In a Year

I am sitting at my table this morning and praying about what to write about this last year...How do I say everything that has happened?  How do I sum it all up, the good, the bad, the joy, and the frustrations? How do I express how much God has taught me and so many others?  How do I show my gratitude and awe?

One year ago, I was having conversations with several others about how we could love and serve families in our area that are struggling in ways that we didn't even truly understand.  We were dreaming. We were praying. And we were being broken.  We all knew that God had intended so much more for all of us than the brokenness and struggle that so many of us experience or have experienced.

So, we decided let's do something about it!  Let's not just sit and talk about how bad it is but let's start doing.  Let's start becoming the hands and feet of Christ and let's start stepping out of our comfort zones and start loving and serving families that need a little extra love.

God planted a desire and dream in me to be His family, His community to people that are broken and struggling.  Not just our friends, our neighbors, and our earthly family but to ALL that are struggling.  I had experienced great JOY and COMFORT from people I love stepping up to SERVE us at times in our lives and I wanted to DO this for others.  I began to see that not all families have the support that we did.

So Grace Like Rain was formed.  We started with 3 board members and a couple people sitting around a table talking about what this would look like. We started a FB page about year ago and started begging people to like us! We started telling the stories of families that needed our help, we started asking YOU to help, we started helping!  We asked people to believe in us and GIVE sacrificially of their time and money.  And YOU all did!  God started stirring the hearts of many people in His community and YOU all stepped up in ways that I never dreamed of.

It's hard for me to believe it's only been a year.  So here are some things that I am incredibly GRATEFUL for:

• 1,316 Followers on FB
• 7 staff members who GIVE sacrificially without pay to this vision
• 9 board members that passionately help us grow and build
• 24 coaches stepping out of their comfort to LOVE others
• A volunteer list that has grown to over 100 people
• Over $80,000 raised to serve families in Denton County
• Over 50 monthly givers totally around $2600 a month
• 1 Church Partner - Cross Timbers Church
• Many business partners
• His provision through YOU every time there is a need
• 23 Families currently being LOVED and the stories God is writing in their lives
• Connections and conversations about the future and about GLR dreams
• His GRACE filled way of teaching us as we grow and serve Him
• A team of people that is willing to GROW with grace and humility(we don't always get it right but we always learn)
• COUNTLESS MORE

I LOVE looking back over this year and looking for all the stories of how God has moved in this community.  He gets ALL THE GLORY and HONOR for everything that has happened and will continue to happen with Grace Like Rain!I also want each and every one of YOU to know how incredibly grateful I am to you ALL!  Without you, none of this would be possible.  Without His people saying YES, GLR would just be a dream. Because of YOU, we are actually serving!  We are doing what HE calls us to do, LOVING others!This is just the beginning, it's only the first year!  I am so excited and encouraged and maybe a little nervous about what God will do next!  But I promise to:

• Continue to LOVE
• Continue to FOLLOW God's lead
• Continue to SERVE
• Continue to tell your stories of brokenness and redemption
• Continue to be GRATEFUL
• Continue to DREAM
• Continue to say YES even when it's a little scary and overwhelming because  "But Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”" Matthew 19:26 ESV

This morning my Bible reading for the day was in Philippians 2:1 -4 NIV

Imitating Christ’s Humility

2 Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, 2 then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. 3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, 4 not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.

So I leave you with this verse to ponder. Several words stood out to me this morning: Encouragement, United with Christ, Comfort, His Love, My Joy and Humility.  These are all things that I have experienced and continue to experience in my life.  And I love watching YOU all experience JOY by stepping out in unity with Christ through the comfort and encouragement you have received from Him, to be like-minded.  When you put others above yourself, His joy is revealed in ways you would never expect.  I LOVE hearing and watching these stories unfold.  The JOY is what keeps me DANCING in the RAIN!!!!!

Visit our FB page to see more pics and videos of the JOY filled moments over the last year! And to join the GLR family as either a volunteer or monthly partner, visit our website.written by Michelle Conner, Executive Director of Grace Like Rain