When The 12 Days of Christmas Turns Into 18

It has been 18 days since my last post.....18 busy and often overwhelming days. I am not sure even where to start as many incredible things have occurred in the last 2 and a half weeks!

The most wonderful event was Garrett and Nathan's baptisms at church today. It deserves a post of its own so as soon as I collect pictures I will share. Suffice it to say, it was the fulfillment of many prayers as a mom....the opportunity to watch my children choose to follow God through belief in the grace and mercy Jesus' crucifixion and resurrection has afforded them and then for my boys to share that decision publicly with others. It was amazing!

On December 20th I had my annual pajama exchange....except we don't exchange pajamas anymore, we collect and donate them for the women and children at the Mission of Yahweh. There are way too many women and children living there right now.......even one is way too many. Most of these women are homeless and the Mission allows them the opportunity to get back on their feet.

My friends have fully embraced this cause and they were all very generous in their giving to allow the annual Christmas Eve party at the Mission to be that much more special with new pajamas for everyone. As an added bonus this year, we had Betty, the woman in charge of donations at the Mission, come to the party to share with the women here about the work being done. She was wonderful to listen to and her blessing she prayed over each of us was something I wish I could have recorded to replay many times over.

I have to admit that it was a very bittersweet event for me. I had my mom and both of my sisters there which was incredible. I was also fully aware that it would be my last pj party for a long time with this group of friends. I will miss the excitement my girlfriends generate in their desire to meet the needs of others.

I was thrilled to be able to drop off the pajamas with my mom and be given a tour of the Mission a couple of days after the party. It meets the needs of primarily homeless women and their children. The stress and pain of their situation was very evident on the faces of the women, but the children seemed happy and carefree for the most part.

One of my favorite Christmas presents this year was receiving pictures from the PJ Christmas Eve party at the Mission. I did ask and receive permission to print them on the blog. I have looked at them 20 or 30 times already trying to memorize each face and loving the joy that is there.

What I was reminded of over and over is that God does not love me any differently than he loves any of the women and children staying at the mission. Yes, our circumstances are different, but we were all created by Him and as His children, we are called to love each other. It is not only a privilege to do so, it is our responsibility.