Matthew TwoSix:ThreeNine

This past week it became clear to me that one of the unspoken core values of Anchor House is family. Last Monday was President's Day in the United States. That meant no school for the kids.  Anchor House was filled with grandkids and kids who chose to serve on their day off of school.  There was cooking, baking, ship visiting, envelope stuffing and sealing, kitchen work, and cash registering (not sure that's a word) all being done by kids with servants' hearts. On Presidents day, Anchor House looked a bit different than most other days.  Later in the week I had the chance to see old pictures of the Anchor House.  It was in the early days when a trailer was used and the current space was being built out. As I looked at the photos, I couldn't help but notice the kids. Some were posing for a photo and others were caught in action as they were playing foosball with seafarers.  Nonetheless, their presence indicates something special about Anchor House....

Week three is a wrap. The Anchor House center was rocking as many ships were in port. That means a plethora of workers in the port and seafarers who need to run to the store to get supplies. This week we had a few ships on which the seafarers were not permitted to leave the ship. In most cases, this seems to be a reflection of individual shipping company policies and occasionally it occurs because the seafarers don't have visas.  After a long week, we closed the Anchor House center Friday evening. Everyone else was gone, but I was still there packing up to go home. I heard a knock at the window. We were closed, so I ignored it. They’ll go away, right? They knocked again. I tried to ignore it again. But decided, I’d go to the door and let them know we were closed. Of course, I’d do so politely. After all, the sign said we were closed and the electric open light was not illuminated. When I opened the door, I could tell that the people standing outside were seafa...

As I reflect on week one at Anchor House Mission the word that keeps coming to mind is comfortable. Comfortable is often equated with complacent. The book of Revelation puts it this way,”I know your deeds that you are neither hot nor cold. I wish you were either one or the other” (Rev 3:15). Complacency couldn't be further from the invigoration I feel associated with this new beginning. If John’s intention was to associate hot with being filled with purpose, excitement, and energy then it certainly describes how I feel.  For me, this feeling of being comfortable is better equated to being at home. Outgoing Executive Director/Chaplain, Alan Howe, has gone out of his way to assure a smooth transition. In addition, he has decided to remain with us and serve as a volunteer chaplain. Manager/Chaplain, Trish Alligood, has never flinched at my barrage of questions. She is one of the most committed individuals I have ever met. Yet makes time to provide training and insigh...

 Have you ever done something for many, many years? When you've done things for a long time, you create habits and ways of doing things. Your body learns to run on autopilot. You may have experienced it before. Have you ever driven somewhere that you go to frequently and not been sure about the journey there? Something else was on your mind and muscle memory just took over. Voila! You were at your destination. Doing things over and over again makes an indentation on us that lasts a while.  For the past 16 ½ years I have driven 5-7 days per week to the college for work. Monday, I will take another path to work. God has called me to serve His people in His ministry. Rather than traveling south to the college, I'll head north to the Port of Manatee for my first day as Executive Director/Chaplain at Anchor House Mission. I first learned of the mission at our church as it was highlighted as a mission we support regularly. At that time, I had no idea that God was t...