A little "before and after" God crashers style!

Not too long ago, a very dear friend of mine lost her grandmother.  This woman was the leader of this little clan, the glue and the prayer warrior for not just her blood relatives, but for some unblood relatives as well.  I wanted very badly to do something for this family who was hurting.  Meals, cards and phone calls are all wonderful things.  But this family had a lot of people around them doing just that.

At the same time, I was asking God to help me matter in my life.  I knew my role as wife and mom mattered, but I'm away from my precious hubby and babies most of the day.  I want to matter more!  And I want to matter for God!

So one morning I was emailing my friend and asking how things were going.  She mentioned that she and her husband were trying to sell their townhouse so they could build a home on her grandfather's property and help out with his care.  What a wonderful and giving sacrifice! 

She went through some of the things they would have to do to get ready to sell.  Lots of decluttering, wrapping picture frames etc.  My dear friend has a couple of furry friends of the cat persuasion that I happen to be highly allergic to, so I knew I couldn't help on the inside of the house without a lengthy visit to an ER afterwards opening up my throat and lungs.  But God was whispering to me to find a way to help. 

She mentioned the backyard area that had been neglected for a while.  We all know after we have a baby, there is no time for yard work, even if we wanted to do it. 

DING DING DING! 

Bells went off.  One thing me and J can do is some yard clearing!!!  God told me that they needed help with that yard to get it ready to sell and the rest of the family was very busy taking care of her grandfather.  God allowed me to see that if we helped my friend, the affect could trickle down to some of the others in the family and hopefully they would have one less thing to do or worry with this summer.  I almost had to convince my friend to let us.  Its so normal these days to say, oh no, you don't have to do that.  But she didn't!  And by saying yes, she allowed me to matter that day!  Answered prayer!

I called my parents to see if they wanted in on this Yard Crashers-God style!  They did! 

Here are some of the befores:

And the afters!

We had so much fun with this little impromptu ministry.  And do you know what God did?

  God worked everything out to make the yoke light.  The mulch was already in my Dad's trailer needing a home, my boys were already spending the night at VeVe's, the rain held off even though it was cloudy and cooler than it had been in weeks, we brought the right tools even though we haven't seen the yard beforehand!  My Mom and Dad have a wonderful history of turning yards into places you want to sit and enjoy.  My husband loves nothing more than to clear a space of clutter, trash and weeds.  The perfect workers for this project!

Sometimes we just have to go out on a limb, risk getting into peoples business and say,

"Yes Lord, Yes Lord, Yes Yes Lord!"