Grace and Grit

'Twas the night before Christmas... and they were praying for YOU. My Christmas Eve is just coming to a close. It's been one busy day trying to balance time between the shelter and family, but it has been a fantastic day full of tradition, joy, and reflection. At the shelter this evening we attended a candlelight Christmas Eve service. I had never been to one at this church before. For those of you that don't know I recently transferred to another shelter location (still with The Sheepfold but now a different city). I have been adjusting to all the changes and now feel settled into this new home. The service was beautiful and rich with meaning as we reflected on the significance of the best gift we could ever receive, Jesus. It is especially intriguing for our moms to think of God choosing to enter the world as a baby...who had a mother who changed His diapers, watched Him learn to walk, talk, and introduced Him to the world that He created. After church we came ho...

 " Little children, let us not  love in word or talk but in deed and  in truth." - 1 John 3:18 It's been awhile since I have mentioned a truly fantastic part of what I get to see at The Sheepfold and that is our volunteers! I know I have posted (several times) about our amazing Christmases and some crazy specific donations like canned smoked oysters  and people showing up with dinner when there was no food to put on the table, but that's only a teeny tiny part of the awesomeness that I get to see on a regular basis. The Sheepfold is going strong because of the support from thousands of really awesome individuals and groups. This past Saturday I had the privilege of receiving a group of volunteers at the shelter. It was a local small group from a church and as part of their community building and spiritual growth they decided they wanted to participate in some kind of service project. Lucky us, they looked up The Sheepfold! They showed up early on a Saturday...

Last year I shared my first impressions of a Sheepfold Christmas. If you haven't read that post you can read it here . This Christmas was a little less chaotic because my house wasn't quite as full, but it was every bit as precious as last year. Rather than share my experiences I thought I'd let you read one of our moms' thoughts on Christmas at the Sheepfold. But first, a little bit of background on this mom. :-) Last Christmas our mom (who I will call Beth*) was homeless and staying at an emergency shelter. Emergency shelters are short-term, usually co-ed places where you can sleep, take a shower, and have a hot meal. If you've seen the film The Pursuit of Happynes s it is the kind of shelter where you have to wait in line hoping they'll have a bed for you each night. They can be scary places for someone like Beth with two children under the age of 4. She was hopeful however that this would be a blessed first Christmas for her little ones. The shelter she w...

A little while ago we had a new mom come to the shelter. She and her 5 year old son were homeless, with nothing to their names but a trash bag of clothes and an old kid's backpack. The son was happy, easy-going, and had a silver-toothed smile that lit up a room. I loved him instantly. His mom was a private person who was not accustomed to the structure and accountability The Sheepfold had. Her first night was especially difficult (which is common for most new families) and conversation around the dinner table was awkward. I tried to draw her into conversation, but didn't get anywhere. I wanted so badly to put her at ease, but nothing worked. When I'm working I try to make meal time engaging for the kids, keeping conversations light-hearted and requiring them to use their imaginations. I have so many great and hilarious memories of the crazy things that have come out of some of these kid's mouths. It's so ridiculously fun that sometimes I marvel at the fact that I ...