Unexpected Generosity

Our dedicated little group meets twice monthly (the second and fourth Thursday) at a little country church, for sewing, crocheting, knitting, etc.  That church has been so kind to let us leave our things there and not have to cart them around.  And like most of us who have sewing rooms, the supplies seem to be like that movie "Gremlins"!  I really think they multiply during the night.

So our "stuff" (I mean, very important supplies) has started to grow and GROW, until now a couple of people have started to comment.  I thought we might have to pare it all down to a manageable level, maybe have each board member take some of it home to store, and bring back each time we meet. 

But NO!  I couldn't believe it when I was told that the church really likes hosting our group so they decided...  get ready... drum roll...

They decided to pay a carpenter $1,500 to build "built-ins" into their fellowship hall to store all our bins of fabric, trimmings, sewing machines, etc!  Can you believe it?  We are so grateful for the ongoing surprises God has had in store for our little group.  One lady contributed a few dollars and said she wished she had more money to donate.  Another group had some canning jars to sell, and then gave us that money.  People are incredible. 

And our Heavenly Father just watches over us and arranges things every time we meet.  Our fellowship times and mutual counsel has been priceless for all who join in.  Thank you Lord, for these friends, for these projects, and for the way you always provide just what we need - just when we need it!  Amen!

Tax Time - Generous Children

What a relief!  I was really stressing over the responsibility of doing a tax return for our little 501(c)(3).  We only have about $200 in the bank, but still...  Tax time is always stressful for me and I didn't want to make a mistake on this very important task.

Well as it turned out, since we are so teensy I was able to do it online and eFile the little return they call a "postcard" - hooray!  They just want to know that we are still around, that our information hasn't changed and that we have less than $50,000.  Make that waaaaaayyyyy less than $50K - LOL.

But actually soon we will have some more money in the bank.  Sweet Nicholas' younger siblings, twins David and Andrea, just turned 6 years old.  Their mom and dad are training them about budgeting, so they had a family talk about the birthday money they received.  They will give some of it to their church, put some in the bank, have a little fun spending money, and the rest gets donated to a charity.

 They discussed several options and decided they wanted to fly to Japan and help all those people devastated by the earthquakes and sunamis.  What generous children!  The problem is that they didn't get enough money to fly to Japan and go help them.  So they discussed other options.  In the end, David and Andrea decided to send their birthday money to help the Nicholas Project!

 I have connections to missionaries in Japan, so on David and Andrea's behalf we will get information on how we can best and most effectively help.  Shipping costs are exhorbitant so we'll most likely send some money.  But if we find a way to partner with someone else, we may be able to make some things for them.  We have received a free pattern for little stuffed bears that might be good for the children to cuddle.

Thank you so much you two - you're the best!