NOLA seafood and jazz

Last night we went out to eat for my birthday… had some local seafood and it was delicious. Then we went to Preservation Hall, which is a jazz club that has been there forever and some famous jazz musicians like Louis Armstrong got their start there. The brass band (whose name I cannot remember) played and it was a lot of fun. I loved it. It was in this super small room that looks like the inside of an old barn… there are a few benches in the very front, but unless you get there super early, you stand around.

Anyway, it was very cool.

Today was skating day for our field trip. It was a lot of fun to just be able to have fun with the girls. I have kind of gotten bogged down during certain parts of the days the past couple of days because I have had to discipline and get on the girls so much.

And, like, I know it’s for their good and it shows that I care about them and all that, but there is still part of me that doesn’t want to have to do that, you know? Like, I want them to have fun and to be able to have good relationships with them and stuff, and I don’t want it to be all discipline. But I know that it is mostly in my mind and I know that it is good for them.

I just love these girls so much… I hope they see that, you know?

But in the midst of feeling this way, I get up and am reading this morning in Hebrews, where I have been for a while, and of course I would be at the part about how the Lord disciplines those he loves, right? And Hebrews 12:11 spoke directly to me, as if God were sitting in front of me saying these words to me himself:

“No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.”

That is an incredible promise, huh?

And oh oh oh… the girl who got saved last week told me yesterday about how she read the Bible at a meeting at her mom’s work (which is at the alcohol rehab place where they live). It was the excerpt about storing up treasures in heaven in Matthew and also the excerpt about not worrying and seeking the kingdom first… yeah… she turned there the other day and saw it underlined (I underlined some places of Scripture when I gave her the Bible) and read it in small group. She said she is going to read at more meetings and stuff.

That made me so proud of her!! And she is asking a lot of questions because she really doesn’t understand much… and a lot of girls in small group have been asking questions. And I just know that the Lord can use it… maybe now, maybe later… but I know he will.

It’s not always easy… It’s often pretty trying and stretching, but it is so worth it. I love these girls and I see so much potential in all of them. Please pray for them.