This week's needs

Bear Necessities still needs by 7/15
:

7 cereal
2 soup
22 easy Mac envelopes
6 fruit cups
14 applesauce


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Why we give

Did you know that St. Louis Bread Co has a program that allows you to pay more for some meals and they will use that extra to help feed those that don't have enough?  My husband says they've been doing it for a while but I didn't know about it until I read one of those little things they put on the tables while we were there for lunch.  On the little paper tent, it informed the reader (reminded me) that approximately one in six people IN OUR COUNTRY are struggling with hunger.  My heart hurt when I read it and I wondered again how many faces I see each week that are a part of that "one." Oh, how i wish it were none!

Last week I read a blog that reminded me of why Bear Necessities began.  It began because of hunger.  The crazy thing is that it isn't even the kind of hunger that most people think of when they first hear about what we do.  Yes, we provide food for kids every single week and that is clearly about their physical hunger but the author of this blog, Ann Voskamp, was talking about another hunger that we all have... the hunger to bring something... some kind of offering to God.  She spoke about the widow in Luke 21 who brought a meager two copper coins and lovingly placed them in the temple treasury and how Jesus said that she'd put in more than anyone because she gave all she had.  Ann spoke of listening to a teacher from Compassion teaching some children in Uganda that they, too, can give to God and that they didn't have to wait until they had much to give and how the giving is what made them rich. 

I know from talking with some of you that some of you are not what the rest of the world would call "rich" and yet, you give.  Week after week, you give.  Some of you have confessed that you don't know why you feel compelled to give but you do... week after week.  I truly believe that it is to meet the need of THAT hunger that Ann wrote about, just as much as the physical hunger of the children, for which God called Bear Necessities into existence. 

Thank you for joining me and bringing our offerings together!



Bags will go home again on July 2 and we need the following for that to happen:

14 individual cereal boxes
5 peanut butter
20 easy mac envelopes
14 green beans
2 cans soup
9 corn
7 boxes of raisins
6 pudding cups

Finishing June

Just a quick note to let you know what we need by June 17 to send home the remainder of the June bags. 

60 individual cereal boxes
18 cereal bars
15 cans chili
32 easy mac envelopes
8 cans beefaroni
5 sleeves ritz crackers
13 cans tuna
18 cans peas
6  applesauce
6 pudding cups

This will completely cover the rest of the month of June.  A HUGE thank you to everyone who helps make this possible for our families.  I know that some of our donors go without in other ares of life to make sure that these families don't have to go without food.  I pray that God blesses you richly for the beautiful offering you bring!

School's out for summer.... well, almost!

Just a few short days and summer will officially be here for all in the Francis Howell School district.  In the last few months, I've had the opportunity to talk to several people who have children or teach in other school districts recently, as well as work at the school as a Girls on the Run coach and each time I talk to someone or walk through the doors, I become more grateful that God placed us in a neighborhood that allows our kids to attend John Weldon.  We have the most incredible staff.  We really do!

This summer God has given us the privilege to provide for seven children.  What we did last summer and what I feel called to do this summer is to cover these kids for four days instead of just two.  Since our program is anonymous, I have no idea if these kids will attend summer school or not but if their parents are used to them eating school lunch and breakfast five days a week, having them need to eat at home SEVEN can be a taxing financial burden to an already struggling family.  I'd love to be able help lift that burden for them!

To cover the first two weeks, we will need:

5 peanut butter
7 jelly
28 easy mac envelopes
12 green beans
13 corn
28 applesauce
8 pudding cups

LAST WEEK OF SCHOOL

Next week is the last week of school.  I can hardly believe it!  While I haven't gotten numbers yet, we are expecting to provide for families over the summer as well.  If it is anything like last summer, we will have less kids because the parents will be required to pick up the bags on Tuesdays and unfortunately, not everyone is able to do this. I will update everyone on summer as soon as I get more information.

Until then, this list is for everything that will go home next week.  We will be sending the bags on Thursday so that the kids don't have to mess with them on the last day of school.  So we need everything by noon on Wednesday.

54 individual boxes of cereal
8 cans chilli
4 cans peas
19 cans tuna
27 cans soup
14 cans corn
54 applesauce
25 individual bags cheez its
8 nutragrain bars
6 sleeves ritz crackers
8 regular family boxes of Mac n Cheese

This probably seems like a bigger than usual list and it is.  This will cover 2 weekends and will enable us to not pack bags the first week of June as I will be unavailable that week.  I certainly don't want the kids to suffer because I am not available so we are working ahead a little.  I know that it's the end of the school year and schedules and funds can be REALLY tight right now.  If you are able to pick up anything off of the list, you really cannot imagine how much the kids appreciate it!  For that matter, I cannot imagine how much the parents appreciate it too.   Just to be able to feed their kids is such a simple need and it is one that through all God has provided through this loving community they are able to meet!

This week and Mother's Day

Mother's day is just about over and my kids are currently getting themselves ready for bed.  It's a much easier time of day than it was a few years ago.  I can tell them to get themselves ready  and they do.  That's it.  I don't have to do anything else but read a little, snuggle a little, reflect on the day and hear their night time prayers.  It's really pretty sweet.  I keep it simple and flexible.  Some nights there isn't time for reading.  Some nights our snuggles only last a minute or two.   I have found flexibility one of my best friends as a mom and I'm so lucky that my kids accept it as part of their journey too!

This week I saw a "Mother's Creed" that really resonated with my soul because we moms can get a little ridiculous in our expectations of ourselves.  Well, I know I can anyway. I find myself fighting perfectionism or getting starstruck by the mom who bakes each day or an awesome friend who loves to do crafts with her kids and the I start to compare myself and let's be honest, when we compare ourselves with others, we almost never measure up because we compare our worn out, frustrated and exhausted selves with their enthusiastic best.  The only solution is that we just stop comparing ourselves to others, do our best and give ourselves grace on those days we just don't have as much to give.

Anyway, Lisa-Jo Baker does a great job with her "MOther's Creed" and you can read it here:

http://lisajobaker.com/2012/06/encouragement-for-tired-moms/

Now, on to our weekly business... The following is the list of items we need to pack bags this week:

27 cereal bars
21 cans of soup
14 cans corn
24 raisins
2 pudding cups

Thank you to everyone who contributes each week!  Bear Necessities is a community ministry and each week when we have exactly what we need, I am reminded of Matthew 6:24-27 and just how valuable these families are to Jesus in Heaven.

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes?  Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?"

This week's list

Just a quick note with what we need this week:

23 peanut butter
25 jelly
26 ritz cracker sleeves
12 cans green beans
18 individual bags cheez its