Raffle for Sufficient Grace Ministries

The Saturday of the Pancake Breakfast I did something out of impulse. As I was driving a thought entered my head and before I knew it I was at Michael Ellers (a well known jewelry store in Findlay) and I bought something. I found a necklace called a captive opal (aka floating opal). It is a glass bead that has opal flakes that float in it. It is suspended on a 14K gold chain. It's really neat and when I saw it I knew I had to buy it. (Sorry about the pic-I don't have a real fancy schmancy camera.) You can also view it here. (It is the 10th pendant in the Carla line.)

When I bought this necklace I had in mind to do a type of raffle/giveaway thing to benefit Sufficient Grace Ministries. So I talked it over with Kelly and got everything finalized.

Each entry of the raffle is $2 and can be submitted by the ChipIn widget below. There is no limit to how many entries one person can have. (You can either do multiple entries separately or lump them together-whichever way is easiest for you!)

This raffle will run for 2 weeks beginning at the time of this post and ending at 11:59 pm EST on June 21. The winner will be announced at noon EST on June 22.

The goal is to raise at least $100 and it would be so wonderful to raise even more than that! So please spread the word and together let's help Sufficient Grace Ministries help grieving families!


Wondering what Sufficient Grace Ministries for Women is?

Sufficient Grace Ministries for Women, a 501 (c ) 3 non-profit, non-denominational Christian organization, was founded in 2004 by Kelly Gerken with the purpose of reaching out to women and families to offer comfort, encouragement and hope. The Dreams of You division of this ministry was created specifically to provide comfort to women and families who have lost a baby through miscarriage, stillbirth, or infant death. Kelly has experienced the loss of twin daughters (Faith and Grace) at 26 weeks and the loss of an infant son, Thomas who died shortly after birth from Potter's Syndrome. From her own family's journey of grief and healing, Kelly has created the Dreams of You Memory Book and other beautiful support materials to help families form a precious memory for their babies who leave this earth too soon. Her mother, Kathy Rutter, created the Comfort Bear in 2004 for grieving mothers to have something to hold to comfort the ache of their empty arms. (Although Kathy went home to heaven in October 2006, the bears are still made with a grandmother's love and prayers by the Helping Hands Ministry at Harvest Fellowship Church.) Over the years, Kelly has shared her testimony of God's comfort and sufficient grace and her gift of song with churches and women's groups. She has also given hospital seminars encouraging caregivers on the importance of creating a tangible memory and understanding the grieving parent's perspective. The Dreams of You Memory Book and Baskets are currently available at 5 local hospitals: Lima Memorial, St. Luke's, St. Charles, Henry County, and Defiance Regional Medical Center as well as Rodenberger Funeral Home. Many individuals have come to us as well through our website and word of mouth. Bereaved parents are never asked to pay for our materials. We are supported through donations from individuals, hospitals and other organizations. Sufficient Grace Ministries also provides a quarterly newsletter, The Women's Edge, which encourages more than three hundred women in eight states, through biblical truth. Our memory book is now featured in a national catalog (A Place to Remember). We are also working on expanding and completing more projects to serve grieving families.

Please visit the website and Kelly's blog to learn more! If you're like me, you'll fall in love with Kelly right away. She's a wonderful friend and a loving and caring person who always encourages me! Thank you Kelly for your ministry and your willingness to help so many families. God bless you!