#10
A couple weeks ago, Grace Like Rain celebrated move in #10!!!Our 1st move in was mid October of 2016! As we were walking alongside our first official GLR family, we began to see the HUGE need for affordable housing options for families that are struggling. This particular family was coming out of a domestic violence shelter partnered with a high risk pregnancy that ended in a beautiful baby boy! The problem was the family of 7 had no where to go after the baby was born. She was faced with stress, worry, anxiety and heartache of having no options that would be good for her family. She wanted to move forward but the only option she had was to move backwards. She could take her family and crash on the couch of a family member but that was not really a good option, it was just the only option.So GLR saw her desire to move forward and to establish stability in her family's life and she asked for help! So we started looking for options, we called apartments, land lords, anyone that we knew that could possibly help. We started to see the struggles she was faced with and we could feel her pain and struggle. Thankfully, through a friend/community member, we reached out to Scott Brown Properties and they allowed us to lease a home with GLR as the guarantor on that lease. This was the door we needed to be open. There was still not enough income to pay the entire rent payment and we knew that it would take some time to build and get there. So GLR decided to offer rent assistance on a graduating scale for the lease year. By the end of it, she will be paying the entire rent and prayerfully be set up and prepared for the future.So now we have a home, but we have no belongings to go into that home! We put the request out to the community, to YOU! And YOU all came through! Within a week, GLR had put together a beautiful home that we knew our family would be proud and excited to live in!Fast forward to move in #10, we have a dad with 2 sweet boys with MD. He is hard working but faced with many obstacles on a daily basis. He was blowing through his savings by staying in a hotel because that was his only option. We knew he needed a home. He had 2 amazing people walking him through this and they relentlessly pursued finding his family a place to call home. Therefore, we had Move In #10!!! And again, YOU, the community, the GLR family came through!!! Not only did we completely furnish a house, YOU built an amazing wheelchair accessible ramp for his kids!When GLR started, we knew we wanted to LOVE and SERVE our community through mentoring and tangible resources but we really were not 100% sure what that looked like. All we knew was we had to be committed to figuring it out! As we began to walk with our families, we were able to see how hard it was and we began to feel the pain & brokenness with them. These things began to drive us to ACT! No family should be sleeping in a 1 bedroom hotel room covered in roaches and surrounded by drug dealers and who knows what else. No family should be having to find safe places to park their cars so they can sleep for just a little while at night.When YOU begin to LOVE people the way God commands us to, YOU begin to serve one another humbly in LOVE. We are set FREE because of the what Christ did for us by going to the cross, therefore we are to walk in that FREEDOM loving one another and serving humbly.
13 You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love. Galatians 5:13
I can honestly say that when GLR started, we didn't have all the answers, we didn't really know what all we would face and how we would handle every situation! We didn't understand all the struggles that our families face. And now, I can honestly say, we still don't fully understand or have all the answers, but what I can say is that GLR is committed to:
- LOVING our neighbors
- WALKING with them in HARD times
- SERVING God and following His lead
- LEADING others and hopefully motivating involvement
- LISTENING to families that need help
- LEARNING from the successes and the "not so successes"
Is every story going to go the way we want? probably not. But God will get the GLORY and God is still good.
28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28
We don't know what God's view is, we don't know what is happening in the unseen! We plant the seeds and water them and the rest is up to God! So let's keep planting and watering those seeds all the way to MOVE IN #100 and beyond!!!!My challenge to YOU is to get involved in some way. Join us for a move in, coach(there is no better way to understand than to get involved personally with a family), shop our amazon wish lists, attend a family get together or event, spread the word, read the stories, help us tell the stories. Just get involved!And once again, I want to humbly say THANK YOU!!!!! Without each and every one of YOU, this dream of Grace Like Rain would not be a reality!And last but most definitely not least, to God be all the glory because without HIM, I would still be shackled to my sin and shame, therefore immobilized! Because of Jesus, I can walk boldly in my faith and proclaim His freedom and His goodness! I can share His love and grace with others!Each family between move in 1 and 10 has a story but I would be here forever and you would stop reading if I told each one in it's entirety! I would love nothing more than to share these stories with you so ask! Or ask a volunteer, staff or the family themselves. Those who have made the choice to pour into this ministry have taken a front row seat into watching God work every day in the lives of these families. It's been such a blessing and we would LOVE for you to hop on board! [embed]https://youtu.be/GTJLMC__r4g[/embed]