This blog is about my journey into a precious ministry. I am not tooting my own horn, but praising the Lord for giving me a place to serve!!! Here's the story.
This past Spring, a few girlfriends and I went through the Beth Moore study, "James: Mercy Triumphs." It was fantastic! I learned so much about the Bible, the book of James, the person James, and Jesus! I highly recommend the study.
Two of the verses Beth focuses on are:
"Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says."
James 1:22
"If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him,
how can the love of God be in him? Dear children,
let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth."
James 3:17-18
If that isn't a kick in the pants to everyone in America, you probably aren't being honest with yourself. I know these verses got my attention!!!
It made me think of Mia's speech on the Princess Diaries - you know- one of those movies that I watch now because in a few years I will be greatly outnumbered and watching nothing but action flicks! Back to Mia's speech... She - in all of her teenaged elloquence - says,
"I realize how many stupid times a day I use the word 'I.' And probably all I ever do is think about myself. And how lame is that when there's like seven billion other people out there on the planet..."
I was convicted. I felt as if all my current efforts were selfish - focusing inward - on my own family. While I was trying to be the best housewife and stay-at-home-mommy that I possibly could be, I had forgotten about all the other people in the world who could use my help. I was sewing, cooking, cleaning, getting my family to church, etc... Even though those things are GREAT - they were all about me/us. I knew that I needed to do more - for others, but I wasn't sure where to start.
I decided to start with my Sunday School class. In the Fall, I had stepped up as the Service Project coordinator because we didn't have anybody really doing that, so I tried to focus on that ministry. I haven't exactly done a fantastic job with it, but it's something. I saw a need, and I tried to help out. We now do one service project *about* once a quarter (sometimes more / sometimes less).
That was good, but I still felt as if I should be doing more. The service projects are great, but they really only take up 4-5 Saturdays a year plus the time it takes to send off a few emails. What else could I do?!?! Me - a stay-at-home-mom with 1 toddler, a baby on the way, and no family in town - it's not like I had all this spare time that I need to fill up :-) It was about then that things got crazy preparing for Miles, I went into labor, and we added another precious boy to our growing family.
Many of you know, I don't sleep after I've had a baby. I can't. My mind races. Well, one of those sleepless nights, God reminded me of a ministry that I had heard about - a ministry to babies! It's called the
Footprints Ministry. They minister to families of NICU babies at Huntsville Hospital (and a few other hospitals in Montgomery and Birmingham). Anna, one of my friends - the one who taught me how to smock and sew - recently had become the area coordinator for this ministry at Willowbrook (our church).
Footprints gives each family in the NICU a care package. In this package are things that a family of a premature and/or very sick baby would need like a Bible, a camera, toiletries, magazines, gift cards to local restaurants, a baby blanket, a burp cloth, a baby hat, etc... I contacted Anna to see how I could help with the care packages, and she told me that they were always needing people to knit hats and embroider burp cloths because they deliver about 60 bags a month! What could be more perfect!?!?! If you've read this blog for any length of time, you know that I LOVE SEWING, and this was something I could do from home to help those in need. I asked Anna to come teach the girls in our Sunday School how to knit the hats, so that they could get involved too! She is such a precious person, and a fantastically patient teacher :-) She brought a ton of burp cloths for me to embroider and gave me the stuff to make more of these precious hats. I have already started to work! Here's what I get to make for these precious families.
I added the bow & tassle for fun!
So tiny!
I pray that the Lord will bless these families through these gifts and open up doors for souls to be won right there in the NICU. Maybe one day I'll get to give somebody a bag myself! As for now, God's given me the perfect job for this season of my life, and I couldn't be more thankful.
Thank you, Lord for this precious ministry!
