Make an Impact Monday: Rays of Sunshine!

Today's Make an Impact Monday organization is so so needed right now. Rays of Sunshine is an organization based in Texas that helps children all over get the care they need so that the children can focus more on academics.

This is their vision statement.

A world where all students’ physiological needs are met first. Rays of Sunshine understands the important role that physiological needs such as food, clothes, shoes, and proper supplies play in a student’s livelihood. If these vital needs are not met first then the student’s academic success rate diminishes dramatically.

As a former educator for over 15 years, I know how much this is needed. I have had students come in with rags for clothing, no coat, poor hygiene, and definitely a lack of school supplies. Many people shake their heads at the parents, but I will tell you that I have met many families who are doing their best to make ends meet and still struggle at the poverty line. As a teacher I want to help these children learn and succeed at school, but until their needs for food, clothing, shelter, and love are met, they cannot even begin to concentrate on or understand the material being taught. That's why Rays of Sunshine is so important. This organization is striving to meet the basic needs of students so that they can concentrate and be successful in school.

And think about this: two years ago teachers could maybe bring in extra snacks or materials for their students. I know I used to do that all of the time. I tried to meet as many needs as I could, but it wasn't always feasible. The Covid hit and students were sent home to learn. Now these children do not have in person contact with teachers who might be able to help them. And with the way things are going, they may not have in person contact with teachers for very long this year. It is so awesome that Rays of Sunshine will be able to go places and serve people that teachers and schools can't. Students being isolated from teachers and peers has taken an unfortunate toll in all areas of their life. Their is a spirit of defeat and loneliness. Rays of Sunshine help children feel seen, loved, and provided for by meeting students' needs. Please consider supporting this amazing organization as it strives to meet students' needs and help them achieve.

You can visit their website here.

You can also donate directly to Rays of Sunshine through Venmo and Paypal. Venmo- @RaysofSunshine

Paypal- raysofsunshine@gmail.com

Thanks for your support!

Now go make an impact!

<3 Heather

Make an Impact Monday: Deaf Heartbeat!

Happy Monday!! I am so excited to share today's nonprofit with you! My beautiful friend, Selina, started this organization out of reasons that are deeply personal. From the burden on her heart has come an amazing organization that has caught like wildfire and has helped families all over the United States. This is Selina's story.

Selina:

90 to 95 percent of deaf children are born to hearing parents who often don't know sign language and struggle to communicate with their own child. My family was one of those statistics.

My sister, Roxanne, was diagnosed as Deaf at the age of 2. Our mother and father, who are both Hearing, did not pursue American Sign Language. We developed our own “Home Sign Language” to communicate. As an adult, I (Selina) knew this was no longer acceptable. I took it upon myself to take ASL (American Sign Language) classes and dive into Deaf Culture. The relationship between my sister and I flourished. We no longer had a language barrier. Finally, we could joke, reminisce, and fully understand each other. Our desire is to unite families like ours in this same way.

Deaf Heartbeat aims to bridge the gap between the Hearing and the Deaf and to raise Deaf awareness.

We teach anyone who wants to learn American Sign Language. Our thought is, the more people that learn ASL, the easier the world will be for the Deaf. We began as a small class of about 4 people at our church and have grown to a nonprofit Ministry with an online presence of over 4,000. We offer free Facebook Live Classes weekly and song tutorials. The Deaf Heartbeat Team also enjoys supporting like-minded nonprofits and teaching at events. If you would like to know more please visit our website at www.deafheartbeat.com and the Deaf Heartbeat ASL Facebook page.

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Thank you, Selina, for your heart to help families all over the world communicate with their children. When I think of Roxanne growing up and not being able to communicate with her family, my heart hurts. Selina had such a burden on her heart for her sister and it has turned into an amazing ministry. In full transparency, before I met Selina, I did not think about deaf people very often. Selina's story has pricked my heart and inspired me to help any way I can. I honestly feel that deaf people and culture have been overlooked, ignored for too long. Maybe not everywhere, but I know that where I grew up, there was not any focus on communicating with deaf people at all. Schools offered Spanish, French, and German, but no sign language course. Why? Whether or not it was the intention of schools and policymakers, it makes me feel like deaf people were not even considered when it comes to language courses. What kind of message is being sent to deaf people about their value whether intentional or not? However, sign language classes are now being offered in schools as a language credit, which is progress. Just think about it. When a deaf person has to go to the doctor, hospital, church, court, basically anywhere and has to try to communicate with people who likely do not know sign language, how can they receive the quality care or service they need? According to statistics, only 1% of people actually know how to sign. Just imagine how that affects the deaf community. This is why Deaf Heartbeat is so important. Selina is trying to raise awareness and teach people to sign so that more and more people will be able to communicate with the deaf. She offers free classes, hosts events to raise awareness, and has served as an interpreter. As Selina indicated, she has gone from teaching a small few to over 4,000 people. In order for her to keep growing, she needs your support. Please check out her website and see how you can help; donate if you are able. Thank you so much for getting behind this cause.

Deaf Heartbeat Website

The Power of our Words on the Church

This beautiful church to my left is the church that my husband and I were married in over 18 years ago. His brother was married there two years before we were and his parents were married in the same church decades earlier. You can imagine how meaningful this church is to us and the heartache we must have felt a few weeks ago when developers came and tore down this beautiful, historical place of worship and began building condominiums instead. As devastated as we are about this personal injustice, I was reminded how much damage we can do to the church ourselves with just the words we speak.

Raise your hand if you have been hurt by someone in the church. Raise your hand if you told a small number of other people how you have been hurt by the church. Raise your hand if you told anyone who would listen about your frustrations with the church.

I am right there with you. I have been hurt by people in the church and I have shared my frustrations with people. A lot of people. This was back when I was a younger Christian and I had no idea how much damage I was causing the church. It took me many years to understand how powerful my words are when it comes to tearing down the church body or raising it up. We could always build another physical church with bricks, but to undo the damage to the church caused by careless words is almost impossible.

When my husband and I were attending our first church as a married couple, we made so many friendships and were deeply connected to the church body. Then the lead pastor left and we became sheep without a shepherd. It didn't take long for the church members to start getting frustrated, quarreling with one another, and seeking their own interests instead of the interests of the church as a whole. What a sorry bunch we were. Nobody was acting like Jesus much less leading others to Jesus during that time. Instead of sticking it out and helping the church get back on track, we left. We easily abandoned our church with the mentality that we would just go find another one. Oh how ignorant we were. Whenever we would visit another church and they would ask us where we had been attending, we would freely share our story and our

frustrations with the church we had left. Soon that church got a bad reputation and people were leaving in droves. Instead of bringing people into the body of Christ, we were pushing people away. Not because our former church was teaching false doctrine or was guilty of some gross misconduct, but because we didn't have a pastor, people were focused on themselves, and we were impatient people. We foolishly and arrogantly thought we could just plug in somewhere else and get just as connected as we were at our former church. If that's you, just hear me out.

We church hopped... and hopped... and hopped. I think the longest we ever stayed in a church was two years. We were church consumers... always in it for what we could get out of it. Was it "right" for us? Did they have the best music, the best kids' programs, the best coffee? Ya'll... that is not what church is about. Notice I didn't say anything about the church being Scripturally sound not did I identify ways that I could plug in and serve others at church... Nope.. we were in it for us, like the church owed us something. Enjoying a church where your kids have state-of-the-art technology (I've been to a church with a full-size carousel in the children's wing) , that has good music, and serves good coffee is not a bad thing, but it is not what church is about. This type of mentality is "us driven". Remember, the church is God's house, a house of worship. It's not about what we get out of it, it is what we give to Him: worship. It's not us centered; it is Him centered. When we are "us" centered, we will aways end up disappointed because no church is ever perfect and neither are the people in it. At some point not every single part of the church is going to be lovely. It gets messy and hard because it is filled with broken people. So what do you do when the church doesn't meet your expectations and gets difficult?

Leave? We did. Church after church after church. We learned lots of lessons on the way. It took us at least 10 years to get deeply connected again at a church and we were so happy to finally have found a church home. Then the lead pastor left.. Would we leave this time? Nope. We were in it for the long haul. We did not want to go through another 10 year journey to find a church ever again. While our church was looking for a new lead pastor, I read the Bible study, "We Over Me" by Whitney Capps. I think it should be required reading for every church member,

As the title suggests, this study encourages Christians to stop buying into the consumer mindset in churches. To put "we" , the mission of the church over "me." The church's mission is to lead people to Christ. When we make it about music or amenities that a church does or does not have, we are missing the point. The church is made up of sinful, broken people, so being hurt by someone in church is inevitable. And it's okay to want to talk about that with someone. Just not everyone. An accountability partner or a spiritually mature Christian friend who can pray for you. Not the entire women's group or the baseball moms or the book club friends, Because here is what happens. When you complain about someone in the church, someone on staff, or you complain about something in the church (programs or lack thereof) you are tearing down the whole church. Even when you are just complaining about part of it. We are all part of the same body of Christ. so when you speak ill of one part of the church, the entire church of Christ suffers. When you tear down the whole church, you push people away from Jesus, not draw them closer. Who wants to go to church or become a Christian when you seem to hate it so much? Instead of speaking how much you dislike someone or something about the church, ask how you can help the church be these best it can be and then act on that. Resolve conflict in the church privately and biblically, not out of your emotions. Your words have the power to tear down the body of Christ or build it up. Use your words to further the kingdom, not destroy it. Love you my kingdom builders!

<3 Heather