We Love The Groves!

God has given us a promise and asked me to share it with you. It’s very specific promise that left me overwhelmed by God’s love and full-on ugly crying in the car on the way to work a couple pf weeks ago.

The Body of Christ is going to take care of our dear friends, Tim and Angela Groves.

The Need:

Let me share with you, from my personal experience, what it’s like to be facing seemingly insurmountable medical bills. Every purchase you make has the potential to trigger anxiety and fear. Every time you buy groceries without a coupon, every time you turn the AC down a single degree to keep from sweating yourselves to sleep, you wonder if you just cut yourself off from a potential treatment that might make a difference. You start stressing about Christmas in April. You want pizza instead of a sandwich for this kids and have to fight off waves of guilt.

The worst part is this: You know you can’t make it on your own - the math just doesn’t work. Yet, you HATE asking for help. You really hate asking for help… again. So… you stop asking. You just cannot burden your friends any more and your anxiety goes through the roof.

As the body of Christ, we should not let that happen.

The Opportunity:

Tim and Angela are selfless givers of time, energy, service, friendship and love. Their lives constantly demonstrate that they value people over things. Their strength and faith through trying times is remarkable and inspirational - but none of that really matters. What matters is that, as believers, we are extensions of the immeasurable riches of God’s grace. Ephesians 2:4-9. Living that is our real opportunity. The fact that obeying God results in helping people we love is an beautiful example of how the body is supposed to work for God’s glory.

The Plan:

I’m asking people reading this to pray about committing to giving monthly donations until the end of 2018. That’s 20 months. There’s a link below. You only have to sign up once and it’s super easy. Every one of us has an amount that we wouldn’t miss. Maybe $20 a month? $50? $100 dollars a month? I hope everybody reading this commits to giving that number. But… what if we each gave just enough to notice? Not enough to hurt or to interrupt other giving, that’s not the point, but just enough to notice - to be reminded each month that we actually are living extensions of God’s amazing grace. I think we’d see a miracle.

Why monthly donations?

1) To exponentially increase the amount of money given without adding any financial burden to those called to give.

2) To relieve Tim and Angela of the constant stresses of wondering where the next payment is going to come from and emotional burden of feeling like they have to ask for help in order to make ends meet.

The Numbers:

$18,000 – That’s the Grove’s out of pocket maximum for 2017 & 2018 ($9K each year). Note: In my personal experience, we hit the out of pocket maxim each year that Debbie received treatment in January, starting each year deeply in the hole.

$14,950 – Amount unaccounted for as of March 2017. This is our goal. A little more than 10% of that has already been committed.

The Bonus:

A day or so before God gave us this promise, I came across Matthew 6:1-4 in my daily reading. In it, Jesus says:“Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them… when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by others… when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you”.I tried to find a site that only took anonymous donations, but there just aren’t any.

So, I’m asking everyone to please choose anonymous when you give. If any names do show up, accidentally, I will change them to anonymous so that no one, not Tim, Angela or anyone else, will ever know about your commitment.This will be a solemn act of worship between you and your heavenly father from whom all grace flows.

The Glory:

Ephesians 3:20–21Believe me, when this need is met, we will shout from the heavens that our God is greater.