LOVE ~ GIVING ~ DIFFERENCE

Yesterday I listened to yet another message by Elevation Church called "Give What You Want & You'll Get What You Need." An incredible message from God that was spoken through Holly Furtick and all her wonderfulness and crazy life stories. :D

I am not going to spill the beans of her entire message, so I highly encourage you to take some time out of your day to go listen to it (it is only about 34 minutes long)! I was greatly inspired by her message and wanted to share my thoughts on the matter with you all.


GIVE and IT will be GIVEN to you. (Luke 6:38a)


When you think of GIVING, what usually comes to mind? Giving financially? Time? Physical labor? Sacrificing something? There are so many ways that we can give, even in the small things! Sometimes the small things at home, in a relationship, at work, or just out in the public can make ALL THE DIFFERENCE!
Giving your attention, affection, and/or commitment can make a huge impact on someone's day! Just think of what YOU need or want. Often times we can bring ourselves down by thinking about what others DON'T GIVE US. This can become a very depressing thing to do. Next time when you feel the urge to point the spotlight on yourself, think about the same need you want and see if anyone around you needs it instead. As Christians, God fulfills us, and He WILL give you what YOU NEED. As humans, we often forget that.
No matter where we are or what we're doing God has called us to be His light. To let Him live through us. One ultimate theory for why God created us, which I love, is that God had so much LOVE to give that He wanted to create creatures to share His unending, forever faithful, and awe-inspiring love with.
We were created with love inside of us! Inside all of us. Some choose to hate, but just like frowning, hating is so much harder than loving. Sometimes we think that remaining closed up and hard-hearted is the only way to protect ourselves, but in reality, it only ends up hurting ourselves and the people around us more in the long run.

Old Jeans = Hope

Yesterday afternoon, my mom and I had the opportunity to host a Sole Hope Shoe Cutting Party! 

If you haven't heard about Sole Hope, they are a non-profit organization that has a mission to offer HOPE through freedom from foot-related diseases, jobs, health, and education. They teach/hire locals to assemble shoes out of recycled denim and rubber soles, that end up on the feet of local children.

Nationwide people can use their old jeans to cut pattern pieces for the shoes by hosting cutting parties! This is a great way to recycle unwanted denim and it is great to know that they go towards an awesome cause! 

For more information about Sole Hope, check out their website!

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Yesterday morning I had to work and then finish help get things ready for our party. I have to say things were somewhat hectic and I was beginning to feel a little stressed out (as this week had already been keeping me on my toes). We were late and had to set up everything quickly. But you know what . . . I keep learning that it's okay to go with the flow and to hand over control of a situation to God. It seems like when I do, things just fall into place and I begin to be in a state of mind where I can breathe and enjoy the present again.

Anyways, we had a fantastic party and even though it was small, we were still able to get a lot accomplished. 

This post consists of mostly pictures, so I hope you enjoy! 

1st we have to cut the jeans open and then trace the shoe patterns on them.

Then, we get to have fun cutting them out!

Plastic is used for the heel of the shoe, to make it more durable.

photo cred: my mom

We had so many jeans!

My wonderful friend, let me use her as a model, 😊 because why not?

These are extra supplies that were donated and will be shipped to Sole Hope along with the jeans. From there they will then ship them (or they might take them when people go on a mission trip) to Uganda.

After three hours and a half, we had completed cutting out 25 shoes with seven people!

photo cred: Sally

We will be definitely having another one and hope to grow our little group into a bigger one! 

If this is something that entices you and maybe you think that it would be awesome to host a Shoe Cutting Party, you can find all the details out here. It is so easy and fun! You just have to order the packet with the patterns, set the date, invite people, collect jeans, and then cut away!

I hope you enjoyed today's post and have a great rest of your weekend!