4 months and growing strong

Fall Festival at White Rock Town Homes

Autum Auboretum in Dallas

May May

"Knock, Knock, Knock"... my heart grew heavy at the pounding on our door knowing it was one of the neighborhood kids. It has been challenging for me to joyfully embrace the knocking when I am already having a hard enough time with 2 little ones of my own. However, as I opened the door and saw that it was this little third grade boy named, May May - I remembered how just the night before Jack and I were praying for this little boy because of some of the struggles he had been through! God had been preparing my heart prior to his knocking.

"Mrs. Emily, Can you help me with my homework?" He kindly asked.

My heart softened... Jackson & Jonah were both asleep... "why not?" I thought, and welcomed him in.

As we sat and worked through some math problems May May shared with me a little about his family. His Daddy died when he was six and his mother had recently moved here to get away from an abusive relationship, where May May had been a victim of some abuse as well. His Mom is also expecting another baby in December.

May May heavily said, "I have to be my Mommy's husband now...and I have to be the Daddy for my new brother."

Often times I dont' know what to say to some of these kids, but I was able to look at May May right in his eyes and say with confidence,

" May May, you are a little boy! You are NOT a husband and you are NOT a Daddy. It is not your responsibility to be your Mommy's husband and it's not your responsibility to be your brother's Daddy. You can be a helpful son for your Mommy and a helpful big brother but God is not asking you to be a husband or a dad, okay?"
He took a very deep breath, exhaled and said, "Okay Mrs. Emily, thank you."

What a heavy burden to try and bear at such a young age! To be a husband and a father can be a heavy burden at ANY age! I went to sleep that night thinking about Jesus' words to us, "Come to Me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest...For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light." Matt. 11:28,30 I thought about how Christ isn't promising to take away all our burdens but that He is promising to help make the burdens and hardships of this world able to be eased and lightend through Him. Pray with me as May May reads his Bible at night and sits under Biblical teaching with Jack at The Tree House (Which is the after school program) that May May would experience letting Jesus bear his burdens with him.

Please continue to pray for wisdom with the kids in our community and for wisdom with handling the crime that goes on here. We are asking the Lord to decrease the crime and for our community to be proactive in helping protect and report what we see.

Thank you!
Emily (Jack, Jackson & Jonah)

Happy Fall - 7 weeks

Jonah Robert Murphy ~ August 17th, 2009

Birthday Memories

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Jackson turned 2 Aug. 1st and the baby is due any day now!

"The eyes of the LORD are in every place, keeping watch on the evil and the good." Prov. 15:3

This time last year we were moving into White Rock Hills Townhomes. Fears, doubts, uncomfortableness, and even anger dwelled within my heart. I had never lived in this type of environment before and I was stubborn in wanting to learn the culture around me. It wasn't easy, and I wanted it to be.

How God has changed me over the past year! My circumstances have not become any more comfortable... the crime & drug use is worse, the vandalism still continues, and we still battle trying to understand the culture around us. However, the testimony I share is that my fears have left, I find myself at comfort in our home and community, and I enjoy living here and it's not because we have an alarm system! Rather, it's because the LORD has graciously taught me to trust Him, and not my circumstance. To learn wisdom and run from foolishness. To believe my safety does not come from my environment, but from His very hand. Praise Him!

"The king is not saved by his great army; a warrior is not delivered by his great strength. The war horse is a false hope of salvation, and by its great might it cannot rescue. Behold, the eye of the LORD is on those who fear him, on those who hope in his steadfast love." Psalm 33:16-18.

The Tree House Mural

The children at The Tree House worked on painting this mural for about 6 weeks. It now hangs on display in The Tree House.

So what is the Tree House?

Imagine 25 children wanting your utmost attention, running around with high energy, yelling, crying, and often physically instigating one another... well you get the picture. This was a typical afternoon at The Tree House. Our two day a week after-school program involved a Bible lesson, crafts, reading, computer time, and games.

Through prayer, wise counsel, and implementing very specific boundaries we have seen the Lord transform not only the behavior of some of the children but soften their hearts as well. Our next door neighbor's children were three kids that we had some of the most trouble with. As we spent more time with them outside of The Tree House, we learned how their mom had recently moved with them away from their dad after being together for more than 10 yrs. He had been unwilling to work and had no intentions of ever marring her. The two boys had been sleeping on the floor and daily necessities were a challenge to get. The more time we spent with the kids the more they began to trust us. What was once hostile, distant, and angry attitudes has turned into hugs, sweet notes with beautiful pictures, and even helping hands.

It hasn't only been the children's hearts that have needed softening but ours as well. We have often shared that perhaps going to seminary, living at White Rock, and serving the children has been more for our refinement than it has been for anyone else's good. God is changing my attitude of irritation and ungratefulness toward the noises of the children next door, kids playing on our porch, and the weekly trial & errors of running an afterschool program to the very things I am grateful for and most days even say I love!

A Day In The Life Of Jackson

Enjoying Spring Break & Sprinklers at the Lake

5 & 1/2 months along...or 22 weeks :)

Neighborhood Friends

The two older children, Lynne and Kendrick have become a regular part of our week. Lynne already has sweet motherly instincts at the age of 8 and Kendrick is giving me a good picture of what a little boy is like at the age of 6. They love to play with Jackson and they love to play with .... Jack! As if the picture doesn't already communicate that :)

I'm still trying to learn how to respond when kids knock on our door to see if "Jack" is home. If not, they usually sigh and then run off to do something else. Lynne & Kendrick have been coming to Church with us the past few weeks. They talk about it during the week and have said in their own ways how much they like going to church. We are blessed to know and love them.

"When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child." 1Cor. 13:11

"My Daddy's in Jail"...these four striking words spoken with such little emotion from the mouth of a young boy were said in such a way that convinced me how completely foreign this concept is for me yet at the same time how normal it is for him. This is all he knows of his father right now and so he reasons, thinks and speaks of what he knows as a child would. I felt trapped to find the right words to respond. "I'm so sorry" came out first. The little boy then shared how his brothers and sisters have different Daddy's than him. Now this concept isn't so foreign to me, it was just said in a way I am not use to. I grew up hearing my friends’ say, "this is my step-dad, my half-brother, or my half-sister" Another way of saying this is simply how this little boy put it, "My brother & sister have a different Daddy's than me but we have the same Mommy."

After the initial feelings of uncertainty in how to respond passed, it was as if for the first time while living here I was able to speak back to him like a child by sharing a deep concept in a simple way. I shared how even though he can't see his earthly father right now He has a Father in heaven that sees him everyday, who takes care of him, who loves him and who knows him intimately. We talked about the ways God takes care of us and what Jesus ultimately did to take care of His children. I'm not sure what type of impact this conversation had on this young boy but I am confident that God is working in me to learn "discipleship & evangelism" in such a new and almost more challenging way than I have ever experienced. The scripture above finishes, "When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me." Though this is true of me as an adult, my prayer is that I would put back into my mind & heart the way children think, reason and speak so I can better minister and love them while I live among them.

A Missionary Sits On A Rock

Day After Day, The Missionary
Learns The Ways And Language
Of The People From The Children

After Many Months,
The Life Of The People
Draws In The Life Of The Missionary

~Author Unknown~

Make a Smilebox greeting

Favor in the eyes of children

Our community continues to grow with new residents which means it continues to increase in the amount of children we see playing & running outside. My kind hearted husband began to notice how much the children around us had little to do or even play with after school. Though play grounds and a computer center on on there way, there is little to do in the mean time. Our church put on a simple Christmas play early in December. Jack thought it might be fun to try and gather the children around us to see if they would want to participate in a Christmas play as well. Little did we know that this endeavor would lead to such sweet relationships between us and the children. The gospel was shared in our community through these children as they participated in a play that shared about the birth of Christ from the gospel of Luke.

It is clear to us now, that God is giving us much favor in the eyes of the youth. We hope that as God continues to give us opportunites to know and love these Children that He would bridge the gaps we continue to face in connecting with the parents around us. My heart melts everytime I see one of the kids run up and give Jack a big hug! Please pray with us that we would be able to put together some sort of after school program here at White Rock Hills.