Home....homeless...

Praise Jesus! Today was the "Heart of Jesus" coat drive. This is the second year we had felt to take a team to the streets of downtown london and literally clothe the homeless with the Love of Christ. This year we had a TON of coats, mitts, hats, boots and more, donated by many many people. Praise Jesus we had MORE than enough! The team was out on the streets first thing this morning, I arrived after the team was well on their way. It touched my heart to see men, woman and families  blessing and serving those in our city. My heart was and is still stirred to think of the lives that were invested into this morning not only physically but spiritually.

 As we were dressing the kids and ourselves to go out this morning, we were pulling out our warmest coats, mitts, hats and boots because it was a COLD winter day and we knew we'd be on the streets for a few hours.  As  I was there handing items out an overwhelming gratefulness and thankfulness filled me. The Lord has always been faithful to provide ALL of our needs. Sometimes we wish we had a bigger home, but today I thought Praise Jesus I have a home! 

By the end of the morning we still had lots of jackets left but had given out all of the bigger mens jackets. This one man came along and didn't care if the jacket did up,  he was just happy to have anything that was warmer than what he was wearing.  The people were so thankful, whether it was for a pair of gloves a hat or a coat, it didn't matter the colour, they were thankful. We learn so much! That would make Christmas shopping a lot easier knowing the people would be thankful no matter what was in the box.

I love that on "coat drive" day everyone is so eager to talk to the street person, the bag lady, the drug addict. We are happy when we can bless them with a Tim Hortons card, an old coat or sweater. But as I sit here I'm wondering; Why is it that on any other day we would cross the street, we'd turn our heads and not acknowledge a need that is clearly there?  There are people all around us all the time that are in need. We need to get in the lifestyle of seeing those needs day in and day. 

The Highlight for me was when we were leaving and bagging all the items that were left over and getting them ready to take to the Women & childrens shelter, and the mens shelter. I started going through some of the coats and bags to divide them up so we could distribute what had been donated to the right place, and I was seeing brand name kids coats and snow pants. Many hats, mitts and scarves still had the tags on them. Thank you Jesus that we are starting to see YOUR heart! We didn't just have old clothing there this year, it was like we saw the value in these people that He sees in them.  Society sees value in name brands, when we see a name brand we know the garment that's being warn is worth more than the average garment. That's what I felt today, it was almost like a prophetic act. As we were sowing physical value into them, the Lord would release and allow them to see the value He has invested into them. As we sowed the "GAP" coat we were meeting the physical need by believing God will fill the "Gap" in their lives and bring them to restoration. How awesome will it be when the shelter opens the bags of extra clothing that had been donated and dropped off  and to see that these coats and mitts are new and in great condition! He sees the real needs in their lives, He sees the value within them that often times we overlook... Praise God He sees value in each and everyone of us!

We appreciate all of you who helped with donations, and gave of your time! ~Blessings~