A new look to our appliances!

Manna Meals was blessed a couple of weeks ago by having an upright freezer donated! It's an older one... Montgomery Ward... but it works great and I am very thankful! The outside has seen better days so I thought we could have some fun with it and use it for encouragement. This is what our refrigerator and upright freezer now look like...

Gearing up to start again...

I am again planning the start of another year of Manna Meals. This year will look a little different since the schools have changed somewhat. There is now a 4th/5th grade building so this means a choice had to be made... either provide meals for grades DK-3rd grade only or open it up to the 4th/5th grade building as well. After much prayer, I felt that God was telling me to hold off with the extra building for now and just start with the elementary schools again. This means Manna Meals will only be servicing through 3rd grade for now. I am hoping that we will be able to offer the meals to more kids soon. Pray for clarity for me to know if and when to add more grades to the ministry.

God has been working in a huge way again this year! We don't have much money in the checking account to fund this ministry but He doesn't need much to do wonderous things!!! Just to name a few things He's already provided...
1) 189 lbs of Panera bread was purchased for $15.00 (another 30 pounds or so have been purchased since then for another few dollars)
2) an upright freezer has been donated for us to use
3) about 30 cases of peanut butter has been purchased for under $50.00
4) volunteers for sandwich making and meal assembly are in place already
5) I have been given such a peace about this year... God will provide our needs
... and the list goes on and on...

God is good and continues to bless this ministry! Watch for updates as the year progresses!

Girl Scouts Donate More Cookies!

Girl Scout Troop #2976 once again donated cookies for Manna Meals this year! They collected 22 boxes of cookies!!!! They had such a good time collecting donations and delivering the cookies to the church! After the cookies were put away they all sat down for a few minutes and I answered any questions that they had about Manna Meals. This was really cool! I love it when kids ask questions and want to know more about this ministry!

THANKS SO MUCH to all of you girls in troop 2976 and to all who purchased these cookies for us! We appreciate you so much and for your awesome hearts!!!

We would also like to take this opportunity to thank the rest of you who have donated product, money, and/or your time throughout this last school year! We are wrapping it up again this week and are looking forward to next October when we start delivering again. If you are interested in driving the meals to the schools (3-4 PM) or making sandwiches (8:30ish AM), please give Diane a call at 616-283-0878. We would love to have you as part of our team!

Christmas Meals & Gifts Delivered!

I know this is a late post for this but I guess better late than never, right?! Last month we were approached by 2 groups wanting to do something for the Manna Meal kids and their families for Christmas.



One group from GVSU wanted to do a giving tree which would cover a Christmas gift for each child involved in Manna Meals. These college students had a great time buying gifts for the kids and the kids were ecstatic to receive them! The kids were given a wish list to fill out and turn back in so the GVSU students would have an idea of what they liked. Some wishes included game systems or bikes which were obviously too expensive. Each child received a gift though and I think all were pretty happy with it!

Here's all the gifts before they were separated with the meals!

Another group of college students who are involved with Authentic Ministries from our church wanted to make a Christmas meal for the families and deliver these to their homes. Jen made all the calls to see who would be interested (& be home) in receiving a meal. I think just over 30 meals were delivered on December 23 and 24. These meals included turkey, beans, potatoes, gravy, rolls, pumpkin pie, tin of cookies and the gifts for the Manna Meal kids in the family.

Here's one of the meals ready for delivery!

Here's the tables set up with all the boxes for the meals to be assembled!

This was a lot of fun but a lot of work! It couldn't have happened without the many hands that helped with it! If you were one of these helpers, THANKS SO MUCH!!!! :)

Merry Christmas to All...

Jen and I would like to wish all of you a very blessed Christmas this year and a wonderful New Year! We want to take this opportunity to remind all of you the reason for the season --

Jesus came to earth as a baby...

in the shadow of the cross.

He knew what lay ahead for Him and yet He gave up His place in Heaven and humbled Himself to come here for all of us. What better gift could there be than when Jesus gave Himself for us?

Thank you Jesus!

Cub Scouts Help Out...

This past Wednesday night we had Cub Scout Pack 3039 help us with assembling meals! They also held a food drive at Stonebridge Apartments where the following was collected:

1 jar peanut butter
2 packs of lunch bags
1 box of spoons
16 jello cups
50 pudding cups
280 granola bars
64 pks. of cheese & crackers
(19 food items were also collected and donated to Love INC.)

Troop 3039 collected 220 juice boxes!

Thank you so much for all that was collected both within the troop and at Stonebridge! Also, a huge thank you for all your help in assembling the meals and for all the questions that were asked!!! I really appreciated your interest in finding out more about Manna Meals!

God continues to bless this ministry with willing volunteers and donations! Jen and I are so overwhelmed at what God is doing!!!

Happy Thanksgiving!

We want to wish all of you a very Happy Thanksgiving!

This is a very uncertain time for this world. The changes are happening fast and the economy is not looking to improve any time soon. However, we have HOPE through Jesus Christ and what He's done for us! He gave His life to save ours!

Praise God, our Heavenly Father, for continuing to provide for our needs! We thank Him for His loving arms around us and for His unfailing LOVE! He is always watching over us and caring for us in every way! What a comfort that is to know that He is in control!

May you experience the JOY and PEACE of knowing your Heavenly Father is with you always! Things might not get any better here on earth but we know and can have the confidence that one day we'll be able to live eternal life with our Father in Heaven!

Be blessed today and every day knowing that you are on Heaven's Most Wanted List! :)

Diane & Jen