On the Second Day of Christmas…..
My True Love gave to me..the opportunity to GIVE to others!
I bought a goat last night and it made me so happy! Check this out!
[youtube id=”hkWwT4q67Ow”]My Honey has the gift of giving. When God gave me the idea for starting a ministry, He gave Mike the idea, and the ability, to financially support it. Who knew it would cost MONEY to do ministry. That truth had never occurred to me and I am so glad it didn’t or it would have run me off as fast as the thought paid the first visit to my brain. I HATE (is that strong enough) FUND RAISING! I love ministry but I hate asking other people for money. Mike became our first giver and gave, in spite of some very lean years, consistently for 25 years. He even stayed in the top 10% of all of our donors, many who were millionaires. He was committed.. he was called. He believed in what God was doing through our ministry.
Things have changed a lot in our lives this past year. I won’t go into all the details but this I will tell you–Mike is still a giver. He has his charities, the ones God has called us to support, written down right alongside our monthly bills. They are all the same to Mike. First, comes our church tithe. Our home church gets the first 10%, after that we have about 4 or 5 others that get what we can give each month. Sometimes, it’s only $10.00!
I have learned the joy of giving from my husband, but my “TRUE LOVE”, my Jesus, has equipped me to follow through.
Beyond my church, my primary area of support right now is to share the message of post abortion recovery through Surrendering the Secret. It’s a quite a battle. A lonely battle and not one many others join me in but it is one God has captured my heart to share.
My second area of giving is to Proverbs 31 Ministries, the ministry that has not only captured my heart but fills it with joy and amazement as I witness Gods hand of favor. I have known Lysa Terkeurst for over 20 years, since she was a very young woman with HUGE HOPES for sharing the adventure of faith with other women. I have watched this ministry grow through her passionate pursuit, from the pits of challenges and shattered dreams to going places ONLY GOD could plan. I now have the humbling honor of serving on the Board of Directors of Proverbs 31 Ministries and am blessed to give faithfully each month.
Check this out!
[vimeo id=”112919902″]Last but not least, I bought a goat last night.
Yep, our middle son Andy has just moved to Seattle, Washington to join the ministry of World Concern. On our first visit to his new home, I completely understood his fresh passion for this worldwide move of God. I knew as we walked the hallways of the corporate headquarters that God had not only joined this ministry to Andy’s heart but also to mine. I have NEVER been so happy to buy a goat than last night!!! (OK, maybe I have never bought a goat before but I was REALLY HAPPY!!)
I do not share my giving to generate any type of admiration or high opinion of myself. I am simply a woman who desires to please and serve MY TRUE LOVE and HE SAYS GIVE!!! I only hope that my sharing inspires YOUR giving like My Honey inspired mine.
Tell me–what ministries has God placed on your heart? This is a great chance to tell a few others about them!!
Our Thankgiving was spent with a wonderful young family in our
neighborhood that we have adopted as our “nother” family. It was
still so special as we love them and their parents and siblings as if
they were our own. Also their precious 3 yr. old son,August, is so precious as our adopted grandson.
God does provide connection with others if we stretch our bonds of affection to include others and they include us.
He does provide our needs and gives us more than we can imagine too.
Love & Blessings, fHs
Mary C.
Yeah Mary!! Great job!!
pat
Love this Pat! Copied your second area of giving. Now…I just need to buy that goat.
Thank you so much for inspiring us and leading us to make this truly the season of giving!
Love you Lynn! Yes–buy a goat 🙂 Then we can compare “goat notes” 🙂
Hugs–
Pat
This post spoke to my heart. We raised Boer Goats for many years. Last year we sent a special monetary give to our Compassion International child. He used the money to buy a goat for his family so they could have fresh milk. We loved the connection.
Wow Kay–I wanted to raise Alpaca but my Honey “chickened” out LOL!
I guess my $$ are better spend buying goats for others–
Hugs,
Pat
We sponsor two children through a ministry called Children of Promise (web site: echildrenofpromise). One lives in Russia, where our daughter served for a year as a short assignment missionary. One live in Myanmar, where they’ve had all kinds of problems in the last few years. At work, we sponsor two more children: one from Russia (brother of the girl we sponsor), and a girl from Uganda. What a privilege to help feed them, clothe them, and send them to school and church.
Our family has talked about serving Thanksgiving dinner at our church for several years. This year we decided it was time, so the 5 of us had the wonderful experience of serving, getting acquainted with, and appreciating those who live around our church, those who have no family, those who seem to be forgotten. Wonderful experience, and I’m sure we’ll do it again next year! The director of that had to turn people away, she had so many sign up to help! WOW!
This Christmas my daughter and I have adopted a 12-year-old girl through another ministry, and are having fun finding unique gifts for her. God is so good, and we are enjoying this time much more than usual. It truly is better to give than to receive.
Thanks, Pat, for all you do!