Blessing Bags How To

I came across this concept on Pinterest and I couldn't help but both be drawn to the idea and to share the idea. I plan on putting some of these together myself and keeping them in my car for when I drive to downtown Detroit to attend graduate classes. 

The link for the original blog post is: http://kwavs.blogspot.com/2011/05/blessing-bags-how-to.html?m=1

Have you ever come across a homeless individual and felt totally uncomfortable?

You see them and you know they are in need, but you are not sure what to do. You know that handing them money is not the best thing. But, you also see that they clearly have some needs. Their lips are chapped. They are hungry. They are thirsty. They are asking for help.

How can you help?

Here is a simple idea - blessing bags.

This was such an easy project. We are now going to keep a few "Blessing Bags" in our car so that when we do happen to see someone on the streets who is homeless, we can hand them a Blessing Bag. I first learned of these bags from my friend, Julie. I am using the picture of her bags (see above) because the ones we took were taken in horrible lighting and turned out really grainy and hard to see what is inside of them.

If you'd like to make your own Blessing Bags, this is what you would need:

Gallon size Ziplock bags

items to go in the bags, such as:

chap stick

packages of tissues

toothbrush and toothpaste

comb

soap

trail mix

granola bars

crackers

pack of gum

band aids

mouthwash

coins (could be used to make a phone call, or purchase a food item)

hand wipes

you could also put in a warm pair of socks, and maybe a Starbucks gift card

Assemble all the items in the bags, and maybe throw in a note of encouragement. Seal the bags and stow in your car for a moment of providence.

This would be a great activity to do with some other families. Each family could bring one of the items going into the bags (ex: toothbrushes). Set up all the items around a table and walk around it with the ziplocks and fill the bags.

a death is not the extinguishing of a light, but the putting out of the lamp because the dawn has come.

Over the weekend I was confronted with some shocking news, yet another of my classmates has been met with tragedy and has seemingly passed away. A young man by the name of Scott Pohl died on Friday evening due to injuries he suffered from a motorcycle accident he was involved in. 


It seems that I have watched more of my old high school classmates pass away then someone in their 80's watches their friends pass away. It's gotten to the point where I don't even care to know the number of these young people I've said goodbye to since my teenage years. Some of them happened to be friends of mine, others I did not know well or really even at all, but the loss always still seems to hit home, perhaps it is because of the young age of these people. 


When it comes to this most recent loss, the loss of Scott, I did not know him well when we were in high school together. I knew who he was yes seeing as he ran within the high school's "popular crowd" but I did not know him on a personal level. I see the hurt of  those around me though and I know it must be that he had an impact on the lives around him, the pain and the intense raw hurt is heartbreaking and I long to know what to say or do in order to bring comfort to those around me who knew him well.


Scott died because Michigan has passed a law which makes wearing helmets optional for motorcycle riders in this state and while riding his motorcycle he was hit by a car and airlifted to University of Michigan Hospital in Ann Arbor. A comfort I try to hold for myself and his friends and family, is that he was taken to the best hospital in this state and was unable to be saved, which tells me that it was just his time to go, plain & simple. I know that doesn't bring much, if any comfort, but maybe that's just how it was intended to be. 


The idea behind this helmet law in this state revolts me, especially after learning of this tragedy. It boils my blood that our Gov. Snyder would WILLINGLY sign this repeal of the helmet law into effect. Thankfully former Gov. Jennifer Granholm rejected signing this repeal TWICE during her term, a woman with brains! I have half a mind to send Gov. Snyder a copy of Scott's obituary letting him know that the loss of Scott's young life and Scott's blood are on HIS hands and his hands alone. 


We may never know whether or not a helmet would have saved Scott's life, but it only could have helped, rather than him not wearing one and meeting an untimely end. 


Maybe I shouldn't be saying this because of those around me grieving, but we cannot simply hold the law, or lack therof, at the fault of the loss of Scott. Scott was a grown man, 25 years old who knew better than to ride something as dangerous as a motorcycle without a helmet on. He made that choice himself and took that risk himself. This isn't to say I'm blaming Scott for his own death either, the entire thing was an accident. A simple, tragic accident that took away the life of a young man far too soon and shattered a family still reeling from the loss of another son back in 2008. 


I did not know Scott well, but I still feel his loss on the level of a classmate and another young person. I hurt because those around me hurt and I hurt for the loss his family is feeling. 

RIP - Scott Anthony Pohl

without his love I can do nothing, with his love there is nothing I cannot do.

My best friend and I have been just that, best friends, for the vast majority of our lives. We've known each other since we were in first grade, so around the age of 7 or so, and have been joining basically at the hip ever since. We've seen each other at our worst and at our best. Through new relationships, bad grades, fights with parents, heartbreak and beyond. As of recently, we've seen each of us meet and begin the dating the loves of our lives, for her its the man whose been in her life for years, Joe and myself a wonderful man named Kyle. 


Joe and Erin met online, seemingly randomly, when we were all around the age of 14 or so and began talking online forming a long-distance friendship since Erin was here in the USA and Joe in Australia. Over the years Erin and Joe never considered being together themselves as a couple, in fact they both watched the other date other people and heard all about the relationships, good and bad. They had become best friends to one another and relied heavily on the other for advice and companionship, same as her and I. 


Just a couple of years ago I had Erin confess me to something, that she thought she might be falling in love with Joe. That is had taken all of these long years of talking, but she thought she might be developing feelings toward him. I couldn't believe it when she told me, but I was so happy because I really thought Joe was a good match for her and that they could have a very successful relationship. It was shortly after this confession that Joe and Erin began making some plans for Joe to come visit, and potentially stay for a long-term type of visit. He came to the States and immediately they knew the connection was there and instantly they became a couple and well, began a long, serious relationship.


Just earlier this year Joe's work visa for Canada was coming up on its expiration date and he was, reluctantly, planning to go home. He ended up leaving in April to head back to Australia. This broke both his and Erin's heart because they knew it could be a while before they would see each other. Shortly after this Erin found out some incredible news, she was pregnant! About 17 weeks along at the time she found out, but yes, pregnant! It was a complete shock to her and her whole family, and myself, but we were also ecstatically happy, a baby! After that everything with her and Joe went into overdrive, now that there was a baby in the mix them needing to be in the same country was of the utmost importance. So within the next month Erin was on a plane herself heading to Australia. 


Just this last week on Friday June 22nd, 2012 (our time, in Australia it was actually the 23rd when the wedding happened) Erin and Joe got married in Queensland, Australia in front of Joe's friends and family, and amazingly enough, even myself, Kyle and Erin's family via Skype! Yes, that's right, Kyle and I attended the Skype wedding of my very best friend to the love of her life. It was a beautiful wedding, Erin was a beautiful bride and Joe was a handsome groom and they were both glowing throughout the entire ceremony. I couldn't have set it up more perfectly for her, I couldn't have chosen a more perfect man for my best friend. They really are each others perfect match and I love Joe as though he was my best friend too. 


I was honored enough to be asked to be part of the wedding as an honorary maid of honor and writing a speech to be played at the reception. This is the speech I wrote for Erin:

My best friend went from Erin Nicole Meyer, to Erin Nicole Kendall. A new last name, but the same woman whose been my other half for years and who has helped me through so much. 

(this one I think is my all-time favorite!)

it's choice--not chance--that determines your destiny

Are our lives truly predetermined before our existence even begins? Do we go through our lives without realizing that a goal has already been set for us, that we already have a purpose in this life despite what we may end up choosing for ourselves? The possibility of this ties directly into the concept of fate and destiny, do they exist and do they truly control the entire outcome of our lives?


This topic stems from discussion which Kyle and I were deeply engaged in yesterday evening. The discussion centered around the situation in which we met one another and how we, as a couple, came to be. Our relationship began from an online dating website and the aforementioned discussion centered around other attempts from the same website made primarily by Kyle. He was telling me about other women he had been speaking to on the site and whom he had sought out dates with, most of them not working out in the end. One woman he mentioned he had two dates with and had been hoping for more but after the second date she cut-off all contact. Upon hearing this my curiosity grew and so I inquired further, wanting to know why he thought she stopped communications and if he had been hurt by this. He assured me it was no loss to him and it really did not affect him all that much. This lead to talk of things being "meant to be", to which I laughed. And my response to Kyle was, "Kyle, I know for a fact that you do not believe in fate and in things being 'meant to be'" to which he responded that I was indeed correct, that he did not per-say believe in fate and destiny, to him situations happen more out of your circumstance and perhaps even just some sheer dumb luck. He referenced this by telling me, "I haven't done the things I've done in my life because I was 'destined' to do them or anything like that, things that have happened to me and been given to me happened because I was fortunate enough to be raised with parents that could afford to and were able to help and guide me. It has all happened because I was fortunate enough to not have been born in a hut in the middle of Africa. Other things in my life I believe are attributed to luck also, such as the fact that you have come into my life, that is purely me getting lucky." 


Our conversation continued after that and I have to admit that these ideas of fate and destiny have been on my mind ever since. It made me think, what is my opinion of the concepts of fate and destiny? Do these two ideas truly exist in this world, or is all that happens to us in our lives simply attributed to luck and/or circumstance? My own belief has changed over the course of my life up until this point. When I was young, even a teenager, especially when it came to love I was big into the idea of fate and destiny. The old school romantic kind of thing, that you're destined to find one person and be with them for the rest of your life. And when you do meet that person, its because you were fated to cross paths with them and end up spending your life with that person. Now that I am older and have seen what I have in my so far short life, I am less and less sure that this is truly how the world works and it is more luck, chance and circumstance than anything else. 


When you find yourself in a certain place in a certain moment, are you there because it was predetermined for you to be there at that particular moment? In my own opinion, no it is not. You are there because you need to be there for some reason, to get something, to see someone or whatever. You were not fated to be there before you even came into existence, it was not destiny that you were in that place at that time and bumped elbows with that one person and from then on whatever happened, happened. 


My conversation with Kyle I feel truly solidified my own opinion of the concepts of fate & destiny and it is reassuring and refreshing to know that my partner and I are on the same page in that particular aspect of our beliefs. I wish I could truly believe that Kyle and I were fated to end up finding one another and being together, but when I truly look at the idea behind destiny and fate, it just does not sit right with me, it doesn't make logical sense. We met purely because of luck, chance, circumstance and the fact that we were both seeking something in another person. I wish we had been destined to fall in love with one another, but in my heart I do not think that way.


We simply got lucky. :)