Catching Up

It's been a while since I've written, and I'm home for the holidays right now, but I just thought I should catch up on what's been going on since my last entry!
My last day in Denver was amazing! It was my most joyful day there, everyone was so open, receptive, and happy to talk.
These guys were amazing! The four of us prayed together, and it was so beautiful. It was such a powerful time of prayer, it's indescribable! It was so cool how tangible God's presence was in the middle of this park full of drugs and darkness. But our God is so much more powerful than any of that and He can shine in the darkest places.

After hanging out, handing out things, and saying my goodbyes, I was starting to leave the park. I was kind of sad because I hadn't seen Sham since my second day out, and he was such a joy to me that I wanted to get to say bye to him. But he wasn't in his usual spot and I didn't know where else to look, so I just decided to leave. I was about to be out of the park when I heard, "Bye, Tori!" I turned around and it was Sham! I was so excited! It was just the perfect end to the perfect day. I just love Sham! It made my day that I got to see him before I left, and I love that he called me out!

This is sweet Sham!

After my time in Denver, I got to go with a couple of friends to a four day conference in San Diego called School of Power and Love. The speakers were Dan Mohler, Todd White, and Tom Ruotolo. This conference was so amazing, if you ever get the opportunity to go, GO! Or just youtube Dan and Todd, they're so filled with God! The conference was all about knowing your identity in Christ and knowing that you're a son/daughter. It's not about works, it's all about knowing your Father and your intimacy with Him. The conference was so amazing. I got freedom there, I got to branch out, I witnessed miracles, heard amazing testimonies, and just got to know more of my Father's love. And it was so good to be in a room full of people just giving their all in worship to their Father. So amazing.
From there, I went to Omaha for Thanksgiving. Originally, I had planned on going out to the homeless while I was in Omaha, but I had a hard time finding anyone. Whether they just had a lot fewer, or if they were just all staying inside, I don't know. But my first day out, I only found two, and one that I talked to didn't want anything, and the other got on a bus before I could talk to him. The next day we walked around downtown as a family, and I didn't see anyone during that time. So I decided I would just spend the week spending time with my family, because my searches for homeless in Omaha weren't very fruitful, and I only see my family once a year.

It's also really cool how God's shown me that I don't need this work. I absolutely love it, don't get me wrong! But my worth to God doesn't depend on how many people I feed in a day. If he took this ministry away, I wouldn't be lost, because I have Him. He's all I need for significance. Being His daughter is all that matters. It's what's most important to him. Any ministry we are involved in should just be an overflow of our intimacy in Him. It should never replace it. We should never be defined by anything other than our adoption in Christ. That's so freeing!

After Omaha, I went to Chicago. My time in Chicago was cut short because I got really sick and came home  early. So now I am in Memphis for Christmas break! God is just continuing to show me things and draw me closer to Him. He's taught me so much through my time on LWAT, and He's teaching me still even as I'm home. It's just all about love. Without love, I am nothing. Without love, none of this matters. So just go love your Father and invite Him to open your eyes to deeper levels of love that are already yours through Christ. And love the person in front of you, no matter who it is. I hope everyone has an amazing Christmas! I can't wait to start back up the tour in January! God bless!

This ain't the Bible belt!

      My time in Denver so far has been different, but good! I've been volunteering at the Denver Rescue Mission serving lunch and helping in the kitchen. It's a really great Christ centered rescue mission! One of my first days going out on my own was tough. I went to a park that was pretty much a center for drug dealing. I've never been offered drugs so many times in a row in my life! That didn't really bother me, it was just a really dark area. When I started talking to people and giving them sandwiches, no body was interested in the Bible.  In every other city, when I offer people Bibles, their answer is either, "Yeah!" or "No, I already have one." So it was my first time encountering so people who weren't at all interested in the Bible and kind of seemed annoyed to be offered one. I didn't feel personally offended or rejected by that, but it was hard because it made me so sad to see people so shut off to God.  Here are some of the guys I met that day:

So the next day going out on my own after that started out really hard. Walking through the park, I felt so overwhelmed! I was in a park full of guys who had mostly been completely shut of to God or even receiving a Bible, and it was just a really spiritually dark place. So I walked through almost all of the park and I hadn't talked to anyone. I just felt so overwhelmed and intimidated and I felt like nobody would want me to talk to them. And then, once again, God made one of these precious people an angel on my path to keep me going. I had walked through almost the entire park, and then I saw Sham! I had met him the day before, and I just loved him! That day he had been the only bright spot in a dark day out. He pretty much stays to himself and doesn't like asking people for things. He had such a sweet, gentle spirit, and he let me into his little world a bit. I loved talking to Sham! So when I saw him right as I was about to just leave without talking to anyone, it completely turned my day around! When I see sweet, familiar faces out, it brings me such joy! It gives me a nudge to keep going. So I sat and talked with Sham for a while and God used him to completely revive my spirits and give me comfort and the courage to keep going. After I left Sham, I talked to every person I saw! God used him to totally change my attitude from one of intimidation to loving boldness! I talked to and fed and gave some clothes to everyone after him! And after that, nearly every person that I offered a Bible to wanted one! It was so amazing, and if God hadn't sent me Sham to flip my day around, I might have left the park without talking to or helping any of these people and they wouldn't have gotten Bibles. I'm just so thankful for the way that God can turn a day around. He can take us when we're overwhelmed, weak, and scared and use us to shine light in a dark area. And I love that he uses these precious children that are looked down upon by society and he uses them to minister to me more than a suited up ordained minister. Because I get to look into their eyes and see Jesus. If you read Matthew 25:31-46, Jesus says, "I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me...whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me."  I wrote in my Bible next to this passage, "If you want to hang out with Jesus, go hang out with the least of these, look into their eyes, and see Him." And it's so true. If you feel distant from Jesus, go hang out with the poor and the needy. If you want to be more like Jesus, care about what He cares about. He cares about the poor, the orphans, the widows, the outcasts, the prostitutes, the liars, the alcoholics, the people in the streets, the people begging that might use the money you give them for food to buy drugs instead. God loves them! And He tells us to take care of them.
         And I promise you, you'll never miss a cent or a jacket or a minute that you give away to the financially poor or poor in spirit. Being able to pour blessings on people and see it totally change their demeanor is the most beautiful thing I've ever experienced. I got to see this beautiful change in sweet Barbara the other day! She was sitting on a park bench and the only jacket she had was a really light windbreaker, and it's really cold, so she was shivering. I talked to her and gave her some jackets, socks, gloves, a hat, a scarf, a blanket (once again, I really cannot thank people who donate enough), some food and water, and I wrote down the name of some shelters for her to try. I just talked to her for while. She was so sweet, and it was amazing to see her change from a shivering woman with her head hanging down to a woman with a bright smile who would look into your eyes. And this change was caused by something so simple. And really, I think what blessed her most was when I hugged her. It was so sweet, it made her giggle! What blesses people most is love! Even if you don't have any money, food, or clothes to give to people, you can always give them your time, love, and a hug. Trust me, you'll be just as blessed if not way more! God loves these precious babies! And I am so beyond grateful that He has shared them with me. I'm so glad He gave me this wonderful gift of a job. It isn't a duty, it isn't a burden, it isn't a sacrifice. It's a beautiful, precious gift. I'm in love with my Papa and I'm in love with these people. Little ol' me gets the gift of all these beautiful babies. I really couldn't be happier. There's nothing else I'd rather be doing. And He wants to give this gift to you, you just have to open up to receive it! He invites all of His children to be a part of the gift the nonstop cycle of receiving and pouring out love. "Sacrifice" is the most fulfilling gift you could ever receive. 

God Knows

        I'm now in Denver! I didn't write much while I was in Kansas City, but my time there was such a blessing!
        The organization that I worked at in Kansas City was Hope Faith. I worked in the laundry room my first day and in the kitchen the rest. When I wasn't there, I was either downtown looking for people to talk to and take care of or at International House of Prayer. I went to IHOP almost every day, usually after the sun was setting and it was too dark to go out. My time there was so good for my soul!
         Even though I loved my time in Kansas City, it was there that I had my first really hard day. I didn't really want to write about it because it really hurts my heart, but it is a reality for some of the homeless people. One day while I was driving around downtown looking for people, I saw a guy with plastic grocery bags wrapped around his feet. I stopped and went up to him and asked what size shoes he wears. It was kind of hard to understand him because he didn't speak well and what he said was hardly audible. I started asking him what all he needed, and he would respond to most things, but he wouldn't tell me his name. It was sad to me that he wouldn't tell me his name, but I thought maybe he just had his guard up because some strange girl he'd never met before was coming up to him and just giving him a bunch of stuff and asking him questions. I figured he would warm up to me after a few minutes and tell me his name. So I got him some food to eat while I looked in my car for shoes that would fit him. I didn't have his size, so I asked him what kind he would want so that I could go buy him a pair. He asked for a pen so that he could write down what he wanted. While I was driving to get his shoes, I was just thinking about how sad it is that he lives in a city full of people that pass by him every day, yet he was walking around with plastic bags on his feet. That just blew my mind. It took me a while to find a shoe store, but I eventually did and I picked out some black tennis shoes that I thought were really nice and would look cool, yet give enough support for all the walking that this man does. When I got back him I pulled the shoes out for him, and honestly I was kind of expecting a good response. Maybe happiness, excitement, gratitude. At least something positive. But when I gave them to him, he didn't give any kind of reaction, he just kind of nodded. So I kind of just said my goodbyes (we couldn't really talk much because I couldn't understand most of what he said), and started walking to my car. Before I got in my car he came over to me and asked me if I could return the shoes. The shoes fit the description of what he asked for (black boots or tennis shoes), so I asked if they didn't fit well. But he said he wanted boots instead. That part of the story really makes me laugh, because I thought, "Sure, I'll go get you boots...but why did you write down tennis shoes if you really didn't want them?" Haha. So I went back to the shoe store and got him some sturdy black boots and prayed that he would like those because it was starting to get dark. When I got back to him, I showed him the shoes and asked if he liked them. He nodded his head and he started packing the shoes away. I kind of wondered why he wasn't putting them on. I asked him if he wanted to try them on before I left to make sure they were the right size, so if they didn't fit well I could take them back, but he said they were fine. I tried to talk to him for a bit longer, then I said my goodbyes and went to my car. I couldn't leave, I just sat there and sobbed. I was talking to God and all I could say was, "He needs more than just shoes!" This guy was so sad! He could barely speak, he had grocery bags to keep what you could barely call a shoe on his feet, and he wouldn't tell me his name. It was just so sad. And I thought, "Whoopie. I gave him shoes. Now he's a sad, lost homeless guy that has a new pair of shoes." I felt so useless. A pair of shoes is helpful, but it doesn't change his life or his circumstances. It might make him happy, but it doesn't change his heart. It didn't even really change this guy's demeanor. I gave him a Bible and told him about Jesus' love for him, but he wasn't very responsive. I just felt like I did absolutely nothing for this man. I still was sitting in my car, and he came up and knocked on my window. I rolled it down and he asked me if I could help him get to the hospital. He needed some money for a bus ride to the hospital. I said yeah, and asked how much. He said $1.50. As I was looking for the money in my purse, I asked him what was wrong and why he needed to go to the hospital. He told me he had to go to the hospital to change his shoes. When he took off the old ones, they wouldn't come off clean, so it had to be done at a hospital. My heart just broke even more. Then as I was giving him the money, I found four quarters first, then I gave him a dollar bill. He tried to give me back the two quarters, which shocked me. I told him it was fine, he could keep the quarters, I wanted him to. But he refused to take any extra money than what he needed for the bus. He wouldn't even take fifty extra cents. He tapped my car and said thanks, and he walked off. That just killed me. A man with bags on his feet that wouldn't even tell me his name or take two extra quarters, when usually homeless people will take as much money as you offer and some even ask for more.
        That was the first completely heartbreaking homeless reality encounter I've had. And it was truly heartbreaking. I did all that I knew how to do, though. At first it made me kind of afraid to go out again. Because that was so hard. But I can't let how hard it is keep me from trying to help these guys. I was so sad. The next day, I was scared when I first headed out on my own. But the first person I found was sweet Eric! The people that I find when I'm sad, and they turn it around and bring me joy in the midst of this sometimes really emotionally hard journey, those people always hold a really special place in my heart. Ray was one of these people in Nashville when I sat with him and he brought me comfort after I was so upset about sweet Denise sleeping in a  park. Teddy was this person in Atlanta when I was so upset about Mike, one of the guys who had some mental/spiritual issues. And Eric was this guy in Kansas City, who cheered me up after being so torn up over the guy without shoes. It's funny, because these people don't really do anything to comfort me. They're just there when I'm sad and they make me feel better. It's like being with them says to me, "It's ok. Some of us are alright, and we'll help you get through the hard ones." So when I call them friends, it's not just something I say. While I'm in the cities, these are the guys I hang out with. These are the guys that I'm excited to go out and see. These are the guys that cheer me up. So I was so excited to see Eric. For some reason, I just loved him! He melted my heart! For the group that he hung out with, he was kind of the baby of the group. He was a bad alcoholic, so Eric always had to be taken care of. Also, in his family, he was the youngest and came twenty years after his brothers and sisters, so he's kind of been the baby his whole life. And I just loved him. His story of alcoholism is really sad, though. Both his parents were alcoholics, but he didn't really look to drink on his own. He was a really good drummer, and in a band with older people when he was about fourteen. The older band members would ask him where his cup was and ask him what was in it. He'd tell them where it was and that he had coke or something in it, and they'd take it and put alcohol in it and tell him to drink it. He said it was just downhill from there. It's just sad how innocent a fourteen year old is, and he was just interested in the music. But that influenced his entire life path.  Eric was so sweet, I was always so excited to see him!
Here's me and Eric with his new glasses!

My Shepherd, My Pasture

      I'm in Kansas City! I've only been here for three days, but these days have been so full and glorious! Yesterday was my first full day here, and when I woke up I immediately started thinking out my plan of action. I was going to go to the store and get bread, make sandwiches, visit some organizations, go out on my own to find people. Before I went out, though, I spent time worshiping, praying, and reading. While I was praying, I started crying out to God, "I want to be your loving servant!" And He said to me, "You can't be my servant until you've learned to be my child."
          That really hit me because I thought I had already grasped that. I know that my God is not a distant God. I know that He loves me and He paid a huge price to adopt me as His chosen daughter. I call Him Papa! So when He said that, I thought, "Woah. What do I do? How can I learn to be your daughter more?" And He said, "Just be. Just be my daughter and receive my love." He told me that He didn't want me to do anything that day.
        I really struggled with that at first, because I felt the need to be productive. I thought, yeah, that sounds awesome, but I can't just spend a whole day here without doing something. I even dared to think that a day without me doing something would be kind of a waste of time. It makes me sad to say that! Because it makes God sad! And it's not that I struggled with not doing because I feel the need to do to earn God's love. It isn't that at all, I love doing! I love volunteering, I love hanging out with the homeless, and I love getting the pleasure of giving them things and meeting their needs! But I don't ever want to see that as more important or more "productive" than spending time with my Father. So I knew, even though at first I was a bit reluctant, that I needed to obey Him and just spend one day without doing anything.  It's kind of funny, because I really did put up a fight at first. I reasoned with myself saying, "Well, I won't go out to organizations or looking for people, but I can at least make sandwiches or write messages on the sandwich bags. That's not really going out and doing something, but it is productive!" But I don't want to ever reason my way out of obedience, so eventually I just gave in to having a day of nothing other than being God's daughter and receiving His love.
         So I spent a while longer just on my own in my room, and then I went to IHOP's prayer room and just worshiped and soaked in God's love and His presence. It was amazing. He really showed me His shepherd heart. He showed me that I was that one sheep that He left the 99 for. Because I was His silly little lamb that thought I knew best, so I wandered off to do my own thing even though I had the perfect guide. So He sought after me. He saw me and was by me calling out my name, but I was too stubborn, weak, and stupid to know that He knew what was best for me and I should probably stick with Him. So He had to pick me up and carry me to the pastures and still waters. He did that for me in April when He healed me and changed my life. When I was too stubborn, weak, and stupid to follow His lead, He picked me up and carried me to the cross. And He did that for me yesterday. When I was too preoccupied with productivity to be His child, He picked me up in those loving arms and carried me into His perfect love and peace.
        "How amazing that He seeks me out! That He calls me into intimacy with Him! How amazing that the God of the universe feels cheated when I put service and works before Him! How amazing that He desires my affection! And He cares enough to pick me up and put me in His pastures of peace when all I'm doing is running. He knows what I need better than I do. And He cares enough to intervene. He shows me the path. He is my Shepherd. He is my pasture."
         And we're sheep for a reason. He could have called us something strong and ferocious like His wolves or His tigers, but nope. We're His little sheep. Because sheep are weak and fragile. Sheep are dumb and easily led astray. Sheep are dependent. And we, as His sheep, have the perfect, loving Shepherd.
        I love it when God reveals more of Himself to me! His love is so astounding and His mercies are new every morning! Yesterday was truly amazing, just getting to soak up His love! I got to IHOP at 10:30 am and didn't get home until 11:30 pm. And I could have stayed longer. Who knew, a girl that once was bored to tears at the thought of church would one day spend over 12 hours at one and still be eager for more. But that's because it wasn't church that I was experiencing, it was God. The majority of my time there was just in their 24/7 prayer room, but 6-10:30 was their Encounter God Service, which is kind of like a Friday night church service. That was the most beautifully, gloriously joyful corporate worship I have ever been a part of. I love services like that! Where it takes three hours to even get to the sermon! God is so amazing and He wants to fill us with joy! His joy is so life altering!
       Just like that song, I really could sing of His love forever. But He wants His family to grow, and that happens when we experience Him, then go out and share Him. So today that's what I did! This morning I went to Hope Faith Ministries, which is an amazing ministry that provides food, showers, clothes, laundry, haircuts, and some medical services to the homeless and needy. Today I worked in the laundry room! After that, I drove around downtown and God led me to some of His beautiful, hungry people!
These are my new friends Eric, Micheal, and Greg:

I got to share the joy and love of Jesus with these guys! And some sandwiches, socks, Bibles, gloves, scarves, blankets, a pair of shoes, and a few other random things (huge shout out to people who gave donations!). They were just awesome people that were really fun to talk with. I loved getting to spend time with them, love on them, meet some of their physical needs, and pray with them and tell them that they are loved by Jesus. These are some of God's most precious children! I'm so glad He shares them with me!

Here's sweet Eric getting some new kicks!

Oh, and here's a picture from St. Louis of me at the Dream Center in the food pantry. At the Dream Center food pantry they have boxes of random donated food items that they call "banana boxes" which are stacked up in the back. I loved it when they said, "We need banana boxes," because that meant I got to climb!

And just a side note, that paragraph that's in quotations is in quotations because it was a snippet of what I journaled yesterday in the prayer room. It might be weird to share things out of my journal, but God feels that same way about you and He wants you to know that! It's so cool how we are all God's little children and I get to share my Papa with everyone and I don't have to worry about Him having less attention or love for me, because He has more than enough for all of us!

Familiar faces

      I'm still having fun in St. Louis! Saturday night I ended up serving at Peter & Paul's, a homeless shelter. The guys there were really sweet! I handed out towels and helped serve dinner. While I was in the office handing out towels through the window, there was a man in there being interviewed because it was his first night. Peter & Paul's is a 90 day shelter, not just a walk in shelter, so when new people come in they have to be asked a lot of questions and have paperwork filled out. I overheard this process going on, and one of the questions was, "How long have you been homeless?" and the guy's answer was, "Since yesterday." That shocked me, because most of the homeless people I've met have been homeless for quite a while. I can't imagine that first day of homelessness: going from living in your own home one day to an old building full of a bunch of strangers the next, having to follow rules and schedules, and being fed meals that someone else decided on. The loss of a home is the loss of privacy and choices, and the initial adjustment has got to be one of the hardest things these people have gone through. But this particular man was so sweet and such a soldier! He still had a smile on his face and was really respectful, appreciative, and pleasant. I think most of us would be bitter, sobbing messes if we were in his shoes!
Here are some of the girls that I served with at Peter & Paul's! They were so sweet and fun!

      Last night I went to a park to give out sandwiches and hang out, and when I got there I saw Sabrahleah! I was so excited! So I sat down with her and we started talking, and then I looked down and at the end of the long bench we were sitting on, and there was Donna, who I had met the day before sitting outside of Starbucks! She's a really cool girl, she's from Australia and hitch hiked there for a while and she's in college here studying Jazz. You meet such awesome people when you talk to strangers! 

Sabrahleah, Donna, her friend (I'm pretty sure his name is Herbert), and me at the park!

St. Louis!

        I'm in the first city of my second loop: St. Louis! It's been great so far, I really love what I'm doing!
Before I start talking about what's been going on in St. Louis, I have to post a picture of Evalene, the sweetest lady ever that I met on my last day in Birmingham right before I left.

I love Evalene so much! If I wasn't travelling this year, I probably would have taken her home with me! If I had, I don't think we ever would have stopped just telling each other how much we love each other, because that was about half of our conversation! She is so loving and affectionate, I felt like I had known her forever, and we only talked for about half an hour. My favorite thing was she would just look at me, hug me, and say, "I just love the hell out of you!" Jesus already did that, though!  I could not not post about Evalene, though, not only because I love her so much, but after I took this picture with her, she told me to show all my friends!   So here is sweet Evalene, I wish everyone could have the privilege of getting to meet her!

        My first few days in St. Louis, I didn't go to any organizations, I just went out on my own and handed out sandwiches and talked to people. Yesterday I went to the St. Louis Dream Center for the first time. It was really fun! In the morning I worked in the food pantry stocking shelves and walking people through to shop. Then I served lunch in the kitchen. 

        After I served at the Dream Center, I went on my own again to find hungry people to feed and talk to.  I met this beautiful lady named Sabraleah. I gave her some sandwiches and a bunch of other stuff, and one thing I gave her was a Bible.  A lot of people that I meet already have Bibles, so before I gave it to her, I asked her if she had one already, and she said no. She seemed kind of curious, so I asked her if she'd read the Bible much before. She said a little bit. I asked her if she knew about Jesus. She said not much. It was so different than what I'm used to. Most of the time, the people I meet tell me about their favorite Bible characters and they talk to me about how they rely on God, but Sabraleah was the first person I met that didn't even really know Jesus. She was such a beautiful, soft spirit, and so valued, I just wanted her to know how loved she is! So I told her about God and how he loves us so much and is our Father, and I told her about Jesus and how he died so that we don't have to be separated from our Father anymore. Then I asked her if she wanted me to read some of the Bible to her, and she said yes. So I read Ephesians 1 and Romans 8 to her. I just want these people to know how loved they are. I hadn't been to the part of the park that I met her at before, but I'm so glad I did that day!

        This morning I went back to the Dream Center and we went out into the really poor neighborhood and went door to door and talked with people and gave them flowers and pastries. It was so fun! 

Here are some of the kids I met Davion, Isaiah, Asiana, and their brother who came out for the picture!

My big, happy, continuously growing family!

         Today is my last day in Birmingham! It's been amazing, and I'm going to miss all my new friends!
I can't believe it's the last day of my first loop! It's gone by so fast and it has been so fun and life changing. I've been so blessed by this trip!
       One thing that amazes me is how sharing these people are. These people who have so little are willing to give up what they have for someone else in need.  Everywhere that I've been with the homeless, if someone asks for a cigarette, they share.  If I give someone my last two sandwiches, they will willingly give one or even both to someone else that didn't get one. They have so little and are so sharing, yet we who have an abundance of things we don't even need are so stingy. We're afraid to give to people because we don't want to run out of things for ourselves. So we live with our hands clenched tight over our money and material possessions. Yet these people that already have nothing are so willing to pass things on to others in need. It's so backwards! It's because these people really get it. They value life more than things. They know, like Juan said, "We are not less than sparrows." God is going to take care of us, so we can afford to share with others. He sees our needs, and it makes Him sad when we are so stingy with our money or when we want to hold on to our things, because that says to Him that we don't trust Him to take care of us. He's our father and He wants to take care of His children! And He wants His children to share with each other. It's something every parent has had to go through, teaching their children to share. Nobody thinks it's cute when a toddler snatches a toy and says, "Mine!" Nobody thinks it's cute when a toddler wants to keep all the toys to itself while another child has nothing to play with. So why do we think it's acceptable once we're adults? Daddy doesn't want His children to be stingy like those greedy toddlers that don't want to share their toys. It's unattractive! And if we're all honest, sometimes when we see kids like that, we automatically judge the parents. We see the child's behavior as a reflection on the parent's poor disciplining. So when the world looks on God's children, don't make them see a bratty, greedy toddler that makes them think less of the Father. Show them a child that cares more about the needs of others than their own needs. Show them a child that finds joy in giving to others. Show them a child that truly reflects the Father's hear. It really is a joyful thing to do! Giving is joyful! Giving is fun! Giving brings a smile to God's face, and the more you love God, the more He will give you His heart, and the more giving will make you smile! It's a beautiful process!

This is sweet Chuck!

Herbert! Ah, Herbert was such a little angel! He has such a gentle persona and is so appreciative!

Fredrick and his Honey Buns he requested!

     These people make me so happy! I love all the friends and sweet children God has blessed me with. He's increased my family so much this month! All my host families, the people I've worked with in ministries, and the homeless people I meet on the streets all have such a special place in my heart and they really have become a part of my family! These people keep growing my heart more than I thought possible! I love them all so much and I love my Daddy so much! I love how He showed that since we're all His children, I can't look at anyone and see a stranger, all I can see is a brother or sister who maybe doesn't know who their Father is yet.