Mercy

Is this time of the year SO fun? Maybe I am amazed with it all because of the two little ones, or being 7 ½ months pregnant…or maybe because yesterday we literally had 5 parties in one day? Thankfully, we were able to go to 2 of the 5 parties. The 2 birthday parties. But we missed 2 Christmas parties and one graduation party. One of which was hosted in our home! And we were unable to be here to enjoy it.

Does this quote motivate you?... “When you are running toward Christ, you are freed up to serve, love, and give thanks without guilt, worry, or fear. As long as you are running, you are safe.
But running is exhausting – if that is, we are running from sin or guilt, out of fear. As we begin to focus more on Christ, loving Him and others becomes more natural. As long as we are pursuing Him, we are satisfied in Him.”

I heard sometime say recently about ‘serving’: give your time, money and energy to what breaks your heart.

My heart was completely broken on Friday. Brian and I visited a couple that has hit rock bottom. They have been married for 15 years. They have 3 girls (12, 13, 15). They live in a 2 bedroom single-wide trailer and have no car…it was just repossessed. The father recently lost his job due to a stroke and cannot talk well due to stuttering. They are $813 behind on the power bill, behind on rent, do not have beds, barely any furniture and the list goes on and on.

If this breaks your heart, or if you feel compelled to help… Leave me a comment or email me (jennieandbrian@sc.rr.com) with the name of the child you want to buy a gift for or if you are out of time and just want to donate $ toward their bills, gifts, email me. (details below)

Seeing their situation, hearing this sweet man’s heart, watching as he mopped his face with his hands and straining to understand his stuttering…Brian and I simply have resolved that we have to help. Those three teenage girls sleep together in a messy room on an old, yucky double-size mattress on the floor. ‘When you lie down, you will not be afraid; when you lie down, your sleep will be sweet.’ Proverbs 3:24

I’m dying to get new beds with girly sheets for these girls.

We want to help them and 2 other families…in whatever way we can. Details are below. We are going to be delivering gifts to this family and others next Wednesday.

‘But when buying gifts or giving becomes obligation, one of the many things we have to do, we end up focusing even more on ourselves.’ …’People generally do find greater joy in giving freely to others than they do in rampant self-indulgence.’

God is the only true Giver, and He needs nothing from us. But still He wants us. He gave us life so that we might seek and know Him.

(The camera is broken. This is either a picture of Carlisle and Evelyn coming down the jumbo slide at the birthday party...or maybe it's of Evelyn scaling the climbing wall. Hmm....I had 20 pictures just like this.)

(Carlisle is quite the photographer. She snaps pics of us all day. Excited Bri at 7am before work.)Please contact me and I will update the list with what child you have selected.

I REALLY want to do 2 gifts per person! They will have two things to open Christmas morning!

Family #1

Monica	15	Girl	14/16 slim	Need coats, undergarments, shoes. Shoe size - 7 1/2	Courtney J - coats
Shaniqwa	13	Girl	16/16 misses	Need coats, undergarments, shoes. Shoe size - 9 1/2 or 10
Shashia	12	Girl	16 miss	Need coats, undergarments, shoes. Shoe size - 8
Mother	-		Top/Dress - 2x or 3x Pants - size 20	Money, beds, laundry detergent, household supplies, sheets, towels	Double bed & Mattress - Gr. fam. Sheets - S. Moyd $ - Banks fam, Erica B., Smith fam Household items - Amy L.

Family #2

Aaliyah	12	Girl	12	Clothes/Jewelry/CD player & CD’s-Beyonce, etc / Make-up/Anything
Shaherra	8	Girl	10	Clothes/Bike/Hannah Montana I-Carly/Anything
Joseph	6	Boy	6	Clothes/Remote toy cars/Spiderman/ Spongebob/ Anything	B. Rodriguez
Carla	1	Girl	2T	Clothes/Elmo/Anything	B. Rodriguez, E. Anderson
Mother				Walmart gift card

Family #3

Shadonte	8	Boy	10	Clothes/Bike/Video games/Anything
Shacorey	4	Boy	5T	Clothes/Bike/Anything
Shawn	3	Boy	4T	Clothes/Push toys/Anything	A. Thompson
Shanayah	9	Girl	14	Clothes/Bike/Purse/Anything
Mother				Walmart gift card	$ from E. Hicks

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(Zumbathon crazyness at the gym and Zumba Zoo fun with the kids)