Inasmuch as you have done it unto the least of these my brothers, you have done it unto me. Matthew 25:40
October 29, 2006 will be a day that we will always remember. Every year our church has their community outreach day. We have always been unable to attend because we are usually out of town. On this day, Taylor and I felt the Lord leading us to "The Bridge" which is our group of 5th and 6th grade youth that our good friends Chris and Cindy teach. We contacted them about wanting to help make blankets and prepare bags with food, shampoo, socks, gloves, toothbrush, toothpaste, etc. This is all I heard about for 2 weeks from Taylor, so I knew this is definately where the Lord wanted us to be. Well, little did I know that the Lord was literally taking us to the bridges and underpasses of downtown. When we had all finished making the blankets and packing the food bags that morning Taylor and I shared a very special moment together as we specifically prayed for the person or people who were going to receive her special blanket and bag made with love and care. She held tight to her blanket and bag as we traveled to downtown. The first place we showed up was called Highways and Biways. A well known place for all the homeless people to be. There was nobody there! Taylor was very discouraged and as we were driving down the road I began to pray to God to direct us to place where he wanted us to go. Well after a few turnarounds he lead us to the Salvation Army and the local Area Rescue. As soon as we arrived, Taylor's face lit up as she grabbed her blanket and bag. Taylor didn't know who to give her things to and she said mommy, "Who do I give it to?" I responded, "Taylor, whoever the Lord is leading you to give it to." It wasn't seconds later that an older lady approached Taylor with an outreached hand. Taylor looked up at me with the biggest smile ever then turned and gave her blanket to the lady. I told her that was the lady that we had prayed for the night before and who God wanted to have her blanket. She was speechless and so was I!! Well, the same happened with her bag. She really started getting into handing out the blankets and bags and started to get really excited about doing the Lord's work!! She said, "Can we come back and do this again?" I told her anytime!! I can't tell you what an overwhelming experience that was to share with her. I hope that she will forever be touched by this and I hope that this is just the beginning of how awesome it feels to be SERVING and GlORIFYING GOD. I pray that this story has somehow touched you and that if you aren't already, help your children find ways to reach out to your community and to share the GOOD NEWS of JESUS CHRIST with others!!
Mommy and Taylor serving the LORD
Taylor and her best friend, Miranda after making their blankets for the homeless
Kathryn and Cindy (leader of the The Bridge kids at church & good friend of course)
Taylor decorated her bag from her heart with no help...
She wrote,"HOPE IS GOOD FOR ME AND YOU."
The girls....Miranda, Taylor and a couple of girls from The Bridge (5th-6th grade students)
This was the most shocking for Taylor....We took her under the highways in downtown Knoxville to show her where the homeless people live. She couldn't believe that they actually slept on the ground and had no house.
Mommy and Taylor outside of The Salvation Army handing out bags and blankets
Taylor is handing HER bag that she made to a homeless man. What a blessing this is for her and what a blessing it is for this man to receive it from such a precious little girl.
Daddy and Mason organized the bags with the bread to be delivered to the soldiers. Then Mason and I went on Monday to actually deliver the bags with some other friends to the local military facilites around town. We wanted to show the soldiers that just because they aren't over fighting in Iraq doesn't mean they aren't important. We wanted to show our appreciation for their dedication of service and protection for our country. I even kept Mason out of school so he could go see the soldiers and tanks of course. He enjoyed handing the bags to the soldiers and saying "God bless you" when we left. He even got a hat given to him at the US Army Reserve center. I think this was also a blessing for Mason to see that reaching out to others is what God has called each one of us to do.
Mason and an Army soldier
We also visited a recruiting center where we gave all members of the Armed Forces fresh baked bread
Mason giving a soldier some bread that our Sunday school class baked for them
Mason outside the US Army Reserve with a hat on that he was given
Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday. We traveled to Baltimore, Maryland to see Grandma and Pop Pop. We were very busy and did a lot of sight seeing.
It was a gorgeous day to visit the White House and the Washington Monument
After going to the Washington Zoo with Grandma, Pop Pop, Uncle Paul and Alexa we went to this Mexican restaurant around the corner from Alexa's house in Washington
Taylor and Mason at the Washington DC Zoo
Pop Pop and Grandma at the Baltimore Harbor with the kids
We also visited the Maryland science center
Taylor and Mason with their friends Matthew and Steven
