Blessing Bags

Super Service Saturday!

A few weeks ago my Big Girl decided she wanted to find a way to help the homeless in the area  We are always looking for new service projects and I love when they come up with ideas of their own.  This time we included several friends.

To begin, we let a lot of people know what we were doing.  Some people donated items, even though they couldn't participate in the bag stuffing.  We got so much food!

Big Girl organized everything in a simple assembly line.  All you needed to do was grab a paper sack and pick one item from each of the  good groups she had made.

Being August in Houston, there was nothing perishable, nothing chocolate, and nothing homemade.  Everything was prepackaged, but we tried to stay with healthy choices.  We had water, crackers (no bread, it spoils and squishes), nuts, pudding, peanut butter, tuna pouches, pb crackers, fruit, beef jerky, vienna sausages, granola bars, fruit snacks, and more!  In each bag we also included a gospel tract to remind or show each recipient how much God loves them.

While many of these will go to the homeless, they are for anyone who needs to be blessed. 

With six students (age 10-18) helping, we filled more than 60 bags in under 20 minutes!  Each student received a portion of the bags to give away as they saw fit.

In the few days after making the bags we have given away nearly half.  Just driving around town - mostly to and from church - we have seen several of the homeless that were initially on our minds when creating these bags.  Then we drove downtown and saw some people who truly looked hungry.  We didn't have all of the bags with us at the time, so we will be returning to hand out the remaining bags.

There was one afternoon when Baby Girl saw a man in a median holding a sign - not homeless, advertising where to sell your gold.  It was 100 degrees outside - he looked like he needed to be blessed.

Living with an Air Force Base in our backyard, we also keep our eyes open for military men and women as well.  

1 John 3:17If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person?

How do you keep your children active and serving in the name of Christ?