Thursday, October 27, 2011

The Many Faces of Jude...

It’s been over 12 years since I picked up my eight-week-old puppy named Jude. Little did I know way back then that he would play such a major role in my life as well as the culture and lives of the girls who come through our Nashville Mercy program. We’re coming up on Halloween, and for the very first time, Jude’s face has landed on a carved pumpkin!!! One of our staff members, who is obviously loaded with talent, took it upon herself to have a little fun with the girls and carve Jude’s face on a pumpkin. I thought you guys might want to see it…


Some of the girls wanted to get in on the action so they posed with the “Jude-faced” pumpkin…


To give you an idea of the many faces Jude has, let me just say that he finds a way to get in on everything at Mercy. He’s with us when we’re pulling for the Titans to win on Sundays…


He’s with us when we’re just sitting around reading the Word and drinking coffee…


He even helps out when we’re short staffed on driving girls to the doctor and dropping me off at the airport…


And last but not least, he is now co-hosting my new one hour long radio show…


Hope you have thoroughly enjoyed getting an inside look at the life of Jude, and the many roles that he plays in this ministry!!!

Have a great weekend,

Nancy

Friday, October 21, 2011

5K Double Blessing This Saturday!!!

For all of our Mercy Supporters in Nashville, TN and Monroe, LA, this Saturday we will have two 5Ks going on simultaneously!!! We are definitely at a time when we are receiving more and more calls for help, and it is important that as these cries for help multiply across the nation, so do our efforts to bring in the needed funds to reach the girls who are reaching out to us in desperation.

So many people call us on a daily basis saying, “What can I do to help Mercy?” This is an opportunity for you to provide help in a very practical way, by participating in one of our two 5Ks going on this weekend in Monroe, LA and Nashville, TN. Online registration has already closed, but it is not too late to show up at the event site and register the day of the actual 5K. The information you need to do so is as follows:

Nashville, TN
Location – Tractor Supply Company, Maryland Farms, Brentwood, TN
Registration – 7:00 AM
Race Start Time – 8:00 AM
Registration Fee – $25 (cash or check only); Kids 12 and under are FREE!

Monroe, LA
Location – Forsythe Park in Monroe, LA
Registration – 8:00 AM
Race Start Time – 9:00 AM
Registration Fee – $25 (cash or check only); Kids 12 and under are FREE!

Please keep in mind that this is our first ever 5K in Monroe! We are very excited because this is where the original Mercy home was founded in 1983. This will be our First Annual Run for Mercy 5K there and we are asking all of our longtime friends to come out and participate. We also have opportunities for families to walk together, so bring your children and baby strollers. :) Dogs are welcome too!!! :) :) This will be a fun family time for all concerned, and we are expecting good weather in both locations. For Nashville, we need a large turn-out the day of registration to beat our numbers from last year. We are asking all of our friends to come out, and we encourage you to invite your friends as well. WE NEED YOU!!! I thought you might enjoy seeing some pictures from last year’s Nashville 5K. It was truly a blast, and this year will be even better with a Kid’s Fun Zone, great door prizes including an iPad 2, live music and so much more!



Friday, October 14, 2011

Blog News – Quick Hitters!

Baby Boy Brayden
I am very excited to announce the arrival of baby boy Brayden, born to one of our Mercy residents the night before last. I thought you would enjoy seeing how handsome he is!!! Please join me in congratulating Laura on this beautiful addition to her family.

Just a brief update with more to follow… Our weekend in Louisville, KY with Larry and Pam Winters and the LTD Team, along with John Maxwell and Jennifer Beckham, was truly one of the most amazing experiences of my life. I want to give you a full report and update, and plan to do so, but we are waiting on the official pictures from the event so we can share the whole story. So many lives were transformed and divine connections made that it would be impossible for me to report it to you briefly, so I will share that story with you in a few days. Special thanks to our dear friends Larry and Pam Winters for their great leadership and friendship to Mercy!

It’s been a very busy week of travel for me, but God is doing great things. I am excited for all that he has in store for us. Please be praying for our current residents and staff that we will follow God, know Him, and experience Him in His fullness. HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND!!!

Thursday, October 6, 2011

Old Friends, New Friends…Celebrating Divine Connections!!

I’m literally sitting at the gate in Atlanta, GA on my way to Monroe, LA. I can’t help but drift back to January 15, 1983 -- the day I left Nashville to move to Monroe to begin what is now known as Mercy Ministries. Little did I know that what I thought was going to be me leaving to establish one home would end up to be an international organization with multiple locations. I’m so grateful for the thousands of young women who have walked through the doors of Mercy and have been set free over the years. If you want to see an example of what I’m talking about check out this recent testimony from the Designed for Life Conference in Springfield, MO. This is just one example of multitudes of lives that are being transformed.


I give all the honor and glory to God. I want to thank all of our monthly partners as I go to Monroe for the purpose of thanking the people for believing in a vision with no other home to point to. They joined forces with me to establish one. We will celebrate that tonight and share what God is currently doing and where we are headed vision-wise in our ministry.

Me and Pam Winters at the St. Louis home
After my special time tonight I will catch a 6:00 AM flight out of Monroe, LA tomorrow morning to Louisville, KY to be with my very dear and special friends, Larry and Pam Winters, who are the leaders of Leadership Team Development (LTD) and Double Diamond members with Amway. Not only do they give massive amounts of Amway products to us, but they also give massive amounts of financial support. They’ve been a key part of every girl whose life has been transformed. Even in the midst of their busy schedule, Pam still finds time to connect with me in the different homes and on a personal level. Two weeks ago she came in a day early to join me at the St. Louis home before the Joyce Meyer Conference and now I get to go be with her again. I’m so excited!! I’ll speak Friday night to 10,000 of their leadership team and then again on Sunday morning to between 8,000-10,000 people for their Sunday Morning service. I’m excited to be there and excited to see what God’s going to do. I feel so blessed to be able to call them my friends. They’re people of excellence and character, and represent the Lord to others so well. They are such examples to me of what it means to be givers. They care so much for people and they spend their lives not only blessing people, but developing people by pouring into their lives and teaching them how to be blessed.