Hope Box Gathering

4.1.14

    It was time for the Hope Box Gatherings to happen at our church.
    I had printed out some of the verses recommended by Hope Mommies to go in the boxes, and we asked all of the group to write out the verses on note cards to go in the boxes for us before we put all of the materials together. For those of you that are curious: a hope box contains a journal, a Bible, a book called The One Year Book of Hope by Nancy Guthrie, and usually some "love ya" gifts like a coffee mug and different flavors of teas, and sometimes some nice lotions for the momma. Each table had agreed to sponsor a hope box, so for every table we would have a complete box, totaling about 8 per session.
    Michelle had asked to come and see how we ran the gathering, and I was happy to have another Hope Mom there that had been so vocal about loving her Hope Box and how much it had meant to her. Just another testament to the ministry.
     As they finished up putting their boxes together, Michelle and I sat on the stage and kind of caught up about where we were with life and our grief. Once they were done, we gathered all the boxes on a center table, and the ladies circled around them and held hands as I lead the prayer over them. I'm not going to be modest, I cry anytime I think about someone losing a child like we did. I cried through the prayer as I asked God to open the hearts of the administrators and the hospitals we were going to target, and I asked that God would use these boxes to open doors to hearts of those that were far from Him. I asked for mercy for the families that would be receiving them, and I prayed that they would touch those mom's hearts to know that they were not alone.
     When we finished, Michelle and I loaded up these absolutely gorgeous boxes (some of the ladies had gone completely overboard and brought all of their scrapbooking materials to make the outside of the boxes pretty), and we were both blown away by how pretty all of them ended up being. Maybe I'm a little biased because I know a lot of these ladies, but I still smile when I see some of the boxes that are sitting in our front room waiting to be delivered. Because they're beautiful, and I imagine the comfort that something so simple and so beautiful will bring to a grieving mother.