Lives

Long ago the Lord put the homeless on our hearts. They're not just statistics. They are people. Sons and daughters, brothers and sisters, mothers and fathers. They are real live people. People that desire to be loved. They have hopes and dreams, longings and desires. Although some of them have lost hope. Many of them are in survival mode.

Many people choose to ignore them. They choose to "blame" them for their circumstances. The truth is that it doesn't matter how and why they got there. They are worthy of our love.

As I watched this video, I just became so thankful of those people who have served and those who continue to serve these people. Our brothers and sisters. They do so with love and respect. What you see in this video are the homeless being fed and clothed, yes. But what is really happening here is love. These people are being loved. They are building relationships and trust. For some...it's trust being restored that was broken. Broken in many different ways and some of them horrific! For some...it's love being restored or maybe even felt for the first time ever! It's quite amazing actually. So here's a little glimps into Breakthrough Ministries.

Not only are these people worthy of our love, Jesus calls us to love them. A while back I wrote a post on what I felt the Lord was revealing to me on this subject. It's entitled Sheep or Goat?

Well, that's a glimps into Breakthrough and into the lives and hearts of some pretty amazing people. I'm talking about BOTH the volunteers and those that call a shelter or a tent or a tarp or a piece of cardboard their home. I would encourage you to volunteer and open your heart to these amazing people. You can do so by signing up on Breakthrough's website if you're local in the Twin Cities. If not, I'm sure there's something in your state or area.

Lord, continue to break my heart for what breaks yours!

We're making 75,000 sandwiches!

Well, that's our goal anyways!  Last year we made 40,000 sandwiches and it was such a huge success, we thought we'd go for 75,000 this year!  You can click here to read a little bit more about why and how we came come to choose to partner with 363 Days by clicking here.  There's also a neat video in that post that our youth group made about homelessness.

Of course, for me this is a true blessing to not only participate in this project but also I get to oversee this as my job!  How cool is that?  If you don't know why this project melts my heart, you might want to visit Breakthrough Ministries.  That's the non-profit charity that my husband started last year.  A non-profit dedicated to ending homelessness in the Twin Cities, one person at a time.  I should tell you that Breakthrough Ministries is not affiliated with Hosanna! except for the fact that it is our home church and really has equipped us for ministry. The fact that I get to organize the sandwich making is just a bonus!  And quite a God-incidence I would say since last year Breakthrough Ministries didn't even exist.  If you'd like to join the Breakthrough Ministries Facebook Fan Page, click here.

Okay, back to our 363 & More Service Project.   If you've ever wanted to feed the homeless, but in a more personal way, this is for you.  You get to purchase, make, deliver and handout sandwiches to the homeless right here!  You can do all or part of those things.  Last year I only made the sandwiches and didn't get to deliver/hand them out because I was working the event.  I was so disappointed after it was over that I didn't just leave to hand them out.  The stories were amazing and life changing!  This year I will make sure to hand out the sandwiches as well.

For more details about this and for the links to register, click here.  (You'll need to scroll down to the 363 & More event).  This is an amazing opportunity to do something right here.  And if you are able to help for this time, maybe your family, small group, Girl/Boy Scout troop, or even your church would like to do something on a smaller scale.  Just go to 363days.org and find out how you can help.  Maybe you're not local but would like to start something like this in your city?  Leave a comment with your contact information and I would love to help you get started.  If you've read my testimony or seen the Help the Homeless tab at the top of my blog, you'll know that I'm pretty passionate about the homeless.  Whether it's someone suffering across the globe or right here in my backyard, they need US!  They need YOU!

Join the discussion in my community which is located in the left column!

I pray that God would break your heart for what breaks His!  Just like he did to mine and Dave's.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Happy St. Patrick's Day...a day early! Is anyone still there? Ha, ha! Seriously...it's been so long since I've been able to post. Even the post from the 9th had been scheduled a couple weeks in advance! We're still trying to settle in to our new home. I love it! We're still up to our chins in boxes, but we're getting there.

Of course, right as we were packing I starting working full time. Not only did I take on another role, but I still have my old job. And then on top of that I'm in charge of a church-wide serving project where we will make 40,000 sandwiches on Friday, March 20 and Saturday, March 21. It's really going to be an amazing thing. In two days we will make and deliver sandwiches to homeless shelters, churches and many programs all over the twin cities. We're going as far north as Blaine and then out to Hastings, and to Prior Lake, Lakeville, Burnsville, Minneapolis and St. Paul. Really cool! I'm so blessed to be a part of this. Although I must say it's been one of the more challenging events I've done. Thank God that I don't have to do it by myself. He's really there making things happen. I've had amazing volunteers step up and offer to help in the planning and other details that happen before the event. And we have an amazing staff at Hosanna! and they've been a great help as well. So far, we have had a refridgerated semi-trailer donated for the weekend, 4000 loaves of bread were donated by Sara Lee. Yes, I said 4000 loaves! That's how many are needed to make 40,000 sandwiches!!!! Then Super Target in Apple Valley donated 50 lbs of deli meat. And Sysco, our main food vendor has discounted our pricing of the meat and cheese. Way Cool! Go God! I just think it's really neat to be able to put a small contribution towards making sandwiches that kids can actually make and some will go deliver them. This has just touched my heart! We are going to actually feed 40,000 mouths! Right here, right now, in our very own city. If your heart is touched by this, you can help too. You can go online to find out more about this event and then register to help with making sandwiches or help with other volunteer needs for that weekend. The men, women, families, children that are going without food is unbelievable. We are partnering with an organization called 363. You can find out more about them on their website. http://www.363days.org/ There's also a video that our Youth Ministry Team put together for junior and senior high students. It's powerful. Click here then Click on 2008/2009 Videos then find "Live Feed, Meet Kevin". I was crying throughout the entire video. It just grabbed my heart. It gave me a renewed passion for this 40,000 sandwich project. You do not need to attend Hosanna! Lutheran Church in Lakeville to help with this amazing event. You only need to have a heart for those that are homeless and hungry!


Well, I will leave you with this scripture which is actually about the true meaning of fasting. So many of you may relate to what this is saying. I would actually encourage you to read the entire chapter:
Isaiah 58:6-11
"Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter — when you see the naked, to clothe him, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood? Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear; then your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the LORD will be your rear guard. Then you will call, and the LORD will answer; you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I. "If you do away with the yoke of oppression, with the pointing finger and malicious talk, and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday. The LORD will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail.


Ok, so hopefully soon, I can get back to posting on a regular basis. I definately miss my journaling. I even missed a post about my hubby's birthday. I'll get to that soon. It was a great day! We took the kids out skiing and snowboarding for the first time ever. Let's just say, Dave was not doing so great when we left. Apparently snowboarding is harder than it looks! Duh! I have some cute pics and short videos to download.

We are actually going to be getting connected to the rest of the world tomorrow. Funny how out of touch I've felt with no TV, no internet, and no home phone. Well, of course we've had our cell phones, but it's still weird. Nice...but strange. I just got on my pc to do some work and it came up that there was a network available. I guess it's nice when people don't protect their internet connection. I think it's a good thing that I didn't know that prior to tonight because I needed to disconnect from EVERYTHING while I've been home.

Have a great week. I'm sure I won't be able to post again until after the 40,000 sandwich making is over. But then my kids are on Spring Break and I'm taking almost the whole week off! I can't wait!

Bless you all and have a great night!