Sunday, October 3, 2010

Faith In Action

Today was "Faith In Action" Sunday at our church. We DIDN'T go to church, not in the usual way. Everyone was encouraged to participate in service projects that ministered to the community.

With our crowd, I was hard pressed to find the right match. Bob wanted to use his skills, the boys wanted to work in the kitchen, and the babies? It was a stumbling block for me. As a family, we had a hard time coming up with a good plan and it changed incessantly until last night. I went with my "gut", also known as a prompting from the Holy Spirit. We created our own project.

First we worked on a few things at home.

Kloey made the cookies pretty much all by herself.
I am very proud of her for doing this.
Only one minor glitch when she accidentally turned the
oven off then back on to 170 degrees.
Micah helped. See the white flakes in his hair?
He tried the empty oatmeal container on as a hat.
Our resident artist did what she does best and created.
She designed and implemented the entire cover herself.
Amazing.
Erika copied a scripture verse to put on the inside of each card.
James 1:27
Kloey is diligently working on the cookies. She stuck with it.
The finished products ready for delivery.
Each card handmade with love.
We got dressed and prepared to head out into the neighborhood.
You see, we have the "orphan" thing down pretty well.

But what about the widows in that Bible verse?
It just so happens that God gave us a neighborhood rich in widows,
five within spitting distance of our house.

Five widows who were all alone this morning.

Kloey held the cards.
Trey carried the cookie bag.
Lindsey pushed Micah.
I tagged along with the baby.
Can I tell you what happened? The blessings poured down like rain.

We knocked on the first door. She opened it with a surprised look on her face. The kids stop by once in awhile but we don't all amass on anyone's doorstep very often.

Kloey handed her the card. Trey handed over the cookies.

Her chin trembled, her eyes watered as she looked at the front of the card.

We looked at each other, not sure what to think.

"You don't know what this means to me," she said.

"My daughter died this week and I.....". She didn't have any more words.

She gave all the kids a group hug. She thanked us.

God showed up. BIG TIME.

Walking down the driveway, I asked who thought they had made a difference in someone's life today?

Every hand went up.

3 comments:

  1. Oooooh how I want to be you when I grow up!!!

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  2. Awesome idea....love how you got everyone to chip in!!

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  3. Jennifer, I cried reading this. It is so amazing how God places things on our hearts and lets us see just how He blesses people!

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