And he lifted up his eyes on his disciples, and said, Blessed be ye poor for yours is the kingdom of God.
Blessed are ye that hunger now: for ye shall be filled. Blessed are ye that weep now: for ye shall laugh.
We recently found a cool idea on one of the many crafty blogs that are out there right now about "blessings bags" for the homeless. Since I have lived here in Rexburg (a very long time it seems) I have never seen a homeless person but every now and then when we make a trip to Idaho Falls, there are a few corners where you might spot some, especially during the holidays. Last year we had a great opportunity to do some service for one of those in need. I believe we were actually out Christmas shopping and on our way home we saw a homeless man with a sign. It was obvious that he was in need and I couldn't help but feel horribly guilty for the Christmas gifts we just bought for each other and our family. This man wasn't going to wake up in a warm place with a warm meal, family around, and gifts on Christmas morning.
It was a spur of the moment kinda thing and wasn't much, but we decided to go to the McDonald's that was just across the street and bought two hot meals with some hot chocolate for him. We pulled up beside him, rolled down my window and handed him two big McDonald's bags and an extra large hot chocolate. The expression on his face was priceless. He dropped his bags and his sign, ran over and grabbed the bags and simply said "food" and thanked us repeatedly. I couldn't help but burst into tears. We made a U turn to take a look and saw this man all huddled up with what little possessions he had eating his meal. I think I cried all the way home. It was so sad but we had such an amazing feeling afterwards and a sense of gratitude of how fortunate we really are.
Back to these blessings bags I mentioned. I found the post about these here and wanted to share what was said:
Have you ever come across a homeless individual and felt totally uncomfortable? You see them and you know they are in need, but you are not sure what to do. You know that handing them money is not the best thing. But, you also see that they clearly have some needs. Their lips are chapped. They are hungry. They are thirsty. They are asking for help.
How can you help?
Here is a simple idea-Blessings Bags.
The women who posted this made a bunch of bags with some basics and things we probably take for granted from time to time. She kept some in the back of her car so when she was out with her family and they saw a homeless person they would have these ready for them. Brilliant!
So a few nights ago we drove out to the Army Surplus store in Sugar City since Collin needed a couple things and looked around for what we could find for our bags. We spotted some pre-made bags with shampoo, soap, deodorant, a razor, shaving gel, tissue, comb, hand cloth, toothbrush and toothpaste for only $2.99 SCORE! Plus it was small so it would be easy to pack and carry around. Afterwards we went to Walmart to find some more things we could add.... Hand warmers, wet wipes, chap stick, nail clippers, tweezers, mouthwash and some granola bars and some Christmas candy. We also included a small note card with a scripture on it. All the items we found for about a dollar mostly in the travel section of the store.
Since we didn't put a lot of food items in the bags we have a ton of MRE's (Meals Ready to Eat) that we were going to give out with the blessing bags on Christmas Eve in Idaho Falls. We are so excited to go out and do this for those who need help. I'll be sure to post about our experience :)
Speaking of service, have I mention we are in one of the greatest wards ever? For a Christmas social/activity our church's congregation got together and put together care packages for a hospital in Utah where one of our fellow ward members is staying who was recently diagnosed with stage 4 lymphoma. You can read their blog here. It was a great opportunity to serve and I'm glad that I could be apart of it.
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