My God is so BIG, so STRONG & so MIGHTY!

I made it through my first week of interning!!!! For those of you who don't know yet, I am working for the ABCCM Women & Children Homeless Shelter in downtown Asheville 4 days a week, 30 hours a week! ABCCM stands for Asheville Buncombe Community Christian Ministry& they are federally funded by grants & by 200 churches! The Shelter houses 27 single women & 7 families (moms with kids). The Shelter has a really awesome program that has helped tons of women get back on their feet & into the working world! If you are from or live in the western part of North Carolina & have never heard of ABCCM, I encourage you to look them up! My first week as an intern at ABCCM was amazing! See I interviewed for the job back in April & after I left from the interview like literally walking out to my car, I knew without any doubt in my mind that God was calling me to accept their offer to have me as their intern in the fall! I called my mom right when I got in my car & told her how amazing the experience was to interview with such Godly women! But see it wasn't long until the Devil got a hold of my excitement & turned it into doubt. Though I knew that God was wanting me to work at ABCCM in the fall, I still found myself worrying about it this summer....I would think, "oh gosh what if I took the easy way out by agreeing to work with the homeless, a group I've worked with before...maybe I was suppose to work in a school with kids like I'm scared about doing." When I found myself having thoughts like these, I always managed to find reassurance & comfort in the fact that God does not make mistakes & my feelings of the presence of God in that place were real so I have nothing to worry about! So let me tell you about my week! Today was by far my favorite day there so far because I realized that I know a good number of the women by name now & some of them are even starting to come to me for help with stuff....ok not big stuff but just questions like, "can you let me into the supply closet?" or "have you seen Nicole?" but before today they would just walk right by me or just ignore me while I'm sitting right there in the room! I guess I also realized today that I'm actually helping these ladies in a small way, but none the less helping. I got to cook lunch today for the ladies & that was fun! I like cooking! The ladies were so appreciate of me for making them lunch, which felt really good to serve them! This week I have also gotten to hear several of the women share their struggles, like not getting approved for Section 8 housing, not getting their Medicaid yet, still trying to find a job, not getting custody of their kids, etc. Though the stories are sad, it's really been cool hearing them be so open about their lives to us social workers! I just love people...I am most happiest when I'm around people & man helping people is like my number 1 passion!!!! I love the feeling of someone else needing me, it's like what I thrive off of! I'm really looking forward to getting to know these women more as I continue to work with them every week! Gosh I know some amazing & awesome things are going to happen in the next few months with me working there! Since it's only been 4 days and these women are already dear to my heart, I ask that you please keep them in your prayers as I share bits & pieces of their lives with you! That's all for now folks!