Here is the Video from our weekend full of Random Acts of Kindness Stories – #DoSomethingSummer
Matthew West has challenged everyone to take the #DoSomethingSummer Challenge, where you do something for others. It can be anything, but just do something. As part of our 365 Days of Kindness, we have been doing FREE Laundry Days and feeding the homeless/low income families, so this past weekend we kicked it up a notch, by doing a FREE Laundry Day on Saturday and then on Sunday we had a FREE Community Picnic. We blocked the street off and invited the ENTIRE community to come have a FREE meal, FREE fellowship, FREE music, FREE bounce house, FREE backpacks, and FREE hugs. We just loved on the people. We were able to serve close to 300 people. It was an amazing day. You see Random Acts of Kindness matter. Everyone has a different definition of kindness, but I think everyone would agree kindness just does your soul good. It puts a smile on your face and Joy in your heart. I hope this video captures the entire two days and gives you a glimpse into what this blog, freetastesgood.com, stands for. Matthew 25:40, says “Whatever you do for a brother of sister of mine, you have done to me”. You see when we serve others, we are actually serving Jesus. This is a weekend that will forever be engrained in my heart. Lives were impacted including my family.
To read more about our 365 Days of Kindness Challenge. Print your Free Acts of Kindness Cards HERE! The purpose of printing the cards is that the recipient can then recycle it and pass the card on by doing another random act of kindness.
Wow. . . I am so humbled by today’s Family Community Picnic. As you prepare for something this big you just never know how it is going to turn out. This is a dream that God placed on my heart about five years ago; to go out in the community and offer a FREE Family Picnic. I cannot even tell you how full of Joy my heart is right now. As I sit here writing this tears are filling my eyes because this was a true day full of God, love, friendship, and fellowship. So many of you gave up your Sunday to come and serve. That is what being the hands and feet of Jesus is all about; taking the focus off of ourselves and putting it on others.
Thank you to Neil and Jen who never cease to amaze me. They just go with the flow and do whatever is needed. We ran out of hotdogs buns and Neil ran across the street to get more buns. We ran out of plasticware and Tim ran over to the Family Dollar to get more plasticware. Thank you to my niece, Chelsea, for standing right next to Uncle Jamie with smoke in your eyes, but still serving with love and smiles. Thank you to John for being the kitchen runner and making sure as food was running low to bring more out, washing dishes, disposing of garbage, etc. Thank you John. Thank you to Kim and her kids for just going with the flow and going wherever needed. Thank you to Monique and her kids for serving the drinks and filling the coolers with ice. Thank you to Connie for handing out the buns. Thank you to Jamie and Vanessa for grilling out the hamburgers and hotdogs, they made quite a team. Thank you Heidi for handing out all the backpacks. . I love you so much!!!! Thank you to Tammy, Tim, Dora, and Leslie, and your entire family for just being you and serving, oh yea and for going to McDonald’s to get me the gift certificate! Thank you Natalia, Asia, Patty, Zena and family. Thank you Robin for just being so AWESOME. You know I love you to pieces. Thank you Holly and girls for ALWAYS being there and just serving no matter where you are put. You are amazing. I pray I did not leave anyone out and if I did, please know it is not intentional. I love you all and know that without you, none of this is possible. Okay, I did forget, my besties, Danielle and Vanessa. Can I just say, I don’t know what I would do without them. They keep me in line, they love me unconditionally, and they bring out the best in me. I love you guys. To Officer Kim and Robin. . . well, you know I just adore both of you! And lastly, Pastor Billmeier and St. Lucas Church, you have touched me and Jamie lives in ways that I don’t even think you realize. I thank God for orchestrating our paths to cross and friendships to be formed. We love you guys!! Thank you to the servers from the food, to the desserts, to the drinks. As I looked around everyone had smiles on their faces and so full of love; not just the people serving but the people be served. So many familiar faces and so many familiar faces from the laundromat yesterday. I was so excited to see everyone. We had people lined up as early as 2:30 p.m. and we didn’t start serving until 4 p.m. Craig, who is part of our family now, arrived at 2:30 to help set up the tables. He is an amazing man that we love and we told him today, he is part of our forever family. His birthday is August 26th, so if you see him, please be sure to wish him a Happy Birthday! You see today wasn’t about just having a community picnic, it is about loving on people. It is about sharing the love of Jesus. Getting to know others and really caring about them, loving on them and accepting them for who they are. This church is an amazing church. Today, pastor said I don’t know how you do this, and I told him, we don’t do it, it’s all for the glory of God and every single person serving loves Jesus as much as I do. When we do things to glorify God, he blesses it abundantly and today he did. I would say we served well over 250+ people. We had 250 plates and had to run to the store to get more. We ran out of cutlery plasticware (250) and had to go get more. It was amazing. We left with 4 packages of hot dogs, we started with 320. The most amazing thing after we were cleaning up, a family came that needed food for 3. We had one pan of pasta salad left, 2 packages of hot dogs, 2 packages of buns, and a bag of potato chips; pretty much exactly what we needed.. . loaves and fishes. God ALWAYS provides. We had two people there today performing live music who were completely AWESOME and the whole mood was so upbeat. We had the bounce house, which of course was a BIG hit! Of course we started in prayer, thank you Danielle, and then told everyone they could get in line and let me tell you the line wrapped around the street. You couldn’t see the end. . . I will admit I was a little nervous we might run out of food, LOL J But Dave told us he prayed for Jesus to multiply our food so we had enough and prayers were answered. I cannot tell you all how much your help, love, and support mean to us. Lives are being impacted in our community because all of you care so much about others. We see so much negativity in this world, but we are making positive changes, one life at a time. None of else can help everyone, but all of us can help someone, and when we do we serve Jesus. If God places something on your heart, be obedient, and step out in faith. He will equip you for all you need as he did today. We didn’t know what was going to happen, but it was an amazing day full of love and truly only something God could have orchestrated. I am humbled how God has used our family and I am so thankful to be able to be involved in this. This is a joy that only comes from the Lord and until I take my last breath I will be serving others and loving on the least of them. Matthew 25:40. GOD IS GOOD. . . ALL THE TIME!!
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My name is Joni Meyer-Crothers and I run this couponing/money-saving blog along with my husband, Jamie. We love to show others how to save money in a BIG way! We do all the work for you. . we do the matchups and show you where to get the coupons, many FREE printable coupons. Sit back and follow the blog and watch your savings increase! Couponing is a ministry for our family as we we love to show others how to save and share from their couponing harvest!
