The launch of "Conduit Challenges"

I am blessed….but challenged

For 12 years and 8 months I have been blessed to hear needs, to be a trusted set of ears that have become the humble receivers to painful stories of struggle. A blessing? Yes, because solutions, resolve, healing can only happen from the vulnerability of saying out loud what weighs us down inside.

For 12 years and 8 months I have been doubly blessed to gently carry those needs to an assortment of compassionate, non-judgmental “do-gooders” who are able to make possible what I am too small to do on my own.

For 12 years and 8 months I have been blessed beyond words can express to be a conduit between spirit breaking “life-blows” and unconditional, “spirit-lifting” blessings.

I have found this blessed life to be mine because I have been called to move throughout this corner of the world alongside of an army of walking angels who understand that “life-blows” are non-transferable, unexpected, “thief in the night” spirit and heart breaking situations that NO ONE is exonerated from. In a millisecond one who can help can become one who needs help. You WILL get more than you can handle, but my belief is that chapter of your life is when God puts people around you to help you walk through and arrive on the other side of the “life-blow” with the renewed strength and ability to extend your hand, ear, a hug to another.

“If one person falls, the other can reach out and help. But someone who falls alone is in real trouble. A person standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand back-to-back and conquer.” ~ Ecc 4:10,12

I’ve seen some incredible “miracles” happen in 12 years and 8 months and I am setting myself in a position to witness many more. I am going to be communicating needs that I know can be met but are beyond my skillset, direct connections, financial abilities, understanding or experience, or simply put it is not a need for me to meet, it is a need that I was meant to hear and to pass forward so that you can feel God move you to help meet it.

The donated coat for an 8th grader that was in a bag of clothing was EXACTLY the coat she had wanted so badly but was unaffordable for mom to purchase.

The prom dress that made a young friend in a struggling home feel like the princess that she is. Yes, true beauty comes from inside but it is hard to feel on such a special day when the “rest of the world” focuses on the outside.

The job offered to the newly titled “single” mom, who had survived abuse, abandonment, and financial loss but simply needed a chance to support herself and her child.

The apartment secured for the family who lost everything, and went from broken to blessed because one had the ability to offer them the gift of hope and a home.

The bedroom set offered that filled the bedroom of a young mother who set up her very first home for her and her two young children.

The donation of funds that assisted with rent that they were short on due to missed days of work sitting in the hospital with a very sick child.

The Christmas Dinner prepared and delivered to the door of a family who were trying their best to get through a most painful first holiday without their loved one.

I could go on and on and on….

But….

I know fewer words might produce more interest (so I’ve heard).

In this 12th year and 9th month I have decided I can, we can, do more if I open myself up to listen more, communicate purposefully, and offer forth the opportunity to make more ripples, move more mountains and watch God work through countless hearts right here, right now.

“Conduit Challenges”

Those are what I will be sharing when I am trusted with a situation that is beyond what a hug and a green tea can heal.

Conduit Challenges are the opportunity for us to work together to help someone help themselves, to help lift up one who has fallen, one that has lost hope because they cannot see beyond the darkness of the current storm.

I am simply the conduit between the need and those who can meet the need. Until I offer forward the need, the generous, proactive and compassionate hearts that are being called to move to action cannot meet it. “Two can stand back to back and conquer”. Together we can conquer some “conduit challenges” and extend our hands to those who have been knocked to the mat with “life-blows”.

There is no contract, no commitment, no demands or expectations. If you read a need, see someone who is struggling, hear of a hardship that we can assist with let’s be the support system that helps someone walk through what is more than “they” can handle, but not more than “two” can conquer.

“Let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.” ~ Gal 6:9

‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’ ~ Matt 25:40

Conduit Challenges to be shared via “Terri O’Neill-Borders” and “Hope and Friendship Ministries” Foundation Facebook pages, and via Terri’s “Lemont Patch” posts.

Email terri@hopeandfriendshipfoundation.com to be on the Hope and Friendship email updates/outreach notices.

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