Goodnight

Rotunno Mini Update – June

WANTING NOTHING

“The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want.”

God is teaching me to want nothing. At the same time, he is providing everything that I need. 

When I get the itch to go shopping or I start longing for new things around the house, I try to move in the opposite spirit: get rid of stuff.

It seems so simple, but I have to catch myself, because the longings creep up on me. 

Instead of adding more stuff to the house, my new desire is to create a pleasant atmosphere, which means LESS.

I desire peace in my home, nothing more. 

God provides for us through the riches of his kingdom, and the faithfulness of his family. To our many supporters, Thank You! 

PEACH SEASON IS HERE

We serve at a place called Gleanings for the Hungry. It’s hard to describe what happens here, so we tell people to come visit and see what we do. 

No, we do not pick peaches. The best way I can describe it is this: Just think of Grapes of Wrath, by John Steinbeck, and then imagine a place that redeems all the things that went wrong in that story — that’s exactly what Gleanings is. 

This is our busiest season as missionaries. During peach season, we host about 100 volunteers per week, providing meals, housing, and spiritual retreat. 

Peaches arrive in 1000-pound bins, and volunteers work as a team to get all the peaches halved, sulfured, and face-up on trays to dry in the field. It’s a lot of work, but anyone can help. 

Our dried peaches and bags of soup mix are sent to churches and ministries around the world to provide hunger relief to orphans, widows, the elderly, refugees, and the homeless. 

Our goals are to see our volunteers drive away transformed by the love of God, and to feed the hungry both physically and spiritually. If you’d like to see the peach process, check out the videos Andy posted on his website: andyrotunno.com.

MENTORING YOUNG PEOPLE

On Sunday, I looked out my window and saw all the young summer staff on blankets in my backyard, and I was filled with joy. I love them so much.

I have the honor of mentoring the summer staff girls, ages 17-25. We meet weekly to catch up, read the Bible, and pray for each other. I try to incorporate a life skill or a fun activity each week. Last week we made chocolate dipped strawberries and brownies.

I learned from one of the girls that the trick to making good brownies is to use a wooden spoon to mix the batter. Who knew? These girls are my favorite part of the summer season. 

When I was in high school, I felt like God was preparing my heart to minster to Christian women. I love seeing that calling become a reality here at Gleanings. It also has become a reality through my book and I pray that my second book will bless many Christian women as well. 

WILL I KEEP HOMESCHOOLING? 

I finished my 5th year of schooling my children at home, and now we officially have a high schooler! Our oldest daughter graduated from middle school and she will be entering grade 9. I cannot believe it. 

I never wanted to homeschool my kids. I loved public school. I had great teachers, and I survived the pain of being the shy kid that no one wanted to sit with at lunch.  I think my kids would love school too, and I bet they would have lots of friends like Andy did.

But for this season in our lives, we are teaching the kids at home, and it has been amazing. I love it more and more each year. 

Will we keep homeschooling? People ask me that all the time. I don’t know the answer. We will keep praying about it and take it one year at a time. 

How are we supposed to stay peaceful in the business of life? Tell me your advice. Please share!

Chelsea Rotunno is the author of Goodnight to My Thoughts of You, a novel about life as a Christian teen searching for true love.

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