1-29-14

Greetings and good morning UBFM!

I hope this message finds you all joyful on a frigid morning. Last week I opened with a very similar example, but three days ago I was riding my bike with shorts and short sleeves. Today, I need at least two or three layers of covering to walk my dog. You have to love Tennessee weather. At least that presents hope for the coming weekend. Today we might see a scorching 39 degrees. Compared to yesterday that will feel like a heat wave. Tonight will drop down to the mid twenties but there should not be as much wind as we witnessed yesterday. Nevertheless, bundle up! I will attach the Commuting in the Cold blog again, which will offer some tips on bundling up.  

Last week, despite the cold temps, we had a successful UBFM meeting. We were loaded and prepared with blankets, jackets, burritos, and many other snack and cold weather items. Fortunately, we did not see a lot of people in need. Many of the places that we stop to visit our friends were empty. That’s very indicative that they have found other shelter. I am very thankful to see the Union Mission open their doors to more people when the weather gets colder. I’m also thankful to see some temporary shelters open up for our neighbors. I would like to thank all of the people who helped in making last week’s meeting possible. Thanks to all of the riders who came together to deliver supplies. Thanks to all of the folks that spent time cooking and preparing burritos. Thanks to all of the people who collected and donated items for us to distribute. Thanks to all of the people who donate offerings for us to use for supplies. And thanks to our friends and partners that donate ingredients for our burritos supplies.

This week a large portion of our burritos will be prepared and donated by the sixth grade class at St. Agnes Academy. Frank Fournier and I had the opportunity to meet this brilliant group of kids. They are definitely interested in our mission and they are excited to be part of it. Thanks to Gretchen Kirk and the staff at St. Agnes who have facilitated this partnership. 

We’ve also had several donations of winter supplies to allocate this week. Thanks to all who have dropped off these items. Let us continue to hope that we do not have to distribute many items. We do not want to see people on the streets. But, for those that we do see and meet with let us make sure we give them everything they need. We will meet at our regular time, 7:30 PM, at First United Methodist Church: 204 N Second St, Memphis, TN 38105. We will load, split in to groups, and try to roll out by 8:00 PM. We should all return by 9:30 or 10:00.

If you are planning on joining our ride tonight I look forward to seeing you and serving with you. If you are unable to join us I ask that you keep us in prayer. Pray for our mission, our safety, and pray that we find the people who are in need of our help. I ask that you talk about us. Tell people who we are, what we do, and about our mission. Thank you all for the support, donations, prayers, publicity, and love that you constantly supply this organization with. Our efforts would not be possible without you.

Peace.

http://bicyclebeerbible.blogspot.com/2014/01/commuting-in-cold.html