Tornado victims need YOU!

Several of you have asked about the yard sale and I can't wait to share all about it. God truly blessed us and He deserves lots of praise for the outcome. We have some great pics and the day deserves it's own post; but not today. As I traveled home from the sale on Saturday afternoon my heart and mind quickly switched gears from yard sale to tornado victims.

As you all know, last Wednesday thousands of homes were destroyed by one of the deadliest tornados in US history. Many of those homes were our neighbors. Complete communities were totally demolished leaving many dead and many more homeless. The needs are great and will be for months and even years to come. The church will be needed to assist these families for a very long time. Right now those affected need prayer more than anything because there are numerous disaster relief organizations all over the ground. But in time, they will begin to pull out and I pray the church will stay. Our family and our church family are praying to be connected to families that we can not only help rebuild their homes and lives but also build relationships with. Until we make those connections we are serving where the Lord leads.

That leads me to the point of this post..... Currently, we are joining forces with one of my very favorite ministries, Graces Kitchen, in an effort to help meet the immediate needs of storm victims and those who are in the areas doing clean up. I asked my sweet friend Lynsey who is a Grace's Kitchen volunteer to write a piece about how the ministry is serving these people right now.

“Grace’s Kitchen is a non-profit feeding ministry in the Birmingham area who is currently serving a group of people in Pleasant Grove, one of the hardest hit areas of Alabama. GK is providing one meal a day to crowds numbering in the thousands. Whether coming in for a hot sit-down meal or grabbing a number of boxes to take back out to other residents, the people of Pleasant Grove have poured in over the last several days. The meals served are all fresh and homemade and GK will continue to provide these meals at least through the end of the current week. The Lord has provided the funds for GK to continue their normal operations for almost 2 years through donations and so there is no doubt that he will move in the hearts of his people to provide for the effort He has called them to now. If the Lord is leading you to contribute the best way to do so would be through their websitehttp://graceskitchen.org/donate/.”

Please prayerfully consider donating to Graces Kitchen. I know the hearts of the men and women of GK and they will not stop serving in these disaster areas until the Lord instructs them to stop...... I'm guessing that will not happen anytime soon. That means they need lots of people supporting them to be able to provide for these hungry souls. Please visit their website and learn more about what they do on a weekly basis year around. You can read all about them HERE.

Me, Shawn and our kids just got home from touring the community of Pleasant Grove and we are just speechless. Thankful for our family and home, but very broken hearted for the people that called this "home" just a few days ago. Yesterday Lexie's friend Kayla made a video of the area..... it's hard to watch but please do.