Guest post featuring a sweet friend, Emily Fox, living out her life in central Kentucky as she and her husband challenge others to follow Jesus while shepherding Living Grace Church. Thank you to each of you that “Forgot the Frock” this year!! Once again, we are amazed at God’s hand and His willing servants!! You can click HERE to see a few pics from Easter Sunday!!
Just over a year ago I begged God for something…
We had just returned home from dinner at a local Tex-Mex dive where Jay and I had poured our hearts out to some dear friends… frustrated with where we were in our ministry, confused and not knowing what God was asking us to do, we met up with our friends to seek advice. We were convinced that (like all those who once called themselves Texans) the answer would surely be discovered over an order of chips and salsa…
It wasn’t. Our friends, although understanding and supportive, couldn’t give us the answers we needed.
So that night… in the quiet of our little office, I vented… I put pen to paper and scrawled all over that poor little prayer journal. So frustrated I nearly tore the paper as I pushed hard with my little gel pen.
I begged God for understanding, for a purpose. I poured out the desire of my heart… here it is… on the top of that cute little pink spiral notebook…
“Lord, I want to help make an impact… do something… I want to truly help the least of these and I am anxiously awaiting those opportunities…” –March 10, 2011
14 days later God would smother me with conviction and I again would put pen to paper and write a little ditty on a blog called 5millionminus1 about throwing tradition out the window and challenge people to exchange our Southern tradition of “Easter Dresses” for a more meaningful attire… “Forget the Frock” I would call it. Thinking in all honesty that a few people may read it… and my friends would know why my kids showed up to church on Easter morning sporting T-shirts.
Little did I know God had been orchestrating this story for more than 11 years… You see 11 years ago he let me hold this precious little baby named Sydney so that when I heard her story 11 years later it would mean something… 10 years ago he would put an unlikely Best Friend in my life and 3 years ago he would call that same friend to adopt… so that the plight of the orphan became REAL and it had a name…Tedi. Finally 1 year ago… he heard my plea and allowed me to part of an amazing story.
That night when I begged God for a chance to get my hands dirty… to serve the least…while I had visions of serving on a short-term missions trip or feeding the homeless or volunteering with local elementary schools… God was writing a story so much cooler than anything I could have created on my own. A story that would give him ALL the GLORY.
The storyline… T-shirts.
Oh… your smiling aren’t you? Isn’t it just like our God to use something as simple as a 50/50 cotton blend piece of material to wreck my world?
Friends, as I write this I still can’t believe the numbers… can’t wrap my mind around the fact that “FORGET THE FROCK” has helped that sweet baby girl, who now, by the way, is an amazing young lady, raise nearly $4,000 in 2011 and over $10,000 in 2012.
Did you hear that… $10,000!!! All because Jesus is cool and thought he would use a chick who loves to write (that’s me)… people who love Orphans (that’s you)… and one amazing little organization called “FEEDING THE ORPHANS” to feed some hungry babies.