“We had to age out, my mom didn’t get us back, and then she was gone (killed in an auto accident)”.
Those words have echoed in my heart since I first heard them. She was just a young child when the state got involved, removed her from the only home she had ever known. What followed her was a childhood marked by uncertainty – going from home to home, a few days here or a few weeks there; sometimes with her siblings, and others all alone. No mom or dad to tuck her in, to sing her lullabies, to rock her to sleep or read a bed time story. No one sitting in the bleachers cheering her on – Just another stranger; very well-meaning and loving, who said yes for a time.
For years, she did not know stability. She did not know what it felt like to belong. To have a home or a parent to go home to after a hard day at school, or after a big accomplishment, or to simply sit with her and love her. There was no one at the kitchen table to help with her science project (at 10pm the night before it is due – you’d think I have experience with this), or simply to ask all those awkward “growing up questions”.
The Bible tells us that God is “a Father to the fatherless, a defender of widows” (Psalm 68:5). Yet, for much of her young life, she felt forgotten, abandoned, alone, completely invisible.
It was four years ago today that Heidi and I signed our first buy/sell agreement on our first (yes first) SONshine Home – on our 52nd birthday. What we did not know is how much God would stretch us, humble us, and transform us over the next four years. We have learned. We have grown. We have made mistakes. And, by only God’s grace sometimes got it right. Through it all, we have gained a glimpse of the profound depravity and brokenness that exists in the fallen world we live in today. A world where darkness lurks behind bedroom doors – even as a tiny young child, abuse is all she knows, human trafficking is very real, and the chain of addiction wraps itself around generations, stealing souls and often taking the lives of those we love.
She comes to us behind her own prison walls, walls built from fear, shame, trauma, rejection and loss. She longs for a life that seems to be only a dream, and only for someone other than her. She carries wounds many could never fathom, let alone see. And, the truth is she fears that if anyone ever truly saw her – they would run. So, she hides behind these walls, fading slowly, not knowing how to ever climb out.
Yet, with the kindness of strangers, the layers of fear, hurt, anxiety, sadness and loss begin to peel away, as she is introduced to the true healer, the true savior, our only hope – Jesus Christ. Not with fancy words, eloquent Bible verses or worship music, but through the love and kindness of another, and a community who has provided for her, having never even met her. The Body of Christ who has chosen to care deeply for her and her child.
“Let us not love with words or speech, but with actions and in truth” (1 John 3:18)
Skeptical and scared, she begins to see something different, something better and something she has rarely seen before.
Consistency.
Stability.
Kindness.
Grace.
Hope.
Love.
She begins to see that HER life has value and so does her child’s life. And she begins to trust – yet another stranger and a community who said “yes” to loving, to guiding, to nurturing and to holding her tight in their prayers. She begins to trust a God who never abandoned her, even when she could not see or feel Him.
Heidi and I have said many times that if we ever have another mid-life crisis, we are buying a Mustang (well Heidi would buy a 70’s Camaro) instead of starting a non-profit. We all get a chuckle out of that – but the truth is, these past few years have been the most difficult work of our entire lives – being physically, emotionally and financially exhausted all at once – and wondering if we would get through one more day. Yet, it has been the most rewarding, God honoring and gracious work we have ever had the privilege to do. We have said it a million times – the women we serve are the heroes in the SONshine story. It is an incredible honor to step inside those prison walls, to cheer a mama on, and to tell her – YOU ARE LOVED, YOU HAVE VALUE AND YOU ARE WORTHY.
God so graciously reminds us again and again the truth found in Galatians 6:9 “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up”.
As we have opened our second home, “Heritage Home” and are moving sweet mamas in – those who have completed phase one, and are doing all the hard things to rise above their circumstances – we press in to our Savior, who so graciously sustains and gives us courage and strength to keep walking through the doors only He can open. We continue to say yes, because she matters, and together with all of you, we have the sacred, holy honor to care for her as we care for our own. What a joy it has been, and as I reflect on the many miracles throughout these past few years – I see the heart of a God who sees (El Roi) as we shared so eloquently at our 6th Annual Night of Radiance – a God who gives great care to the orphan, the widow, the vulnerable, the one without a voice. A God who defends the weak, who hears the cries of the brokenhearted, and who NEVER stops pursuing His children.
“The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit” (Psalm 34:18
And, the same God opens the door, allowing ordinary people like us (and you) to reflect Him, to glorify Him and to honor Him in giving life back to the beautiful women and children we serve – to help break down those prison walls and let HER see the plan and purpose the Lord has for her.
Thank you for walking with us, praying with us, supporting this ministry and being the quiet heroes of the story. As we celebrate yet another birthday, I am reminded of the value of human life, and the grace God has extended to us – may we continue to be the ones who love the least of these, give without limits, and always bring honor and glory to God.
