Scripture Reference: Matthew 25:40 (NIV)
The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’
Reflection
As I’m laying here I hear the beep of my alarm waking me up for work. I feel the cold breeze of the AC and I pull my blanket up closer to my face. My first thought is that I can’t wait to see my children’s face as I wake them up this morning. My eyes open and reality hits me as I stare blankly at the intersection of S Towers St. and W Market St. The delusions are becoming more real, especially after I’ve stayed up for days and found somewhere to finally sleep. The beep I heard was a car horn and the cold breeze was the wind. I sigh as I have to look my regret in the face yet again as memories of what I’d done to get here flood back to me.
(A few weeks ago in a backyard when I cried out to God about what I had done to myself and my children, with blurry eyes I saw something shining. I bent down to pull it out of the ground and knew it was a divine assignment. It was a charm with a cross on it that had two words on it “Be still.”)
As I lay there in my makeshift shelter, someone from HOPE Missions came to talk with me and bring me food. I let her read a Facebook post I put in a recovery group. As she read, I saw the tears start to stream down her face. I told her, “I need help…” She gave me a big hug and replied, “Yes, you do.” She left me with a glimpse of hope that day that she would “make a phone call.” I didn’t know exactly what that meant, but I felt in my heart that things were about to change for me. The next day I was off to rehab. What HOPE Missions did for the least of these changed the trajectory of my life. What they did that day shows the Goodness of God and is the reason why two children were able to get their mama back.
Heart for the Homeless
I was there two and a half years ago. I used to be the type of person to drive by someone holding a sign and think to myself that they need to get a job. After experiencing it myself, I now know what it’s like to be out there. I went back to HOPE Missions last June to give out blessing bags, tell my testimony, and tell people that the answer is Jesus. I’m planning another trip this fall. I hope to return and share my story often to plant seeds in the hearts of those who need a glimpse of hope.
Author: Patty Lomax
Abuse and neglect as a child led me down the wrong paths and around the wrong crowds. Battling with undiagnosed or treated mental illness due to the mistreatment I experienced kept me wanting to escape my reality. Never healing from what happened to me as a child, I found myself not being who I needed to be for my own children even though I told myself I would be to them who I needed as a child. For 14 years, I was in and out of active addiction. After six relapses, I finally decided to get clean and stay clean at the age of 30 after losing everything. I lost my car, home, belongings, and two children and almost lost my mind. I was on the streets of Anderson for four months, walking around empty and broken. Stuck in a pit of despair, regret, and darkness. I desperately wanted to be a good mother, but instead, I would drown my sorrows with dope each day. Roaming from abandoned places to trap houses like the dead woman I was, I had no real plans of how I would ever get the chance to even see my children again.
God was pursuing me the whole time I was out there, and it was no accident that the last place I stayed was right down the street from HOPE Missions (Proverbs 16:9). They shined a ray of light and hope into my life one morning when they offered me a chance to go to rehab and start a new life as a new creation in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17).
My life has been restored and I’ve gotten back what I lost and so much more (Joel 2:25). My children were returned to me. I got my license back after not having it for five years. I own a van named Humble. I’ve been promoted to key holder at my job. I’m able to maintain my sobriety and provide a safe, consistent life for my children.
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