A Response To October's Topic of the Month

Hello from the founder's,

This has been a busy 3rd quarter for us, their has been positive changes to our team not to mention life's challenges we all have been facing. I have received numerous emails and voice mails asking what is happening to Our Hearts 2 Yours. So I wanted to give you an update and address the October Topic of the Month.

So I will begin with the response and end with providing you all an update. We each have been a recluse because we have been trying to manage through life changes. Finally when we all got together to share our stories we realized we each have been carrying personal burdens which needed to be released. We spoke with numerous friends and found out they too were carrying burdens which needed to be released.

Many people have lost their jobs, have pay cuts and simply financially are not in the same place they were a year ago and 2 years ago. It looks pretty bad, as people have gotten sick with swine flu, cancer, vertigo and high blood pressure. Some people have gotten their home foreclosed, vehicles repo and homes broken into. Some have found out their spouse were cheating on them, boyfriends and girlfriends have been tempted, relations have broken up from couples to family members, or a grandparent have passed. While others have watched their savings dwindle as they have worked to maintain a basic comfortable standard of living. Now this list could go on and on and on... This looks pretty bad! Ya know what, it is not as bad as it seems. With every drought their is a harvest, we simple have to work and support each other during the drought until we reach the harvest.

I shared this with my cousin Domminique the other day on facebook so I am going to share this with you, as knowledge is power! In my masters program I had to take a micro and macro economics course, only because it had been over 17 years since I took these courses in college. This was the best thing I could have ever done, because I learned one thing to equip me better during the harvest. Did you know that every 15-20 years our country and our world goes through a recession? Think about it back in 1993-1994 we were in a recession! Back in 1981-1983 we were in a recession! Now ask your parents and grandparents about the 60's, ask your grand parents and great grand parents about 20's and 30's. Hey I have one better, read your bible from beginning to end, you will find the exact same thing, a recession in some shape fashion or form. Now back in biblical times the value was cattle, grain, wheat, barley, today its cash, retirement and CD's. If you know this, then you also can see, we do not always stay in the drought stage, we will make it through some of us will make it out only pinched, some bruised, some cut, some with a few broken bones. But you will make it through, what does that mean for you? It basically means right now if your situation is bad its not that bad, you will get through. When you do it will be a time for harvest. Which means things will get better, improve and you will have more and able to sustain yourself, but knowing in 15-20 years we will experience this again means we have to prepare better so when the drought comes again we will be better prepared. This means during the harvest invest smart, save good, spend nice, and support fair, as we begin to approach the 12-13 year itch again; it will be time for you to re-evaluate your current situation. You may have to change your investment strategy, take money out one place and put it some where else, slow down on spending and have enough essentials. Much like are forefathers did by storing up enough in the storehouse to last through the winter, or the 7 year Canaan drought. You will come out better, richer and wiser than you came in.

I wish I knew this information in 1997, I would be in such a better place today, but guess what now I do know and I am still young enough to make better choices to prepare me for the next 15-20 years. I now have to prepare my daughters, and Karen prepares her son and daughter and all of you prepare your children, nieces and nephews for what's to come. We will come out of this in 2-3 years, but 15-20 years from now my daughters will be 28 and 31. They will be on their own, in their own careers, making their own money. This means they have to start preparing when they are 24-28 for the drought. Some may say how do you prepare your young child for this, they wont listen. You teach them, just like they learn their ABC's, play on the Wii, this is their life and they need to be prepared. Those who live in Jerusalem today have been teaching their children this for over 2000 years, they are the one race who does not feel the drought today as hard as anyone else. This should be a lesson for us today, we can enjoy the harvest and sustain our families during the drought un-touched.

So I say to you, it looks bad but it is not as bad as it looks! We have been given a promise that we will make it through, so standing on that lets you know all will work out. My question is for you is this- if we have seen the recession since biblical times it is clear GOD is trying to tell us something that we are not grasping, except for those who are living in modern day Jerusalem. This may be a time to go into your closet and find out, are we not being obedient in other areas of our lives by following his word-are we polluting our bodies with fast food, are we eating fish without scales, are we eating shellfish and pork. So we pollute our bodies and we cant truly hear him speaking to us. Do we use our tongue incorrectly to gossip, hurt or curse or cause pain to someone, do we pollute ourselves by having sex with numerous men who are not our husbands, do we lie and steal even simple pens, pads and pencils from work. What ever it is, it is clear GOD IS trying to tell us something, so until we get it we will go through the drought and the harvest.

I want us to enjoy the harvest more than the pains of the drought, I believe we can have this because the good book tells us so, all we have to do is ask and we will receive and knock and the door shall be open. Take this time and go in your closet and see what you are doing, get so quite that you begin to hear his voice through your holy spirit, then make the necessary changes so we can enjoy our harvest. So with that I say to you it looks bad but its not as bad as it looks!

To give you an update on Our Hearts 2 Yours- we have been redesigning our focus and what we want to do and stand for. We brought in another sister who shares the same vision and we have gotten approval from the state to begin our non-profit. We are currently putting together a team Our Hearts 2 Yours to walk over 33 miles over two days to raise money with Avon for a cure for cancer. We are also preparing for our winter clothing drive for women and children. We will provide additional details in the next couple of weeks. We will also have our first face to face meeting for all of our Houston Metro sisters Thanksgiving Weekend to kick off the new year and prepare for the Avon walk in the new year. So busy, busy, busy and we are so happy to continue to share our hearts with yours!

Stay Strong and Lots of Love,

From Our Hearts 2 Yours,

knedwards-montgomery