The Strength of Thanks

"Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus."
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

An Example of Thanksgiving
In early September, a group of our men gathered around their table for a meal before Wednesday night Bible study. One of our pastors took a moment to snap a picture. He went on to describe how laughter and encouragement filled the room. Prayer and praise followed all through the course of the meal. It reminded me of what a true thanksgiving should be. Not what is on the table but the hearts that surround it.

We got to celebrate our men’s program Alumni Dinner a few days after that, and we realized how grateful we should be that God has given us a generational blessing of guys coming out of homelessness into places. These Men are finding their calling and being found by God for His purpose and Kingdom!

Overflowing Gratitude
The blessing didn’t stop there as Pastor John was picking up supplies last week, he saw an old friend named Jay we had helped in our day program a couple of years ago. He was so happy to see Pastor that he asked for a picture and shared how well he was now doing since he was homeless and being helped by Strong Life. He is now in a home that he said was filled with love and food. He has transportation and a community where he finds support. This reminded us that we don’t hear these stories from the homeless community nearly enough.

The past 2 weeks have been incredible. We have seen ten folks come out of homelessness into homes. We praise God that we were able to journey with them and help connect them to agencies to help make this happen. We encouraged and proclaimed hope to these folks as housing seemed so bleak for many who had been waiting for months or even years. There were very few homeless finding homes earlier this year and then suddenly ten of our friends now have housing!

 This turn of events has reminded us of our mission to help the homeless find their way home in every manner possible. We proclaim hope through Jesus and journey with people every step we can to see these moments of thanksgiving come. We give thanks to God for making it possible. It is an amazing thing to hear a story of a changed life, but we are incredibly grateful we get to see it!
 
We encourage you to gather around the table and share your heart with those that matter most and give thanks to the One that has the strength to bring hearts home.