I say a tear, cuz . . .aaah honey, that was a really thoughtful post. I loved it!! :) Just remember that when you don't get anything for Christmas. :) We shouldn't need to buy each other fancy gifts . . .
lol
Wow . . .a lot of new faces out this week again. Sometimes it can feel discouraging when we see the numbers increase instead of decrease. (is it wierd that I like to see more people cuz then I feel I'm reaching out to more people) Anyways . . .can anyone actually follow my mind when I blog???? OMG I don't think I can even follow my own blog!! Okay . . so, instead of stressing about new faces I want to talk about success stories! Just a couple. I was talking to a woman inquiring about our organization the other night. As I was doing so I realized I could talk about our campers and volunteers forever. I love you guys!!! One of my favorite success stories happened about a year ago. It was so cool because when it happened I knew it was totally a God moment. Praise Jesus for those-I love them!! Around 16 months ago, we started looking for a facility to keep our items for the campers. God blessed us with a wonderful place and wonderful people (here is where I plug Morningstar Mini Storage and staff-they rock!!). The first time we met there instead of McDonalds, we were heading inside to gather our items out of storage and suddenly Michael saw one of our old campers. I'll call her Donna. We had not seen Donna in well over a year. The last time we had seen her, she was a hot mess. Her issues had issues. She was drunk 90% of the time and was addicted heroin. There were not many visits we had with her that didn't end without her sobbing and miserable. Well, would you believe, there she was healthy, beautiful, and sober!!! She got clean and had a boyfriend that used one of the gig rooms downstairs in storage to practice with his band. Hence why she was at the storage facility that day. The next Saturday we had a picnic for the homeless and she and her boyfriend came out to help us. It was soooo great to see her clean and doing so well. You go girl and Yeah God!!! :)
My last story is not so much a success story, but a story to encourage and let you know that the smallest thing you may do, say, donate; can make the biggest difference!! It started at one of my clients homes that is a wonderful Christian family. I'll call them the Clemens family. :) I was talking to Mrs. Clemens one day and somehow we got on the subject of ministry. We started to discuss our homeless ministry. Well, bless her heart, wouldn't you know at our next appointment she had two large tubs of clothes for me to take. She didn't just give the old holey tee, she gave a way some very nice clothing. About three weeks later we were out and ran into a couple that was homeless and living in their car. It was during that time a few months ago when it had become unusually warm very early. She was worried because she did not have any 'summer' clothing. As we started to go through the tubs of Mrs. Clemens clothing, we found that they wore the same size!! Yeah God! What was more exciting was watching her face change from dispair to a glimpse of happiness! She was so excited to find clothing that not only fit her but were beautiful as well. Imagine how much better she felt about herself the next time she got dressed and didn't put on a ratty old tee shirt that was too big for her, but this beautiful summer halter dress instead! Even more fun than that, was watching the joy it brought her husband, knowing how relieved she was to find not only some clothes that fit but nice summer clothes. Clothes that when she wore them, she could once again feel like the beautiful child of God that she is!! Both the husband and the wife were so thankful that someone (and our group) showed them such love and respect. For me personally, it was also a blessing to go back to Mrs. Clemens and tell her the story and thank her for what she did. Just some food for thought. It didn't take much of her time to go into her closet and pull out some old clothes that she doesn't wear any more. But what an impact she made on that woman's life. I believe those are the types of moments that inspire people to change their life and make something more!!
My challenge to you this week and always is to find the little ways in life you can inspire others and be inspired! And never forget that everything you do, no matter how little it may seem; can make a huge impact in another's life-SO DON'T HOLD BACK!!!
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