Hello friends and supporters, We pray this blog post finds you healthy, cool, and in good spirits. We have not let the summer heat hold us back here at Armor Up. We have had a fun-filled past two months. From outreach projects to outdoor excursions, we have had no shortage of Vitamin D. Thank you, Father, that we get to spend time outdoors admiring your beautiful creation. We have many new things to come with Armor Up and many blessings to share. We pray this excerpt blesses you as much as He has blessed us this June and July.
People’s Choice Podcast
I am excited to announce that I was featured on The People’s Chat Room Podcast for a live interview on June 7th. It was such an honor to be asked to talk about our Lord and all He is doing in and through Armor Up Recovery. Thank you Father for your divine connections. If you would like to give it a listen click here! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ID6eskVT9Hk
Seminole County Chamber of Commerce Meetings
We are honored to be a part of the Seminole Chamber of Commerce. Members of our board commit each month to attend a chamber meeting in their area to network with our community and grow this ministry. We have made some valuable connections with those interested in partnering and coming alongside Armor Up as we are continuously growing and expanding. We know that we can not do this alone! We thank God for each one of his divine connections through the Chamber of Commerce and we look forward to making new and vital connections as the year continues.
Celebrate Recovery Freedom Reigns Picnic
We had an incredible time at another Annual Celebrate Recovery Freedom Reigns Picnic for the 4th of July. Armor Up sponsored an abundant prize table, delicious food, extravagant raffle prizes, fellowship, great music, and super fun games! This is our 13th year attending, and it is always a blast. Our dear friend Michael was an incredible DJ, and he really got the party going. The women from the houses came out, even some of our graduates, and they helped run tables and games and had an awesome time with us. We love making memories with our CR family. We can’t wait for next year!
Sponsorship Dinner
My beautiful sponsee family and I had a wonderful night at the Sponsorship Dinner Fundraiser for Celebration of Unity. The dinner was delicious, we played How Well Do You Know Your Sponsor, there were raffle prizes, and it was a wonderful night of fun and fellowship. Thank you so much to the committee that worked so hard to put this event together. I am so grateful for you ladies and our recovery community. It was so nice to spend some extra time with you guys.
Backpack Packing
On June 21st, we packed 100 backpacks to take to the streets of Orlando to pass out to the homeless. The women of Freedom & Victory House came together and stuffed all 100 backpacks we so generously received from our incredible friends at Mercy Road Initiatives. Thank you to our friends at St. Luke’s United Methodist Church, St. Luke’s Lutheran Church, Dunn Family Charity, Leigh Ann Gallegos with Sysco Foods, Kerry Ginas, Elizabeth Vilece, Cynthia Parker at Publix, Barbara King, and our dear friends at Celebrate Recovery at Northland Church. We are so grateful to all of our friends and supporters who came alongside us with monetary and item donations for our backpacks. We had so many yummy foods and snacks from our friends at Sysco, special toiletries to put in the women’s bags, thick socks, blankets, shoes, and so much more. We know each one was packed with love and given to exactly who it was made for.
Homeless Backpacks
On June 22nd, we had a powerful, incredible, Holy-Spirit-filled day, passing out backpacks to the hurting, lost, and broken in the Lake Eola Area and the streets of downtown. We packed each bag with a lot of love and care, and full of ALL the hygiene products, socks, ponchos, snacks, first aid, and essential items we could possibly think of as seen above. I know that all of us at Armor Up and our women at Freedom and Victory House were blessed beyond words and very touched to be able to go and give and love on some of the most broken and hurting of God’s people. I’m so proud of each and every one of you. Watching you spread the gospel and be a light to those hurting people was beautiful! We were a part of more salvations this year than any year before. I know God sent each of us to exactly the right people to minister and love on. This isn’t just about a backpack full of awesome items; it is a way into their hearts. Our mess is our message, and these incredible women did not hesitate to go out and share their testimony of God’s redeeming and restoring power and all he is doing in their lives. By the grace of God, it is not we out there on the streets! Some of the women who went out there with us came off the streets themselves. We stopped to talk, hug, and pray with each and every person God placed along our path, reminding them that they were seen, loved, and remembered by our heavenly Father. Outreach projects like this are just another way for us to be the hands and feet of Jesus. In the book of James, it tells us, “If one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,’ but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it?” We are called to go out and serve one another, and out of the abundance of what God has done for us and our deep faith in him, we pour out into others. Thank you, Jesus, for the honor and privilege of loving your people.
Kayaking
We had such a blast taking eleven of the women out to Silver Springs State Park to kayak, and had a fun day on the water. There were so many laughs and memories made. We got to see lots of turtles and a couple of alligators. A few of us took a couple of tumbles, and a couple of people got their own personal lift down the river. It was a beautiful day, rain and all. It is such a blessing to be able to spend time out in God’s breathtaking creation, to make good sober, fun memories, and for some to get completely out of their comfort zones and try something brand new. I love getting the girls out into nature. Seeing God‘s majesty, getting grounded, and seeing his beauty and glory all around us. While being in his presence, in the wildlife, nature, water, and trees, it’s just a whole new kind of peace and joy I get to share with them, thank you, Lord! I can’t wait to do it again with you all soon!
I go out in joy and I am led forth in shalom shalom. The mountains and Hills burst into song before me and all the trees of the land clap their hands.
Isaiah 55:12
Completed Soul Care Study
Each Monday, we gather all the women and graduates at Victory House for a book study. We have officially completed the powerful, transformative 16-week Soul Care Study with all the women. It was such a blessing to have our friends Marissa and Karol, from Discovery Church, come and impart their wisdom and guide us along this deep, healing study. I know so many of the women have already experienced incredible breakthroughs and have been set free from so many strongholds and plans that the enemy has used to try and keep them in bondage. Not today, satan! Please pray for us as we prepare for our deliverance day on August 23rd and begin our new Boundaries book study in 2 weeks.
Bible Study At The Beach
The week of the 4th of July, I was blessed to take a mini-vacation to Ormond Beach. Between the waves, wind, and beautiful birds and dolphins, I was moved to invite the girls out to do our Thursday night bible study that we normally do at Victory House. We had a Holy Spirit-filled night and got to watch the masterpiece of a sunset that our Abba painted for us in the sky. We celebrated Maria’s birthday with cake, ate yummy pizza, and had an incredible salad bar that Kathleen put together. It was a wonderful night. How blessed are we? I hope we get to do it again soon.
4th of July at Victory House
One of our very favorite events each year, the 4th of July, is held at our very own Victory House! I encourage the girls to invite their families. It just wrecks me when they tell me this is the first time they remember that they have spent time with their family and had such a good time. Many of our women have never celebrated a holiday before, and for some of them, this 4th of July celebration was their first. Thank you to all who joined us, cooked, loved, and laughed with us! Thank you all so much for making it so special! We had an awesome smorgasbord of food!!! We played cornhole and set off a ton of fireworks! I was able to buy a ton of them this year for the women, so thank you to all of our donors! It was so awesome right there in our front yard, and we got some Mac Daddy sparklers!! Anyone who knows me knows I love fireworks! We made some new cherished memories this year. I remember the last several years of my addiction, and the first couple of years I got clean were so lonely. I am grateful to each and every one of you for the new, beautiful memories made. I know some of you women relate, and this was the first Fourth of July you’ve celebrated and enjoyed and had clean, sober, fun, and are feeling great today, and we remember it all! This is why we do this! We made some wonderful memories together that I will cherish forever. Relationships were made and forged strongly! God bless you all. Happy Independence Day!
Sobriety Anniversaries
July is a big month for recovery here at Armor Up! Congratulations to Frankie and Briana for 3 years, Donna and Laura for 1 year, and Stephanie for 18 months clean and sober in June and July. I am so proud of the five of you, and I am so excited to see all that God is going to do in and through you. I love each of you so very much. It is no mistake that God brought you to Armor Up for such a time as this. Keep seeking Him with all of your heart, mind, soul, and spirit. I am so grateful to be a part of this recovery journey with all of you.
June & July Birthdays
Happy Birthday to Frankie, Briana, and Maria! Each one of you was hand-picked and placed here by the Lord because He knew how powerful your testimony would be and how mightily He planned to use you for the kingdom. Frankie, you have been my sponsee for the past 10 years, and I have seen God do such miraculous things in you. Donna, I have watched God break you out of your shell and develop your boldness for the kingdom. Briana, God has stepped you into the beautiful role of house mom in this season of your life, and I know that He is not only working mightily through you, pouring into our women, but in you as He equips you to be the leader He has called you to be. Maria, my lioness and WARship warrior, God is doing mighty things in your life and your family’s in this new year of your life, and I am so excited to see His redemptive and restorative power. God is working in each one of you, and I cannot wait to see all He continues to do. I thank Him for the gift of each of your lives. God bless you.
Mission Trip to El Salvador
I’ve been preparing for the mission’s trip to El Salvador with Journey Church, and I am officially fully funded! I want to share my gratitude to all who donated and prayed for me to reach the goal. As the team gets ready to depart, please join me in praying for safe travels and for all the individuals God plans to make an impact on. If you would like to learn more about all that we will be doing in El Salvador, please click here.
Amazon Wishlist
We are so happy to announce that we have started an Amazon Wishlist. We hope that you would consider purchasing some of the added items to help us with outreach projects, fun activities, and house maintenance. We will also be updating this list to keep our faithful friends and supporters up to date on our needs. Nothing listed is brand-specific; we are extremely grateful and not very picky. We will be grateful for whatever God puts on your heart. Click here to view our wishlist.
Get Involved
Please continue to lift Redemption House or the land up in prayer. We know it is God’s willso we do not have to keep turning women in need of recovery away; we are trusting his timing. As always, we rely on your support to make these things happen. If you have it in your heart to give, please visit our Get Involved page to see ways that you can help support our mission, either financially, directly on our website, through PayPal and Venmo(@armoruprecovery), or through volunteering.
Thank you again for all you do for ARMOR UP and our girls! We could not do it without you! We appreciate all your love, support, and prayers!
GOD BLESS YOU ALL!
May the LORD bless you and keep you and make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you!
May he turn his face towards you and give you his peace!