Ten Dollar Tuesday

You can make a difference!

For every $10 you donate today, your name will be entered into a drawing for a $50 gift card to Target!

Are you willing to give up two Starbuck's drinks this month for a young girl in a crisis pregnancy? $10--that's all it takes and you could get a $50 gift card!

All you have to do is click the donate button to access our Paypal account.

The contest runs until 10 pm today (CST) and the winner will be announced at 10 am tomorrow.

Will you brown bag it one day this week and donate your lunch money to a teen?

You can make a difference! It starts with just $10!

Ask and you shall receive....

I just happened to mention that we needed some homemade items...

And the door was opened. (I didn't even know someone was listening!)

Over the past few weeks, many beautiful handmade items have come into our hands. They are the most beautiful blankets, booties, and hats.

Just to show you some of the talent of our amazing volunteers,
check out these little bootie tennis shoes
(They have real laces---:0) )

Here is a set of a matching blanket, hat, and booties. What amazes me is that the lady who made these was worried about her stuff being GOOD enough to give away.
They are just simply beautiful!

As I run my fingers over the soft yarn of this one of a kind items, I am humbled by the fact that these ladies have donated their time, money, and talent to someone they have never met. I simply cannot wait to capture their expressions as they receive these amazing gifts!
God is Good!
Blessings,
Jenn

Coffee, Calories and Conversation

We used to dream of how we, as a ministry, could reach more than 50 people at one time and share our vision. Considering, we only knew about 50 women from our old church, we thought this was an impossible task. Little did we know in less than a year, we would be at The Met's biggest ladies event sharing the good news of CCM. I asked one of our newest volunteers (with probably one of the biggest hearts for teen moms) to write an entry about our experience! She obliged:
From Anita:
I enjoy going to C3 at The Met. C3 stands for Caffeine- good coffee, Calories- delicious desert, and Conversation- meeting new people and listening to a wonderful guest speaker. One reason I like going to C3 is because it is on a Friday night, and is a great way to start the weekend. C3 is always decorated beautifully, and the ladies always make you feel welcome.
CCM (Cypress Calling Ministries) had an opportunity to set up a table at the last C3. The table was set up with baskets that have different baby items in them that are given to ladies at baby showers, big baby bottle banks which we collected $45.45, and a sign up sheet to help out with the ministry. We had a lot of ladies come and sign our volunteer list. The Ladies wanted to help out with making baby items like blankets, caps, and booties. One lady was a nurse and wanted to help out with birthing classes, and there were ladies that wanted to get the word out to their friends about CCM. I have never seen so many ladies eager and excited to help pregnant teens and first time moms. I am so very excited to be a part of this ministry, and am looking forward to seeing what God is going to do with Cypress Calling Ministries.
It was a wonderful experience and I am thankful to The Met for giving us the opportunity.

New Website!

Cypress Calling has a new and improved website. The address is still the same, www.cypresscalling.com. Please go and look around and let us know what you think. You can get to it by clicking the Cypress Calling logo to the right. Thanks for looking and continuing to support this great ministry. 

March Baby Shower

On Saturday March 7th 4our of us drove out to east Houston for a baby shower with the Source for Women. This was my first time out to this location, and I was interested to see how this shower would differ from the one I attended in the Galleria area. Together with Miss Betty, Jenn, and Heather we decorated the small front waiting area and set up the food. I am always surprised how a few decorations and refreshments can truly transform and area into something festive. As the girls arrived and we introduced ourselves to them, I found myself in good company. I am pregnant too, and I realized that I really had a lot in common with these women. Most of the ladies had not been to a baby shower before and were happy to come and have themselves and their babies celebrated.
There was a clear divide with two ladies speaking only Spanish, and thee ladies speaking only English, but food and games brought us all together.
For the first time we split up into smaller groups to really get to know the ladies, let them ask questions, and offer to pray for them. This was the highlight of my day. Miss Betty and I enjoyed our three ladies; we answered all sorts of parenting questions and listened to their genuine fears. Some of their fears were “will I know how to care for my baby” and “Can I do this on my own? This gave Miss Betty and I an opportunity to encourage them and pray for specific things with them.
When we all regrouped it was nice to see the ladies interacting with each other. We all had a cupcake. Why are cupcakes always such a hit? This was no exception. Each lady was given her basket filled with baby items. They all loved and appreciated this, especially our lady expecting triplets. Jenn also spoke with them about why Cypress Calling does what we do and gave them each their own Bible. That is always a touching moment.
As we all said good-bye I think there was a sense that we had done a great thing and reached out to theses ladies. Each of them was given our web address and phone number in hopes of keeping in touch with them in the future. All in all I would call this yet another great success for the ministry.

Tara Kosh

Food for thought..

This morning I picked up my Bible for some one on one quality God time.
I started reading some of my favorite books of the Bible. Starting with James. Let me tell you God is so on me lately about helping the less fortunate. Obviously he has showered his blessings on Cypress Callings direction and he led me to the following in the book of James,
"What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, " Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? In the same, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead." James 2:14-17
WOW.. talk about profound. In this passage James makes it very clear, cut and dry, that having only faith is not doing your part as a Christ follower. Just sitting idly in you faith and not taking action is likened to death!
God calls us not only to have absolute faith in him but also to help his children. Its one of the golden rules "Do unto others as you would have others do unto you." I know that if I was in a situation such as a crisis pregnancy that I would want people to reach out to me and help me. Whether it be through guidance, material needs or just by showing Gods love.
I truly believe that as Christ followers we are called to help our brothers and sisters. Remember all people are children of God. We are all his creation, He is every ones Heavenly Father.
Dearest Heavenly Father, Thank you for the blessings you have bestowed on this ministry and for your guidance. Lord, I pray that you continue to lead us in the direction that you wish. I also pray Father that you keep our eyes and hearts on you. Lord we do all of this for you, to better YOUR Kingdom because we are called to do so.
In your Sons most awesome name,
Amen

Blessings,
Tasha

Aimee Mills

This week's leadership member is Director of Corporate Affairs, Aimee Mills:

I am the middle child of a family in which strong leadership is a dominant personality trait held by each member of the family. Coupled with the fact that I have been employed for the past 17 years as a paralegal in various areas of the law, filling the position of Director of Corporate Affairs of Cypress Calling Ministries was a natural fit for me. I have not ever walked the walk of an unplanned pregnancy. In fact, getting pregnant was probably one of the most difficult hurdles that I have ever faced. That being said, I believe that I am naturally drawn to women in crisis. I have the overwhelming desire to step in during a critical situation to lend a hand and make a difference in these special women’s lives.
I am not an extremely spiritual person, but I do try to listen to the direction God desires my life to head. As a mother of twin boys who are now 10, fairness, structure and equity are my watch words. I also strongly subscribed to the motto that when one sees an inequity one should be part of the solution. I have taken this motto to heart as I serve on several non-profit boards in addition to Cypress Calling, in various capacities. I believe that I bring the gifts of empathy, being a sounding board and the ability to see a workable solution from a difficult situation. Much like another member of the Board, I do not live in the greater Houston area, but I do what I can for Cypress Calling Ministries.
Aside from my family, one of my greatest loves is knitting. While only another “yarner” may be able to truly appreciate this statement, there is absolutely nothing more relaxing than coming home from work and picking up my knitting needles to unwind. The repetition of the stitches and the sound of the needles hitting one another is personal nirvana. Thankfully, Cypress Calling offers a useful outlet for my love – I am able to provide baby blankets for the showers.

Memory Albums

Here they are, the first 2 baby albums. I hope the ladies enjoy them as much as I enjoy making them.  

Big dreams

I distinctly remember gathering around the dining room table last June, counting the money after our last Summer Salad Social and thinking to myself "WOW! We just made $300 dollars!" That seemed like so much money at the time, but the task of starting a ministry still seemed so daunting. We thought at the time that our goal was to raise $500 for the 501c3 fee that the IRS required. Little did we know that the very next year our budget would surpass $12,000. As we prepared our budget, a large deficit screamed out at us. But, we kept our faith and begin looking every which way to help our ministry.

One idea that came to my mind during a very sleepless night was Bunco for Babies. Instead of the girls paying $5 to play, they would donate a baby item to help us fill our baskets. Not only were they helping us, they were also having a fun time doing so. I had the idea of a church hosting a ladies night out where we did Bunco for Babies. So, I sent an email to the women's director of my current church, The Met. Tasha and I went into the meeting with the idea that the church would host a Bunco for Babies. Well, we left the meeting with so much more. Not only was the director open to the idea of helping us fill our baskets, she was open to the idea of partnering up with us and sponsoring certain aspects of our ministry. She loved our ministry and wanted us to come share it at the leadership retreat THAT weekend! So Tasha and I moved a few things around and less than 48 hours after the meeting we were checking in at the retreat. I cannot describe to you how we felt at this retreat. The term "celebrity" comes to mind. Many of the leaders knew us and wanted to know more about our ministry. God introduced us to so many people that night and opened so many doors, Tasha and I became very overwhelmed. We knew we would just have to write everything down and sort through stuff later. Just as God always promises, He is with us and He is faithful! One of the girls we met at the retreat helps run another non-profit organization in where they help women get jobs. They offer a free 12 week program where the women learn all sort of working and personal skills. It is an awesome ministry. I wasn't sure how we fit together until the girl started sharing her dream of opening a home that is more like a sanctuary for women. The women can come there and breathe (as she put it). I knew right then and there that there was a future with this girl and her ministry. God begin turning the gears in my mind and I came up with what I believe may be CCM's future....

Dream with me for a moment, won't you?

Imagine a place out on Hwy 290 that is a much like a country home. It has a large living room with a fireplace and many comfy couches and chairs. In the back are many, many bedrooms. Maybe 5, maybe 20! There is a separate building that is much like a workshop, or an office with tables and computers, dry erase boards, and bookshelves. This place is the home to teenagers or young women who have found themselves in an unplanned pregnancy with no support system. We found them as they first found out what they viewed as horrific news..."I am pregnant!" We took them under our wing for the next year and prepared them for their new life. We mentor them and prepare them for this baby they will either raise on their own or adopt out to a loving couple. We also give them the skills they need to get a job or get back into school. As they approach their due date we are with them every step of the way, even into the first six months after the baby is born. We will continue to mentor them in various ways personally and professionally. As they leave our sanctuary, it would be our goal or mission, that they are walking with Christ to a new job either with their child or with full confidence that they have done one of the most selfless acts of all and given their baby up to someone else who can provide a better life. For one full year all their expenses would be paid as we help them help themselves.

What do you think? There is no way that was all my thinking. God took over my brain and now I have a clear vision. I have always believed the true crisis in crisis pregnancies are those that involved teenagers with no support system.

So, I will leave with my dream. Either Tasha or I will return to tell you just how we plan on putting this dream into action THIS YEAR!

Oh God is good! So very, very GOOD!!!

Staci Dauphine

This week's leadership member is Creative Coordinator: Staci Dauphine

Crisis pregnancy is an issue that is very near and dear to my heart. I was 16 when I found out I was pregnant with my daughter Ashley. I remember feeling very alone and scared but I never questioned my decision to have my baby. Even though it wasn't easy I have never regretted anything that I have done. I am so excited to be a part of Cypress Calling because I think I have the ideas and dreams to help many women in the same situation. When we started this ministry I had no idea what the future would hold but I felt god pushing me to be involved. I didn't grow up going to church and have only started to be involved with a church over the past few years. I am still learning but I feel like I have found my purpose.

Our family moved to Canada in July 2008, so I do what I can from afar. I love to scrapbook and do anything crafty which is why I am the creative coordinator for CCM. I hope one day to be more hands on when our family moves back to Texas. I am married to a wonderful man and in addition to Ashley (now 14) we have boy/girl twins (16 months). We have an amazing group of women leading this ministry, each and every one of them brings a different aspect to Cypress Calling.

Continue to come back to read all about our exciting ministry.

Keep checking...

Cypress Calling is busier than ever. Things are really picking up and we are so excited for the new things that are coming.
Please check back often to hear stories by our board. We will share with you all the latest news involving CCM and stories that have touched our hearts and will touch yours as well.
God has done amazing things with our ministry in the past couple months. He has put people in our path and opened doors that we would never have opened if it wouldn't have been for his great guidance and faithfulness in our cause. Thank you Father for giving us the vision, the hearts and the will to do what we do. Its because of you that we do it. To better your Kingdom Lord.
Stay tuned for posts about our very fun, very informative Leadership Retreat with The Met church. We have some exciting news!!
God bless!
Tasha

God leads us in mysterious ways

In church we learn that God can see the big picture and we can only see a portion of the path that we are on. God proved this to us recently.

Last year in November we helped out local crisis maternity home Lifehouse with some painting and talking to some of the girls that were staying there.
We met a young girl named Niki, whom had been raped and was due that very week. While talking with her we learned that she attended the same school that one of our volunteers worked at as a speech teacher. Wow how amazing is that, but wait thats not the most amazing part. A few weeks ago I received a call from our volunteer telling me that the young lady that we got to know was in her class and was in need of many baby essentials. She asked if we could help Niki and of coarse we jumped at the opportunity. It was so very obvious that God lead her to us. So we got a list of items that she needed and within a week we were knocking at her door with our hands full of baby items including a Pack n' play.

Cheryl and I were able to talk with Niki and offer her encouragement and give her a chance to ask questions if she needed. She explained to us that there were 9 people living in her 2 bedroom apartment and that her and her 3 month old baby girl slept on the couch in the living room. Now thanks to the generous support of many people we were able to give that baby a new bed to lay in and to let a struggling teen mother know that we are here for her and love her and support her. And most importantly that GOD loves her and supports her. I think we gave Niki the hope she needs. I know that it wont be the last that Niki hears from Cypress Calling. We intend on keeping in touch and checking in frequently!

I just thank God for bringing Niki into our lives and allowing us to help her and guide her and show her Gods amazing love and grace!

Here is a picture of the basket that we delivered to Niki...

Thanks for reading!! God Bless.

Cheryl Howard

This week we are featuring our Director of Finance, Cheryl Howard:

My life started as a premature baby at 3lbs. 14 oz. which in 1953 there wasn’t as much technology to handle preemies. I spent my first 6 weeks of life in an incubator and my grandmother bought me doll clothes to wear. My mother was an unwed mother at the age of 18 years young and my father was in the Korean War and denied my paternity. I have not let any of this rule my life and believe that we make our own destiny. I also had my first child at the age of 18 years young and my second at 23. I struggled through the years with being a single mother and have had to work all my life to support myself and my children. I was thrown in my career as an accountant and through the years I have taken some college courses but mostly learned my knowledge of accounting by working my way up the ladder in an area that usually requires an accounting degree. My greatest joy these days are my 7 wonderful grandchildren which keep me alive and feeling very blessed. Through all my trials in life and my roller coaster spiritual ride God has finally led me to this wonderful group of women that has befriended me and helped bring me along in my spiritual walk with God. In reflection I feel that God brought me to the ministry because of my early struggles as a teenage mother and because I was looking for purpose in my life. As the Director of Finance I can use the challenges in my life to serve this ministry to make it grow and flourish and make a difference in women’s lives.

Mommy albums

I am having so much fun creating mommy albums to put into our baskets. Here is a little teaser: I can't wait until the first one is done so I can show you the whole thing. I know our girls will appreciate these for many years. Scrap books are a great way to document the milestones in a babies first year. If you know of anyone who is into scrapbooking and would like to help Cypress Calling by creating a layout or 2, please let us know. We are creating 30 8x8 albums with 8 layouts and will also include advice sections that will have safety tips for new moms.

Tasha Schoen

This weeks Leadership member is Associate Director, Tasha Schoen:

If you would have asked me 10 years ago if I would volunteer for a ministry to help pregnant mothers in crisis. I most likely would have said it’s not my cup of tea.
This would be my first reaction simply because it hits to close to home. I myself am a product of a crisis pregnancy. My mother was 16 when she gave birth to me and my father was 18. Both were out of work and had nothing to their name. Some of my family urged her to abort. Thank God she didn’t listen. It was a tough life that we lived. Moving from trailer to trailer all over the state. We lived in filth and were extremely poor. I remember my sister and brother and I all sleeping in the same bed. I remember Mayo sandwiches were a staple meal. When I was 5 years old the state stepped in and removed us from that situation. Can you see why I found it hard to help a mother in the same situation? But God had big plans for me. He uses my experiences every day to help those in need. I have a strong desire to help mothers that are in this situation so that they can make the best choices for the growing baby inside them. Whether that is through adoption or giving them the skills and encouragement they need to raise the child in a stable, healthy, happy environment.
Thankfully my grandmother and grandfather stepped up to the plate and raised me into the woman I am today. To them and God I owe everything.
I am an avid reader and love the escape it allows you. I also enjoy movies of all genres. I especially like independent films. Music is my other great love! I played the flute for 7 years and marched in my high school marching band for 4 years. I regret that I never learned to play the piano and have recently thought about giving the guitar a whirl.
I am proud and excited to be Associate Director of Cypress Calling ministries for so many reasons. First of all it’s a thrill to see the mother’s faces when we shower them with God’s love and the amazing gifts that have been so generously donated for them. To be able to share Gods love. It warms my heart every time.
I have been told on many occasions that I have the spiritual gift of encouragement. Nothing makes me feel better than finding something positive about someone and watching the smile cross their face when they receive that compliment. I believe that you can do anything if you have the right people to encourage you along the way!
I am the strong but silent type and it may take a while for me to let you in but I like to think that I am a great friend and shoulder to lean on. I am so thankful for the opportunities that God has given me. For my two beautiful children and my amazing husband. I live a truly blessed life. I look forward to the great opportunities and challenges that Cypress Calling Ministries has ahead of it!

Katja Stahr-Long

This week's Leadership member is Communications Director, Katja Stahr- Long:
My life started as a premature baby of just under 7 months gestation. I was the 5th pregnancy of my mom & dad's but the only survivor. I had always been fascinated by my birth story and by the miracle of God's work in the life of my parents and I. Despite my lack of clarity in my pursuit of a profession, God led me to nursing and particularly to the realm of maternal/child nursing & lactation. I have also had the pleasure of doing hospice care nursing. I enjoyed my work for sometime but life changed drastically for me when I became a mother. I shifted my priorities and decided that being a stay-at-home mom was my calling for the time being. In that calling, I knew God would lead me to a church. During my attendance at church I was fortunate to meet some wonderful women who are now my blessed friends. During our intimate bible studies we decided to expand our horizon's and stretch out our giving arms & hearts to those in need....well, you could imagine my excitement when the population group we chose were women in need; particularly pregnant women. Our ministry has many dreams that expand many realms of women in need but I am happy to already feel I have a niche in our dream. I am grateful that my job as a stay-at-home mom, and my professional experience as a maternal child nurse, well equips me to find some time and experience that I can share with the women we serve. In our recent CCM retreat, we explored our thoughts on what we felt our spiritual gifts were. I felt strongly, by the feedback I have been given in life, that my gifts are more vague and broad but serve a very specific need: I feel I am patient, compassionate, organized, and happy to be a worker bee. I am not a leader, although I can take the reigns if absolutely needed, but it is not my place of comfort. I look forward to seeing where God takes me and our ministry and am happy to serve as CCM's Communications Director. I thank all those who have taken the time to read about our dream and I pray that God blesses each and every one of us with the wisdom to know our calling and follow our God given dreams. God Bless!

Introducing our Leadership Team

Each week I will feature a bio from a member of our Leadership Team. These ladies make Cypress Calling Ministries what it is today. We appreciate each and everyone of them for committing their time to this ministry. I hope you enjoy reading about all of them they are an amazing group of women.

Executive Director, Jennifer Simpson:

As a small child, my mother worried I was pathologically shy. I would attach myself to her leg and would not dare go to anyone. Boy, have I come a long way. This past spring, I helped start a non-profit ministry with some girlfriends from my old church. Had you asked me a year earlier if I would be starting a ministry I would have said NO WAY! But, the drive to start something doing God's work was so strong, I could NOT ignore it. By summertime, I found myself in the Executive Director position and as we approach the 1st year anniversary of the ministry, the future of Cypress Calling seems so real! It's not that I didn't expect great things doing God's work, I guess I just didn't expect to be one of the ones leading it. I have a husband who is gone more than he is home and a two year old who is very demanding of my time, but yet I have found amazing balance of all these responsibilities and find myself yearning to spend time working on the ministry.
I am a leader by nature and seem very self assured, but am always looking for affirmation and appreciation. I think sometimes people take my leadership qualities for granted and don't give me feedback I feel I need and then I become overwhelmed and want to pull away. Patience and encouragement are definitely not my spiritual gifts, but I am working on that. Over the year, we have found a small group with a true heart for Cypress Calling and that is what drives me to continue leading. I never would have thought I would be working with women in crisis pregnancies because I have the opposite problem: I struggle getting pregnant. But, obviously God has put me in the right place because I love working with the women. I think my heart is working with women in general. I like to lead them closer to God. I know if CCM expands to helping women in other areas, I will probably like it just as much. I think leading the ministry also is my creative outlet. There is a lot of opportunity to be creative when planning events. Sometimes it is a challenge, but I have always welcomed challenges.
Back in college I knew teaching elementary was just a stepping stone. I had no idea what it would lead me to. I cannot wait to see where my path leads me.

Cypress Calling Retreat

Ahhhh…there is nothing like taking a bunch of girls away from their families (and their responsibilities!) into the beautiful countryside to do a little of God’s work. You see a more relaxed disposition take over their bodies and the giggles start to erupt at any little thing. But, we had good reasons for escaping our families and retreating into the beautiful Texas Hill Country. On February 6-8, six girls packed their trucks and headed to a beautiful country home to plan for Cypress Calling Ministries future.
We covered everything from how to improve our wonderful baby showers to where we see ourselves in 2016! It was simply amazing to see how each girl sees CCM in the future. We had team building exercises, icebreakers, and devotions. We even took some time to step outside and enjoy the beautiful scenery surrounding us. Cows crossed the gravel road in front of our country home and the sweet sounds of cows’ moos filled the air.
Our retreat started with a brainstorming session. We discussed the good, the bad, and the ugly of our baby showers. I happy to report the good outweighed the ugly substantially. Then we wrote where we saw CCM next year, in 3 years, and in 5-10 years. Most of us were on the same page as far as where we will be next year, but we were all over the place when it came to the distant future. We spent a good deal of time on Saturday going through everyone’s vision and uniting on one vision. CCM will have the same events next year, but will work on adding a new venue in 2010 and 2011. We have changed our motto from helping mothers in need to helping women in need. We will look into helping battered women or maybe even women who have chosen adoption. Also, we worked very hard on setting goals for our volunteers and future fundraisers. We pledged to double our number of volunteers over the next 2 years and we will work toward a $10,000 bank balance. Our large fundraiser for this year will be our Summer Salad Social with a silent auction. Our main silent auction items will be themed baskets such as a relaxation basket, a summer fun basket, etc. Of course, if you would like to donate a themed basket, let us know!
We ended the weekend by filling out the 2009 calendar and putting our names under each area of ministry that we wanted to help with. This year we will have 4 baby showers and 2 large Christmas in July showers where we will give each girl a pack and play and our basket. We are still working on being able to FILL the pack and plays. We also will be implementing a mentoring program that will start with a material assistance meeting where we help the girls understand what they need, as opposed to what they want, for their babies. Then we will shower them with our signature baby baskets and baby showers. We will continue to mentor them through the celebration of the baby’s birth (Sip & Sees: Sip Coffee and See the baby) and then we will follow up through the first year. I am so excited to see where God will take this mentoring program.
The weekend retreat was exactly what each of us needed. Not only did we truly enjoy ourselves, we honored God by planning to serve His people. We agreed to do the retreat annually at the country home.

Your sister in christ, Jenn Simpson

Bunco 4 Babies

Wow, what a night! CCM hosted their first ever Bunco 4 Babies this past Friday! Instead of the $5 dollar entrance fee to play, we asked each person to bring $10 worth of baby items to donate to CCM. Two community restaurants (Chili's & EJs Pizzeria) donated gift cards that we were able to use as prizes. In fact, EJ's donated FIVE prizes!
We had 10 ladies come and had a great night. We were able to collect a basket full of goodies for our signature baskets. We already have plans for another Bunco night at the end of February. We will also be reaching out to other Bunco groups to see if they will consider helping out with this great cause once or twice a year. So, if you know of a Bunco group around you, please let us know so we can get in touch with them.

As I turned around to go back into the main office of The Source to use the restroom, I saw a familiar face. I did not expect to see someone I knew, but I realized God had placed her there for me to talk to. I cannot remember her name, but distinctly remember showering her at the northeast center. She stood out to me because she had brought her newborn with her to the shower and she had the baby with her again today. My first thought was wow, why is she here again-I hope everything is OK. I walked up to her and asked her if she remembered me. The puzzled look on her face clued me into the fact that she knew me, but could not recall how. I told her my name and that I was from Cypress Calling. She very quickly remembered me and then said the most amazing things to me. She told me that she loves the basket we gave her and she will keep it forever. She also told me that one day when her daughter gets her own room, she was going to use all of the stuff in the basket to decorate with. Of course I gobbled up the compliments and knew that we were truly doing God’s work. Then as we talked a little more about why I was there, she touched my hand and said, “Thank you for the bible. I only had a Spanish version and sometimes I need to look things up in the English version.” I felt my knees go weak and goose bumps race up my body as I truly understood how we had touched this woman and her baby. I could have walked away feeling a million pounds lighter and let the conversation end there, but I stopped and obeyed the Holy Spirit’s gentle nudge and asked how she was really doing. I knew better than to just take the compliments and run. I knew that CCM was founded upon the idea of mentoring and I needed to listen to God and do it right then and there. She told me it was hard. She was at The Source for more clothes. She mentioned that the baby’s father sometimes watched the baby, so she had to stop nursing. I could sense the tiredness and stress in her voice. I asked her if there was anything we could do and she said there was not. I told her a little more about what our plan was for 2009 and to please let The Source know what she needed and we could help fill that need. She congratulated me and the ministry and the conversation ended there. Can you imagine that? She congratulated me. Wow, I believe it should be the other way around. It truly was a wonderful experience. It made all the hard work, personal sacrifices, and constant worry worthwhile. Thank you God for putting her there to talk to me today.