Last week we gave our first blessings from the 15% of our gross profits in December and January. It felt amazing! I had a new spirit all day after sending the checks. It was such a gift for me to know that the money was going into hands that would use it for good & life changing impact in our community and around the country. It re-charged my desire to grow Adored, the on line store and the awareness in our GR community about our brick and mortar store.
I wrote 2 checks. One to Sacred Beginings, an organization right here in Grand Rapids that rescues and restores the hearts and lives of women who have been exploited in the sex trafficking industry. The other went to 4th Musketeer (4M) USA, a mens ministry that challenges the character of men. We chose this ministry because so much of the sex trade industry is engaged by men. 4M works to call men to something better, something higher!
Offering these blessings has ignited a new hope in my heart. A hope that one day the sex trade industry will be destroyed. A hope that the world will be reminded about where love originated and what it was created to look like. A hope that the men and women who engage in human trafficking will feel loved in a way that causes them to detest their behavior and move away from it. A hope that the plans of the enemy would be exposed, that people will be rescued from the grips of this horrific activity and that their lives will be restored. A hope for something great to happen in this world that dethrones the desire for this behavior and replaces it with real LOVE. A hope that Adored will grow so big and so far that we will be able to contribute in overwhelming amounts to these efforts, lives and God's kingdom.
Without hope, we waiver and lose faith. Without hope, we become frustrated and weary. With hope, we strive, sustain and trust. Hope is what I am going to choose. Despite everything we're up against, Im going to choose to hope for something greater!