Life has been changing a lot lately.  God has been working miracle after miracle in our personal lives and in our organization. 

God has closed one door of our life and open three more.  We felt the hurt and disbelief of the closed door, but when we let go of disappointment, not understanding, any bitterness, seeked forgiveness from God for any area we were not listening to him, and just plain let go, many doors opened and at a rapid pace.  Our organization has grown by leaps and bounds.  We have been given cases of cardboard boxes, we have been given 100 yards of satin, we have been given 40 yards of flannel, we received 200 skeins of yarn, we have increased to over 200 members, we were able to ship out 150 burial gowns, to a hospital in the southern states that had major needs,  we had a local organization who has offered to pay for all of our deliveries for October.  People are so generous in their giving.  We have received 30 yards of various christmas fabric and laces, to make some Christmas boxes to help another charity out of Medford Oregon.  We will be planning a trip down that way soon.  We thought that we only traveled to the Salem area, checked on things in Corvalis, and vacationed in Newport, but once again God has other plans.  What have I learned in all of this?  To be a giver in every area of our lives.  We are giving discounted rent, give away our talent, and have learned not to look for where something is going to come from, but to trust God for everything.  He is the finisher of our faith!!!

My husband and I have been drawn closer than ever, and let me say, I did not know a couple could get any closer than we were, ut boy was I wrong.  We are going full throttle in the childrens ministry.  We have truely learned to be Jesus with skin on.  Life in our household is not about us, but about others.  How can we encourage another, how can we help another, how can we be a blessing today.  Sometimes, it means being a true friend, just being there, listening with an oopen mind, encouraging, feeding them a meal, or as simple as just giving someone the time of day or a smile.  It does sometimes, mean that you let God interrupt your plans or path to take care of someones need that He has put in your path.

We are currently looking at two more houses.  One would be for our personal use.  We will be hosting the youth group, traveling missionaries, and holding bible study in this house.  It will become our personal residence and private little area of the world.  People often ask us, do you see anything as impossible?  I would have to honestly admit, No.  Just about the time, I might wonder, God shows us that with God nothing is impossible.

If I could look back and change how I have done anything different in these last two years, only one area would come to mind.  I would have let one organization, know that I was finally going to go online with the charity that we had been running in our own town.  We made this move without letting anyone know, but the members of our own offline group.   It was a good move for this organization, however there was a price to pay.  When we finally paid the price, it left some finances open for us.  We had been working on a shipping fund, and to this day, I wish we would have had more time to get the kinks we saw, worked out and presented this area, but God put a damper on that plan.  There is still the remnant of this desire remaining in me as I know they could use it.  I am not sure why God closed the door to the s hipping fund, but I do trust Him and I know He has our best interest in the palm of His hand.

If I was to offer anything I have learned, it is to keep holding on, God is there, and He will make the way.  We might not always understand the whats and whys, but He has given us hope and faith.  Even in what we think are our darkest hours, His hand is always extended, and He will never leave us nor forsake us. 

In our local area, there has been a large increase of the number of toddlers that are out roaming.  There has been such an upsurge in the police having to be called out due to children, out roaming around.  We had one the other day, of a two year old out walking a busy street at 4:00 am.   What is going on that parents do not know where their toddlers are?   I still have two teenage boys at home, and I know where they are when they leave the house.  They know that they better be exactly where they say they are at, or a phone call better come with a new location, as we might decide to check up on them.  Not that we really need to as most of their activities are church related.  Are people so busy with self that they do not remember that they were given a miracle, wrapped up as a child to take are of?

You never know what goes on in life behind closed doors.  Children are being victimized in one way or another.  Children are innocent.  They do nothing to deserve it.  Why do people think that children have to be the object of their fustration, anger, fear or lust?  It is just not right.  Why do people of this world think that Gods gift to us, making us parents, means we have the right to take things out on our children?

Children cry, why do we have people out there who get fustrated, and instead of walking into another room to compose themselves, decide that they have to shake the child until they are quiet?  How can a parent forget that they have a child in the car with them?  When you put the child in there yourself in the firstplace, how can you competely forget them a few miles down the road?  Why do people get mad at someone else in therir life and decide that it is all right to take out the seething anger on a child?

It is not just physical, I hear people talk down to children all the time in town.  Why do parents have to ridicule their children with such horrible words?  Children are a gift, not a toy we play with and then put away for a later date.

We originally decided to make our Childrens Comfort Boxes for children who are going through a terrible illness.  We are delivering one today who is two years old, whos cancer has come out of remission.  We have broaden our horizons and have decided that the abused children who need one, will also receive them.

Domestic Violence and Child abuse are not a private problem, theyare a public problem.  It not only affects those involved but also affects those around the situation.  It is time to take a stand, and say I have seen enough, I have heard enough, I know enough, and I am going to get involved. 

We have delivered Because We Care Boxes to a local Domestic Violence Shelter.  They were very grateful for such a gift.  It does bring to our attention, that we made our boxes for adult females.  There are a number of times theses parents come in with chldren.  We are trying to locate a source for getting something to the children who pass through the doors of a shelter.  If we do not locate a source, we will then design something of our own.  I do not know how I could have overlooked this crucial area.

Hopefully, here in the next week or so, we will get something about our Childrens Comfort Kits on this site.