On the road again.....

Feb 26th, Saturday morning, it's 6 am and my cell phone alarms for me to get a move on!  Coffee on and in the shower I go. A sip of coffee then downstairs to once again, load my Jeep to roof. 6:30 done, one more sip of coffee, bags and boxes lined up down the drive way to make it easier to load for Jeff and Court.  Loaded up but "Ohhhhhh wait!" "Can I fit a KING SIZE MATTRESS?" If looks could kill.  J/k you know how hubbies are.  So to fulfill my cry the King size mattress get's loaded and bungeed down for our road trip!  Kids round up and as Bob Seager sings "On the Road Again!"  Off to Bruce, FL Muscogee Tribe Nation we go. 
When we arrived struggling families lined up the ramp and stairs.  I knew this would be a BIG but humbling day and I was so excited to be a part of it.  As I stepped out of the car one of our little Bruce Buds ran off "Their here!" as he called a teen girl we have became close to as well.  We ran to eachother and gave big hugs.  It's just what is all about.  I love it.  Village Baptist had a team of volunteers on the property building the thrift store and giving truck loads of furniture away.  One of our families that were just last week living in a motel we're picking out furniture for their "Home" that they found by the grace of God and our team of Angels, Stephanie Bailey(Walton County Schools) and Dianne McManus(Opportunity Inc.).  I know they have wings under their shirts.  It was so evident that God was present in Bruce this weekend, as his people all came together for one purpose and one mission.  As we met some of the families there to distribute donations we had collected for them one mother/grandmother came up to us to thank us and with tears in her eyes said "I want to tell you when people ask, how we got in this situation." I told her we needed no explanation. I stated "It is not how you got there but how you rise above the challenge that matters.We have or all will fall in our lives in one way or another." No one shall cast judgement on others, for only one can judge or question and it is not me.  She then handed me an invitation to her fathers memorial.  She continued to explain "Last year was a bad year, one thing after another.  My father died which lead me to depression, because I was a daddy's girl. I lost my job and so on."  I reached out to her and said. 'If you call upon the Lord, he will raise you up.  However, you must REALLY call his name out, and hand it all over to him. He will hear you and he will answer." She replied, "He has through you all."  To no surprise to Courtney or those who know me, I was in tears with her as she handed me a card that she carries with her everyday that her mother wrote to her.  It read,  "Trust in God!  The Bible says "Ask and you will receive" "Stay on your knees and ask for exactly what you need (not what you want or things that are frivolous but more of God and his guidance for you and your family.  Stay on your knees and keep talking to him. Praising him, loving him, Don't stop, he'll answer in his own time."

Praise God!  This was so awesome to see; homeless, no job, no clothes but what we brought, days of starving and she still looked at that and had faith and believed in him. She already knew of God through her heritage and she counted on his word to get her through.  I hope that she continues to carry that with her because I know I will. 

You know, we all need to STOP casting judgement and making assumptions of others situations.  Just give with no hesitating or what if's.  Yes, some people have made mistakes and are living the consequences everyday, some faced unforeseen circumstances that were out of their control but I can tell you MOST are humbled by the experience and are thankful to be giving another chance to make things right.  How awesome is our God to forgive, pick up and carry us when we need him.  What if our God never gave us the opportunity to repent and make better choices.  What if we were hit with unforeseen circumstances, that were out of our control and we never got a chance to recover from them. What if we never had a 2nd chance at life?  What if no one was there for you when you lost everything?  What if? 
I tell you this we could ALL BE THERE.  If you can't see that with the economy and the havoc set upon the world right now I don;t know what will wake us up.  It is reported that Okaloosa and Walton County have 2000 homeless families right now.  We could be one.  I have no sham or pride issues.  My family is one check from walking in those shoes.  We struggle each month to raise our kids with one income.  It's not easy and I never take things for granted or cast judgement because I COULD BE THERE!  We have to stop judging others for their situations. Rise up! because what would you want others to do for you if you were down?

Please, help our cause, supporting our mission to "Save our part of the World."
Many blessing to you all and your families,
Steph 

11:00 pm on a Friday Night

11:00 on a Friday night and I'm sitting in the floor covered in packs of Ra men Noodles and I just stop for a minute and have to laugh.  What a party!  I'm delirious.  After hours of sorting clothes yesterday and hours sorting canned goods, microwaveable dinners, snacks, toiletries etc tonight I'm going to say that this MISSION is close to complete.  Tomorrow bright and early we will head out on a delivery mission to Bruce, Fl to the Muscogee Nation.  There we will meet the families that our wonderful community rallied together for and collected the majority of items that they needed to function on a daily basis.  Just an idea of what we were up against;

1. Grandmother providing a roof over 9 children living in a trailer that has not had power to in 3 years. By the grace of God and Village Baptist Church she has power but still needed some things. This grandmother recently found she has uterine cancer and will have a major surgery to remove everything including lymph nodes.  We are providing her some clothing, bedding, bed pads for after her surgery and a King mattress seeing the one she is using has springs poking through. One of our little 10 yr old buddies will receive his Aeropostle Jacket he has dreamed about. THANKS COACH CHRISTAL.THANK YOU PATH OF GRACE AND MANY MORE
2. Family living in motel last week (mother father, 3 kids, 16 yr old & parents) we are proud to share they are in a home. Some received job opportunities others are checking in to some potential leads.  Praise GOD! However, they needed things to get settled in such as beds.  Everyone has slept on floors for the past 2 days in hopes we will be able to get them beds tomorrow out of the furniture being brought in by some churches.  Wish us luck!  We are also taking them loads od clothing including brand new outfits for grandparents interviews (Thanks Wendy's friend), diapers and blankets etc.  THANK YOU WENDY(Prime Lending) GAY(LaFlorida Coastal Real Estate), PATH OF GRACE
3. Food, Toiletries, diapers etc to Stephanie Bailey for Walton County Schools Kidz Closet. Donations she is receiving from the "Snowbirds" and residence at Edgewater in Destin will be providing hunger children snacks while at school so they do not go home starving.The donations are in abundance.  THANKS EDGEWATER IN DESTIN.
4. Truck load of clothing donations shared by PATH OF GRACE and others such as Coach Casey, and Wendy to distribute to families in need and/or give to the Muscogee Nation for their thrift store. 

This trip is HUGE, not really sure how we're getting it all there, but pics will reveal it all.
MAY GOD BLESS EVERY ONE OF YOU AND YOUR FAMILIES IN ABUNDANCE. Please step back and realize what we think is bad is not bad.  Appreciate what you have, who have and where you are in life. Most of all THANK GOD for the blessings he has provided.
Gmomma Going to passsss out in bed
 Steph xxoo  Thanks for following................................

Kutless- Everything I Need

RISE AND SHINE

It is 6 am and a beautiful day has just began.  Great things will happen today for BeGenerous Inc. and for you, I just believe it. As I left the mother the other night after loading her down with groceries I told her, "Do not stress, know you have people willing and able to help that willall they can to help. God is GREAT and he will provide and work it all out. I will pray for you and your family and you can sleep easy knowing it will be ok."  She agreed they would pray as well. 
See I know because I have seen the power of prayer work.  I believe in the power of prayer.  Even if we do not always see immediate outcomes from it, I believe her hears us and really listens.  He will unfold it as he sees fit.  And even then some of the unanswered prayers end up being just what you need.  Sometimes all you need is the hope and comfort the person gives you in their prayers or knowing they are thinking of you and believe in you.  HOPE! 
I am proud to announce that the family living in the motel that we gathered emergency food for has found a home with the help of Steph B and Dianne.  I got the call last night as the excitement and relief screamed through the phone.  The family will be moving out of the motel today and into a home. 

Another Mission completed by the Grace of God!

I want to first of all, thank God for planting the seeds (people and opportunities) in my life, as he has.  He always comes through and it amazes me how he brings, just the right people in your life, at just the right time. When you take risk or take chances, it is so easy to doubt yourself and your plan of action.  However, it never fails when I'm filled with despair or doubt, I am lifted by prayer, and things become so clear.
I am thankful he has lead us to so many families in need and provided us with the generous hearts that want to reach out with us.  It is humbling to know that others believe in our missions and want to walk this walk with us.  He has and will always provide in abundance when we call upon his name.  We are blessed to bless others.

What was once a dream and a "to do" on my "Bucket List" is now becoming reality.  That is an awesome feeling. The excitement and joy I feel is unmeasurable. 
I want to thank Stephanie Bailey(Homeless Liaison for Walton County Schools) and Dianne McManus(case worker for Opportunity Inc.)  for giving us the opportunities to help our homeless and needy families.  They are both amazing women that dedicate ever second they can allocate to families in need. Their generous hearts inspire me.  I know they have wings underneath their shirts. "Angels in disguise"

Mission: Feb 21st, Monday,  I received a call around 10am, from a mother in Freeport that we had helped with some donated clothing and tolietries .  This family lost their home and was forced to live in a motel with 3 small children. She said "Stephanie, I hate to call you, but I didn't know what else to do. We are down to 3 oranges and we do not know what we will eat tonight."   After consoling her, I explained I would gather what I could and get it to her before dinner.  Having no idea how I was going to pull this off considering we have no food pantry,  I took a deep breath, prayed and mission was in ACTION......Thank you Lord, for always providing.
I called my "Partner in Mission" Courtney and she reminded me to go visit Gay Landreath.  This amazing soul, had already bought grocery gift cards for me to help families. I calle dGay, told her of the situation and she said "They are here baby, come get them." As I was heading to her office in Grayton Beach,  Wendy Kotowske, calls "Steph I want to help with some families and get some items needed in recent email." Once I told her the situaiton as well, she put her wings on and flew to the store. hehehe Within 3 hours I had picked up gift cards, met Wendy loaded a trunk full of groceries she bought, then headed to Destin Walmart to get other necessities they needed and on the road again,  just in time to get to them in Freeport before dinner.  WOW. MISSION COMPLETE. The family was so shocked and thankful.  They explained they had called out to churches and other places that could not provide resources and felt like they were against all odds.  They were hopeless, but remembered our visit with them the weekend before and said "I know we can trust that Stephanie lady, she seemed sincere."  They knew they could count on us.  That is AWESOME! With no immediate resource to help them we called out and our community made it happen.  It is because of Gay and Wendy, that this family of 7 did not go to bed hungry last night.  May we pray for Tasha and her family. May they overcome all challenges they are up against and see the works of God in progress.

Thank you ladies! With my whole heart, I love you all that make it possible for us to help others.
GMomma Out, Steph

Visit to the Muscogee Tribe

Saturday February 12, 2010 Stephanie and I loaded up her jeep and headed out to Bruce. We met so many nice people! Loads of happy little kids and smiling faces. With our jeep loaded from front to back with diapers and clothing we gave everything out in minutes. Diapers disapeared as fast as they hit the shelves. I would like to THANK everyone who supports us and donated to this cause! It was a humbling day and it really brought much awareness to the fact that people are really struggling. We see it on the news, we read it everyday but when you are face to face with it....your heart will melt. We met several families. One family has not had power in a few years. They are starting to see a little light at the end of the tunnel though because another organization was able to help them get power they need. One lady just got a job and was thrilled but worried bc she did not know how she would pay for the gas to get there the first week. She had hope in her eyes though and I could tell she was a strong person!  I don't think she realizes just how strong she is though! We met some of the cutest and well mannered kids! We had a 12 year old child come up to us and ask us for diapers for his little brother at home. We had already ran out but plan to get some to this family soon. I prayed for that area very hard that night. I am so humbled by the wonderful love some of these leaders showed. Stephanie and I worked the thrift shop and did the best we could to organize everything. I don't think they sold much that day but they did hand out a ton of grocerys to families. The thrift store is priced very good and you can find some good deals. All of the proceeds, to my understanding, go back into the food bank. This food bank, to my knowledge, depends only on donations. I am not sure what the housing was like as I did not see that part of the area but I know there is a need in that area. So the purpose of my post today is to ask everyone to please pray for the families, leaders and the community of Bruce, Florida. 
Thank you for reading my post! I don't blog much but when something strikes my heart I like to write about it. God Bless You All! Have a great week full of love and Blessings!
Courtney :)

So it's 4 am

While sick baby is finally back to sleep for a moment, I laid in bed with a stirring mind of what I need to do today.  Who I needed to call, what letters I need to write and so on.  I figured now would better than later to get started, because a sick baby awaken has no time for a working lil GMomma.  I am been really praying and thinking about this whole mission and how it has so quickly transpired into what was once on my Bucket List into now Reality.  I'm so fired up. Thank you Lord, for you have open Generous hearts and Generous minds, to push me along as we wanted to make this dream come true.  So, as you all know, it is so easy to doubt ourselves, to question our ability, our motives our ideas, our dreams. Somedays I stop and pray, "Oh Lord, is this what you meant when I got this vision in my heart.  Am I suppose to be doing all this, on this scale?" I quickly stop and remind myself of what Pastor Steve teaches so often about, "Feel it in your heart.", it's in the heart, that matters not the mind, believe it in your heart, the heart, the heart. It says it in the bible... Get this....
 ”A man’s heart plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps.” (Proverbs 16:9)
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.” (Proverbs 3:5)
Now go back to my quote I underlined. "this vision in my heart."  I did not ask what was on my mind
, it was already on my HEART.  I answered my own question. I have felt this on my heart my whole life, it was not just a thought, or a vision in my mind but a vision in my heart.  I believe if you feel something so deep that you feel it and you believe it in your heart that you have already found your answer. So I started thinking what do I want to do with this, what is on my heart, what do I want others to get out of this, so these words came to my heart;

• To help people find there purpose in life
• Give people the 2nd chance they never thought they could have
• Inspire others
• Be a part of something good
• Impact the lives of others
• Be positive
• Live for Jesus
• Live daringly
• Never give up on YOURself and YOUR dreams
• Believe, believe, believe
• Love others
• Reach out
• Mentor
• Take chances and risks
• Stay focused and committed
• Never let people's judgement on you stop your mission
• Carry your missions in your heart as Jesus carried the cross for us
• serve eachother, EVERYDAY, people's needs never stop
• make a difference
• Bring awareness
• give to those less fortunate
• count your blessings
• Thank GOD!
• Thank GOD! (yes I said it twice, no typo)
• save lives
• Lift people up
• BE THE VOICE
• stand up for your beliefs
• stand up for a cause
• STAND UP!

CAN I GET AN AMEN!
Much love from this Gmomma out!
Steph

In the swing of things...

Hey there followers.  We have been busy little momma's trying to get everything up and running for BeGenerous Inc.  We have been so blessed how things are coming along. If you would, Check our website out, www.begenerousinc.org and request our friendship on Facebook. Please share our mission with everyone you know.  It is from the support of our friends and community that we together will make a difference in the lives of others.  Today we were so lucky to join in on a Homeless Coalition Meeting with a group of amazing people.  Thank you Stephanie Bailey for opening doors and opportunities for us to set off on so many wonderful missions. It moved me to be sitting at a table with so many intelligent and generous hearted people that have the hunger and desire to make a difference in the world as we do.  As we sat and discussed issues as we as one community are facing on a daily basis, My body filled with excitement and it assured me more, that this vision that was laid upon my heart did have meaning and that I could accomplish this.  I know nothing can be accomplished as one.  It's all about UNITY; the condition of being one, a combination into one, to be something whole. We need to have Unity horizontally and vertically. Do you feel me?

A wonderful women of God that we were so blessed to meet, spoke to Courtney and I today and as we shared the same views and aspirations it all seemed so clear.  This mission I set out on CAN and WILL be accomplished.  No ONE can hold us back.  She said "What you are doing is going to be huge, more than you can ever imagine." She also reminded us to stay steadfast, do not bend when the enemy is trying to bend us. So I know when doors are shut, another will open. When one person says no, 10 more will say yes. When money is tight, God will provide. When I can not help one family like I would like, another organization can. She also said, To remind ourselves daily of why we are doing this and for who.  We need to all step back and see the bigger picture.  It is not about us, how much money we can give, how many diapers we can donate, how much recognition we get as an organization. It's about the bigger picture and for who we are really doing this for. God. To serve him through his people. He said in the bible, Matthew 25:40 What we do for his brothers(sons, daughters, others) we do for him.
It is our duty to; as an community, as a county, as a city, as a state, as a nation, as a world, as an individual, to take a stand for each other. Our brothers, sisters, neighbors, community, churches, elders, parents, CHILDREN, OUR GOD and to our FUTURE! STAND UP WITH US, PLEASE. HELP US, HELP OTHERS! MAY MANY BLESSINGS BE SHED UPON YOU AND YOUR FAMILIES!
Much Luv,
Stephanie McMinn
Founder and One of the Orginal GMOMMAS
I'm out!

I Will Follow- Chris Tomlin (With Lyrics)

We Are The World 25 For Haiti - Official Video