Look ! The Moon!!!
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 Miracle in the Middle of the Tornado Crisis The 2020 Tornado was a horrible event to thousands of people in Middle Tennessee. Many lives were taken do to this act of nature. In the middle of the chaos there was one huge miracle. It was after just after midnight when the storms around Nashville started swirling into a deadly tornado. At the River Bend prison, one lone Correctional Officer has the job of walking the exterior of the prison along the razor wire fence line checking to see that the sensors and security the fence provides is all in place. I have met this man and his daily walk, every hour has him in incredible shape. I’ve been told that at every corner he drops and does 100 push ups, every hour, every day he is at work. The man is defiantly in shape. On this evening, he knew that weather reports had warnings of storms coming in in the wee hours of the morning. His job, like that of the mail man, requires him to walk the fence line come rain, snow or sleet… As he made his rounds he looked up and saw the funnel cloud rapidly approaching. He dove to the ground laying face first as low as he could and then watched the swirling cloud rise over the prison and completely miss the 800 plus inmates housed behind its concrete walls. That tornado touched down on the other side of the prison property and started its sixty some mile cut through warehouses, airports, homes and businesses. One can only be thankful for the lives that were spared not only at River Bend, but though out middle Tennessee. We grieve the loss that has hit this community. We have received numerous calls from around the country to check on our safety and support our efforts to help in the community. Thank you and please keep Nashville in your prayers.  Today I want to live...
Silly statement right? But what I mean is - I want to live today to its fullest! I want to go GAGA over a baby... Look into the eyes of an older person... Hugg a helpless person. Last week, a new friend moved away. I continue to be surprised on how I am grieving his move. It was a good move for him, back to his home and family, but a loss to this community. Yes we will stay in touch as much as anyone does - but I will miss him. I don't have regrets about our friendship, we got together often - even though both of us agreed we should meet more. We accomplished a few things for our community Life goes on, I know - and really I am happy for him. My lesson for me today is: Get out of each day all you can get. Love hard. Give as much as you can. Embrace challenges boldly and enjoy the sunsets. Tomorrow everything may change... Live Today!   www.theprojectnashville End of the Year Report What a Year Your support allowed us to:
We have had some great financial supporters from New York, Atlanta, Nashville, Denver, Dallas. Your support has allowed us to give freely, love liberally and provide generously to those who most are in need. Thank you for your financial commitment to TPN, your physical help and most importantly your prayers. Those three elements are the keys to our success of taking care of those who fall through the cracks of society and are lost on the streets of our city. If you are looking for places to give and or to serve let me offer a few suggestions of organizations we partner with. Room in the Inn People Loving Nashville Open Table Nashville Helping Hands Family Reconciliation Center Men of Valor Thank you for all you do - we always need funds - food - clothing and helping hands. Here are a couple dreams we would like to have you dream with us. OK some are needs... but Some are indeed dreams. We need a SUV - used - in running condition. We will use this to collect our weekly food. Currently we are filling two cars up to the max. We need a large Freezer. Though our food is distributed weekly there are days in-between collecting and distribution. We are dreaming of owning a coffee shop/thrift shop. We would use this to employ and fund our weekly efforts. If you would like to hear more please contact us and we would be happy to buy you a cup of coffee and share our vision. Thank you for a great year JR Davis  Can you believe it - It has been one year since Allan Preston Brooks joined our team. Allan has coordinated our food distribution and has been instrumental in new sources of food for people who need extra help. Thank you Allan for a job well done! This year has been an incredible year for www.TheProjectNashville.com. Our small troop of men and women have worked week in and week out to help make life better for some in our community. We started the year off with an addition to our service team. Mr. Allan Preston Brooks joined our staff and is doing an incredible job coordinating our food distribution. Thanks to Evangelist George Medley for making this possible. Allan’s quest to serve is unmatchable and his willingness to give back is unstoppable. What’s more Allan is the author of a new book - his latest “Ransomed” which tells his incredible life story. Special. Special. Special. Special offer if you have an inkling to financially support us: From November to the end of the year TPN will send you a copy of “Ransomed” for ANY financial gift you send to support TPN. You heard it right! Any Amount!!! You can go directly to www.theprojectnashville.com Click “DONATE” in the menu and donate through our Paypal link. “Ransomed” is a page turner and you will defiantly be inspired. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> So here is how your dollars helped us serve in 2018: We were able to provide the following:
Eat Well Nashville has supplied weekly donations of food allowing us to feed thousands of meals to homeless camps, halfway houses and churches. I’m amazed at the scores of people from New York to California and many places in between who are helping our team make life better for some in this part of the country. Thank you for your generosity and extending a had up. Looking forward to 2019 - we will continue to go into prisons meeting men and women where the are in life. We just made a deal with a Mobil shower Winnebago that we will be taking to camps. This gift will allow folks to shower and wash clothes a well needed service. What’s more our team is stepping up our food distribution with new non perishable food items that we will be delivering weekly along with our meals to homeless camps. Remember that the Good Book tells us that the poor will always be with us... But encourages us to look after them. Our goal is to use our services as a tool to gain trust, build relationships, give an exit strategy when they are receptive to it - all with the end goal of showing the the love that God has for everyone. Sometimes it is that love they discover that turned the lightbulb on in their mind and ignites a new sense of self-worth in purpose. And we have seen firsthand when that when that happens - incredibly positive things start to happen in peoples lives. Thank you all again for supporting The Project Nashville - we truly are grateful! Have a great Thanksgiving and make it a habit to help someone every day. JR Davis Founder www.theprojectnashville.com Do You Know?
Many people just don’t think about it. Some people worry about it. Other people have prepared for it. But the question is… Do you know? There was a time when I didn’t know. I lost sleep over it. I worried every night. I wanted to know. I had gone through the motions… but still I wasn’t sure. I know some people today find it hard to know. I want everyone to know. Yesterday I needed to stop by the my wife’s pre-school for a short garden clean up. Dead flowers from the fall made this special garden a little messy. When I pulled up, Pat. a woman that helps her friend Karen clean the school ran out frantically motioning me to come into the building. “Karen has passed out and was on the floor,” she told me. We called 911… She died… I believe that Karen was ready… I trust so… I hope she knew… I hope she knew that her soul was safe in our creator’s hands. I realized that I want everyone to know what they are missing by not having the God of creation in their life. I want all to know that about two thousand years ago - God put on earth clothes and came in the form of the person of Jesus. He went around doing good. Yep, that’s it. Jesus loved people, fed the hungry, cried with the widows and healed the sick. All those acts under the scrutiny of the religious leaders of the day. He was a maverick and didn’t care what people thought. Jesus didn’t always do what was right under the law, but he always did what was good. So, do you think about it? Do you worry about it? Are you prepared for it? Be the maverick in your world. Step out of your comfort zone and follow the example of Jesus. Death will knock on all of our doors someday. So live your life doing good, follow Jesus and give your soul to Him and in the end, you will be prepared to meet the next level of our existence. Please settle this in your heart today. We will miss you Karen.  FERRIER FILES: Finding a home for the homeless in a Nashville tiny house by Dennis Ferrier (WZTV) NASHVILLE, Tenn. — J.R Davis never knows what the day will bring. The Project Nashville checks on homeless camps. Sometimes people need to go the hospital. Sometimes they just need food or water. Mostly they just enjoy feeling cared for, which explains in many ways why there is a beautiful tiny home sitting at Brook Hollow Baptist Church parking lot for a year. To make a long story short, there was a proposed tiny house community. Davis raised the money, got a church youth group, and built this house. Then the deal to buy the property for the tiny house community fell through and this became the house without a home. "So my challenge today is two fold," Davis said. "I need this to help the homeless, and we need a house. This place has homeless DNA. I also need a mover through the a generous heart to come and move this to a final resting place." Alot of people have stopped and made offers as high as $10,000, but they want a hunting lodge or a playhouse. Davis said no way. “We are willing to give it away, but it has got to go to the homeless," Davis said. "Let’s move it faster than you can say bob’s your uncle." Who knows, maybe someone from the woods could one day call this home. “The second someone says 'I have had enough get me out of here', we get them out of here,” Davis said. If you have a great home for the tiny house, contact Davis at The Project Nashville.  I have had breakfast, lunch and dinner with many awesome men who are walking in the path of Jesus.
These men of God are men you all would want to have on your short list of people to share a meal with. Personally I am constantly wanting to surround myself with wiser kinder people then myself. May be hard to believe but I struggle every day... There are days I don't want to get out of bed... Perhaps it is my struggle with depression - or the real J.R. who has to force himself to be outgoing. No it does not come naturally for me, I have to work every day on being a good person. Don't get me wrong, at 61, I have a pretty good handle on this struggle, but I love finding out how other men of God are dealing with life. One such man is Father Charles Strobel. ... and I had breakfast with him this past week. Years ago when I was introduced to this man, my business partner H David Smith, Charlie embraced me and took me into his circle of friends. Lets stop here for a second... and let you in on a few lessons I have learned from this man. LESSON 1 - Ask yourself "Am I embracing people and letting them into my circle?" Just a question I have to constantly ask myself. Back to Strobel. Back in the early 90's I was asked to help the The Room in the Inn Board with marketing material to help rase money for the new building. It was a clean white color project. I say that because as I entered the compound, i would quickly walk though the hundreds of homeless people hanging at the doors, avoiding eye contact, avoiding pan handlers and quickly enter the office with a sign of relief. Through this process I got to know Father Strobel. Our first meeting I walk out and said to myself... "I was just in the presence of Jesus" - Now some of my conservative Souther Baptist friends may question my faith when I'm so enthusiastic about this Catholic Priest but I am reminded what Paul from the Bible said to some people - "if you don't understand who this Jesus fellow is - just follow me for a week and you will get it". Wow! That I could ever be so bold. But if you want to see who the man we call Jesus was all about - spend just a day with Father Strobel. It was this man that showed me how to have a heart for people with struggles. LESSION 2 - Strive to walk this life like Jesus did. At this breakfast we talked about so much. One thing stood out, this man struggled with life just like the rest of us. Isn't it great to know that you are not alone? LESSION 3 - Open up to others and let them peek behind the smiley face you have. Your honesty of your struggles may encourage another person to persevere. Finally we started talking about the legalism that some faiths impose on their followers. He gave me some great insight on the subject. The Good Samaritan story is one that we are all so familiar with. You remember the story, a man was in a ditch - beaten and perhaps near death. People passing by ignored him, some moving to the other side of the street . We focus on the people who passed with out helping with indignation. How could they not stop? Then YEA! Finally! A good man - the good guy stops and helps the man - taking him to a place that would help him heal and paying for his care. Father Strobel pointed out that there was much more to the story than bad people passing him by and a good man helping. He explained that in the culture of the day - you didn't get near an unclean person. It was the Law... So in a way - the people passing by were obeying the law. Now here is the Kicker.. My friend sitting across from me as we ate our eggs and drank our coffee said to me. "There is doing what is right... and then there is doing what is good." In the oppressive law of the day - you don't touch the unclean. But what was right as a human was to help this beaten man. LESSON 4 - Ask yourself - Who are we walking past? How can we walk past those in need? We must extend our hand to those in need - without hesitation - without question - without judgment. Prayer, Lord help me JR Davis to not walk past anyone in need. I hope you pray that prayer yourself. Thank you Father Strobel for your friendship, mentoring over the years and example you show us all every day. |
JR DaviswalTActivists for homeless - inmates and the poor of this world.
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