What season is this for you?
June 8, 2021
Four days before Christmas, Debbie received an eviction notice for herself, her 13 year old son and 5 year old daughter. Debbie was caught unaware that her husband, a long distance truck driver, had stopped paying rent when he decided not to come home. They relied on his income because her five-year-old daughter’s medical appointments had prevented Debbie from returning to work.
Stunned and in shock, what could she do? On hearing the news, a friend told Debbie about Bridge of Hope and then helped form a group of Neighboring Volunteers to walk with her in her darkest time.
Reflecting back on that time in Bridge of Hope, Debbie says her Neighboring Volunteers sat with her and made it clear she was not alone through this rough time. Read her full story here.
For most of us, we have seasons of giving and receiving. Times when we can walk with someone who is hurting, and times when we ourselves need others to walk with us. To everything there is a season.
As I hugged a dear friend for the first time in well over a year, I thought of the words from Ecclesiastes: a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing. Many of us have been refraining from embracing our friends and now are experiencing the joy of a simple embrace. The time to show love to others.
COVID restrictions are lifting, but finding rental housing is a struggle. Single moms facing homelessness need a bridge out of crisis. Might now be the season for you to offer love and care to these families through Bridge of Hope Neighboring? Or perhaps the season to make a financial gift of support?
To everything there is a season. Is this your season to Neighbor? Like Debbie’s “good neighbor” who pointed her to Bridge of Hope and then helped form her group of Neighboring Volunteers, your action as a neighbor can make all the difference in the world, the impact still felt years from now when a single mom like Debbie reflects back on her life.
Edith Yoder
Chief Executive Officer
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