I love the fall…the final summer sun…Husky football…the leaves turning…all sorts of “new beginnings”.  Yesterday I was at a couple of TYFC new beginnings: Keithley MS Campus Life kick off and the Tillicum Youth & Family Center Grand Opening.

As I showed up at Keithley I ran into the asst. principal, Sara Lee Stewart,a friend of mine at church. Telling her I was there for the kick off, she pointed me to the courtyard where kids were already beginning to gather and said, “Should be a big turnout”.  Five minutes later 130+ kids were listening to Ted and Daniel, our YFC/Campus Life staff, tell the kids about Campus Life and activities coming up and patiently (if not quietly) waiting for the Root Beer floats to follow.  As Ted put it later it was “controlled chaos”!  I was so impressed by the volunteers (nearly 10 of them) and their obvious love and concern for these kids, many of whom were at Campus Life for the very first time.

Then it was off to the Grand Opening for Tillicum and God blessed us with great weather and 150 people who showed up to celebrate God’s faithfulness in seeing the former Wander In Tavern converted to a state of the art youth center. Just minutes before the ceremony representatives from the electrical workers local 75/NECA chapter pulled me aside. They had just arrived with their portable BBQ hooked up to the back of the truck and offered to not only cook for the dinner but also provide all the hamburgers and hot dogs!  Then they asked to meet for a few minutes…and handed me a $30,000 check!  Wow!  Fifteen minutes later our Center director, Dan Livingston, was handed another check for $5,000!  With those two gifts we now have raised $90,000 towards our $100,000 1:1 matching grant from the M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust.

I drove away last night literally overwhelmed at God’s goodness and how he provides…with kids and volunteers at the Kiethley kick off and with kids, volunteers, finances and great weather for the “new beginning” in Tillicum.  It’s so fun to be a part of what God is doing in Pierce County!

A crazy game at Keithley Campus Life