It's a gorgeous spring day in Hill Country. We have a gentle wind that rolls up over the hills and across our breezeway nearly all the time, and it somehow lulls me into a peaceful reprieve every time I'm out here. This morning we planted some seeds out here, and the fresh air was too alluring to leave. So I've decided to camp out on the breezeway for a bit longer...catching up this blog while I enjoy this near-perfect weather.
What have we been up to while the blog has been silent? Well, besides the usual life things, I've been entrusted with the clothing ministry at Light Shine Ministries. The clothing branch of the ministry is in its infant stages, and I've been given the job of coordinating it. Clothing these precious families that come to us is equal to clothing Jesus. It's a completely satisfying work to do.
Just as I found God ever-present in the fields of the fatherless, He is just as intimately close in ministering among the needy, the forgotten, the broken. And I can say that nearly every week I witness a miracle of some sort within this work. If you doubt that miracles exist here and now...if you doubt that God still speaks and moves...then go find the poor and be Jesus to them, and you will see God in ways that will make you wonder why you ever settled for anything less.
Several weeks ago, when I was given the clothing ministry, we began with plastic shelves. But the vision God had placed in my mind was a room that looked and felt more like a boutique. So I began to ask God to give us a big piece of furniture that could house the clothes. I simply asked Him and then waited. When you're dependent on God, you will find Him. And He always answers, always delivers.
A text was sent to the ministry with the following photo. A family was wanting to donate this entertainment center and wanted to know if we could use it. At the time, I had no idea how it could house all our clothing, but it was so beautiful that I knew God was sending it to us.
While talking with God about this entertainment center, I was thanking Him but not at all clear on how this met the need I had asked Him to meet. "Thanks, God. It's beautiful...but I don't know how to use an entertainment center for these clothes." Then He brought to mind a project we did last year where we had added shelves onto a similar piece of furniture.
So, with that in mind, we bought 8 shelves and the hardware and headed to the ministry office to begin work on the room where the clothing ministry (Angels' Closet) is located. First, we covered up the scuffed-up walls with a fresh coat of paint (not to mention changing it from white to a warmer color...fresh paint works wonders!).
And then my husband and boys began to put in the shelves...4 shelves on each side of the big center piece, hooked onto the side pieces.
Huge difference. LOVE IT!
And now the shelves were ready for some youth group volunteers to organize clothing. With such a big group of workers, we were able to get done in 2 hours what would have taken me eons to accomplish on my own. So, thank you, sweet teens and parent volunteers!
And that, my friends, is what I've been up to.
