The Way To Give...

I love the blog A Holy Experience. This morning's post was food for my soul... here's a quote from it:

The best gifts to give are always heartmade.  The ones grown in your heart and nurtured with your days, your dreams, your life --- then offered as an expression of all the love you feel inside.

I love it... isn't that quote just so true?  As God seems to be leading our family into a new expression of how we serve Him this Fall, this morning's read seems very appropriate.  Once again, I am thankful that my Heavenly Father never fails to make sure I know He remembers I'm here... by sending small reminders and encouragements each day as our family looks forward to His plan unfolding for us.

Luke 11:41 (The Message) --- "Turn both your pockets and your hearts inside out and give generously to the poor; then your lives will be clean..."

Much food for thought!  Here I am.  Lord, send me.

Backpack Distribution

What an awesome night!  We just got home from distributing the backpacks that resulted from my son's Birthday Backpack Drive.  My heart is overflowing with emotions... words can not truly and adequately describe the experience that this night was to us!

Seeing these children rush to grab the backpacks like they are some precious treasures literally made me shed tears!  I had to stop myself from becoming an emotional wreck in front of the kids...

Here's what some of them said...

"I got a backpack!"
"Wow, now I'm rich!"
"Yeah, real school supplies!"
"Cool, line paper!"
"Wow, my very own water bottle!"
"Look at this... I got a whole pack of pens!"
"This pencil case is full of stuff!"

The children thanked us over and over again... and, hubby proceeded to tell them that it is because of God's love that we are able to give and share with others.  He encouraged them to do the same --- to give and share with others!

To all of you who contributed to the Backpack Drive... THANK YOU for being a blessing!  You have no idea... I think I'm getting emotional again!  :-)

All in all, it was an awesome night!  I am very grateful that God chose to give us an opportunity such as this one.  I am really looking forward to more opportunities that HE might see fit to send our family's way.  All it truly takes is an obedient heart and a willing spirit.

Here I am.  Lord, send me! 

Endings & Beginnings

In my blog roll this morning was a GREAT read!  Here are some quotes from it:

So when you feel all the endings coming ... begin looking for all the beginnings. I am whispering thanks for endings -- and giving thanks that there are always, always, new beginnings....

Very appropriate and encouraging words as we look forward, as a family, to new beginnings this Fall.

The GREAT read ended with the following verses:

Revelation 1:8 (NLT) --- "I am the Alpha and the Omega — the beginning and the end," says the Lord God. “I am the one who is, who always was, and who is still to come — the Almighty One.”

Revelation 21:6 (NLT) ---  And He also said, “It is finished! I am the Alpha and the Omega — the Beginning and the End. To all who are thirsty I will give freely from the springs of the water of life."

Isaiah 43:19 (NIV) ---  See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland.

I am grateful this morning that my Heavenly Father remembers me and makes certain that I sense His presence! 

10th Birthday Party

Today, we had a party to celebrate my son's 10th birthday!!!  I can't believe that my little man is turning 10 in a couple of weeks' time.

As I wrote in my previous post, this birthday is not only a milestone because he turns 10, it also is a milestone because he's grasped the idea of "giving one's self away for the Kingdom of God."  Instead of presents, he asked his guests to participate in a Backpack Drive for under privileged kids!!!  I am very happy to report that we reached our goal of 10 backpacks (to celebrate turning 10 years old)!!!

Here's the birthday boy with his two birthday cakes --- an R2D2 cake by Sandy's Sweets, a gift from my sister; and, a Star Wars The Clone Wars themed cake made by yours truly! :-)

Blowing out his birthday candles!!!

Thanking his guests for the donations with a speech he wrote himself... sooooo grown up!  Sigh... my little man is certainly not so little anymore!

Thank you all for coming to my 10th birthday party.  I hope you all had a great time.  I would also like to say thank you for all the donations for the backpacks.  These backpacks will help several children in the Jane and Finch area.  It will help them to have school supplies and a backpack to keep them in, which these kids have very little of or none.  Some use plastic bags as their school bag.  These backpacks will give them hope and tell them that someone loves them.  We shall deliver the backpacks to the Jane and Finch area on Thursday, August 19.  Thank you again for coming and I hope this was an inspirational and fun time for you.  Thank you for your time and have a good day.

Posing with all 10 backpacks filled with school supplies!!!

The 10 filled backpacks ready to be delivered and given away!!!

My heart is happy... I am truly one proud mama!

Proverbs 22:6 (NASB) --- "Train up a child in the way he should go, even when he is old he will not depart from it."

Midsummer Update

True to the title of my last blog post... it's been fairly silent on here this summer!  Being still and being silent is, oftentimes, a good thing.  It is most often in the stillness of the silence when one hears the still small voice of the Holy Spirit!

Many exciting things are unraveling and I am sensing that a change is inevitable in how we serve God this coming Fall.  I am slowly, but surely, warming up to the idea of this upcoming change... it will be different, but it will be good because God is good! :-)

We had a great time on our road trip which took us to Washington D.C. and also to Frank Lloyd Wright's Fallingwater in Mill Run, PA.  It was an awesome time of just being together as a family and enjoying each other's company.  

Here are some photos:





Tomorrow, we are having my son's birthday party.  I can't believe he is turning 10 beginning of September!  This birthday party marks a milestone... you see, my son is asking his guests to contribute towards a Backpack Drive instead of buying him presents.  I am soooo proud of my little man... he is truly maturing; learning to "give himself away for the Kingdom of God."  

Our goal is 10 backpacks filled with school supplies to celebrate 10 awesome years with our little man! We will be delivering these backpacks next week to the Jane/Finch area of our city where a friend of ours runs a summer camp for children who live in coop housing complexes.  We were told that many of these children go to school with a plastic bag to contain their belongings... my heart grew sore hearing that!

My heart is now full and I am beaming... not only because my son is finally starting to think of others above himself, but also because 10 less children will be bringing plastic bags to school this year!

This is what makes me happy... making a difference, one small step at a time.  Here I am.  Lord, send me!