“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of Mine, you did for Me." Matthew 25:40
When it comes to home renovations, are you a visionary or do you prefer to trust an expert? Two years ago, when we decided to renovate the first floor of our house to create a home office, I had no idea where or how to start. However, one of my dearest friends has been blessed with the gift of design, and I am convinced that HGTV flows through her veins! Within a blink of an eye, she was knocking down walls, removing closets, sealing up doorways and painting the fireplace white! Everything that she did I absolutely LOVED, but I never had the creative design vision that she did. So before I hung or purchased anything, I always checked with Chris to see if it fit into her plan.
So imagine my surprise when my husband randomly jumped in and added to the decor by nailing something to a wall!
Over the summer, I had been gifted with a beautiful wooden cross and I was just trying to dig deep into my inner Joanna Gaines to find the best location for it to be hung. However, one day when I came home from work, I found it nailed to the wall of our garage, right next to the steps that lead in and out of our house. Curious for the reason behind the selected destination, Ken gave me the following explanation:
“I hung it there because I realized that cross would be the last thing that we will see each time that we leave the house. I thought it would be a great reminder that wherever we go, Jesus is going with us, and we need to remember our mission."
After hearing that explanation, I could not argue with that creative inspiration!
Next Friday, our students will have another amazing opportunity to remember our mission and share His love with others during our 14th Annual Turkey Trot.
As followers of Jesus, our hearts break for those whose lives have been traumatized by these hurricanes. With Christmas only eight weeks away, we know that many families will still be struggling on December 25th. However, we know that “My God Can Bring the Hope of Christmas to Those who are Hurting!” As a result, the focus of this year’s 14th Annual St. Matthew Turkey Trot will provide gift cards to children/families who were affected by Hurricanes Helene and Milton to assist with their Christmas celebrations.
I have been in contact with the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod District Offices in Florida and the Southeast District that oversees the states of North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee. Both districts are heavily involved with helping those affected by the hurricanes and were thrilled to hear of our plan to raise funds for Christmas gift cards. In addition, both Districts agreed to help in the distribution of these gift cards to needy families, as well as Christmas cards made by our students that will contain messages of Godly encouragement.
For the past fourteen years, St. Matthew Lutheran School has hosted an annual "Turkey Trot" during the season of Thanksgiving as an avenue for students to provide assistance to a critical circumstance or need. Continuing with this year's school theme, our Student Council will host our 14th Annual St. Matthew Lutheran School Turkey Trot on Friday, November 15th, entitled, "My God Can Bring the Hope of Christmas to Those who are Hurting". All funds raised by this endeavor will purchase gift cards for hurricane victims to use to celebrate Christmas.
Students in Preschool through Grade 8 are encouraged to collect pledges from family and friends for the number of laps or time that they will run during the Trot. Then, on November 15th, all students will run (trot) around our school soccer field during a designated time of the school day. (Preschool through Grade 4 will “trot” from 9:30 - 10:00 a.m. and Grades 5 - 8 will “trot” from 10:15 - 10:45 a.m.)
We are looking forward to sharing the hope and joy of Christmas with hurricane victims. To begin this process, students can start by collecting pledges. Pledge sheets were sent home last week. To obtain a new pledge sheet, please have your student stop by the school office.
As a special bonus, anyone raising over $50 will receive a free T-shirt with our "My God Can Bring the Hope of Christmas to Those who are Hurting" logo. (Please note that these shirts will be delivered two weeks after the Turkey Trot.) We ask that students please bring their completed pledge sheets and collected funds to school on Friday, November 15th. In addition, those students who run the most laps in each class and the student that earns the most money will have fun decorating a Student Council member during the concluding ceremony. What does this mean? Stay tuned for details, but it may involve something VERY messy!
As we strive to "Bring the Hope of Christmas to Those who are Hurting", we are asking God to help us accomplish great things in His name. We look forward to seeing how God will bless this effort.
In His Love,
Mrs. Palka