I had something else planned to write about this Gratituesday, but I can’t stop thinking about the excitement of the weekend, so I’ve gotta shout about this instead. (I love having the problem of having SO many things to be thankful for that I just can’t decide what to share!)
Hopefully you read about the Clothing Exchange my friend organizes at our church twice a year. If you didn’t have a chance to read it, please go do that. I have always loved the idea of this Clothing Exchange, but after this weekend I’m even more excited about it and convinced that this is one of the most beautiful ways a church can reach out to a community.
I was only able to help sort and organize the clothes for tiny snatches of time because I had one boy at home with a fever and another boy with a double ear infection. Then on the day of the actual clothing exchange, we had soccer games so I could only help for a little while.
But…I hope I can capture the joy of this ministry for you with my words. The Clothing Exchange (which I really should be calling a Clothing Giveaway because the clothes were really just set out on tables for people to come and just take what they needed)…began at 8:00 on Saturday morning. When I arrived at 8:02, the parking lot was completely full and there were cars lined up on the street. I walked into the room filled with clothes and already over 50 people were there finding clothes for their families.
I took a few moments to get my emotions under control because there is something very touching about seeing our church building being used to meet the needs of others. Then I spent the next part of the morning handing out sacks as people walked in…and helping people get to their cars with their arms full of clothes…and my favorite part: holding babies so mamas could “shop”.
Oh, and the smiles. Yes, that was my favorite, favorite part.
Our prayer now is that the people that entered our building Saturday morning left with more than clothes. We pray that they felt our love for them…and that maybe those that don’t know Jesus saw something in our eyes that will make them search for the One they’re missing.
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What are you grateful for? Read the details here, write about it on your blog, then come link up with us! If you don’t have a blog, leave a comment letting us know what you’re grateful for!
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We do the same thing at our church. A lot of families benefit from it and count on this twice a year!
Thanks for posting this Laura. May we all be the eyes, ears, and hands of Jesus… We are His body!!! LIGHT IN A DARK WORLD:)
Sounds like such a sweet ministry your church does! I love thinking of people being clothed in God’s house!
I think that is a wonderful ministry, I wish more of the churches here would do this type of thing because there are so many families who need help right now.
This sounds like a great ministry. I’ll have to suggest it to the other ladies at our church.
This is just awesome. My brain is just going, going, going. I want to do this at our church. Maybe even a clothing exchange with members of the church also. I know there are families in our church that are hurting in this time. Thank you for posting this. I am writing ideas down as I think of them. What a wonderful way to help others!
Awesome! I would love it if our church did this! It is in a rough part of town and I am sure it would bless a lot of people!
Toni
Great idea, this clothing swap.
Also, my link is broken. It’s my bad, there are 2 http:// s in the address. Oopsies. I’ll repost if you delete. :)