I began volunteering at Safe Choice in the spring. This would be my first Christmas Breakfast with the other volunteers and I looked forward to spending time with some of the ladies I don’t get to see often. As we shared some wonderful food and conversation I felt led to also share how God has blessed me through the young women who come to Safe Choice for the resources we offer. Each is special but one pulled at my heartstrings in a powerful way and I wanted to share part of that story with them and now with you.
I love to journal how God blesses my life and so I asked if I could read to them what I had written just weeks before because we at Safe Choice are just “People Loving People.”
On November 18, 2014 I wrote:
“It’s People Loving People”….That’s the enemy of everything that’s evil.
As I drive home from the Center I listen to a country song and realize I’ve been watching the truth of these words playing out before me in the last 6 months…..
People Choosing Joy…Love…Forgiveness Over Anger…Bitterness…And Hurt.
I remember when I met Amy and Tyler for the first time. This young couple…pregnant…anxious…she was crying…concerned about medication she was on and how to get off of it so it wouldn’t affect the baby. He reached over and touched her arm…just enough to say, “We’re in this together…we’ll figure it out…it will be OK”…People Loving People.”
The next time I saw Amy her Stepmom, Kristy, came with her to class. Amy wasn’t as anxious but I sensed some reservations about being there and maybe some anger deep inside…but Kristy and I talked about the baby with great excitement and enthusiasm including Amy in our joy and I watched as her guard let down and her body soften…”People Loving People.”
Amy was in love with her baby from the moment she knew she was there and as she felt the love of others for her and her unborn child she knew she would have the support she needed…and as weeks went by and I spent more time with Amy and Tyler…her Father and Kristy…I listened as relationships were restored and mutual forgiveness and understanding shared.
I’ve watched Amy…with her piercings and her tattoos…and her attitude when she first came to the Center…change before my eyes with the love poured over her from family and friends and her family here at the Center. I have been blessed beyond measure by our conversations as I hear the tenderness in her heart…the humbleness in her spirit…and her desire to be the best mother she can be.
As we sat in class on Monday Amy, Tyler, Kristy…we got on the subject of forgiveness and how we find peace through forgiving others of the wrongs done to us and she stretched out her arms and said “How can we not forgive when He forgave so much?” And my heart felt like it would burst as I looked at her beautiful face glowing with peace…love for her baby and love for her Jesus.
And isn’t that where it all begins? “God so loved that He gave His son…” He first loves us…We accept His love…Let it flow through us…
“PEOPLE LOVING PEOPLE”