Will You Help?

Break my heart from what breaks yours
Everything I am for your kingdoms cause

If you keep up with my blog, you probably recognize the beginning of this post. I started one exactly like it back in June but as I was cooking dinner tonight with Davis, this song {Hosanna} was playing on my Pandora station and it was so fitting for this post.

As I mentioned about a month ago, I volunteer at Pendleton Place Children’s Shelter with my girls. Although I can’t go nearly as much as I would like, I think about those kids all the time. And, given the fact that I have small children, I obviously have love for the little ones but there’s a special place in my heart for the teen girls. As the Christmas season is upon us, I’m asking for your help.

You see, these girls that are placed in PP will spend Christmas with the volunteers - instead of their mom, dad or grandma. I am not trying to discount those volunteers because they are awesome and will be sacrificing their holiday to be with these children but it’s still sad, no matter how you look at it. My family has been so very blessed. My children will wake up on Christmas morning and be overcome with joy by all the many gifts they receive. However, unless donations roll in, these teen girls will wake up to a pair of socks and some pencils. Okay, maybe that’s a little extreme. But it will likely be one filled with lots of tears, sadness and heart ache. What I do know is that it won’t be like our Christmas - yours or mine.

But what if it could be like ours? What if we sacrificed just a fraction of our luxuries and donated to make Christmas happen for these girls? So maybe we don’t have Starbucks one day a week for the month of December? Or how about forgoing that weekly house cleaning just once? That could buy a flat iron or a super cute pair of rain boots for that freshman girl just trying to fit in at school during this rough time in her life. Even a $5 or $10 gift card to Wal-Mart or Target can go towards the purchase of a young girl's ‘wish.’

Listen, I know that money is tight and that ‘extras’ may be a thing of the past. Our family is feeling the crunch, too. We can’t afford to give a lot but these girls are already doing without where their families are concerned. Clearly we can’t do anything to help those situations but we can help to make their Christmas at Pendleton Place a little more enjoyable.

To find out more about making Christmas special for a teenage girl, go here and click on ‘Holiday Help Information.’

If you are interested in making a donation, please contact Leslie Whiteside at 864-467-3650 or email her at lwhiteside@pendletonplace.org. I’m also planning a trip to PP on 12/19 so I’d be happy to deliver any of your gifts on that visit.

Break my heart for what breaks yours. This speaks to the deepest part of my heart. I pray every day that Jesus will let me see the things of this world that grieve him. Is it because I like to feel sad? No. Of course not. It’s because when my heart breaks, I don’t forget. And when I don’t forget, I am moved to action. If that’s what it takes, then break on…..