What Mom does:
My mom, Denise, spent the week with me and I guess had a real experience in the “day and the life” of what we do at ARM. More than that, she has been an incredible blessing to have working and serving together. I’m sure our staff team enjoyed the constant bantering and “roasting” between us.
She arrived last Sunday from Florida and jumped into the thick of things-meeting some of the families we may serve with through home repair. About ten families arrived that day and made us aware of their need for home repair. Just before we really got started at the church, we heard and felt this loud “crash”. I thought someone had fallen down. But it was much worse. A person had rammed her car into the fellowship hall!
I stepped outside to see the commotion and just stood there scooping by jaw off the sidewalk. A hole about 5ft in diameter was etched in the brick. A large crack zigzagged its way through the mortar joints up the 20ft high brick wall. The heavy steel crash doors all stood opened from the impact and you could see where the corner of the building had shifted off of its frame. This elderly lady had hit a pressure point in the building. She had literally backed her car into the church. Why such a hard impact? As she was backing in, she bumped the curb of the sidewalk. This evidently scared her so instead of hitting her brake, she slammed on her gas. This sent her car catapulting up the sidewalk, bursting both tires on the passenger side of her car, and slamming her squarely into the church. Fortunately, she was not hurt except a small gash on her leg. No one in the church was hurt. My heart went out to the poor woman. She had come to tell of her home repair needs. Her floor in her bedroom is so weak that she sleeps on her couch. Fortunately her car is insured but it seemed a terrible burden for her.
And so began our week. But it was fun to have Mom with us. We talked about our faith, what Christ is doing in our lives and how He is working. Mom was here because she was laid off from her job a few weeks ago. This is a tough blow in such a down economy and when financially-everything is tight. But she came and served beautifully! Mom helped with the store and helped us develop and evaluate our operations manual. She typed up several items and completed a necessary data base. Each morning we gathered for prayer before opening our store and starting our day. It was just fun to participate in great ways.
We worked hard, prayed hard, and even played hard. Despite the long work hours, we walked; we bowled, went to see a movie (The Help), and even managed tickets to the opening Auburn game. Our visit was culminated in our worship together. What an incredible week with Mom. I attribute everything to her. She is my rock and my best friend. I am more excited that she has come back to Jesus and is a follower. We have more stories to share and more ways to connect. I am so blessed. It was good to have her for the week!
I hope you are able to celebrate the gifts of your mom or dad and to realize the amazing blessing we have in our parents who give so much! Many blessings for this Labor Day weekend!
lisa
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