Operation Support Sufficient Grace...And a Contest from MckMama

If you are stopping by from MckMama's blog, welcome. She is such a wonderful gift to so many of us, as you well know. And, her generous heart is evident once again. She has chosen to support Sufficient Grace Ministries for Women and we are so blessed...blessed beyond words. Right now, until midnight tonight, she is hosting a contest. She is giving $1 for every comment on her post from now until midnight tonight!!!! So get over there and comment! And...thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone who has supported our ministry and to MckMama for doing this...and just for being the beautiful woman and mother of many small children that God created her to be! Love her!!!

For those of you just stopping by for the first time, please click here to read about our sweet Faith, Grace, and Thomas. And, below is a little information about our ministry and some upcoming fundraiser events.

The following is a from a previous post, but gives a good overview of our ministry:


This morning my dear friend Dawn Marshall, a NILMDTS Area Coordinator and owner of Marshall Photography, donated her morning to taking some photos of our ministry products and some new profile shots of me for our brochures and website. Dawn has such a beautiful heart and is so willing to serve the Lord with her gifts. I am so grateful for her support of our ministry and for the amazing work she does as a NILMDTS photographer for bereaved parents. While I'm not a huge fan of getting my picture taken, (especially without having my husband and kids to hide behind!) she did a great job on the pictures! Thank you, sweet friend.




She took the above picture of our Comfort Bear and the Dreams of You Memory Book, which turned out lovely. I am so glad to finally have a picture of the Dreams of You Book that doesn't have a glare covering the letters! If you are not familiar with this part of our ministry, I just wanted to share a little about what we offer to grieving families. The Dreams of You Memory Book was a labor of love which began eight years after we lost our Faith and Grace and six years after Thomas' passing. My friend Tracy lost her baby, Kelly (my namesake) in 2003. I searched for a memory book suitable to give her to honor Kelly's short life. And nothing seemed adequate. There was a need for a book that parents could use to keep their memories and to record the dreams they had for their children. I started out praying and crying at my computer and cutting and pasting (literally) in a scrapbook fashion. Then, I went back to "simplify" (as Becki always says) and designed all the pages to be printed from the computer. But there was still a lot of hole punching and cutting as I put the books together by hand. Some of the original books looked like this:

As we began getting orders for the books, it became apparent that more "simplification" was in order. Back to the drawing board. More tears and prayers, as we worked to redesign the books. Our oldest son, Timothy, drew a little replica of the Comfort Bear for the cover with our sweet little Faith's reduced footprint in the heart of the Bear. Our baby girl's footprints truly are on every Dreams of You Memory Book that is given! We hired Shipman Advertising to professionally print our Dreams of You Memory Books, and after hours at the computer and more hours as the great folks at Shipman graciously made all the needed changes, we have the beautiful books that we offer today. Hundreds of families have been blessed with this book, which truly honors the life of these cherished babies and allows parents to have a beautiful, lasting, tangible memory to hold the lifetime of dreams they hold in their hearts.

The Comfort Bear you see next to the book was born from the heart of a grieving grandmother. A grandmother who ached for her little granddaughters...who would have showered them with all things pink and lace and full of glorious girliness! A grandmother who ached for her grandson...she would have attended every baseball game and listened to every dilemma. She was also a mother who ached as she watched her only daughter grieve with empty arms and a broken heart. So, that grandmother decided to make something as a small offering of comfort to fill the empty, aching arms of other grieving moms as they were wheeled out of the hospital to enter a world without their babies. She poured her heart into making her Comfort Bears, filling each with love and prayers, until she grew too ill to continue. She worked until about a month before she lost her battle with cancer and gained all of Heaven's glory where she would spend eternity with her arms full of the babies for whom my arms still ache. That Grandma was my mom, Kathy Rutter, a woman who could make the world around her beautiful with the things she made with her own hands. Today her Comfort Bears are still made with a Grandmother's love and prayers, as the Helping Hands Ministry works to sew each one. Her legacy and the legacy of Faith, Grace, and Thomas continues.

Mom's Bears


In case you are wondering, we are a 501 (c)3 non-profit organization. We are supported through donations from individuals, churches, organizations, and hospitals who give a suggested donation to offer our products to their patients. We do not require bereaved parents to pay for our products or services. As we are growing, and offering more products and services...donations from our supporters are much appreciated. God is always faithful to provide, and we stand in awe of His faithfulness and the generosity of His people. Our needs are growing; and we held our first fundraiser last summer. We will be holding another golf outing this summer and we are prayerfully considering other fundraising efforts. While that is not my favorite part of serving in ministry, it is necessary. If you feel led to donate to support our ministry, you can click the donate button on our sidebar. Your donations are 100% tax deductible. Please prayerfully consider supporting our efforts to reach out to more grieving families.

The following new additions are fairly limited and mostly offered locally at this time. The beautiful burial gowns, created and generously donated by Cindy Roller, come in a variety of sizes that would fit a twelve inch preemie to a full-term baby. And the beautiful bracelets for mother and baby are made by Marlene Carpenter, who makes gorgeous Creations from the Heart. Words cannot express my gratefulness to these women and so many others who donate their time and gifts to bless the broken- hearted in such a generous and selfless way. Thank you Jesus for your provision...and thank you to every willing heart for all you give to make this happen.



And...please prayerfully consider supporting some of our upcoming fundraisers.While we actually do not focus a great deal on fundraising and it's my least favorite part of ministry, we are hosting several events during the summer months. I work full-time with special needs children at our local school, so summer is the time to pack it in. We trust the Lord, who is always faithful to provide our needs. He is teaching me though, that He often multiplies the blessing when He uses His people to help meet those needs. Our God is faithful and good...and His grace is always sufficient! I sent an email today to many of our supporters with the following information:

Coming Events Summer 2009

Operation Support Sufficient Grace - Taking place in June, July, and August there will be several fundraiser events to support the efforts of Sufficient Grace Ministries.

June
Thirty One Fundraiser - During the month of June, Tammy will be donating 25% of her earnings from her business which sells beautiful and stylish purses, totes, and other personalized products. This is a wonderful Christian organization with quality products. To view the catalog, click here: http://www.mythirtyone.com/Simplify. If you wish to place an order during the month of June, please make sure you list "Sufficient Grace Ministries" under the party information, and 25% of the profits will be donated to Sufficient Grace. For more information about how you can order from Tammy and support Sufficient Grace, please visit our blog: http://sufficientgrace-kelly.blogspot.com . Information coming soon (next week!). You can also email us at: sufficientgraceministries@gmail.com

Ice Cream Social - (Still in the works...not etched in stone!) We would like to have an ice cream social/light luncheon in the month of June. Details coming soon. Check the blog: http://sufficientgrace-kelly.blogspot.com . There will be a free will donation to benefit Sufficient Grace Ministries.


July

Sufficient Grace Ministries Second Annual Golf Outing - July 11, 2009 @ 1:30p.m.
1. Please pray for all details and preparations for this outing. For good weather...and willing hearts to give and participate. Please pray that all who attend would be blessed and that God would be glorified.
2. To register a four person team for the event, please contact Kelly @ sufficientgraceministries@gmail.com . Details will be coming soon on our blog, as well: http://sufficientgrace-kelly.blogspot.com . Teams cost is $200 ($50 per person).
3. If you do not golf, or are not able to attend the event, there are still many ways you can help.
- Sponsor a Hole for $100 or share a hole sponsor for $50.
- Sponsor the Dinner for $250
- A Cart Sponsor or Beverage (non-alcoholic) $150
- A Donation in any amount can be given by clicking on the donate button on this website or mailing a donation.
- Prizes and auction items are welcome as well.

August
Possibly Planning a Ride for Grace Event - a Motorcycle Run to benefit Sufficient Grace Ministries Details coming soon! Check the blog for information: http://sufficientgrace-kelly.blogspot.com.

August 21, 2009 Tim and Kelly (and guests) will be performing at the Corn City Festival at 11:30 a.m.

Thank you so much for stopping by...and may God richly bless you!