A few years ago, Darrell lost his job after the company he had been working for closed down, and we nearly lost everything. On Thanksgiving, that year, we had a turkey (that was given to us...praise God), and an orange (which I used to stuff the turkey with...it was actually pretty good!). No sides. Not even sweet tea! We had too much pride to tell our families that we didn't have the gas to make it out to celebrate with anyone. My older children spent that week with their father, so they had no idea. It was my first Thanksgiving spent without them (the only one), but I was beyond thankful that they were celebrating it with their father and his family. The Lord has since blessed Darrell with a great job, and the financial means to have a beautiful holiday season spent with our cabinets full, as well as the opportunity to spend it all with our families. Praise you, Father!
There are far too many families, however, that will be celebrating the way we celebrated in "our year of Job".
I have a holiday challenge for you! But, first, let me tell you about this wonderful ministry I stumbled upon last night. Be patient, and read on, por favor. :0)
It's a nonprofit nondenominational organization called Angel Food Ministries, that serves communities by supplying quality brand food at much cheaper prices. After going through their website I was REALLY excited to see how it all works.
There are several packages to choose from, and each month, the menu changes. Local churches and organizations(type in your zip code to find one in your area) host the ordering and distributing of the food. I'm not sure how many states they serve in, but the site said that they serve all over the United States. I was pleased to find several host churches in our area. I don't know how I've never heard of this before!
Their mission, as copied from their site:
Buying food from first rate suppliers at substantial volume discounts, Angel Food Ministries is able to provide families with approximately $65 worth of quality nutritious food for $30. Angel Food Ministries does not use out-of-date food or inferior products.
I found the site last night. Something about it got me thinking. So, I prayed about it. This morning, this ministry was the first thing that popped into my head! They have really awesome holiday packages. The packages come with a great deal of food, and are a mere $36. How great would it be to buy a holiday package for a family in need, to spread God's word? Might even want to buy a package for your own family at that great price (they come with A LOT of food)!
Here's where it gets exciting. Upon further exploration of the site, I found out that they have a pretty nifty referral program. If one person refers ten people to the Angel Food Ministries, they get a free box of food. I am CERTAIN that it wouldn't be hard to find a SECOND family who'd be blessed by a holiday box! Can you imagine how awesome it would be to supply someone with a box, stuffed to the gills, with food for the holidays? What a blessing!
So, here's my challenge. Review the site yourself. Find a host church in your area. Pray about it. If the Lord leads you to order from them, either for yourself or for another family, 1)when asked who referred you to the site, PLEASE mention my blog post, and add my e-mail addy IstndAmzd@aol.com, and 2)refer people for yourself, so that you may receive a free box of food to share with a family in need (if you don't know any families in need, contact your pastor or local school counselors). Can you imagine how far the blessings and God's love could be spread?!? I don't know about you, but I've got goosebumps just thinking about it.
If you do decide to order, and use me as your referral, thank you so very much. I look forward to having a holiday blessing update in the near future! :0)
Relishing in His goodness...
