|
Gather 'Round Our Family Table
 Lauri had punched buttons for hours trying to find shelter after being evicted from her apartment. A month earlier, her husband had been arrested. Then, Lauri’s family called social services and had her three children removed from her custody. It was the drugs—they’d stepped in to steal away her home, her children ... her very life.
Lauri called the next number on her list of shelters. The woman who answered was immediately sympathetic, but told her there was no room available there. “Can I pray for you?” she asked. Lauri rolled her eyes and thought, Whatever. “Sure, I guess,” she said out loud.
The woman prayed God would cause “doors to fly open” for Lauri and she would get her children back, grow in faith, become a good parent and overcome her addiction. Despite Lauri’s frustration, she found herself thinking maybe this lady had connected with God somehow. It sure sounded like it!
That Sunday, Lauri attended a friend’s church where a woman asked her, “Have you ever heard of Hope Family Center?” Two weeks later, September 25, she moved into clean, attractive rooms at Hope Family Center and began the process of overcoming her addiction and getting her children back. “Doors did fly open!” she marvels today.
Lauri’s family watched with hope as she managed to steer clear of drugs and worked hard to earn the right to care for her children again. By Christmas, Christian, 2, and Lily, 1, had joined her at Hope Family Center (she has joint custody of Leah, 11). “It was great to have my kids at Christmastime!” she says.
Today, Lauri is back in school where she is completing her degree in psychology. “I’m 10 months clean and sober, and I will graduate with my BA in April 2008. I’m very hopeful today!”
Though it’s tough to be a single mother raising little ones and going to school, Lauri has plenty of help and encouragement from the other mothers at Hope Family Center. “We grill outside together, take turns fixing meals—there’s a real sense of family. And the staff plays a role by teaching and modeling what a Christian family should be.
“This place is a miracle. I needed this environment in order to be successful. It’s important that it’s funded by people who give instead of the government. We can have Bible studies and learn how God wants us to raise our families. What is important isn’t lost.”
Once a week, Lauri and her children tend the garden shared by the seven families who have found refuge at Hope Family Center. “When we harvest it, we’ll share it as a community. We share the responsibility, the hard work and the fruits of our work.”
|
