It’s Too Much!

Well, we’ve had just the craziest holiday season and honestly it is just too much to blog about! I’ve waited too long between posts to even attempt to catch you up on our craziness since the last time I posted.

We did get to go to my parent’s house for Thanksgiving and decided that we NEEDED to take some updated pictures of us all since we were together! Mom and dad decided to use these for their Christmas cards and they turned out pretty good!

 

My daddy kills me with his overalls because mama is so fashion-y (according to my daughter) and daddy just wants his overalls and his banjo!

Nope! I am NOT even kidding!!

He is one talented man and I have to say that I am proud of him for teaching himself a new instrument in his 70’s! He is living proof that you CAN teach an old dog new tricks!

So anyhow! We’ve had a good holiday season with one another! We had some flu bugs slow us down a bit, but over all it was very nice and we survived.

In other news I am really excited about what the Lord is doing through the clothing ministry. We are seeing more and more people come through our doors and we’ve been honored to meet with them, pray with them, and meet some basic needs. We’ve had some changes to our building and are working on more improvements so we are thrilled to serve those who come  with as much dignity and grace as possible.

Not too long ago we had 2 young guys come in. They were looking through the men’s items and they commented that the clothes were really nice. One of them said, “How come you guys have such nice things?” I told him that we strive for excellence and that we want everyone to understand that the standards that we are trying to uphold are the very ones that God see him through! I explained that God does not see him as junk and that he does not have to settle for anything less because of Christ’s love for him. That opened up the door for me to invite him to church so that he could learn more about God and His excellent and matchless love.

I don’t think I really realized the impact that something like this could have on lives that are not already impacted by God’s grace. Free clothing given in a manner that is respectful and loving opens many doors to help others see that God has a plan for their lives. We want to be a stepping stone for them to walk into a relationship with Jesus Christ and prayerfully see them changed by His grace.

It is also a chance to teach. We’ve had young girls from the youth group come and help sort hangers. My own daughter has been there when shoppers were there and she asked each one if they went to church or if they needed a Bible. She gave more Bibles than I did that day. The opportunity to hand down ministry ideas and to help the next generation to see that ministry is HARD, but also very rewarding, is right at our fingertips. We are learning that we can not waste the opportunity to use this as a teaching tool so that our kids might catch the vision and think past themselves.

I always say this, but I do hope to blog more soon! There are always stories to share and I am so convinced that even if no one reads this, it is worth it to have a journal of this craziness we call life!