Merry Christmas from Arms Wide Open!!

     We are praising God for you and your support in all it's forms because this year Arms Wide Open has seen the fruits of the last five years of ministry.  We have seen a baptism, a college graduation, and a military graduation, all in part because of the support system we offer. We have heard "thank you"'s aplenty as time after time our kids come back to show appreciation just for BEING THERE, LOVING THEM, and BELIEVING IN THEM. You see, that's really all they need. A Christ-like unconditional love and a little faith goes a very long way in the life of a child. I know, because it sure went a long way in mine!
   
     I would not be where I am today nor would I be so passionate about helping as many kids as I can if I had not once been one of these children in desperate need of love and faith myself. I didn't have anyone to take me to church and I didn't have anyone to take me to wonderful Christian events, and I never had the opportunity to go to summer camp. But there were good Christian people along the way who loved on me in passing, who gave me just enough hope in a better future to keep me going when it seemed everything was hopeless. I will never forget those people. I want more than anything else in this life to BE one of those people. I hope that I am.

In addition to the great success stories we have witnessed this year, we have also continued ministering (minus the short sabbatical) by transporting teens to church and doing other trips and events such as: the Wait Now event by Options Now/Future Now, two separate Summer Camp weekends at Reed Bingham, our annual Grand Bay trip, a trip to the Museum of Natural History in Gainesville, FL, the ChristOutLoud "It's Christmas Tour," and the Flint RiverQuarium in Albany.

On behalf of all of our children we want to thank you for your encouragement and support as we continue to seek to shine Christ's love into the next generations.

We wish you a very Merry Christmas and a happy and prosperous New Year!!  May He bless you and your families so abundantly that your cups runneth over!

Kristi Godwin
Arms Wide Open Ministries, Inc.

Our First Albany RiverQuarium Trip

I cannot express to you how exciting it was for me to be able to drive these kids to Albany, Georgia today. It was almost as exciting as getting on a plane to fly to Paris, France (which, by the way, was a lifetime dream for me)....I so love experiencing new and educational things with these kids that it has been on my heart to take them to the RiverQuarium in Albany for years now. The issue was transportation and finances. Well, this year God decided to give me the desires of my heart (isn't it amazing that He loves us enough to do that???) and He enabled me to buy discount tickets, making it an affordable trip. So, today, I was finally able to live one of my dreams, and we thoroughly enjoyed every single second we were there!! We first toured the aquarium, which elicited many "oooohhh's" and "aahhhhh"'s. We also visited the bird sanctuary before heading across the street to Imaginarium theater to watch a film on the ecosystem of Baja. After that we couldn't resist stopping at the Ray Charles memorial, which I absolutely love. It plays his music over the speakers so you can almost imagine you are at a live concert. Before leaving the boys ribbed us all into rolling down the grassy hill behind the memorial (just for fun). And, yes, I did roll down the hill with them!! In doing so I discovered the answer to one of life's age-old questions: What happens when an old person (in this case ME) rolls down a hill just for fun? The younger people come running to see if you are ok!! :).

I had one of the best days of my life today. God is so good, and His gift of life is so much more enjoyable when you are doing the very thing He created you for. There is nothing else more blissful than that!!

Mikeschair and the "It's Christmas" Concert

We had the great privilege of taking our teens once again to see Mikeschair live in concert. Thanks to ChristOutLoud's ministry of bringing great Christian music here to South Georgia, we have been able to treat our kids to many wonderful artists. Not only did we all have an amazing time worshiping God and celebrating the birth of our Savior with live bands, but I was especially blessed because one of my kids actually used his money to buy me a t-shirt from this concert without me knowing. He surprised me with it afterward as a Christmas gift. My heart just melted!! How humbling to know that he is appreciative enough to do something that grand and selfless. These kids steal my heart over and over. I love each and every one. Sometimes, in moments like this, I wonder....if I can love these children who are not "really" mine this much, how much more does our Heavenly father love us?? It boggles the mind, it truly does. Our human understanding is just not equipped to grasp His love. Oh, thank you, Lord for your love that knows no bounds!! Let me demonstrate just a glimmer of that love to all I meet!

Gainesville Trip

As a special treat we visited the Florida Museum of Natural History in Gainesville, FL a couple of weeks ago. This was a wonderful opportunity to learn about God's creation, science, the development of civilization here in the United States, and also to experience a city where one of the most popular universities resides. While there we also visited the Butterfly Rainforest and the Museum of Art. We have a trip to the Flint Riverquarium planned this month also! We love to take our kids to places where they will be immersed in culture and knowledge, where their eyes can be opened to future possibilities for them all across the world. We don't want them to limit themselves any more than their Creator does!

2014 Boys' Camp Weekend

We spent our camp weekend at Reed Bingham this year, hiking their trails (in the rain no less!!), frolicking on the beach, and visiting their museum, where the boys got hands-on experiences with various reptiles. We roasted hotdogs and marshmallows over a fire later that evening. We learned about the wonders of God's creation as we explored nature. It was an awesome time!

2014 Boys' Weekend and Baptism

This weekend we took the AWO Boys out to Grand Bay for a nature walk,

and then to feed the geese at Payton Park afterward. Then we had pizza and popcorn while watching God's Not Dead, and cake for desert to celebrate the baptism of one of our boys this Sunday! A wonderful weekend and the boys had a blast!