In case you missed the original post about the Finding Home program, head over to catch up and even nominate someone you think is a fit. This chest of drawers above as originally seen in this post, was one of my favorite hand-painted pieces. It was chosen to be the first of, hopefully, many gifts to those who need a "hug".
Finding Home is a furniture re-homing program provided by Prodigal Pieces® designed to bless someone who is in need of a special reward for a service they have done or are doing, or are dealing with hardships physically and/or financially by sending them a custom-finished piece of furniture.
BEGINNINGS
With much eager anticipation we began to receive applicants nominated by various people. I knew that choosing a specific person or family would be a extremely hard decision. As the stories of the applicants came through, I would stop and read the submitted story to my family and then we would pray for guidance in our decision. Part of the agreement in the program is to submit a photo of the person to be honored, however, we chose not to look at the photos until after we would make our decision. Once the deadline for applicants was up, we prayerfully considered each applicant. It just so happened that more than one story moved us in such a way that we felt led to reward a triple gift. Yes, THREE families would be getting a piece of furniture delivered to their door. How fantastic is that?! To say I was giddy, nervous, and a bit anxious to contact the first recipient is an understatement. Our first honoree would be receiving the blue chest, and that's when I called up Heather.. She submitted her parent's story of determination despite numerous life-threatening health battles over the years, how they have sacrificially given up much to help others, even animals. They had taken in her grandmother to care for her in her last days of battle with cancer, and even given Heather the care and support she needed in her younger years when she made decisions that impacted her in more ways than one.INTRODUCTION
Funny thing was that when I first called her, I got her voicemail (which is to be expected in the middle of the day and my number is a total stranger.) That gave me a minute to leave a message and eagerly await her return phone call. I nearly jumped when the phone rang back. Heather mentioned she was so excited she had to call her husband first to tell him the good news. So fun! One day of shipping the chest, we all followed JC to his workplace to send it off with a prayer and celebration of great things to come.
We've been shipping furniture for nearly 6 years now and I must say this was one of the most fun shipments ever! We are immensely blessed that JC's employer not only let's us use their equipment and facilities, but that we also are able to make use of their half-price discount for shipping.
You can see him using the shrink-wrap machine to wrap up this giant present. The turntable spins the pallet and wraps it up nice and tight for shipment.
FAMILY FUN
My whole family was so excited to be able to see this dream of ours coming to fruition, and couldn't wait to hear of the chest's delivery to the new family.
Here it is all wrapped up and ready to go. Can you feel the excitement?!
On day of delivery, Heather was kind enough to not only take pictures, but also sent me a beautiful note.
Look at those smiles! Look at what you did! My parents are in love - even the deliveryman is...WOW. Lol! I wanted to pass on a few things to you, as well. I know that God is all around us and I think where he reaches us the most is in the little things. Those things are the easiest to overlook and take for granted and if we're taking time to pay attention to Him in our lives, we hear and see His love on the daily in those little things. That brings me to this...First, this is the very first piece that brought me to your blog and page.
EXCITING
How awesome is that?! She also mentioned how the dogwood flowers I had painted on the front were her late maternal grandmother's favorite flower. Even the style was that of what her paternal grandmother would have loved too. Both memories are seeing revival by this arrival. That there is exactly we are doing this.
PART TWO
The second part of this triple gift was when my son decided to donate his waterfall buffet to a second nominated family. Talk about a proud mama moment.
The chosen honorees are the Bohman military family of four who has a story all their own.
I'll share more on them when they receive their delivery. It's shipment began only days ago is arriving as I type. The anticipation is exciting!
Here it is all wrapped, but without the last fun addition of a USA flag wrap to honor their service to our country. Being that my family also serves, we know how much this means to those that give up so very much.
THIRD FUN
Last, but not least, the third gift of this Finding Home program is a donation by my daughter. Miss S chose to offer her recently finished waterfall dresser to an honoree.
This treasured piece's shipment began a day ago and on its way to Lisa (pictured with her daughter). Her story is one of a woman who has had difficult struggles, but chooses to be a light. More on her story soon too!
Here's her gift en route to the new home. So very exciting!
Maybe you can't ship furniture across country, but I challenge you to make a difference in any way. Could you offer your services and skills to someone in need? Or maybe just be there to lighten their load financially, physically, or mentally. So many suffer or just deserve to have a smile put on their face.
I hope you have enjoyed this triple gift as the launch to our Finding Home program. Do pin and share to spread the word as we hope to do this on a monthly basis and are taking new applicants for next month's honoree. I don't know that we can do another triple gift, but God knows!
Up next, this sweet thrift store find gets a new lease on life. See the new look HERE!
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Also, more projects like this triple gift:
