it's a great day to hike (with a stroller) for a great cause!

today i join friends and hike up a trail
double stroller in front of me

it'll be a fun event for the kids i'm staying with this weekend
there are games, inflatables, and food available after the hike
so i'm sure they'll be nicely worn out just in time to go down for a nap :-)

i think we'll ALL take a nap this afternoon

and then my husband will join us for dinner

a movie night will ensue (it's something they do with their parents on friday or saturday night, so the familiarity will be nice for them)

and then we'll go to bed early, since the boys (2 and 4) will really have no concept of an "extra" hour of sleep.  hopefully putting them to bed a bit late both last night and tonight will result in a somewhat later awakening...

wishful thinking, right?

i hope you all have a wonderful day!  i'll post pictures of our hike if any turn out well...
xoxo

it's that time of year again

the one where i hate to ask for a donation, but since it's for a great cause i'm putting it out there anyway.

last year a friend invited us to be a part of a hike for the homeless here in nashville

we joined, thinking it was a good cause, and the hike was really enjoyable.  and TOTALLY family friendly.  if you're in the nashville area, message me and i'll give you some info about being involved!

the hike is this saturday, november 5.

i'll be hiking with a jogging stroller this year, since i will be with a 4 and 2 year old all weekend.

but really, what i'm doing doesn't matter.

there are so many homeless families in this area, and my heart aches for them.

perhaps it's because for all practical purposes i should have been one of them last april.

i had enough of a support system that i had several choices of places to go when i lost my house due to a mortgage company screw-up.

but not everyone is blessed with the quality community and network that i have.

i want to scream when i hear people casually dismiss the entire homeless population as lazy, irresponsible, substance-abusing, and not worthy of time or money.

it's simply not the case.

in the last few months, i've found that God highlights people on the street to me.  sometimes it's to make a donation (most of them are vendors for the homeless newspaper).  other times it's to have a conversation, to encourage them and to leave with tears in my eyes.

the next time you encounter a homeless person, instead of averting your eyes and crossing the street to avoid him (hmmmm, good samaritan story vibes...) why don't you have a conversation?  just listen.  or if you want to DO something, bring her a cup of coffee and a bagel?  or take them to the nearest mcdonalds for a quick meal that will cost you little but mean the world to a family who is hungry?

if you don't live in an area with a homeless population, why don't you ask God to begin highlighting people to you who are in need?  that doesn't necessarily mean financially.  ask Him how you can encourage and bless the individuals He points out to you, and then ACT on what He tells you!

i can promise you, you'll never be the same.

ok, i got off on a bit of a tangent...but the whole point of this post was to ask you that if you feel led to donate to a wonderful agency who does some really important work with the homeless population of tennessee...you can donate to my personal hiking page here (i don't handle the money for it at all; it goes straight to safe haven) or to anyone else on my team.

if you live close or know my address, feel free to give a check or cash (made out to "safe haven") to me and i'll take it to the hike on saturday.

and if this isn't something you feel led to do but you do feel called to make a difference somewhere, use your connections.  find something that you're passionate about and start helping where you can.  it makes more of a difference than you think it does, and it will impact you more than you realize.

Katelyn

the first time i felt the prompting to give to her i winced
not because i deemed her unworthy
but because of the fresh cigarette she had hanging from her lip
and the fact of my severe sensitivity to cigarette smoke.

i knew that the simple act of rolling down my window to buy a paper from this contributor seller
would cause me to cough for several minutes
and my eyes to water uncomfortably

yet i knew she was the one that week
to receive the money i had stashed to give to a seller
(i purposefully sow into this work
of helping the homeless earn money
so they can buy a room for the night
or save up for an apartment
or simply buy food that day...good, nurishing food)

so i rolled down my window
and handed her a few bills
saying "i actually already have a paper this month
but wanted to give you this"

she shoved a paper through my car window anyway
before i could protest
and said "no, take one!"

i don't often see the same people selling
but this scene
with this woman
has been repeated several times over the last few weeks

and it's been a joy
to drive away
(coughing ;-)
knowing that i'm sowing into one person's life
one among many

because most of the people i give a wad of cash to
i don't see again for several weeks, if ever
this woman, i've seen at least 2-3 times per week for the last month.

yesterday was a little different

as i rolled up to her normal stop
i smiled as i realized she was there

and as i rolled down my window
she snuffed her fresh cigarette on the ground
before she came over

since the light was freshly red
we chatted a bit
she apologized for being "dirty" today
but explained it was for a good reason
because she'd come straight from her brand new part-time job
where she was doing some sort of manual labor
(she told me exactly what kind...i just can't remember)

she was beaming as she told me
that she still needed to sell the papers for awhile
but once she found a second part-time job
she could be done

i told her i'd pray for her
and she lit up
and said "pray hard, please!"
and proceeded to tell me that she'd broken up with her boyfriend of 3 years
earlier that week
because she felt God was telling her that He had better things for her
and that the boyfriend was holding her back

so join me in praying for Katelyn please.
one of many
who has impacted me greatly
while i thought i was making a difference in her life