say yes — We are THAT Family

Just Cause {How to Give Twice}

9:46 pm Bykristen

With the holidays fast approaching (HOWDIDTHATHAPPEN?), it’s time to start thinking about gifts. I love that we all hold the opportunity to shop strategically and bless twice: the person we’re giving to and the person (organization) we are buying from. Nothing feels better to give a gift to someone you love EXCEPT giving it and knowing it helped someone else live in freedom.

There are so many just causes we can give to and bless those who are receiving. I’ve highlighted a few that help girls and women in our world specifically. Your purchase will keep on giving. And don’t forget to shop thru Pure Charity to truly maximize your spending this Christmas!

JEWELRY & HOME DECOR

31 Bits (poverty in Uganda)

Rahab’s Rope (sex trafficking India)

Mercy Shop (girls/babies in Kenya)

Market Haiti (poverty)

FASHION & FABRIC

Sseko Sandals (poverty in Uganda)

Batik Boutique (single moms Asia)

Open Arms (refugees)

FAIR TRADE COLLECTIONS

Trade One (global)

Noonday Collection (global)

Come Together Trading Company (global)

Delicate Fortress (global)

Serrv (global)

GIFTS OF LOVE

Give safe drinking water, a chicken or medical care, plus dozens of other options with these great organizations:

Compassion Gift Catalog

World Vision Gift Catalog

Samaritan’s Purse Gift Catalog

Filed Undersay yes 15 Comments

What Really Happens When We Dream Big

9:31 pm Bykristen

At least once a week, I want to quit.

One unexpected phone call, a big question I can’t answer, one more crisis and I just want to walk away from this great big beautiful burden because I don’t think I can take another breath.

Last week, I was drowning in understanding IRS laws, accounting questions, growing pains that come with seeking direction for the future and morestuffthanIcouldhandle. I cried more than I prayed and I felt sorry for myself. I left in the middle of it all and went to the grocery store and bought a pumpkin for my front porch. How spiritual is that?

I hope you respect me more for being honest and not less for being weak.

There are no plans for the 30+ hours I spend every week for Mercy House to ever be more than volunteer work. I don’t say that as a martyr. I just don’t know how to do this any other way. And yet the work, the dream, it grows bigger and more consuming every day. And I wonder how to keep going…how to make it to tomorrow…how to glorify God in my messy heart.

I am prone to wander, God, I feel it. Selfishness, it’s always there under the surface.

And at the same time, I love this house and these girls and this God-size dream so much that I cannot imagine quitting. Ever. Not even one day. But that doesn’t mean I don’t want to sometimes. God-stuff is hard work, mainly because I’m being rewritten in the process.

Do you want to know what I’m really learning in all of this? This isn’t so much about me helping others and “helping God,” it’s about Him using The Helping to change every single part of me. It’s a digging deep, gut-wrenching, are you really going to trust me, Kristen, when you don’t have it all figured out question?

So I compartmentalize. I stir dinner, I watch my son play flag football, I write grants for Mercy House, I plan a trip over Christmas for my family, I drive my daughter to flute lessons, I manage a non-profit and I write as an outlet. I try to be a good wife, mother and friend and I mainly try not to drown. My life isn’t glamorous and it is messier than you think.

And I remind myself every time I feel the urge to run away that I’m not supposed to know what to do. I’m no more qualified today than I was when I trembled in my initial yes. I just need Him more today than I did yesterday.

I look at how this dream has reshaped my family, my children, our future. It’s breathtaking. And so I keep breathing.

And even though I wake up and go to sleep scared to death, I’m beginning to understand when we pursue His big dream for our lives, we are changed in the process. It’s a painful good I wouldn’t trade for all the selfishness in the world.

“There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.” -Albert Einstein

Filed UnderMercyHouse, My Life, say yes 32 Comments

Why We Aren’t Meant to Know the Future

10:11 pm Bykristen

It was just an innocent question. It came from someone I didn’t know. Or better, someone who didn’t know why on earth I founded a maternity home in Kenya, Africa.

Fair question.

My short answer: God kind of tricked me into it.

Kidding. Sort of.

She wanted to help me with strategic planning, big picture, longterm sustainability, non-profit management.

Y’all: I had no idea what she was talking about. And then the question:

“What is your plan to keep this going?” She motioned to the picture of sixteen people I love on the other side of the world.

I smiled and said, “This is all a miracle and none of it was my plan and I honestly don’t know.” I said the words with a confidence that spoke of the supernatural, but when it hit me like a ton of bricks in the middle of the night, I only felt the natural.

How will I keep this going? How did a small yes turn into $150,000 + a year and dozens of lives looking to me for direction?

I got out of bed and started crunching numbers, looking through notes of a new project and future development, and everything ended with a big question mark.

I tossed and turned myself back to sleep and woke up hung over with the heavy burden that comes from trying to see into the future and not being able to.

Then I opened my Jesus Calling devotion to these words, “I did not design the human mind to figure out the future. That is beyond your capability. I crafted your mind for continual communication with Me. Bring Me all your needs, your hopes and fears. Commit everything to My care. Turn from the path of planning to the path of Peace. “

Humble yourself under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. 1 Peter 5:6-7

And I felt Jesus calling me (again) to give it to Him. We aren’t meant to know the future. We are meant to live in such close communion with Him that He makes the future known, one step at a time.

I love these words by Corrie Ten Boon–

“Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God.”

I don’t know. I’m saying it out loud and would wear it on a t-shirt if I could.

When this updated picture landed in my inbox this week, I took a deep breath. I couldn’t help but grin at those beautiful sassy faces. I touched each one, leaving smudges on my screen. I couldn’t stop the tears as I prayed over each girl and her baby.

I still don’t know how I’m going to keep it all going. But that’s usually the best place for God to show up.

Are you facing the unknown in life? Technically, we all are, we just have the illusion of control. Let’s say it together. I don’t know. Group Hug.

But it’s okay, we’re not supposed to.

He’s given us a hope and a future.

Filed UnderMercyHouse, say yes 22 Comments

It All Starts With One Small Yes [Introducing::Pure Charity]

11:15 am Bykristen

I used to think changing the world was done by world changers: People with power, money and influence.

A superhero cape didn’t hurt either.

But more than ever, I’m convinced world change happens in the quiet yes’ of ordinary days, by inadequate people who simply love God and others.

Which sort of gets us all in the game.

You don’t know my heroes, they can’t fill a stadium or sell a truckload of books. They work in obscurity and are unknown. They simply live to make His glory known.

And while there is no formula for world change, I believe it all comes down to this: it all starts with one small yes.

We like to categorize people. This guy does big stuff. That gal is special, look what she can create. But there is one category every God-lover fits into: you were created to do something for Him. You may still be looking for your One thing, but I believe there are a few choices we can all make.

You might be staring down a dozen questions today or perhaps you’re waiting for someone to ask. I know what the answer is.

I’m excited and honored to be a part of a brilliant new movement called Pure Charity. This non-profit takes ordinary people like us who buy from powerful companies in corporate America and it turns our every day purchases into something good, benefitting amazing non-profit projects to help people in need.

Pure Charity doesn’t encourage you to spend more money, rather it harnesses what you’re already spending and puts it to good work. If you buy diapers online, purchase plane tickets, need a new printer, pride yourself as an Amazon Prime member, your clicks count.

Watch:

In 3 easy steps, you can make a difference. Here’s how it works:

Sign up at Pure Charity.

Download the webapp bar. This little app in the corner of your screen will make it easy for you to know if one of the 800 retailers is a Pure Charity partner. You can just go about your online business and when you shop, click the webapp to make sure you get giving credit for your purchases.

Fund a project. Here’s where it gets fun! You can add a debit/credit card to your account and put money into a project OR as you shop, your giving fund will accumulate and you can choose projects to give it to.

——–>Amazing truth: With just a simple yes (click), you can help fund projects like this one at our very own Mercy House! It’s free, it’s intentional, it’s a small way to make a big difference!