INSPIRASUNS

The start of the Holiday week, Thanksgiving is here already. As I sat down to write this little blog this morning I was going through the events of this coming week. Even though we don’t cook for a large group anymore, there is still prep work for what we do now on Thanksgiving.

Last year I talked a little about the organization we spend our morning with on Thanksgiving. Youth Haven provides a home, hope, and healing to abused and neglected children and teens in SW Florida. In most cases, the children have been removed suddenly from a traumatic home situation. They provide round-the-clock care for these special kids.

It’s difficult to hear the stories of some of these children, to hear what they have gone through, (from parents being incarcerated, to physical abuse, to trafficking, it’s not pretty). It’s difficult not to get angry, why would anyone treat a child this way? I’m grateful for this organization and those who have committed their lives to helping these kids daily. And… it’s wonderful to see so many of the kids who have spent time here, to see how they are healing, growing, and learning to live again. Each year we learn how many are heading on to college or have successfully entered training programs for work placement.

We give of ourselves on Thanksgiving morning. A group of us from our church have made it a tradition to make lunch for the kids at Youth Haven. This gives their chef and kitchen staff a chance to spend the holiday with their families. We see some of the same kids, and again see how they are growing. We sit down and have a meal with them and get to know them just a little better. They tell us their dreams, what they like to do, what they want to be one day. Even with what they have been through, there is hope.

Father is at work on this campus. The counselors who have devoted their lives to helping these kids, they are doing His work. A little thing like making lunch for the kids on Thanksgiving, that is so minor compared to the work that is done here every day.

I lift prayers for those who work with these kids. I lift prayers that Father will continue to guide us so that we might save and heal these children. They are our most precious gift on this earth, and it is our job to keep them safe.

Whatever your plans for Thanksgiving, I just ask that you take a moment to lift prayers for those in need. Give a little bit of your time in prayer for healing and for hope for those who may need it. Let us give of ourselves and we’ll see the hope it gives to others.

Have a great day my friends 🙂 .

Acts 20:35
In all things I have shown you that by working hard in this way we must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, “It is more blessed to give than to receive”.