July 2021 Blog ~ Perspective
Last Saturday was a very rainy day here in our Evilena’s Red Dresser neighborhood! It also happened to be the day of our Garden Walk. Weeks of planning and preparation went into this very special benefit event. Our goal was (and still is) to raise $20,000 to give to Ms. Pearl’s Good News Daycare & Coffee House in Chicago. This is a vibrant organization in the heart of one of Chicago’s most impoverished neighborhoods. We had the privilege of visiting the Good News Daycare a few weeks ago, and our hearts were deeply touched and stirred to support this exciting work!
Our Garden Walk was scheduled to be held rain or shine...and, of course, we hoped for a perfectly sunshiny day where our guests could linger through the lovely gardens, listen to live music from the harp, violin, and brass band, and enjoy a leisurely Saturday.
But, instead...the Garden Walk morning made a grand entrance complete with a deluge of water from the sky, and winds that would rival the Merry Old Land of Oz! It even had the bonus of a few tornado warnings and thunderstorms.
We traded early morning text messages between store staff, gardeners, musicians, and ticket-holders...and wondered how the day would unfold…
And, guess what?
It was a fun, flooded, floral, festive, friendly umbrella-sharing day!
Were we all a bit disappointed by the weather at first? Of course! But when the customers started showing up, and coffee & treats were served, and the musician’s started playing their instruments in the store, and our loyal garden-walkers donned their rainboots and picked up their maps, and headed out to see the lovely gardenscapes, our perspective shifted to optimism with a side order of hey-it’s-going-to-be-a-great-
(Have we mentioned lately how VERY MUCH we appreciate our loyal customers? WE DO! Especially when you venture out on a Tsunami Saturday to see flowers and support a great cause with us!)
It’s all about PERSPECTIVE!
It would have been so easy to grumble all day about the weather. But instead, everyone came together to tour the gardens, to shop at Evilena’s Red Dresser, and to support the Good News Daycare! We laughed about the harp playing in one of the gardener’s garage, we puddle-jumped from garden to garden along the map, and we enjoyed watching Dawn bravely visit various gardens in her adorable pink rain poncho, filming live video of the beautiful flowers and our amazing gardeners, and we watched our fundraising for the Good News Daycare climb up and up on our Blessing-o-meter at the store. It was so encouraging!
Getting a new perspective can change the trajectory of any situation! Ms. Pearl could have continued living in fear in her dangerous neighborhood - but she changed her perspective when God put it in her heart to heat up a meal one evening, and give it to the people who were wreaking havoc in her neighborhood night after night. Her simple act of trust and obedience to God then changed the perspective of the people whom she was serving. One by one, Ms. Pearl is sharing God’s perspective with young mothers and their children, and teaching them how to support themselves, how to get off welfare, how to build a life of dignity and respect for themselves, for others, and for God.
Ms. Pearl sees her work from God’s perspective. She wholeheartedly believes that God has placed her in the neighborhood for a purpose. He has called her to do important work among the people in the Roseland neighborhood of Chicago, and she lives out her faith in a very real and practical way each and every day. She believes the Bible when it says in Jeremiah 29:11, “I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future.”
What a beautiful perspective!
Seeing things from God’s point of view gives us hope!
Perspective for the future helps us to envision what could be...
and points us ever forward.
We can hear the news every day and be bombarded by the perspective of negativity, crime, and fearful events in today’s world. We can say “It’s just getting worse and worse”... OR we can gain a fresh perspective and take a look at the positive impact Ms. Pearl is having in her little corner of the world, and say, “I want to encourage THAT! I want to have God’s perspective and support someone who is doing something good in this world!”
Friends, we are ALMOST at our goal to raise $20,000 for the benefit of the future at the Good News Daycare & Coffee House. Would you please consider partnering with us in this effort? We will continue to raise money for this cause for the rest of this week, until Saturday, July 3rd. We have some AMAZING raffle baskets, as well as a MYSTERY RAFFLE drawing that will take place every hour this Saturday. Please visit the store, or the Evilena’s Red Dresser website to see the treasures that are in each raffle basket, and to get more details. You can also purchase a raffle ticket online by clicking HERE.
We are SOOOOOO close to reaching our goal! Please join us and have a part in supporting the Good News Daycare. Let’s share God’s perspective of HOPE with others!
Thank you to everyone who came out in the rain for the Garden Walk!
We appreciate you so much.
It was a beautiful day!
Wishing you and your family a wonderful 4th of July!
God Bless America!
