Kick Off CRAZINESS!

Yesterday was a crazy day. It was the kick off for our kettle campaign. This year we launched a new campaign called "Cash for our Community". We asked companies and individuals to take a jar and get creative on how to fill it. They were asked to come down to the Canadian Tire and drop off their jars between the hours of 12-5pm...Anyhow...Here is what went crazy...

We woke up that morning excited to "kick off our kettles" and that morning the guy we had hired to drop off/pick up kettles called in sick. What made it worse is that we had to assemble the new stands as well as drop them off. I also had to scramble to find someone to take the shift he signed up for from 10-2!! Anyhow, not a big deal...We just had to do what we had too. So we would get our girl to daycare and then drop the kettles off and race over to Canadian Tire to set up for the kick off. WELLL...we went to start the van to transport some larger items we needed for the kick off and...Yep! You guessed it, the van would not start! GRRRR! Thank God for a man in our church who has a truck and offered to help us out. I am thankful.

Anyhow, as the day went on we only received a total of 5 jars. We think this happened for a number of reasons: it is a new campaign so it will take a bit to catch on, we had a horrible cold snap, people just forgot...We know that there are more jars out there and the radio is going to remind people to bring them down to us sometime. Anyhow we set our kick off goal higher this year but we did not meet it. That is very disappointing but it is a new campaign still. We did manage to bring in about $4500-$5000 so that is GREAT! Even though it was down $3000 from last year, it is a good way to start our campaign. Plus we feel good about having our own campaign instead of copying another organizations campaign. So that in itself is a success.

Anyhow, I am officially counting down...After today I only have 19 days of kettle shifts to fill!! Actually less because of the "Adopt A Kettle" campaign! THAT has been very successful so far! Well, that is all I have for you today. I am going to go and look over my sermon and rest a little bit! Take care.

A Divine Meeting and A Spiritual Awakening

I wanted to tell you about a divine meeting I had on Monday. I woke up ready to head to my little girls daycare to have a meeting with the daycare director. We were going to talk about the daycare participating in a program that is new for us this year called "Adopt A Kettle". Also since the daycare is in a seniors home I wanted to invite the kids to join us as we do some caroling and pass out sunshine bags to the residents.

Well...God had different plans. We started our meeting by just talking and before we talked about the business we had planned, the daycare director ended up responding to God by giving her life to Him. Our meeting was right in the cafeteria and at that moment the cafeteria became holy ground. At that moment, this very ordinary place was transformed into a life changing place. It was here that we bowed our heads as she surrendered her life to Jesus. I am amazed at what God does.

I have always known that God doesn't always bring others to Him solely in the church. Actually recently it seems that more people are coming to Him outside of the building. Whether it was at the Thrift Store counter as was the case with one of my employees, sitting in my office with the mother of a member of the church, on the telephone with a woman recently widowed or in a cafeteria...God works wherever we allow Him to. We just have to be sensitive to God leading us and He will in turn lead others to Him.

Be open, be sensitive, get out of the church and be ready for the divine meetings.

Hi. I have a prayer room. Well, I have a prayer room in the making. It isn't all set up the way I want it yet but it will get there. The important part is that I have a place of my own that I can go to read God's word, meditate, worship, journal and of course pray. It has been such a blessing. I make sure to wake up earlier then Mike...which isn't hard and I slip into the room and spend some time in there before making breakfast for my family.

This room is important for so many reasons but the biggest perk for me is having my four year old wanting to join me in the morning. It was on the second day that I went in to my prayer room when my little girl asked if she could come too. I have two comfy chairs, two shelves and soon a coffee table...Anyhow, I walked into the room with my girl in tow I sat in one chair and she sat in the other. I opened my Bible and she quickly ran out of the room and came back holding her Bible. So together we rocked in the chairs and I read my Bible and she "read" hers...(flipped through looking at the pictures). I found myself lost in prayer as I rocked in my chair with my Bible placed open on my chest. I forgot she was in the room until I opened my eyes to see her eyes closed, rocking in her chair with her Bible open as she hugged it to her chest.

So my prayer room is not just a benefit for me. I have always known that it is important for kids to see their parents in action spiritually but and I have really experienced this truth. Seeing my daughter spending time with God is wonderful. One day I was busy in the kitchen getting a meal ready and my little one came to me and said, "Mom, may I go into your prayer room so I can have some God time?" I was so touched. Especially when I looked in on her and she was there rocking in her chair and flipping through her Bible. What a blessing. Now any time that I walk out my bedroom door in the morning she rushes out of her room to meet me and together we go into the room and begin our day...

A New Life Begins

God is good!

So I went to the office today as usual. I was answering phones, paying bills, signing people up for kettle shifts, getting ready for 24/7 prayer meetings held at our church, scheduling more meetings, booking food bank appointments and returning phone calls. Well today I returned a phone call to a woman who wanted to volunteer her time doing whatever we needed. We got to talking and I learned that she was recently widowed. She is trying to fill her time up and keep busy. Anyhow, I felt God telling me to speak to her about Him. So we got to talking and she shared a lot about her past and her life. Well, today was the day that she was ready to give God her life. She was ready to allow God to help her heal she was ready for Him to take away her guilt and other baggage that she was carrying...So over the phone we prayed together and it was then that she asked the Lord to take her life. I have not met this woman before and I am thankful for the telephone. We have set up an official meeting for Monday. I am excited to meet my new sister in the Lord! Not only did she give her life to the Lord, she signed up for a kettle shift every day (except Tuesdays) until they end...This is another blessing from God. So Lord...Thank you for this day. Please surround my new sister in the Lord with your love and peace this night. Thank you for your love. :)

A Beautiful Life

Those who know me know that I love life. In fact I have two shirts (in different colors) that say "Life is beautiful" and it is! I am blessed for many reasons but I consider myself really blessed because God allows me to be with people as they walk through their lives. I encounter some people who are riding the highs of life and I am also blessed to walk with people who are struggling to keep their heads above water in the seas of life. God seems to put me "in the right place at the right time" and this happens on numerous occasions. Allow me to share the most recent one:

Mike and I were up at the local TV station chatting with people after we finished an interview. As we were there talking to people, a young man walked in. He looked familiar (he had come to the church once) he wasn't in the habit of going to church but he was staying with a friend who came one morning so he tagged along...Anyhow, turns out he remembered us and we got to talking. Sadly, his Dad had passed away the night before and his Mom was sitting in the truck. He asked if I could possibly go and talk to her. She had just moved here from another province and had no one else. Without hesitation I went out to the truck to say hello while Mike stayed and talked to the young man. I listened to her share her sorrow and I was able to be there for her. It turns out that she was having a tough time feeling at peace with her husbands decision to be cremated. After our talk, I ended up at the funeral home with her. Her son didn't want to view the body so I offered to go with her. The look of relief on her face was so rewarding. So right after our talk I hopped in the car and met her at the funeral home. I went in the room with her and watched as she said her good byes to her dear husband. I watched and listened as she talked to her husbands shell of a body. You could tell she loved him dearly. If she could have taken him out of the casket to hold him, she would have. She kissed him and told him she loves him. I felt honored to be with her. After she said her good byes I got a tissue (for both of us) and I prayed for her as we stood before her loved ones casket. After that she wanted me to be with her as she talked to the funeral director. After the meeting we embraced. We exchanged phone numbers and she said she would like to come to church. I really hope she does so she can feel the support of others around her during this difficult time. So that was my most recent experience.

So as you can see, I lead a beautiful life because my life is not my own. I have committed it to God and have asked Him to lead me. I pray that He gives me many more divine appointments like this one. It is during these times that I can share about Jesus and the beautiful life He offers!

Creative Pumpkins

So...We just passed Halloween and I wanted to show you our creative pumpkins.

First here is Mike's pumpkin...It turned out really well!


It was game day for the Rough Riders so he thought it was an appropriate choice. I think so too.


Next was my idea. This is what would happen if a pumpkin ate too much candy!


I put bits of candy in the pumpkin guts and I placed candy wrappers all over the step! I think it is yucky but also creative and fun!


Then of course there is our 4 year olds pumpkin. She specifically asked for it to have two teeth and two tongues...So there it is!


We had a lot of fun this year. It is also a wonderful opportunity to share the love of God. One year before we had a kid, I made up treat bags and put a nice Scripture verse on the outside of the bag and a church business card on the inside for the parents. It was a way to share about our church.

After our kid came along, we made sure to trick or treat in the area where the church was. As people were opening their doors to share their candy, we took the opportunity to share the love of God by introducing ourselves and passing them a little flyer about what The Salvation Army was doing in their community. It was super awesome and many people wanted to chat. So you see, a holiday is what you make it. Our founder (of The Salvation Army) William Booth once said, "Why should the Devil have all the good music?" In the same way, why should the Devil have all the good holidays? As Christians, we don't make Christmas about Santa (well we don't anyways) and as a Christian, I won't make Halloween about Satan. However, I will take this opportunity as people are willingly opening their doors to us to give a smile, meet my neighbors and share the love of God where I can!

Well, that is just my view of Halloween. There was a time (many years ago) where I would lock myself downstairs with the lights all off and ignore all those freeloading kids out there who just wanted my chocolate bars! Not anymore! I see it as being a part of my community and I will take advantage of getting out there and sharing God's love when ever the opportunity opens the door!