The main event is just a couple weeks out now, and we need to continue with this momentum. Hopefully you are following us on either Facebook or Twitter or both. Please continue to invite your friends to join our pages as well. I would love to have our follower count on Facebook reach 1000 people by the time the event happens. I think we can do it!

Lastly, with the growth we have been seeing in the past months, our team has been in much more of a need to have more than one computer to operate from. The problem is, we just don't have the funds to drop on a new MacBook. We are trying to find that one person who has a special connection somewhere that can help us find a new or even refurbished MacBook at a greatly discounted cost; free would be an even bigger blessing! ;) So if you know anyone who has this sort of connection, we will be your best friend! Really.

We just have to thank everyone who has been involved, whether it was from donating money, buying a pack of diapers, dropping off clothes, or simply buying a shirt. Every little bit matters, and we know that we really do have an awesome group of supporters that are making this all possible.

Thank you!!!

                               FRONT                                                                BACK

We had our first development team meeting today. Things are coming together, and this is really going to be an awesome event. Some of the next steps include meetings with high school guidance counselors, drafting corporate sponsorship letters, meetings with various pregnancy organizations, building a registry, talking with booking agents, speakers, entertainers, food banks, and more, and more, and more.

We hope to have a professional logo designed and a website up and running soon. We’ll continue to keep you updated with the development here, so stay tuned.

Now we are putting together all the online / social media pieces that will position us to go viral with this idea of hope and grace. Once the name was set, we snagged up every username/url we could with showerofhope.com and showerofhope.org domains, and Twitter, Facebook, Gmail, Tumblr, and Wordpress pages/usernames, and more.

The next step is to get a logo designed so that we can start branding this and then get the website up and running. So that is where we are right now; working on getting a logo and finding a very cost efficient web designer. The purpose of the website will be a central hub for all information regarding Shower Of Hope, as well as a place where people can donate money online or purchase items from a registry to be sent directly to the church.

If you are a web designer, or know one, who would be willing to create a simple website for cheap (free would be best!), then email info@showerofhope.com.

So right now, if you go to showerofhope.com, you wont find anything. What we really ned you to do right now is join the Facebook page at facebook.com/showerofhope, follow us on Twitter attwitter.com/showerofhope, tweet about us, blog about us, and just do whatever you can to spread the word. And please be patient until we have all the pieces together. I just couldn’t wait until everything was done to start getting the word out.

Once we have all cylinders firing and this thing is moving, it’s going to be an awesome ride. I hope you are ready to be a part of this movement.

Last October, Murray Hill Baptist Church in Jacksonville, FL planned an outreach initiative called Operation:Neighbor. A handful a church members were selected to organize a group and plan an event that met needs in the community that were not already being met. Each team came up with some great outside-the-box ideas for reaching people. One of the groups, comprised of mostly teens and lead by one of the girls in our student ministry, planned a baby shower for pregnant teens at a local high school. We set a date and started asking for donations of any and all items that were needed for a newborn baby during their first year. The response was incredible. We were able to offer several girls car seats, strollers, playpens, clothes, diapers, and so much more. The goal was not reward teenage pregnancy, but was rather to show these girls that they were still worthy of love and mercy, and that there was a group of people who cared about their needs and about the struggles that they would be going through as teenage mothers. How often are these girls shunned by their peers, classmates, families, and even the church? We simply want to be instruments of grace and redemption.

And so we have decided to start working towards another baby shower. And this time, we are planning on having a shower for 20 girls.

So what about you? We need your help, and here’s how you can offer it:

1. Donate Money: Go to www.ShowerOfHope.com and donate money online, or bring or mail check to 4300 Post St. Jacksonville, FL 32205. Make checks payable to Murray Hill Baptist Church, noted for Shower Of Hope.
2. Donate Items: Bring or send any items to 4300 Post St. Jacksonville, FL 32205. Go to www.ShowerOfHope.comfor a list of needed items.
3. Purchase Items: go to www.ShowerOfHope.com to find our registry link. You can simply purchase items and have them shipped straight to the church.
4. Social Networking: Tweet about it. Facebook about it. Blog about it. Tumbl about it. Buzz about it. Whatever. Just help spread the word and keep it spreading. You can follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/showerofhope or Facebook at www.facebook.com/showerofhope.

So there you go. Oh yah, what is this page about? This is where we will be keeping notes from the journey; updates, needs, goals, etc. So stay posted. (If you use an RSS reader, subscribe to the feed here)