Faith of a Mustard Seed Outreach

I was sitting on my couch in Arlington, Tennessee, listening to the latest gloom and doom on the 5:00 newscast.  Another person burned out of their home.  I had lost count of how many house/apartment fires there had been since the winter began, but there had been quite a few.  I hadn't lived here through a winter yet, but I thought it seemed to be a lot.  While watching the lady on the news cry because they had lost all their children's Christmas presents in the fire, I decided it was time to stop sitting on the sidelines.  It was time to get in the game.  What on earth was I going to do...I was just one person, I haven't even lived in Tennessee a whole year yet.  I didn't know many people and still didn't know the area.  Excuses I told myself that's all it was.  

After the Christmas holidays and my mother had gone back to Louisiana, Shelley came over. I told her, I want to do something, I'm tired of just sitting around letting other people "fix it".  Shelley said she was all in.  I was stunned.  We had been friends for a few months, but my idea was going to be huge.  It wasn't just going to be a weekend, feel good thing.  It would expand all over Tennessee and eventually to other states.  She didn't care, she was in.  100%, all the way, as far as it took us.  I was stunned, but thankful I had one person on board.  Faith of a Mustard Seed Outreach was born that night....In my living room.  

We started small....Just a mission statement and a Facebook page.  We launched the page January 3, 2012.  We figured in a month's time we would have 50 fans and most of those would be friends and family.  Fast forward, not even three weeks and we have closed files on three families, have donations scattered between 3 houses and more donors than we can count.  God has overwhelmed us with over 325 "fans".  We have grown very quickly, quicker than we have ever expected.  God continues to grow our Outreach far bigger than the dreams we were talking about on my couch that cold December night.  I've always heard if you want to hear God laugh, tell Him YOUR plans.....I'll bet He's rolling on the streets of heaven laughing at what the faith of a mustard seed can accomplish.