Struggle

A man found a cocoon of the emperor moth and took it home to watch it emerge. One day a small opening appeared, and for several hours the moth struggled but couldn't seem to force its body past a certain point.

Deciding something was wrong, the man took scissors and snipped the remaining bit of cocoon. The moth emerged easily, its body large and swollen, the wings small and shriveled.

He expected that in a few hours the wings would spread out in their natural beauty, but they did not. Instead of developing into a creature free to fly, the moth spent its life dragging around a swollen body and shriveled wings.

The constricting cocoon and the struggle necessary to pass through the tiny opening are God's way of forcing fluid from the body into the wings. The "merciful" snip was, in reality, cruel. Sometimes the struggle is exactly what we need.

"Quote" Magazine

10th Anniversary Gala

Sunday evening we Celebrated 10 years of God's faithfulness to Crossover International! We had a great turn out with many people getting to see the ministry of Crossover for the first time! We learned a lot about hosting an event of that magnitude and plan to have an annual Gala to celebrate what God does each year on the overseas tours.

Below are some pictures of the Gala: (You can see more pictures on my Facebook page)

Our Staff: Zo Azubuike (President), Me (Director of Operations), Kirby Beneventi (Discipleship and Community Development), and Troy Cohen (Director of Recruiting).

Me with our good friend John Johnson. He gave us great advice and helped us pull the event together at the last minute. Thank you John!

Colorado State Representative Ken Summers, NBA Player Kelenna Azubuike and our good friend TJ Doyle during the opening Prayer.

A few of our alumni enjoying the event. (Lauren Labat, Jenny Vieira, Adaeze Azubuike, Amanda Sanders and Susan Beardslee)

Alumnus, Jimmie Maggette with Troy

The Crowd at the Gala

Crossover Board Member and Master's College Women's Head Coach, Dan Waldeck speaking.

Gala Emcee Kyle Speller (Voice of the Denver Nuggets) with his lovely wife.

Keynote Speaker, Pastor Chad Bruegmann (Teaching Pastor at Red Rocks Church) addressing the crowd.

For my Benefit

"The Lord gave another message to Jeremiah. He said, “Go down to the potter’s shop, and I will speak to you there.” So I did as he told me and found the potter working at his wheel. But the jar he was making did not turn out as he had hoped, so he crushed it into a lump of clay again and started over.

Then the Lord gave me this message: “O Israel, can I not do to you as this potter has done to his clay? As the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are you in my hand. If I announce that a certain nation or kingdom is to be uprooted, torn down, and destroyed, but then that nation renounces its evil ways, I will not destroy it as I had planned. And if I announce that I will plant and build up a certain nation or kingdom, but then that nation turns to evil and refuses to obey me, I will not bless it as I said I would." - Jeremiah 18:1-9

It is my desire to be a vessel that God is pleased with. You and I can attempt many things for God, but it is HIM and HIM alone that is the source and shaper of our destinies. When we are torn down....it is for our good. Not to destroy us, but rather to shape us into people that HE is pleased with. He shapes us so that we can stand before HIM one day to hear HIM say "Well Done". That's what I live for.

Today, I choose to believe that Brokenness is for my benefit.