Beer for the Homeless

I surely got your attention with the title. Don't worry, our passion for compassion did not lead us to go hand out beer to the homeless.... But it did lead us to spend a day volunteering at the first North Texas Beer Festival raising awareness of the Samaritan Inn, Collin Counties only homeless shelter.


Since the organizers of the festival were kindly donating the proceeds of the silent auction to the Samaritan Inn and we regularly volunteer at the Inn, we were asked if we were interested in volunteering for the Beer Festival. Being the brew enthusiast that I am, I jumped at the opportunity and volunteered us to represent the Inn.




Many people piled into Plano Center and stood in long lines to get their 1 ounce samples of the latest creations from their favorite breweries. We found our home sandwiched between the New Belgium booth and some college athletics something or other. Since we didn't have free beer to give out we weren't exactly the hit of the show. While people slowly moved by waiting for their samples of New Belgium's latest many tried their best not to make eye contact with us while others inquired about what we were doing sitting there is our purple Samaritan Inn shirts.


I must admit, I had a few samples of my own,... so we made small talk about beer, answered questions and educated the North Texas Beer Culture about the good work the Samaritan Inn is doing for the homeless in Collin County. We naturally did our best to tell everyone how they could get involved. Many were passionate about the work we were doing and others thought volunteering might be a great way to teach their families that there are people in need out there. The thing that most surprised us was how many people had no idea that there was even a problem with homelessness in Collin County. We had a chance to share our hearts with these people and reminded them that many of the people they know may be just one paycheck away from homelessness themselves. And that the families and individuals that find themselves in new of a place to stay are more often people just like you and me; trying to make ends meet, looking for purposeful relationships and hoping for a break.

We had a great time talking with many great people, and a few crazy ones,... If anything we were able to open a new groups eyes to the needs of others right here at home. And I was reminded once again that there is more to life than filling our bellies with beer, our homes with stuff and our lives with serving ourselves.



For more information about the Samaritan Inn, the amazing service they offer to the community or how you can get involved go to http://www.thesamaritaninn.org

$2170 Garage Sale!!!

Who would have ever imagined how God would show up at a garage sale!!! Your probably tired of hearing about the garage sale last weekend but I thought I would share the results.

After everyone came together with donations, help and prayer we had an amazing turnout. People were buying stuff left and right and we couldn't have done it without everyones help. We raised an astounding $2170 at our "standard issue" community garage sale!!!!



We have been humbled by how He inspired so many to partner with us, giving of themselves, crazy items and other resources. Considering we started with almost nothing to sell, there is simply no way this could have ever happened without the help and support of our loved ones and Gods clear blessing over the whole thing.
Already God has shown us how huge he is and how amazing an impact we can make when we unify as the body of Christ to show his love to the world.

We can't even smell Uganda yet and God has already begun working in our hearts and through our lives as we have been raising support for our mission trip to Uganda.

Each day God revives us with new passion and energy as we see that each action, each step, and every word we speak for Him matters and is actually making a difference. We move forward in amazement as He lights the path with victories and His undeniable presence.

It is such an honor to share in the work of living our lives as a ministry of compassion in partnership with you and the Lord Jesus at the center. Thanks to you all for your love and support!

In His Love, Jason and Carrie Kanapkey

He Works in ALL "Things"

God is Huge and so is the monstrous explosion of contributions that He has delivered to my Garage through faithful and giving souls. I cannot give enough thanks to all the wonderful people who have come together to help us work toward our goal to make the Uganda trip possible. But I will try,... Thank you!!!
We are blown away at how many people have given so much to the cause which is now developing into a MoNST3rOUs garage sale., which I am now calling the Godrage Sale!!!



Many people of the body of Christ (also called The Church) have unknowingly unified for this common cause.
They have come together and given:
- funds
- time
- sweat
- car loads of donation
- truck loads of donations
- helped pickup donations
- loaned us their truck to pick up donations!
- sacrificed things they once cherished
And more sweat equity beyond words!!!!  All this as answered prayer, which many others have done for us.
As we have rummaged through it all for hours on end and sweated getting the "Stuff" from one place to the other... the value of "things" seems to take a new life. As we price new items in their original box for fractions of the original price, we look forward to how it will put a dent in our fundraising goal. But in no way do the dollars compare to the joy we get in seeing people sacrifice for the love they have for each other and the passion they have for Gods work.





God tells us that " in all 'things' he works for the good of those who love him AND are called according to his purpose." ... And he has certainly begun using the "things" in our lives to faithfully do so. Funny how the moment we give things up for him he begins to use them for our good and his purpose. Better than sitting in a dark closet, I gotta say!
Through love effort and a nudging from the Lord, we have pushed through the tyranny of owning stuff and began to let the "things" work for us as we do the work of the Lord as a body of faithful believers.

The garage sale is this Saturday in Craig Ranch on White Stallion Trl. Starting at 7:00am.
You gotta see what God has done!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Why Garage Sales Rock!!! Un-Used and Un-Necessary!

It is so awesome to see people getting amazing deals on stuff they want and need while enjoying the therapy of having your home purged of items that clutter your life and your home! On April 30th the Grubbs family did us an amazing service of handing over "an entire garage sale" to raise money for our Uganda Mission Team (seen below)!

 As we unloaded their garage that was full of little treasures at 6:30am, we were amazed as people began to pull up and swarm around asking for pricing an hour before the sale was even supposed to start! We worked our butts off and God spared us from the dark storm clouds above. We raised over $600 for our team and had a great time helping the very generous Grubbs family unload the items that were taking over their garage.

When we look around our homes at all we have, we begin to see doubles, un-necessaries, un-used and un-appreciated items. It seems that all these items laying around our homes can be of good use to other people and help us to do some good in our communities and around the world.

 We are currently taking donations for The Kanapkey Garage Sale that will take place this Saturday, May 7th. If you have any of these "un" items around your home, you'd be amazed at what a treasure it could be for a "garage sale shopper". We would really appreciate your donations! All the proceeds from the garage sale will go to put a dent in the $6600 we have been asked to raise to make the Uganda Mission Trip possible.

Email us at imcreated@gmail.com or make a comment below if you have any items we can pick up this week! Thanks to the Grubbs and all you who are supporting us in any way!

For more inspiring ways to make good out of the "STUFF" in your lives. Checkout our friends site http://www.rethinkgood.com/.