Blessing Bags

This post is a little different. Its not a recipe. It's kinda food related but mostly about spiritually feeding ourselves and "the least of these"   I think this is important to my topic of "eating to live tomorrow". It's all about big picture ideas. And the biggest picture of all, is eternity. And the truth is, if I can afford to eat this healthy (what a blessing) I can afford to bless someone less fortunate as well. 

Blessing bags are bags that you fill with life essentials to hand out to the homeless instead of giving them change. Personally I am always Leary of handing out cash, cause I don't want it to be drug money... And  I also almost never have cash. Sometimes I take a homeless person out to eat, but that can also get expensive (and isn't exactly safe or timely). Blessing bags are the perfect solution. Keep one or two in each vehicle to have on hand! 

I was really debating if I should share this. We have been reading through the New Testament as a church for 3.5 weeks now, and will complete it in 66 days total.  I have really had my eyes opened as I study the character of Christ. And I am haunted by his beatitudes and woe's. It really doesn't read like any of us North American Christians will make it into the kingdom of heaven... If you just give the gospels an un-biased read... Anyway the part of this all that has stuck with me is looking for the "least of these" around me. This is just one way I can see myself doing this. Not the only way, but a small way.  The reason I wasn't going to share this, is I don't want to do it for earthly praise. I want to store up treasure in heaven! But when I see Jesus teachings, another common occurrence is the notion that we ought to use our brains and logic not just legalize his teachings. The greater good in my opinion would be for you to read this post, and decide to make blessing bags of your own!! If it can encourage a parent to teach this to the next generation, all the better!

Some of you may be creative and you can simply take the idea and run with it. Others of you may be less creative and would like a bit of structure and "how-to". 

I built my blessing bags entirely from one shop at dollarama. I made four blessing bags for a little over $50.00. That's roughly $12-13 a bag. Not bad for a mini survival kit! (And still cheaper than taking them out to eat)

Supplies you will need at home: 

- 4 XL freezer bags. (Large rectangular, not square)

- scissors to cut off packaging

- permanent marker

- zipper sandwich bags and snack bags

Shopping in multiples:

If you have ever made a Christmas shoe box, think of this like that... If you make one, it's not cheap. If you make two or more it actually gets cheaper per shoe box because you can often buy things in multiples! I started with my dollarama XL zipper bags, a box of six, and quickly decided my cheapest number to work with would be four. Most items I needed came in packs of two or four. In order to make six bags, this would leave a lot of product wasted. So look around your dollar store and see. Do things come more in packs of two? Three? Four? Don't walk in with your pre-chosen number to make. Let the store decide. 

Categorize:

Decide what needs you want to meet. Food, clothing, shelter, warmth, health, happiness, spiritual blessing etc...

I chose:

- heigine (cleanliness)

- health (minimal first aid)

- warmth 

- food

- inspiration

- fun

Don't make an itemized list of what you will put in the bag, then you will be shopping at multiple stores to complete your list and spend more than you planned to. Buy what you see that fits your categories and forget the rest. This is a gift. You are not their sole provider. 

For health:

Some Sani-wipes (24 pk), band aids (1 box divided 4 ways), lip chap (2/$1.25), and Kleenex(8/$1). 

For Heigine:

A bar of goats milk soap (2/$1), combs (pkg of 8 for a $1), magic towels (8/$1), tooth brush (2/$1), and toothpaste ($1).

I did not include shampoo or deodorant because it didn't fit into my budget for the sizes they had available. Plus I want it to be winter friendly. Surprisingly it takes a lot to freeze toothpaste. Frozen shampoo is somewhat useless to anyone. 

Just for fun:

1 pkg jolly ranchers divided. (I chose a hard candy because it has to withstand -40 and +40 degrees in a car)

Warmth:

This one is controversial to a lot of folks. My theory: everyone and their dog has a lighter these days. If they want to be destructive with fire, it is hardly my fault. Sometimes at minus 40 they still don't land a bed in a shelter.  I'd rather provide them some heat and light that they can maybe use in several ways. I chose matches over a lighter because i have no idea how lighter fluid holds up to freezing and boiling temperatures, and I just don't feel comfortable having it laying around in my car. Plus it could leak. 

For food:

Cutlery is important! Don't sweat it with the knife. If someone wants to make a weapon they will make it out of anything. May as well give this person the dignity of proper utensils. 

You need to use your noggin a bit here. Healthy doesn't always cut it, especially for food that can withstand plus and minus forty degrees!! Light weight, filling and convenient is the key. Can they open and eat it? (Cans are no good, unless you give them a can opener) Or make it with just adding hot water(mc Donald's or subway would give them this free of charge)? 

I do cringe because I wouldn't feed this to my child... But if I was homeless and hadn't eaten all day, I wouldn't hesitate. Here is a very filling meal for a person. The noodles (2/$1) are light weight and easily made with hot water or eaten straight as they are. Hot rod (2/$1) does provide some protein believe it or not... Cracker jacks (3/$1) will have sugar which is actually okay for many diabetics on our streets, as well as fiber and carbs. And hot chocolate (10/$1) is always a nice treat for anyone. 

Inspiration:

Everyone needs to write things down. And I chose a blank pad as opposed to a lined one incase they also like to be artistic. Paper (4/$1) and mechanical pencils (4/$1) are great and don't explode or freeze.  

Essential:

I decided a  LED flash light ($2 ea) was essential since it gets dark so quickly here.  You may have other essentials on your list. Lots of people like to include a calling card or Tim Hortons gift card. My budget doesn't allow for this, but I am happy with my bags. 

How to pack your bags:

- open up un-necessary packaging, and divide your purchases into four equal heaps

- sub-divide each pile into categories. 

-bag items that would need to be kept clean or contained, and label them as desired. 

- put all items into your XL zipper bag. 

-write a blessing on the bag label or in a card. Keep it simple. The person may or may not have a good reading level.  My bags say: "BLESSING BAG!  May God give you the strength and hope you need for the journey ahead". 

And that is it! I hope you found this helpful and will pay-it-forward!