"This is my command: love each other." ~ John 15:17

I want to share with all of you what God is doing here in Hailey, ID because I want YOU to be a part of it!

Long story short, God placed this question on my heart, "What happens when we take a day to Simply Love people?"

Honestly, I am not really sure because I’ve never done that before but I am willing to find out because I know that with Jesus at the wheel, it will be AWESOME!!!

On Christmas Eve He asked me to do this on a small scale with my daughter. He asked me to buy a dozen long stem roses and pass them out to women in Hailey, ID. With each rose, my daughter and I told women that they are loved and we attached a hang tag to each flower that said, “You are loved, adored and treasured by the King! For more good news visit www.Simply-Love.comâ€

It was amazing to see God work through my 5-year-old daughter and through those roses. Women’s hearts melted as she handed them these roses and it made such a big impact on Brooklyn she said, “Mom, this was better than Christmas! Can we do this again for my birthday?â€

A little girl holding two roses on the sidewalk.

That day God taught me that stepping out and loving people isn't as scary as the enemy would like us to believe.

Since that day, God has put it on my heart to do the same thing again but on a much larger scale. I am not sure how it will all come together but I’ve decided to say YES!

Yesterday, I finally got the courage to order 500, beautiful, long stem roses! They will arrive on Tuesday, March 12th. My husband and I are living off of two weeks of work right now in order to do ministry here so I had to find a way to get these roses at a reasonable price.

The manager at Atkinson’s in Hailey let me buy them wholesale from her but it means that I’ll need to de-thorn them myself and attach all the hang tags and water tubes myself.

This is where I need help! I am having a c-section in 3.5 weeks and I can’t do this on my own. In fact, I don’t believe God is asking me to do this alone. I believe He wants to use this opportunity to accomplish two things:

1. To drop a HEAVEN BOMB (an explosion of light, love, and goodness) on the people in Blaine County, ID.

2. To encourage His people to share His love and the GOOD NEWS of the Gospel with this community.

I am thinking it will take me about two days to fully prep the roses so I am thinking that either Thursday the 15th or Friday the 16th is when Brooklyn and I, and anyone else who wants to join us in loving people to life, will hit the streets of Blaine County and bring the love of Jesus to everyone we pass.

Right now I am planning on starting at the airport and working my way through the industrial area and then all the way through town. But I’ll keep praying about it and see where God says to start that day.

I plan on giving the Holy Spirit free reign on what He wants to do and what He wants me to say to each person. I suspect that at times I will simply be handing a woman a rose and telling her that she is loved. At other times He might open the door for a longer, deeper conversation where I can share the Gospel and my testimony. I am leaving it up to Him! :)  I think He will even work in the men’s hearts in town too!

I know some of you are totally terrified at the thought of walking through Hailey and doing this. Don’t worry, YOU AREN'T ALONE! I was totally terrified when God first asked me to do this too. The thought of reaching out can be scary but I want to reassure you that when you pray and ask Him to help you He will!

Since He has asked me to do this I’ve been praying for His help with it and He has totally changed my heart. I am actually really excited to do this now!

Instead of being afraid of what people will think of me, I am excited to love people and to share the GOOD NEWS with them!

Since God has changed my heart I no longer feel insecure and worried about sharing my faith. When I look into the eyes of all broken people in this valley, my heart breaks for them.

I never used to have a heart for people but God has changed me. Now when I look at people I see Jesus and the price He paid for them on the cross. The fact that I actually care about people now is a miracle in and of itself and I credit God for all of this!

A note on a tag that says you are loved, adored and treasured by the king.

I also want to encourage you all by sharing what happened at Atkinson’s when I went to order these roses. I’ve been talking to the floral manager for about a week on the phone and she sounded a little rough around the edges.

Yesterday when I went in and met her face-to-face she asked me if all these roses were for a wedding? I said,  “No, it’s for a ministry event.†Later on, she asked me, “What type of ministry event?†I was nervous to mention Jesus or God or really go into details but I finally said, “Well, God has asked me to take a day to simply love people. So, that’s what I am going to do.†Her eyes got big and she asked, “What are you going to do with all of these roses?†I replied, “I am going to go through town and give them to people and let them know how much they are loved; that Jesus loves them.â€

That’s when I saw God start to change her heart and her assistants’ heart. She said, “Wow. Well, do you have buckets to put all of these flowers in once they arrive?†I responded, “Umm, no…not yet…I am still trying to figure that part out.†She quickly filled in the blanks with “Here, I have lots of extra ones that you can use. I’ll let you borrow all of these and you can just bring them back to me when you are finished.â€

Then to my amazement, her assistant said, “You know what, on the day these roses arrive, I am going to clock out and I am going to help you with the first round of prep work. I am really fast at it and I’ll get them cut and put into water for you ASAP!â€

The manager immediately turned around and said, "Trish, are you sure? That's going to take you hours!" Trish responded, "Yes, I'll clock out. This is beautiful and I want to help her."

 

My eyes filled with tears.

 

In the 30 min. it took me to go in and order these flowers, I saw God work in two hearts I never realized He had planned to touch.

Friends, remember that fear is a lie. That the war is WON, that Jesus REIGNS, and that He asks us to love Him and to love each other above all else.

If God puts it on your heart to be a part of this, I would love you to join me! I’ll need help praying over these flowers, cutting the thorns off of them, tying hang tags on them, putting them in water tubes, and if you’d like, going out and loving people!

For those of you who don't live in town, please join us in prayer!  Your prayers for this event and for the people who will be receiving these roses will make all the difference!

 UPDATE! Want to know what God did at this event? Click HERE!

With Love,

Kristin