Can you help?

Saturday morning Elle and I volunteered with our church at Open Door Mission. We were putting together Christmas toy bags and we finished early so our group got the very first tour of the new Lydia House.

WOW, WOW, WOW. It is... beautiful, amazing, wonderful... heartbreaking.

Seeing what ODM has built, hearing about what was donated, listening to how much more they can accomplish, how many more families they can help was just a.m.a.z.i.n.g. But it was also heartbreaking to acknowledge that the need is that great in our community.

At the end of our tour the godly woman (whose name escapes me) in charge told us about how the staff, their families, and the board of directors got together when the building was no more than a frame and prayed over it. They prayed and wrote scripture on the 2x4's and on the concrete. They prayed for the families they will serve. They prayed specifically for repeat families, that they might successfully complete their programs and not 'need' the new facility. They prayed.

There were many tears. Mine included. I needed that.

Our sermon two Sundays was about thriving this Christmas and not just surviving it. Boy did that speak right to me. I love Christmas. I love this season. I love, love, love it. But I am not feeling it this year. I am feeling stressed and anxious and dysfunctional and I am cranky that I can't put up decorations until we move. I feel like shouting 'humbug'. But not really. Whether I get decorations up and cards out and gifts sent or not, I will still get to celebrate the greatest gift of all, the birth of my savior. And it took bagging the only present those children will get this year to remind me.


Someone asked after our tour about what they need the most of for these toy bags. She said they need baby dolls, barbies, and soft/squishy bouncy balls for little kids the most. She told me they bag around 4600 gifts each year and that is what they always run out of. That lit a fire under me. My love language is gifts, I love to give gifts, and not just to my spouse. I felt God right then and there telling me to go get some dolls. He laid a specific dolar amount on my heart. I headed to Target and overspent that amount by $1.18. But I got enough dolls for 16 precious girls. Still, I felt God nudging me. I knew I couldn't spend money I don't have so I thought, now what?


Then I remembered my sad, neglected blog and the wonderful internet.

Maybe some other people out there can help.

Couldn't hurt to ask.

So can you help?

Can you donate a doll, or two, or five, or any other toy? Can you pray? For my blog friends are you willing to re-post this on your blogs and see if anyone else can help? I will gather and deliver if you can. I don't know when or how, (and I argued that point with God for about 5 seconds), but I know he has asked this of me and he will figure out a way. They will be bagging until the 22nd but I would like to get this stuff up there early next week.

Thank you in advance and Merry Christmas.



*I forgot to include the link to ODM www.opendoormission.org . You can see their work and there is a list of needs. They also need help bagging the toys. They bag M-S from like 9-8. You can sign up to help on thier website. One other thing the lady told me is that they will be bagging the teenage girl's gifts last, so look out for those needs if that is where your heat is. Thanks again.