Looking back over my past three sessions I hav
e attended at In the Gap, I can’t help but see the hand of God at work in my life during each one. If I had to put a label on each session I think I would probably call Level 1, Yielding my Rights; Level 2, Trusting God; and Level 3, Prayer. God used my time at In the Gap to push me over the edge in many areas. He used it to push me out of my comfort zone, into His will for me. I wouldn’t have gotten there on my own.
Through many different circumstances during my first session God taught me to give my rights to Him. On many occasions I would be having a bad attitude because things weren’t going my way and the Lord would use the good attitude of different people or a verse I had read that morning, to convict me and tell me, “Joanna, that right is not for you, I made you,
it is for Me, give it to Me.” I am so thankful for the Lord’s gentle nudging’s that pushed me over the edge into a relationship with Him where He is truly in control!
But come on Joanna, be logical here. God could have taught you all that without you ever leaving home. I say, absolutely correct. He could have, but if I had stayed home I never would’ve learned how to teach character, how to clearly share the Gospel, not to fear speaking with people, I never would have been pushed into doing it. Just last week I saw the fruit of what 
I have learned. I was in my cousin’s back yard playing soccer with them and a few neighbor children. I noticed a little girl across the fence watching us so I went over to talk to her. That was the first unusual thing, it is not normal for me to leave a game to go talk to a little child. I learned that her name was Lanie and that she was four years old. Then she suddenly put on this sad face and said, “I’m mad.” I asked her, “Why are you mad?”
“Because Grandma said I
can’t come over and play. I’m too little.” That gave me an open door to speak truth into her life. Because of my training at In the Gap, I saw the door and I didn’t even hesitate in taking it. I taught her the definition of Patience, Waiting, aaaaand waaaaiting, aaaaaaaaaaaand Waaaaaaaaaaaating (!), with a GOOD Attitude!!! I talked with her about obeying her Grandma with a good attitude and how her Grandma would probably notice and be proud of her. I also told her a story about a little boy who didn’t wait and he was sorry about it later. As I left the fence to head inside for supper, Lanie was shouting the definition after me with a big smile on her face. It was all the reward I needed. And to think, I never would have even thought to talk to her before I went to In the Gap. At In the Gap they pushed me into doing the things that I knew I should do, that I knew, deep down, I wanted to do, but that I was afraid to do. If you go, they will push you too, and it will change your life for the better, forever.
Learning to Serve,
Joanna
bout knowing the needs of your class, I decided that I would do a survey in my classes today to see what their needs really were. The survey was fairly simple, with four basic questions: What is the biggest problem in your life right now? What makes you sad? What are you most afraid of? And what makes you feel the most loved? What an eye-opener these turned out to be! These were some of their answers from two third and fourth grade classes:
problem, another said diabetes. They went on and the answers got deeper about what their fears were and what makes them sad. I don’t know about you, but personally, my problems just got a whole lot smaller. I seem to get so wrapped up in my own world that I forget to think of the things others are going through!
