LENTEN DEVOTION
Saturday, March 27, 2021
Home for Hope and Healing
By Sally Reed
Gracewood rescues children and their single mothers, ensuring a bright future by providing home, hope, and healing.
It's more than a mission statement. One of the families that was served by Gracewood eventually became like family to me.
When my mom was in hospice care in early 2018 we needed a new and better caregiver. The agency sent a woman out and I promised my parents I would come and meet her, to make sure they were comfortable with her. To my astonishment and delight, as I walked into their home, a voice called out, ?Sally, is that you?? A God-wink. Really, a God bear-hug.
The caregiver turned out to be a woman named Stacy, who was a former Gracewood mom. She and I had met when she volunteered at a Christmas in the Park event a couple of months before that. Stacy is a mom of three kids, big-hearted, with a ready smile and she genuinely loves Jesus. As she gently cared for my mother and became like family to us, I began to recognize that God was all over that match-up. Stacy said every day she would ask my mom about what she liked to teach from the Bible and about being a mother and grandmother. How I wish I could have heard all of that! Stacy is committed to a career track that will lead her to nursing school, and says it's because of a certain angel she calls Betty.
I?m now serving as Development Officer for Gracewood and get to know the moms as they prepare to share their stories with guests on our tours. It's humbling to hear how they have struggled and now have hope for their futures. How they have confidence because of the healing that took place at Gracewood. Jeremiah 29:11 says, ?For I know the plans I have for you? declares the Lord, ?plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.? These redemption stories are flesh and blood, real moms and kids and I am grateful to be a witness. And grateful to be reminded every day how we are all human and need to feel loved and heard.
About the Author and Volunteers
Sally is married to Roman, and they have three children, Suzy (Paul), Travis (Caroline), and Forrest (Chelsea). They delight in these and are ecstatic grandparents to Sally Pack Thompson. She and Roman are deacons and serve as co-leaders with Lauren Benesh in the Journey Community.
Gracewood would not be as vibrant without the hard work of committed volunteers such as Cathy Edwards, Kathy Kronzer, Barbara Kirk, Martha Dethrow, Anne Fowler, Carol Smith, and Lydia Law to name a few. They serve as board and committee members, take photographs, host events, sort donations and arrange clothing in the Patti's Place Boutique, and help with tours. Sunday School communities buy shoes at Easter, make masks, and do drives for paper goods and cleaning supplies and children's clothing. We are all grateful for the support from SMBC individuals and communities and the pastoral team. Please visit the Gracewood website to view video testimonies of moms whose lives are greatly impacted by your efforts.
