I have a friend who I wanted to feature this week, or rather, I wanted to feature her vision, her dream, of helping children who need a loving home. Melissa J. (Missie) actually founded MamaBuzz and stepped down from it when she decided to step alongside her husband, helping him with his business, putting her focus more on her family. Since then, God has really worked in her family’s life, and she and her husband just really have a renewed vision for a dream that God has set before them. However, they need our prayers, so that is why I’m telling you about their vision today.When Missie was a teenager is when God actually implanted this vision within her heart. At first, it was about troubled teens, but now God has started a change within the vision, a dream of opening up their home to children with all kinds of disabilities, diseases, etc. Instead of telling you about the dream myself, I’d love for you to head over to Missie’s blog, Hidden Valley Simplicity, and read her exact words. Through reading her story, I’m hoping that you’ll begin to see Missie and Chuck’s desire to serve the Lord through the ministry of The Meadows. I hope that your heart’s desire will be to join with them as prayer partners. First of all, though, catch the vision:

The Beginning of Fulfillment

What Looked Like an Open Door

If you are a person who could talk to Missie and Chuck or give them helpful advice….maybe you’ve had experience in this field of work and ministry….be sure to contact her through her blog, Hidden Valley Simplicity. I know she’d love to hear from you! Thanks so much for making your light shine!

As parents there are, God forbid, times when our children are sick and need more attention than what they can get at home.  Sometimes children have to be hospitalized, and when they do, Ronald McDonald House is a great resource and support for families going through an illness with a child, especially when it comes to finding a place to stay so far away from home.  My nephew Trey stays at a Ronald McDonald House in Manhattan every time he goes back for scans.  I know it’s been a wonderful way for their family to connect with other parents and families going through similar things and to participate in different projects and events with the kids, just to help get their minds off of the illness, even if just for a little bit.

Ronald McDonald House Charities are one way that you can shine your light to other families who just need all of the encouragement and support that they can get, particularly when going through a dark valley in their lives, such as a diagnosis of neuroblastoma or leukemia.  There are ways to volunteer at your local Ronald McDonald House or even donate.

McDonald’s sent me the following information on a way that you and your family can help, as well….

Right now McDonald’s U.S. restaurants are donating proceeds from Happy Meal and Mighty Kids Meal sales to Ronald McDonald House Charities (RMHC). This ongoing donation will help benefit more than 11,000 sick and critically ill children and their families each day. As part of the fundraiser, McDonald’s has brought the new RMHC fundraiser to life online through a sharable “Make Family Time Happy Time” online application, where families are encouraged to pledge minutes of “happy time” together and share their own creative activities with other families via McDonald’s Facebook page or their personal blogs. Here’s how to get involved:

• Visit McDonald’s Facebook page to download the application and participate in the campaign.
• You can select from an existing family time activity provided on the application, or you can submit your own tip and pledge to help RMHC.
• McDonald’s will donate one penny to RMHC for each minute pledged, with a goal of reaching 1 million minutes and $10,000 to use towards family time activities for RMHC guests.

This is a fun, interactive way to get involved, especially if you have young children….I know that it’s not as easy to actually volunteer somewhere when you have littles, but that’s ok.  There are plenty of other ways that you can help and encourage others.  One more way that you can help, is to vote for RMHC on their Members Project.  This could help them to win $200,000 towards helping even more families who are in need.  You can follow RMHC on Facebook and @RMHC on Twitter.

Don’t forget to shine your light!

(Note:  I am working towards making Shine Your Light focused more heavily on the fight against human trafficking.  If you know of organizations or links that might be helpful, I would love to know about them.  Thanks for reading!)

Jamie is a 7 year old little girl with a vision, a vision to help other kids with epilepsy to know that they are not alone.  Two years ago, Jamie and her family discovered, after a seizure at 5:30 in the morning, that she had epilepsy.  What a scary time this was for Jamie and her family.  When Jamie was visited in the hospital and given gifts and snacks, the idea sprang to life, and Angels4Epilepsy was begun.Angels4Epilepsy is Jamie’s project, in which she aims to help other kids with epilepsy to feel more at home when they stay in the hospital.  From packing up gift bags to delivering those gift bags, filled with all kinds of goodies, Jamie stays busy comforting those who are going through the same thing she’s going through.  Angels4Epilepsy aims to comfort children suffering from epilepsy, but it also aims to educate the community about this condition.  Each major holiday will find Jamie delivering the gift bags to the local children’s hospital, but she also wants other children to get involved too.You can help!  You can vote for Jamie’s project, Angels4Epilepsy on the Pepsi Refresh Project.  If she wins, she could gain $5,000 towards her project, which could help her to gain non-profit status/incorporation, as well as go towards supplies for the gift bags.   So head on over, and use your vote to make a 7 year old’s dreams of helping other children to come alive!  Shine your light!

Sara Groves is one singer who truly inspires me.  After featuring Gabi and Racham Ministries and finding this video once again on her blog, I thought it’d be perfect for SYL.  We can’t forget what we see….we can’t forget the things that we hear….we can’t forget the suffering that is going on all over the world….we must have courage, and we must let the Holy Spirit, even the things that we see….change our hearts.  Shine your light.