Shack Blog Posts
Day 2 Oct. 8 (drafted Oct.9)
Total: $50,100
Mr. Willie is a tornado survivor and has wrestled all of his life with hardships. He has been knocked down time and time again. Some days, it seems like the darkness wins. Other days, there is light. With people like Mr. Willie, it would be easy to say he gets what he deserves. Yes, he has made some poor choices with substance abuse being a running theme. Some would say God sent the storm to punish him or teach him a lesson. Maybe so.
Yet, does that mean we just leave Mr. Willie to his own devices? Is our attitude to let him get out of the hole he put himself in? Again, maybe so. But this does not sound like the Jesus I know. This does not sound like the Jesus that pulled me up from the mire when I did not deserve it. This does not sound like the people that invested in me when my choices could have been taking a wrong path.
For this season in Mr. Willie’s life, we get to reflect Jesus’ light to him. We get to meet him where he is-we just aren’t going to leave him there. Mr. Willie’s home was in such poor condition, we had to demolish it on-site to install a newly, refurbished mobile home. He is completely overwhelmed at the transformation. In the last years of his life, he is getting a taste of the best wine (John 4), he is getting a day’s wage for an hour’s work (Matthew 20).
What touched him dearly is the groups of college student volunteers giving of their time to help him pack up, move out, and move back into his new home. Mr. Willie was admitted to the hospital for eight days for some blood pressure issues. While getting his new home set up, we put him in a hotel for another ten days. Now he is in and he is giving God all the glory. You can hear his video message on our social media pages. I hope this will be his pattern and that his last years will be his best ones. Isn’t that how we get to be dispensers of God’s grace?
Extend love, build more,
Lisa
P.S. What is you could learn to serve families like Mr. Willie in your own community? We can help! Give me a shout and lets set up a time to visit with you or help you organize a group to come and serve at our site so you can take home what you learned! lisa@arm-al.org 334-332-8878
www.arm-al.org/give www.arm-al.org/shack
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