watch, to wait, and to work this Advent season, so that your kingdom which is here and is still to come may be realized in its fullness. Because if we do not keep watch, we may miss it. Amen.”
― Keep Watch with Me: An Advent Reader for Peacemakers
I'm listening in for the invitations that God has each day.... and today I am so grateful for so many that have come my way.... invitations to see more goats (not my usual sight to see on a morning run), to hear more sacred stories about people's lives, to meet up with beloved friends who have come through the program through the years, and to continue to soak up the gift of being a guest here in Veronica and Robert's home...
Robert (Veronica's husband) and Philemon (their youngest son - age 14) who came with me on a run this morning
so happy to see Susan Arupe (sponsored by Bill & Elizabeth!)
some of the wonderful mamas who came together for the new table banking program started 2 months ago by Veronica and Jane (board member who works for the First Lady of Kenya working with this program across Kenya). We are using the family support funds to create microloans, and so far, it's been such a great way to empower the women and to support them in a more sustainable way.
passage I shared about with the ladies at the table banking meeting this morning
the gift of meeting Stella (who worked in the office for a while with Veronica) who had a baby she named Emily :)
with board member Jane (far left) and her children Blessed and Hephzibah, along with Veronica and one of their friends...
16 amazing alumni who showed up for a rich time talking together
(There is a Children of the Kingdom Alumni Association, and these students are such incredible people of character. We had time to hear updates on their lives and to talk about how they can plug in to mentor and support new students. What a gift to see how far they've come!)
Here are Anna and Delilah in 1994 above
and here they are pictured below from today's gathering:
and here's one of my favorite people in the world above (David Loreng)
and see his pictures below from 1994
We took pictures of all the alumni who came to the meeting with a crown on to celebrate who they are as sons and daughters of a King! (see below for some beautiful smiles!)
On May 28, 1972, the Duke of Windsor, the uncrowned King Edward VIII, died in Paris. The same evening, a television program rehearsed the main events of his life. Extracts of earlier films were shown, in which he answered questions about his upbringing, brief reign, and abdication. Recalling his boyhood as Prince of Wales, he said, “My father (King George V) was a strict disciplinarian. Sometimes when I had done something wrong, he would admonish me by saying, “My dear boy, you must always remember who you are.” It is my conviction that our Heavenly Father says the same to
us every day: “My dear child, you must always remember who you are.”
This story is similar to why this program is called Children of the Kingdom. Many years ago, when I
was a sophomore in college, I went to a retreat with our Christian fellowship group on
campus. The speaker was an older pastor from a neighboring town, and as I was walking up to
one of the sessions, he was sitting outside. He did not know me, but he stopped me and said,
“Did you know that you are a daughter of the King?” I did not quite know how to respond, so
awkwardly I said, “yes,” and then he added, “You need to walk like that.” He was not
admonishing me as he did not know anything about me, but he was simply reminding me who I
was as a child of the King.
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