Once upon a time — which was now, actually — there’s this story —  that isn’t a fairytale —

that’s about making dreams come true.

It’s about the Truth being true.

It’s about really wild things: Cyber Monday could discount what isn’t eternal —

and virtually make giving a gift to your Jesus a reality.

Once upon a time that is now — there’s the beginning of December and Christmas carols are playing down every street.

And the calendar pages have turned in every home and it’s the beginning of a season called Advent, which is about waiting, about this wait for the coming of this Baby.

Anticipation is the scent December.

So a woman in San Diego hangs a wreath outside on the front door, the sun beating warm on her neck and and a grandma in Minneapolis watches the snow fall and ices another batch of shortbread and all the women in God’s beach house know the waiting of December isn’t passive, it isn’t a twiddling of the thumbs and flipping glossy pages of the latest catalogue and counting down the minutes, but this is the active waiting for a Baby to come.

Like expectant mothers preparing and praying and exercising and nesting – and working – because labour and delivery is coming — we’re the women waiting actively, praying and reaching out and grabbing hands and we’re women pregnant with hope, we’re women expecting – expecting Jesus’ kingdom to come into the world and come through us.

In Lubbock, Texas and Scapoose, Oregon and Calgary, Alberta and Sheffield, UK and Sydney, Australia – Christmas makes us midwives of another kingdom coming.

And once upon a time — today — in a slum in Kenya, a young girl rounds large with a baby.

Where does she go in the running sewage and the rusting shanties to birth a baby no one wants her to have?

How does she feed a baby when her stomach gnaws with hunger and her soul is bony and starved?

And this is the part in the story where not one woman turns away or grows cold – because all God’s daughters are waiting for Jesus to come and she knows the One Whom her heart loves, that He comes as the least of these.

How can her heart not warm? How would she ignore Him now?

A girl in Kenya knocks on the door of Mercy House Kenya.

A girl in Kenya looks for someone who loves mercy enough to make room for a Baby.

And Mercy House looks at a young girl heavy with child and they look around Mercy House — and there is not one empty bed.

There is not one desk for Maureen, the Mercy Sharer, or their social worker or program director. There is a room the size of a bathroom for the two housemothers to share – yes, share it. And a room the size of two twin mattresses is the play room for 12 babies and their mamas.

It’s Christmas — but there is literally no room for one more Baby.

It’s Christmas and there is literally no room in the inn.

It’s Christmas and Jesus literally comes to us right now in the face of a Baby – and He asks if there is room for Him?

Is there room for our Christmas to be more than about saving money on gifts but about saving lives by being the gift?

Is there room on a Cyber Monday to be the Uber gift back to our Savior?

It’s Christmas — and there are women who literally love Jesus — so they live Mercy.

There are women who set out nativity scenes beause it’s more than nice Christmas decor to them — they set out to literally welcome Jesus in the faces of the least of these.

There are women who sing — Let every heart prepare Him room — and it’s more than a Christmas chorus to them — it’s the refrain of how they live their lives.

There are women in Fayetville, Arkansas and Arcadia, Florida and Timbuktu,  and right where you live, and there is literally room in our hearts for a Baby – so together we link arms to birth a dream in Africa for room for a baby — link arms to love mercy and live mercy and do huge things, the Esther Generation of world-changing women who build another home for Mercy House Kenya.

One girl holding a baby is knocking on a door in Kenya looking for room for her baby and Christmases all over North America are ready to answer that door.

There are Christmases all over North America that are saying there is no more room in the inn and no more room in their lives —

no more room for indifference, no more room for apathy, and no more room for excuses –

because we are desperate to make room for Christ this Christmas.

That’s the Christmas we’re all buying this Christmas.

There’s a whole movement of us excited to be saving on more than sales this Christmas — we’re saving lives.

There’s a whole movement of us excited to have More this Christmas – more Christ — we are done with no-real saving, no-real sacrifice, no-real giving Christmases.

There’s a whole movement of us excited to be done with small Christmases — and are daring to live global Christmases.

There’s a whole movement excited about a Christmas that isn’t so much about getting the greatest gift, but giving the greatest gift, giving more like Jesus — giving more to Jesus.

It is time: We are all done with the drug of comfortable and dare to live the dream of uncomfortable.

It is time: We’re all wanting uncomfortable because we’re wanting God – and He is outside of our comfort zones.

It’s time: We’re all wanting to go home for Christmas — go home to Jesus — so we’re making room for Jesus.

It’s time — we’re launching today — We’re building a HOME and making room for the Baby…

The women who love Mercy, live Mercy, we’re rising up, one dollar at a time, a woman in San Diego and a grandma in Minneapolis and you right where you are  and we’re not stopping until we raise $45,000 to fund a second home for Mercy House Kenya in the next 50 days (can we do it by Christmas?! Before Christmas?! You’ve ALREADY raised $8,000 for the second home for Mercy House before we even launched this phase — we’re all chasing after what God is miraculously doing here through all of you!)

We’re not stopping until we raise $45,000 because we are unstoppable world changers, a whole generation of Esthers and we’re making room in our hearts — and in this world —  for Jesus, the Baby, this Christmas.

ANNNNNDDDDdddddd….. when we reach $20,000? An anonymous donor have offered to MATCH US with a donation of $20,000! Let’s let Jesus Do. This. Thing. through us!

Cyber Monday could discount what isn’t eternal —

and virtually make giving a gift to our Jesus a reality.

A girl in Kenya with her baby knocks on the door of Mercy House — and a whole generation of Esther women answer the door with yes, come in… 

And they get the greatest gift of holding the Baby close…

 

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Three ways you can participate and Get the Greatest Gift Christmas:

Give – Click here to FURNISH THE INN — your Christmas gift come early, getting to BE the Gift! 

*UPDATED AGAIN!!!*

Now??!! Now we get the crazy joy of furnishing the house!  LET’S FURNISH THE INN THIS CHRISTMAS! Let’s let Jesus DO. THIS. THING. through us!
 
Kristen Welch, founder of Mercy House Kenya, is headed home right now from Kenya — and we’d love to surprise her — that by the time she opens her front door — we could have the next maternity house in Kenya FULLY FURNISHED!?!?
 
Let’s let God do this thing through us — and lavishly love on those babies in Kenya — lavishly love on Jesus. Let’s FURNISH AN INN THIS CHRISTMAS and fully furnish that babies’ home in Kenya — and we all get to to link arms together in this community and we all get to be the G.I.F.T. back to Jesus together!  
 
We don’t want anyone to miss out on the joy of getting to BE the G.I.F.T —  we want every single one of us to get the joy of being part of this breathtaking God story.  We get to do this! Let’s BUILD AN INN THIS CHRISTMAS for the Babe — and the babies… (happiest tears!)

Share – Click to tweet this —> Now that we have fully funded a 2nd Mercy House home, we get to furnish the house! #ChristmasMiracle #inmercy

Rally – Join hundreds of others in our community with your Twitter or Facebook accounts with ours by clicking here, and a Thunderclap of a social media call to action will go out on Wednesday!

AND! Look at what you have already done! All fully funded by YOU…

Phase 1: Drive Mercy {Van} FULLY FUNDED! Thanks to you.

Phase 2: Learn Mercy {Classroom Additions} FULLY FUNDED in two days! You blew us away.

Phase 3: Generate Mercy {Generator} FULLY FUNDED. Thank you!

Phase 4: Advance Mercy {Computer Lab} FULLY FUNDED. Amazed.

Phase 5: Live Mercy {Second Home} FULLY FUNDED. Incredible Christmas miracle!!!

Related:

Why I believe in Mercy House Kenya
Mercy House Founder’s Kristen Welch shows us the miracles, Live in Africa
(in)Mercy  t-shirts and posters — for when you love mercy and want to live it

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