I'm just back from a weekend at the beach with my two young nieces (Caroline and Grace) and my four year old nephew, and God-son, Kevin. We swam in the ocean, went in and out of every single store on the boardwalk, took long walks on the beach collecting shells and talking, ate yummy food, shared stories, watched fireworks, buried our feet in the sand and just enjoyed every moment of our time together! What a gift from our Lord! Children. . . their joy, their innocence, their energy, their non-judgmental love. . . no wonder our Lord said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of God belongs." (Luke 18:16) They come with absolute faith, no questions or doubt. . .just perfect acceptance that this life God has given them is good and full. They find joy in every moment, big or small. They bring God's light everywhere they go.

At the end of the day, they wanted to sing for me. They wanted to get out their "Meet the Grace Place Kids" album and sing! And sing they did! They sang their hearts out! The girls wanted to sing like Lenore with her stuffy nose, they wanted to sound like Gladys on Knockin' Rockin', they wanted to add a "wof wof" rhythm to "Shine on Me" that they had made up, and then, 4-year old Kevin wanted to sing "My Hero" all by himself. Well, this was one of those moments in life that you know you just will never forget. To hear his sweet little voice singing, "He's my hero, my hero, my hero is God" moved each and every one of us to tears. I will always treasure that whole evening in my heart.

I'm going to try. . . to really, really try to become just like them in my faith. To come before our Lord with the faith of a child. To leave the worries, anxieties, and cares of this world completely in His care as I just curl up next to Him and let Him love me. I believe this is what He wants of us. I believe.

God bless you all. . . His children.

lisa

Wishing you a safe and happy holiday :)

When Lisa first shared her vision for "Grace Place Kids - a show of faith for children" with me six years ago, I knew right away that I wanted to be involved. Fresh out college with a Bachelor of Music, I had no experience in film-making whatsoever but I did have a strong desire to go out into the world and make an impact. Little did I know that it would be six years before we would release our first video.

In the course of that time, God has softened and prepared my heart. I now believe that it is only God himself that can make an impact in this world, and I should leave that all up to Him. My job is just to be faithful. Lisa has been a wonderful example of this for me, and together with the rest of the Grace Place team we are striving to remain at the center of His will at all times.

I am so thankful for the blessings that Grace Place Kids has brought to my life. So many beautiful friendships have been made and strengthened, and so many wonderful moments have been shared between us.

This past weekend, Elizabeth (who plays the character Lenore), invited the whole team over to her apartment for dinner. Believe it or not, this was the first time that the entire Grace Place team had gathered together as a group. Usually, it's only 2 or 3 actors at a time when filming, and not all of us live in NYC. As we joined hands in a circle to pray, I was overwhelmed with the amazing group of people that our Lord has brought together. What a ride we're on! Thanks, God!

Here is our first family photo...

A few nights ago we filmed Lenore singing “The Blankie Song.” It was such a special time for all of us involved in the process. Truly, we all felt the presence of the Holy Spirit as Elizabeth (Lenore) sang. There is something especially moving about a child’s prayer, but a child’s prayer put to song reaches deep. I was reduced to tears and quite honestly was worried I wouldn’t be able to get myself together! I am once again humbled by the beauty God inspired songs, the depth of emotion and spirit that they elicit, but mostly by the reminder of how truly blessed we all are to have a loving Lord who is with us and watching over us always.

Dear Lord, you really are the best!

lisa

This past weekend we filmed the episode titled, “Be My Night Light.” In this episode Howard and A.J. sing to the Lord, and ask Him to be their night-light. I love the simplicity of this. I love thinking of children looking up to our Savior and asking Him to be their night-light. A night-light gives off a soft glow. Not too much. Just enough to give us comfort. Just enough to lead the way so we don’t stumble too much in the dark, but not so much that the way is crystal clear. With the night-light on, we still need to search a little, feel our way around. In His great love for us, He allows this. . . this searching. He knows that it’s in the searching that we will find Him. . .in the searching we will find ourselves. . . in the searching we will find our way. This song may have been written for children, but I am moved to pray this way too. So, “Dear Lord, Jesus. . . be my night-light for me tonight, and dear Lord Jesus, shine your light on me tonight.” God bless you!

~Lisa

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Listen to the song that will be featured in the upcoming episode...
BE MY NIGHT LIGHT (You'll Never Burn Out)

We never need to be afraid. He tells us He is our light and we are not to fear anything! Now, we need to believe it.

Our podcast feed has been successfully submitted and reviewed by the iTunes Store! It is now possible to automatically receive new Grace Place Kids episodes and have them sync'd with your iPod or iPhone. If you would like to subscribe to the feed, click here. I know that kids love to play with their parent's iPods, and I am curious to know how our audience will use this new feature. It might be a fun way to keep the kids occupied in the car, etc. Are you going to subscribe? Leave a comment below and tell us about your experience...

Hello Friends! As promised, we just posted a new video featuring our good friend J.L. Williams, who just happens to be one of the most talented tap dancers God ever made ;) I can't begin to tell you how much fun it was to film this episode. Thank you, J.L. for sharing your talents with us. J.L. will be making his Broadway debut this Fall when the musical "Fela!" takes the stage at the Eugene O'Neill theatre. We can't wait to see your show! Until then, check out his amazing feet in this video...

The folks here at Grace Place Kids would like to send a big shout out of thanks to EJ over at GospelPundit.com. GospelPundit covers breaking news in the gospel music industry, adding commentary and thoughtful critiques all while keeping gospel fans aware of concerts and events.

Wow, it's amazing to feel God working in our project, and sometimes He surprises us with the most unexpected blessings! Grace Place Kids has been invited to do an interview on FamilyNet's Sirius Radio network (channel 161) on the "Mornings with Lorri and Larry" show. Of course, we are simply overwhelmed!

Up until just a few days ago, Grace Place Kids was a somewhat quiet project shared between friends and family. Now, we have an opportunity to share our mission and message with 8.6 million people! We'd like to send a big thank you to Lorri Allen and team for this wonderful opportunity!

Mark your calendars and set your alarm clocks, the big day will be Wednesday, July 29th from 6:38-6:50am ET. Oh, and if you have an iPhone you can tune in with the new Sirius XM Radio app.
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Update: The interview went great! Read about the experience here.

I was reading in the gospels the other day about the time when the disciples had been out fishing all night long and had caught NOTHING! Jesus sent them back out. . . they had to go back out again after fishing all night long and catching NOTHING!! Now think about that. . . they had been up all night long, and arrived at shore totally empty handed and our Lord says, "Go back . . . go back out and try again." Now, I don't know about you, but what I would want to say is, "Are you sure, Lord? I mean, I've been working at this ALL NIGHT LONG and have NOTHING!" I would want to say to the Creator of the Universe, "Are you really sure?!" Fortunately, our Lord understands this part of me and loves me anyway. He understands that at times my finite mind can't fully understand His immensity, nor can it fully comprehend His overwhelming goodness!

Our Grace Place Kids journey has been so much like this and in so many ways! I can't tell you how many times our Lord has said, in one way or another. . . "step out here in faith" and how many times my heart has looked up at our Lord and said, "Are you sure? I mean, are you really sure?" I know the Lord forgives this lack of faith in me, and probably even expects it from me. . . He knows me so well! But, here we are, stepping out in faith, with our eyes locked on our Lord for strength and guidance. When He asks us all to go back, go back into the water, it may be scary at times, but we must remember that what He wants to do is fill our nets back up. . . Our loving Lord wants to fill our nets, encourage and strengthen us in the process and to challenge us to TRUST HIM as we're going back into the unknown armed only with our empty nets and faith.

Step out in faith. . . our Lord is there with you.
God bless you all,
Lisa