"Rejoice with me"

Dia Martinez and Carolyn Ocheltree at Dia' 33rd birthday party at Rescue The Children

Our raffle tickets

"Have I not commanded you?
Be strong and courageous.
Do not be terrified;
do not be discouraged,
for the Lord your God
will be with you
wherever you go."
Joshua 1:9 (New International Version)

This was the theme verse for Dia Martinez' 33rd birthday party this week at Rescue The Children. She has nearly completed the 18-month rehabilitation program for women and is well on her way to a new, clean and sober lifestyle, with enrollment in business classes at community college and a job where she has already been promoted to assistant manager of the restaurant where she works. She rides the city bus to work and school, and does the hard work of making sure she navigates the system to arrive on time. Dia and I have been together in a mentor-mentee relationship since she first arrived at Rescue The Children. It is a joy to meet with Dia weekly for encouragement. Many of my church family have met Dia, as we attend Wednesday night church dinners and classes together.

For her 33rd birthday party this week, she was able to cater a hamburger dinner for all the women and children living at Rescue The Children. She catered through The Cravings, where she works. She asked several of the other disciples in the program to share their testimonies. We played fun party games, where we had to dig through our purses and pockets to locate candy and fingernail clippers to get points for our team! The children played party games where they traced letters of the alphabet on one another's backs and guessed the letters. We had a raffle, in which the winners won prizes that Dia had purchased herself at The Dollar Store, all plaques with Bible verses or inspirational messages on them! And, Dia gave a donation to Rescue The Children as her birthday gift to the women who have built into her life.

I am looking forward to a lot more GREAT parties like this one in heaven someday, where we all get to play games and win prizes and eat red velvet cake and rejoice over God's grace to sinners!

"Now the tax collectors and 'sinners' were all gathering around to hear him. But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, 'This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.' Then Jesus told them this parable: 'Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Does he not leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, "Rejoice with me: I have found my lost sheep." I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.'" Luke 15:1-7 (New International Version)

--Posted by Mama O.