A crop more than twice what was sown!
Grace Abounds Ministries and Ripple of One are on fast forward for Jesus!
Many of you often ask me how the ministry efforts are going. Truthfully, it is impossible to put into words. Most people are expecting me to handle them a nice collateral set and speak puppy dogs and lollipops stories to them, but the truth is that ministry is the hardest thing I have ever taken on. Yet, the most fulfilling and rewarding - with experiences daily beyond anything you can ever imagine happening. The story God is making in our organizations would leave no room for doubt that God exists and He is GOOD!
Just this week I reached out to a friend. I needed to just spill over onto someone. I have been pouring all of my thoughts, emotion, physical being into all of these women and these ministry efforts like never before and working harder than ever to build funds to bring some resources on board to professionally help, counsel, give parenting classes, etc. to these clients. We have sent out many letters. We have pulled details together for a November fundraiser. But lets face it, November is a LONG way away.
God has blessed our ministry with some amazing women with incredible potential. (You can check out their stories at www.rippleofone.org where the 1 minute videos are.) For about 6 weeks now, I have been mentoring two beautiful young ladies. I spend about 20 hours a week with them. Chatting, being their friend, teaching them to budget, taking them to parenting classes, taking them to church, and working on their goals. Recently, one of them that has made tremendous progress slipped away and I did not hear from her for several days. I could not sleep. I was so worried for her. I got my church praying and I got on my knees pleading that God would bring her back, and that when He did, no matter what the circumstances that I would have the His words, His timing, His love, His grace and mercy to just spill out onto her. Over a week later, she texted me early 7:30 Monday morning. She was in the darkest place she had ever gone to in life. It appears as though she is pregnant with her 2nd child, and she is only 19 years of age. Preventing pregnancy has been part of her counseling. But we are learning that so much of the decisions she is making are because of this insatiable need she has to feel belonging and love so she acts first on this emotions, but ends up with many regrets later. Where do we go from here? What was a pretty impossible situation on every level - spiritually, emotionally, financially, educationally - was now REALLY impossible. But I shared with her to rest in the fact that two weeks ago she gave her life to Christ and that is all that matters. His GRACE IS ENOUGH. All she has to depend on now is His word and His design for her life and His promise that if she truly seeks Him, she will receive it. I am blown away by how these circumstances have pulled her towards God in the most unexpected way. God is good!
While all of this was going on, I had a group leader training at NewSpring (I LOVE MY CHURCH www.newspring.cc) and God brought me together with a volunteer for Shalom ministries. Shalom ministries focuses on leading people to Jesus that have suffered years of addiction and abuse. What a perfect compliment to Ripple! After speaking with this volunteer, it was clearly no accident our paths crossed. Just one day, ONE day, after my lunch where I just spilled out into tears because we need help and we need funds, I got a call that an anonymous donor had given 10,000 dollars - if we could find someone to match it. I knew that God would answer. The next day I went into a national non profit organization that I also mentor for, and ran into the Executive Director. In two sentences, I shared the story with him about how this organization needs this money and how they can help Ripple. In one word, he said "DONE!" And in less than four days, God answers prayers for $20,000 to help fill some of the needs for Shalom ministries and provide resources / staffing for Ripple.
You have to read the prayers about this over e-mail - it will blow your mind how God answers prayer!
Sorry for the length - but if you read it, you will be blessed by this!
Thank you for sharing the Mark passage with me. It took three hours to get **NAME*** out of a very very dark place, and it turns out it is quite possible she is pregnant @ 19 with a second child. All of the odds, she feels, are against her...but God's glory and His story in her are in the making. Two weeks ago she accepted Christ at New Spring. She had never been to church before. The next week, when Perry did the spontaneous baptism, she went right down and got baptized. You actually baptized her!! I believe that God wove these circumstances together in this fashion and timing to reel her in so that she is locked in now recognizing the power of small choices. She texted me today "I believe that God wants to use me to teach other girls about this experience and help them avoid living in my shoes". She is already feeling called to turn her pain into a ministry for His glory. She wants to change her major from accounting to counseling. She even came to a parenting workshop today we give at the United Way that lasted 4 hours today. Please continue to pray that God equips me with the right scripture, words, and grace to unleash the Glory of God in her life in such a way that it just effervesces onto the unhealthy influences in her life. She is so close to a permanent breakthrough - and the power of prayer will sustain her.
On another note, I have another girl that I mentor that is pretty plugged into NewSpring. She has been unemployed since August. I have polished up her resume, done interview mock ups with her, referred her to positions, and doors just were not opening. And then today, she called me and said one of the jobs I referred her to got offered to her, but she turned it down because her unemployment check is more money so she would rather do nothing and still be able to pay her bills rather than work a minimum wage position and probably get behind. What she did not realize, is the position she got offered was just a quick stepping stone to a promotion, and on top of that our Ripple of One program would have matched her paychecks. Please pray that her eyes will be opened to the harvest that is before her, and receive clarity on God's design for a Proverbs 31 woman and the art of work and discipline and for her to step out and Trust Him.
I know this is alot of detail, but I am really overwhelmed and broken over the needs that are being manifested because our body of Christ at NewSpring is bringing Jesus to the streets and there is a HUGE responsibility before us as His disciples to love on them ALL!!! I do not want to miss any opportunity for any individual to experience the fullness of Christ and the joy He promises for each of us.
This is only two girls that I am working with...just this week I have networked with more than four ministry efforts that have spun out of groups or volunteerships at NewSpring. There is a new group meeting in Clemson called Beautifully Alive that started out of New Spring small groups. Another group is now volunteering weekly at the Lot Project in Anderson. Jennifer that spoke on behalf of Shalom connected with me this week and we shared what God has called us to do and we both believe we are seeing an unprecedented movement of God in the hearts of women and families in the toughest dynamics that our culture has ever seen. More than ever, solutions oriented programs are forming and people are literally turning over everything to God, leaving their comfort zones, to keep these programs going. Jennifer called me because I do grant writing and Shalom has an opportunity to provide a salary for her, and they have an anonymous donor that said if we could raise 10,000 they would match it. She called me for help and I truly believe that through Ripple of One or Shalom, or the efforts combined, God is going to open up the position for Jennifer that she desires to have. We realized in our conversation today many reasons why we know the Lord put us in that room as Area Leaders in the same training this past week. Besides our passion for women and ministry, God has called us to totally change the direction of our life to answer the call to help these women in some capacity. What she did not know, is that for the last three months while she has been praying for a position, Ripple of One has been writing to foundations to secure salaries for specific positions, and that includes a counselor. Huge things are on the forefront and everyday I am about to explode...and the power of prayer behind these efforts is so critical.
So, thank you for praying!
Keri
And THEN....
Dear Keri,
Thank you for sharing this with me. I am blown away at how God is using you to impact and care for women. You have been faithful with little and now he is entrusting you with much :)
I've been praying for Jennifer **** and her call to work full time at Shalom, I will continue to pray for that grant to come through!
(I had four more prayers received from staff on this as well)
And THEN...
@ 2:42 in the afternoon:
Quick Update:
I had a meeting with **NAME*** this morning at *****. The funds for Shalom have been matched - he said "Consider it done!!" I am meeting with Jennifer as we speak and she is on the phone with Stacy right now - giving her the amazing news!!!
God is SOOOOO greater than we ever imagine.
Now read Mark 4 below...
Mark 4
10 When he was alone, the Twelve and the others around him asked him about the parables. 11 He told them, “The secret of the kingdom of God has been given to you. But to those on the outside everything is said in parables 12 so that,
“‘they may be ever seeing but never perceiving,
and ever hearing but never understanding;
otherwise they might turn and be forgiven!’[a]”
13 Then Jesus said to them, “Don’t you understand this parable? How then will you understand any parable? 14 The farmer sows the word. 15 Some people are like seed along the path, where the word is sown. As soon as they hear it, Satan comes and takes away the word that was sown in them. 16 Others, like seed sown on rocky places, hear the word and at once receive it with joy. 17 But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away. 18 Still others, like seed sown among thorns, hear the word; 19 but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful. 20 Others, like seed sown on good soil, hear the word, accept it, and produce a crop—some thirty, some sixty, some a hundred times what was sown.”
Many of you often ask me how the ministry efforts are going. Truthfully, it is impossible to put into words. Most people are expecting me to handle them a nice collateral set and speak puppy dogs and lollipops stories to them, but the truth is that ministry is the hardest thing I have ever taken on. Yet, the most fulfilling and rewarding - with experiences daily beyond anything you can ever imagine happening. The story God is making in our organizations would leave no room for doubt that God exists and He is GOOD!
Just this week I reached out to a friend. I needed to just spill over onto someone. I have been pouring all of my thoughts, emotion, physical being into all of these women and these ministry efforts like never before and working harder than ever to build funds to bring some resources on board to professionally help, counsel, give parenting classes, etc. to these clients. We have sent out many letters. We have pulled details together for a November fundraiser. But lets face it, November is a LONG way away.
God has blessed our ministry with some amazing women with incredible potential. (You can check out their stories at www.rippleofone.org where the 1 minute videos are.) For about 6 weeks now, I have been mentoring two beautiful young ladies. I spend about 20 hours a week with them. Chatting, being their friend, teaching them to budget, taking them to parenting classes, taking them to church, and working on their goals. Recently, one of them that has made tremendous progress slipped away and I did not hear from her for several days. I could not sleep. I was so worried for her. I got my church praying and I got on my knees pleading that God would bring her back, and that when He did, no matter what the circumstances that I would have the His words, His timing, His love, His grace and mercy to just spill out onto her. Over a week later, she texted me early 7:30 Monday morning. She was in the darkest place she had ever gone to in life. It appears as though she is pregnant with her 2nd child, and she is only 19 years of age. Preventing pregnancy has been part of her counseling. But we are learning that so much of the decisions she is making are because of this insatiable need she has to feel belonging and love so she acts first on this emotions, but ends up with many regrets later. Where do we go from here? What was a pretty impossible situation on every level - spiritually, emotionally, financially, educationally - was now REALLY impossible. But I shared with her to rest in the fact that two weeks ago she gave her life to Christ and that is all that matters. His GRACE IS ENOUGH. All she has to depend on now is His word and His design for her life and His promise that if she truly seeks Him, she will receive it. I am blown away by how these circumstances have pulled her towards God in the most unexpected way. God is good!
While all of this was going on, I had a group leader training at NewSpring (I LOVE MY CHURCH www.newspring.cc) and God brought me together with a volunteer for Shalom ministries. Shalom ministries focuses on leading people to Jesus that have suffered years of addiction and abuse. What a perfect compliment to Ripple! After speaking with this volunteer, it was clearly no accident our paths crossed. Just one day, ONE day, after my lunch where I just spilled out into tears because we need help and we need funds, I got a call that an anonymous donor had given 10,000 dollars - if we could find someone to match it. I knew that God would answer. The next day I went into a national non profit organization that I also mentor for, and ran into the Executive Director. In two sentences, I shared the story with him about how this organization needs this money and how they can help Ripple. In one word, he said "DONE!" And in less than four days, God answers prayers for $20,000 to help fill some of the needs for Shalom ministries and provide resources / staffing for Ripple.
You have to read the prayers about this over e-mail - it will blow your mind how God answers prayer!
Sorry for the length - but if you read it, you will be blessed by this!
Thank you for sharing the Mark passage with me. It took three hours to get **NAME*** out of a very very dark place, and it turns out it is quite possible she is pregnant @ 19 with a second child. All of the odds, she feels, are against her...but God's glory and His story in her are in the making. Two weeks ago she accepted Christ at New Spring. She had never been to church before. The next week, when Perry did the spontaneous baptism, she went right down and got baptized. You actually baptized her!! I believe that God wove these circumstances together in this fashion and timing to reel her in so that she is locked in now recognizing the power of small choices. She texted me today "I believe that God wants to use me to teach other girls about this experience and help them avoid living in my shoes". She is already feeling called to turn her pain into a ministry for His glory. She wants to change her major from accounting to counseling. She even came to a parenting workshop today we give at the United Way that lasted 4 hours today. Please continue to pray that God equips me with the right scripture, words, and grace to unleash the Glory of God in her life in such a way that it just effervesces onto the unhealthy influences in her life. She is so close to a permanent breakthrough - and the power of prayer will sustain her.
On another note, I have another girl that I mentor that is pretty plugged into NewSpring. She has been unemployed since August. I have polished up her resume, done interview mock ups with her, referred her to positions, and doors just were not opening. And then today, she called me and said one of the jobs I referred her to got offered to her, but she turned it down because her unemployment check is more money so she would rather do nothing and still be able to pay her bills rather than work a minimum wage position and probably get behind. What she did not realize, is the position she got offered was just a quick stepping stone to a promotion, and on top of that our Ripple of One program would have matched her paychecks. Please pray that her eyes will be opened to the harvest that is before her, and receive clarity on God's design for a Proverbs 31 woman and the art of work and discipline and for her to step out and Trust Him.
I know this is alot of detail, but I am really overwhelmed and broken over the needs that are being manifested because our body of Christ at NewSpring is bringing Jesus to the streets and there is a HUGE responsibility before us as His disciples to love on them ALL!!! I do not want to miss any opportunity for any individual to experience the fullness of Christ and the joy He promises for each of us.
This is only two girls that I am working with...just this week I have networked with more than four ministry efforts that have spun out of groups or volunteerships at NewSpring. There is a new group meeting in Clemson called Beautifully Alive that started out of New Spring small groups. Another group is now volunteering weekly at the Lot Project in Anderson. Jennifer that spoke on behalf of Shalom connected with me this week and we shared what God has called us to do and we both believe we are seeing an unprecedented movement of God in the hearts of women and families in the toughest dynamics that our culture has ever seen. More than ever, solutions oriented programs are forming and people are literally turning over everything to God, leaving their comfort zones, to keep these programs going. Jennifer called me because I do grant writing and Shalom has an opportunity to provide a salary for her, and they have an anonymous donor that said if we could raise 10,000 they would match it. She called me for help and I truly believe that through Ripple of One or Shalom, or the efforts combined, God is going to open up the position for Jennifer that she desires to have. We realized in our conversation today many reasons why we know the Lord put us in that room as Area Leaders in the same training this past week. Besides our passion for women and ministry, God has called us to totally change the direction of our life to answer the call to help these women in some capacity. What she did not know, is that for the last three months while she has been praying for a position, Ripple of One has been writing to foundations to secure salaries for specific positions, and that includes a counselor. Huge things are on the forefront and everyday I am about to explode...and the power of prayer behind these efforts is so critical.
So, thank you for praying!
Keri
And THEN....
Dear Keri,
Thank you for sharing this with me. I am blown away at how God is using you to impact and care for women. You have been faithful with little and now he is entrusting you with much :)
I've been praying for Jennifer **** and her call to work full time at Shalom, I will continue to pray for that grant to come through!
(I had four more prayers received from staff on this as well)
And THEN...
@ 2:42 in the afternoon:
Quick Update:
I had a meeting with **NAME*** this morning at *****. The funds for Shalom have been matched - he said "Consider it done!!" I am meeting with Jennifer as we speak and she is on the phone with Stacy right now - giving her the amazing news!!!
God is SOOOOO greater than we ever imagine.
Now read Mark 4 below...
Mark 4
The Parable of the Sower
1 Again Jesus began to teach by the lake. The crowd that gathered around him was so large that he got into a boat and sat in it out on the lake, while all the people were along the shore at the water’s edge. 2 He taught them many things by parables, and in his teaching said: 3 “Listen! A farmer went out to sow his seed. 4 As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. 5 Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. 6 But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. 7 Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants, so that they did not bear grain. 8 Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up, grew and produced a crop, some multiplying thirty, some sixty, some a hundred times.” 9 Then Jesus said, “Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear.”10 When he was alone, the Twelve and the others around him asked him about the parables. 11 He told them, “The secret of the kingdom of God has been given to you. But to those on the outside everything is said in parables 12 so that,
“‘they may be ever seeing but never perceiving,
and ever hearing but never understanding;
otherwise they might turn and be forgiven!’[a]”
13 Then Jesus said to them, “Don’t you understand this parable? How then will you understand any parable? 14 The farmer sows the word. 15 Some people are like seed along the path, where the word is sown. As soon as they hear it, Satan comes and takes away the word that was sown in them. 16 Others, like seed sown on rocky places, hear the word and at once receive it with joy. 17 But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away. 18 Still others, like seed sown among thorns, hear the word; 19 but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful. 20 Others, like seed sown on good soil, hear the word, accept it, and produce a crop—some thirty, some sixty, some a hundred times what was sown.”
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