Here was a story that was recently submitted on OtherPeopleMatter.org.

After spending a couple months in the critical/intensive care, my friend’s premature baby died. She had to leave her job to be with him almost everyday. The doctors were encouraged with how good he was doing. Her husband works and tries to go to school and they both take care of their 3 year old by one of them working first shift and the other 2nd shift. Because of all that’s happened, she still trusts God. But her days are hard as she misses her baby. They got behind in bills–as you can imagine. Thanks for considering this special family.

Today this story was shared on JQ99, and I’m so excited to announce that someone has come through and donated $200 in Family Fare gift cards to this family.  This afternoon, May 18, these cards will be delivered to this family and as a result they will experience the love of Jesus in a tangible way!

Received this note last week from a woman named Sue.  It read…

Right afer the story about a “young mom in need of help” posted on 2/17/09 I received a Meijer gift card from my employer.  God told tme to send it in to this young woman.  Obviously, I have drug my feet but still wish for her to have it.  I am also enclosing a small gift card to Kohls so she can get something nice for herself for Mother’s day.

In Christ;

Sue

Sue, your gift cards are on their way to this young mom.  And by the way, delayed obedience is still obedience.  Well done!

This letter is from a woman who went through a similar situation as the woman in the “a young mom in need of help” story.  She wrote this great letter and donated $100 gift card.  In addition to this $100, someone else sent in a check for $100.  I know it might seem like only $200, but every little bit helps.  Oh, a $10 starbucks card was also thrown in.  How cool is that.  A single mom who has been dumped on can enjoy a nice cup of coffee!  I love that.

Received this letter from a small group, who was responding to the story about the “family of 7 – father recovering from cancer”.  This beautifully captures the spirit of Other People Matter!  A group of men were moved by compassion to help this family out.  Because of this gift, we were able to reach our goal of $,545 for this family.  Awesome stuff!!!

Last week a story was submitted on OtherPeopleMatter.org about a single mom, who didn’t have a hot water heater. Her finances were tight, and there was simply no way for her to afford a new water heater. The story was submitted on OtherPeopleMatter.org and two people really stepped up. One woman paid for a new water heater and a plumber installed it for free.

This act of compassion really impacted this single mom. Here’s what she wrote,

“I wanted to get back with you and let you know that Dana and Craig worked together and had a hot water heater installed by late morning on Friday. It was truly amazing!! A friend of mine stopped by on Thursday evening and Evan (my 9y son) asked me, “Mom, did you tell her about our miracle?” That was the biggest gift of all. My kids have seen that God takes care of us through our struggles and trials……..and our victories. “

Her two kids witnessed a miracle!!! What a great thing when people, who claim the name of Jesus, demonstrate his love to the people around them. It impacts lives. It changes lives forever. Those kids will never be the same because they saw God provide for them. And the best part about it… God used ordinary people to do it.

Here’s a picture of the two kids in front of their miracle…

Times are difficult.  All someone needs to do to realize this is read through the many stories that have been submitted on the otherpeoplematter.org site.  And when we thought things couldn’t get any worse, just last week we saw the economy take another turn for the worse.  Times are difficult.

What can we do during these difficult times?  Today, I read on another blog this interesting thought.  The author says,

“The very best way to get out of a recession is do something really important that helps people: to be in a business that allows you to be obsessively, compulsively preoccupied with the needs of others; to have great products that deliver on everything that they promise; to do what you love and love what you do; to be smart, to save, and to hold in reserve the financial, emotional, physical, and spiritual wherewithal you’ll need to weather difficult times.

And that is what OPM is all about.  We want to be so obsessively, compulsively preoccupied with the needs of others and we want to see people all around West Michigan filled with this same passion.  So, this week, take some time, look around, and see if there is person in your life who needs to experiencing the amazing love of Jesus, and who knows, you just might be the person God wants to use.

We are currently looking for a plumber to help a West Michigan family who needs the main water line to their house fixed.  To read the rest of the story, click here.  If you want to share more information about this story, feel free to leave a comment.

Last Wednesday I shared that we selected the family that we want to bless. Well, now it’s getting fun. Today, a couple people went to meet with the family to hear their story and see what they need, and to hear what their boys want for Christmas. Before they went down, someone came up to me, and said, “I heard what you are doing, here’s $20. Get the family something to eat today.” I was blown away! I handed the $20 to the people going to visit the family and off they went.

As I walked down to my office, I was approached again. This time I was given an envelope by a teenager. Inside was another $20 bill. We received this $20 bill because a teenager was talking about what we are doing with the librarian at their school. Up hearing this, the librarian gave the teen a $20 bill, because she was amazed at what these teens were doing. No we can use that to buy some food or a really cool toy for one of the boys.

All I can say is… this is getting fun. I can’t wait to see what else happens. But most of all, it’s great to hear about how people are seeing the love of Jesus this Christmas, instead of just hearing about it.