We have sent two large boxed trucks and six pick up trucks completely full of supplies to those impacted by the recent local tornados in Madison county, IL and St. louis, MO. It's been a combination of items dropped off at our storage lot and us purchasing with your earmarked financial donations for disaster relief. I'm placing another order this evening to get to them this week. You can still give a tax deductible gift and we'll personally make sure it goes to people in dire need. For example, this week you helped two elderly ladies that were stranded at their damaged homes waiting on the city to show up and help them. Nobody came but a friend of mine took some of our supplies out to a neighborhood close by and stumbled upon them. We contacted another organization that works with seniors, got them needed items, and they're now in a safe home with a caseworker helping get things in order. We've helped families needing food for their small children, diapers, clothes, shoes, cleaning supplies, hygiene, rakes, tarps, sent help with chainsaws to clean up their yards, haul off and much more!! You can still give financially and we can purchase items. You can give on our website at churchesonthestreets.com, click the donate button and follow the prompts. ~It's tax deductible~ You can also mail a check to: COTS P. O. Box 602 Wood River, IL 62095 You can always earmark for disaster relief, homeless ministry, trafficking ministry or where needed. Email: ChurchesOnTheStreets@gmail.com (fb)

That medical report. The empty chair. The prayer that’s hung in the air for years. It’s easy to fixate on what’s visible—to let the tangible world convince us, “This is all there is.” But Paul’s words are a lifeline, not a platitude. Faith isn’t ignoring the diagnosis, the grief, or the waiting. It’s staring straight into the storm and whispering, “I see this… but I also see You, God.” What’s unseen isn’t a vague hope. It’s the quiet, relentless work of a God who never wastes a tear, a prayer, or a moment of faithfulness. Every time you choose love when it’d be easier to give up? He’s saving it. Every night you keep praying for what seems impossible? He’s counting it. Every choice to trust when all seems dark? He’s weaving it into a story that outshines time. Your struggles are real, but they’re not permanent. The same God who resurrected dry bones is rewriting your equation. What looks like an unsolvable problem to you is His sacred setup. Today, lift your eyes higher. The seen is temporary—but the unseen is eternal. Dear God, Thank You for seeing the hidden corners of my heart—the silent fears, the flicker of faith that feels so fragile. When the world’s noise buries Your voice, remind me You are still at work: transforming each doubt into a doorway of trust, each ordinary step into sacred ground. I lay down what I cannot control—the results, the timelines, the anxieties that rob me of peace. Let Your love eclipse my fears, and ground me in who You are forevermore. In Jesus’ name, Amen. (fb)