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...

...Many of you who know me know that for the past 15 years I've been interested in working with at-risk populations. I felt especially drawn to juvenile delinquents, foster children, and grieving children who've lost an immediate family member. I had many opportunities to volunteer within these groups; Comfort Zone Camp, AWANA, OC Youth Guidance Center, Juvenile Hall, Babysitting, Character First, Rancho Santa Marta Orphanage, YUGO Zapata, Guatemala City, Bernal, Mexico City, Singapore... to name a few of the memorable ones. :-) Yet for all the volunteer opportunities I still felt like I was missing out on something! I wanted more and I wanted it full-time. Although I had a full-time job that was challenging I looked forward to my volunteer night and weekend jobs to carry me through the everyday 9-5. I do not regret my time spent in a cubicle, especially now that it seems it's already been ages ago! But it was disappointing to search and search for a full-time job in my ...

Personally, Christmas is my favorite holiday and I love that the season seems to stretch from Thanksgiving to New Years. The longer the better! I'm always the last one to throw out the tree. :-) I've already spent weeks listening to Christmas songs and developing a strategy of how best to string up my lights. But for many of the women and children that enter The Sheepfold's doors Christmas has not been something they have looked forward to each year. Christmas has been just another day to feel alone, neglected, wounded, and broken. Last Saturday a group of 5 adults came to the shelter for a couple hours. That's not unusual as there are frequent volunteers and interns who sacrifice their time to invest in the lives of our moms and their children. But this group brought a little something extra with their hearts full of love. They brought our house a live Christmas tree, lights, a cake, carols, and the Christmas story. They spent their time jumping right in and ...