You can give without loving, but you can never love without giving. ~Author Unknown
The mom's group I'm a part of this semester has been reading the book The Missional Mom by Helen Lee. It's about being on a mission in the home and in the world. I have been both encouraged and challenge by this book. I found that I have not done the best job I could with our five year old son when it comes to missions. He sees his mommy and daddy showing God's love to people, but I have not given him many opportunities to do it too. God has showed me over the past few weeks that kids can and NEED to be able to serve people. Teaching the Bible is important, but it's also important to put it into action. I've been praying about something our family could do together to show God's love in our community.
Here is who God has placed on my heart.
The Homeless
It breaks my heart to see a person without a home.
A person who is hungry.
A person who feels alone.
I have seen so many without homes lately. I usually give them some cash or food from a near by restaurant, but it just doesn't seem like enough. I want to give them something more personal that says, "I care about you. I am going to pray for you today."
I had read about how a lady gave a brown bag filled with food and supplies to homeless people she came into contact with. I thought, "I could do that." I began planning out how to put this new mission project into action. When we where in Africa a few years ago, we learned how valuable ziploc bags were. There are not many ways for them to keep things fresh and protected. So I started thinking about how this would apply to a homeless person too. Then I thought about what would be useful to someone living on the street. Food of course is the #1 thought. Personal hygiene items are good too. I also thought thick socks and hats could make them warmer. Add in some scripture, and it's a very useful bag!
Since I wanted to send plenty of sunshine heading their way, I named our project Zippity DO Bags. It's a ziploc filled with love, and it's something our family can DO together.
So as were traveling in our daily lives, we will keep these bags in our cars to give to those in need. Then we get to have more fun putting together more bags. This way our son has a part in helping, and he can also be a part of the giving too.
Our challenge to you is
Make a Zippity DO Bag to keep in your car so when you see the homeless you can DO something too!
Please share your thoughts and/or experiences about the Zippity DO Bag!
