Guest Writer: Cooking up Faith

Hello Sheltering Tree readers! I'm the Tea Lady from Cooking Up Faith, and Pamela asked me to write a guest post about a ministry I started on my blog, A Meal in the Mail Ministry. I said yes immediately and I'm so grateful.

I started writing on Cooking Up Faith a couple years ago. I kind of got in a slump with my writing, and actually considered quitting the blog all together. Sometimes I think a major reason God doesn't always allow us to see our own fruit He produces through us, is for the simple sake of trusting Him. Trusting that He's growing something within us even if we can't physically see it with our eyes. 

As I considered quitting Cooking Up Faith, a scripture popped in my head that would change everything:

He has given you the whole world to use, and life and even death are your servants. He has given you all of the present and all of the future. All are yours, and you belong to Christ, and 
Christ is God's (I Corinthians 3:22,23).

Everything is ours to use to glorify God and help build His kingdom!

So I thought even my blog is a tool to use to serve God, and I wanted to continue.

God planted an idea in my heart shortly after, and He's still watering that idea today -- A Meal in the Mail Ministry. 

The idea is simple -- you, the readers, tell me about those around you who are hungry, sick, out of a job, or have encountered some sort of loss. I feature those families nominated by you on Cooking Up Faith, and send them A Meal in the Mail -- a restaurant gift card. 

My hope for A Meal in the Mail ministry is to encourage readers to nominate and pray for featured families, and for the featured families to feel loved, blessed, and cared for through our support. I hope families feel supported and encouraged as they pick up dinner on us! 

The Williams' are a family we featured in June. Their sweet boy, Jonah, was born with very rare genetic skin disorder. This is an e-mail Jonah's mom sent to me after receiving A Meal in the Mail: 

I just wanted to thank you all so much for the Chili's gift cards you sent us in the mail. We went last night and it was SO GREAT to get to go out together as a family and eat without worrying about cost. You really blessed us and we just wanted to let you know how thankful we are. It's an amazing thing you do and it matters so much. Thank you for being the hands and feet of Jesus to our family. 

In Him always,
Patrice Williams
http://patriceandmattwilliams.blogspot.comThanks to God's provision and grace, and nominations from all over, A Meal in the Mail has been able to send restaurant gift cards to over a dozen families so far, and my prayer is that one day I will be able to say hundreds or thousands of families supported!

              If you know of a family who could use A Meal in the Mail, 

please e-mail me at cookingupfaith@satx.rr.com.

I would love to be able to come along side you 

and help support the family you know.

Thanks so much for taking the time to read about A Meal in the Mail, and remember--keep the faith and you'll see God's grace! 

Love,
The Tea Lady 

Linked to:

Encouraging One Another

Beautiful Thursdays
Life in Bloom
Fellowship Fridays