Blessed and this week's needs

Prasie God our shelves are nearly full!  I have to admit that I'm a bigger worrier than I'd like to be.  Every single week, through members of our community, God provides what we need to fill the bags for our kids.  Not every person who gives actually has a kid at John Weldon or has ever even walked into the building.  Somehow... somewhere they heard someone talking about how we provide food for the weekend for kids who may not have enough food at home and they are moved to do what one donor said they "felt was the right thing to do."  Some faithfully go to the store every single week to get items from the list.  Some only buy a few items each week.  Some make one time financial donations.  Some are more high-tech and have a monthly donation set up through Alice and never have to get out of their jammies to still give. (Seriously, how cool is it to be productive while still in your jammies!) So, there's always enough... but I still worry.

I learned long ago that the most effective response to my worry is prayer and so that's what I do each week.  I worry and then I pray and let it go.  I worry and then I pray and let it go.  With Thanksgiving coming up and my hoping to be able to bless our families like we did last year, I have worried more.  What if no one donates?  What if there's not enough?   What if everyone stops giving and we have to stop Bear Necessities all together?! (Sadly, yes, my mind is a very scary place.)

This weekend the most awesome thing happened and I couldn't be more excited to share it with you because YOU are Bear Necessities and this was for you to see too!  I received a phone call from Danielle letting me know that some members of the St. Charles Elks Lodge had heard about Bear Necessities and wanted to donate.  This wasn't a Lodge donation but just something that a few members had felt they needed to do.  I was told that it was enough to "cover a table."  Mark brought his truck on Saturday morning and I told Danielle that it was like God opened the storehouses of Heaven!  It covered a table all right, a six foot long table!   Shelves went from totally empty to nearly full and for some items, I had to get a bigger shelf!  

This is how Bear Necessities works!  Everyone gives what they can when they can and somehow, God makes it enough!


There are still a few items that we need for this week just to keep some variety for the kids:

25 chili
5 beefaroni
3 peas

Yep, that's it!  I expect the next couple of weeks to have similar lists.  After looking at the full shelves and praying, what I would ask each of you to do is this:

Whatever you would normally give for the weekly donation, please donate toward blessing our families with Thanksgiving dinner.  What we are going to do is give them gift cards for Honey Baked Ham on Mid Rivers Mall Drive. (185 Mid Rivers Mall Dr, St. Peters, MO  63376) They have a yummy menu of items with everything from turkey, ham, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole and southern pecan pie! 

You can drop off cash or if you're in the area, just grab a gift card at Honey Baked Ham yourself and drop it off. (drop off address:  118 Wimbledon Ct., O'Fallon, MO 63368)  I do ask that you not put cash in the box on the porch for obvious reasons.  I am home most days and do not feel that you're disturbing me so please call 314-540-4718, text or be old fashioned and just knock.  

To the people who give every week or every time they can, THANK YOU!  

To the people who cannot give but pray faithfully for there to be enough, THANK YOU!

To Mark and his friends at the Elk's Lodge, you guys made Saturday morning for my family and we are so thankful to you!

Look at all that food and cute kids to boot! 
(excuse the lovely bed head on the princess as I made her get out of bed so she wouldn't miss the fun!)

Check out the nearly empty shelves in the back while ignoring the rest of the messy basement

Shelves are almost completely full and bookshelf moved over to hold all the ravioli and veggies!

Silly boy!  He makes me giggle. 

Oil Change Day at Calvary Church

Spending money... it's something that can bring great joy if it involves something you've been wanting and saving to get... you know, like those awesome leather riding boots or those oh-so-fabulous heels.  Sometimes, however, it is just downright painful... a broken window, an overflowing washing machine... or maybe nothing's broken at all but you know that if you don't maintain it, it will be... and that is so not as fun as new shoes!  Maybe it's just me but that's how I feel about things like getting the oil changed.  Blah.  Ugh.  Whine!   I mean, I've always said that I couldn't be a gambler and didn't really enjoy Vegas because if I'm handing someone money, I want to walk out the door with a bag full of something I wanted... something pretty, cute or at least useful!  When we my husband takes the car to get the oil changed, there's no bag full of fun stuff!  Alas, I'm so grateful that we CAN get the oil changed because, with two kids, we drive A LOT and i certainly can't walk too far in my new heels if my car breaks down!

Seriously, though, I know that for some, it's not at all lighthearted or silly.  I read an article about something today and it made me wonder how many of our Bear Necessities families might struggle with this.  "Do I buy food for my family or get the oil changed?"  It breaks my heart thinking about it!

So, just in case, I wanted to let you all know that a free oil change IS available to single moms and families who are struggling financially.  Where? you might ask.  Calvary Church, which I have the privilege of calling my church.  Members of the church hold an event twice a year and do 300-375 oil changes FOR FREE to help people in the community.  This weekend the oil changes will be happening out our Mid-Rivers campus. 

If you are needing some help with this, call the church because a reservation DOES have to be made:  636-939-4343

If you aren't needing help with this but you know someone who is, please pass this info on to them!

Thanks!

Thanksgiving Blessings and THIS week

In just over four weeks we will celebrate Thanksgiving.  I can never decide which is my favorite part of the meal.  Is it the stuffing? No!  It's the green bean casserole!  But then I see the pumpkin pie...  I doubt I'll ever be able to decide and so every year I just eat.it.all and then sit with my belly aching from being so stuffed!  I hope that is how Thanksgiving is for you this year.  I wish that's how it was for everyone... but I know it is not.  With food costs higher than last year and nearly 13% of suburban homes being food insecure, it's highly unlikely that everyone will sit back on Thanksgiving night groaning from too much food. 

Last year we were able to provide all the fixings for a yummy Thanksgiving dinner for all the families we served.  This year we are currently serving 18 families at John Weldon.  It's a few more than we were at this time last year but I know that if we all pull together, we can help these families enjoy the holiday and know that they are loved by God and their community.  If you can and feel called to help, please read last year's blog post on how it will work.  Donations will work just like we did last year. 

The deadline for donations this year will be November 16. 

Now, for this week, we need the following items to fill our bags this week:

12 individual cereal boxes
26 cereal bars
24 soup
6 ravioli
23 easy mac envelopes
26 corn
2 raisins
11 applesauce
5 peanut butter crackers
26 pudding cups

Donation Needs by 10/18

I hope that everyone had a great time of fall break.  We had a great time but I am definitely ready to get back into the routine because all that fun wiped me out!  

Here's a list of what we need for this week:

22 individual boxes of cereal
21 peanut butter
2 soy nut OR almond butter
25 jelly
18 sleeves ritz crackers
3 envelopes easy mac
26 green beans
21 fruit cups
24 applesauce

Let me also remind you that you can still sign up to pack &/or deliver bags:

http://www.signupgenius.com/go/20F0F4AAEAA22A64-20122013

10/1 Update

Just a quick update on where we are on our bags that will go out tomorrow and Wednesday for our fall break... we still need the following:



40 individual cereal boxes
18 peanut butter
19 jelly
4 sleeves ritz crackers
16 soup
16 applesauce


Thank you to everyone!