That’s So Nice

The other day, my husband Rick was helping a resident in the wee hours of the morning. She is in the last weeks of her life. In the midst of their conversation Rick said to her, “The Bible says that Jesus went to heaven to prepare a place for us.” She didn’t open her eyes, but smiled and said, “That’s so nice!”  When he shared that little story with us, we all smiled and felt happy! Usually we say “That’s so nice!” when someone does something unexpectedly thoughtful. She was saying and feeling this about God, whom she expects to meet soon. She expressed a warm and friendly thought about what comes next.

It caused me to start thinking about warm and friendly moments in my life. One of the wonders of our  Hope & A Future journey is that exactly the right people with exactly the right skills have shown up when we need them most. Often people we did not know before. However, sometimes it was people we knew but we didn’t know everything about them!  And suddenly there was the help we needed. This happened recently.  I was wanting some additional help with the interactive sessions we will host for people preparing to sign up to live in Hope & A Future’s new housing. I received an email from a volunteer wanting a letter of reference. She wanted to do a different kind of volunteering and explained the skills she hoped to use. They were the skills I was looking for.  A week later we were  laughing and working at the table. Here I was with exactly the right person with exactly the right skills. Before reading her email, I had no idea she could help with this project. And that is what I hope we will see nearly every day when our expansion is complete! People working together to do life better with shared skills.  

We are working through many details as we move in the direction of building the expansion.  Amazing people have helped us get this far. People of purpose working together to do something good. It is music to our souls.

This month we are excited to have many fun things happening. We will have the pot-luck and house concert with Brian Montrey on September 11th.  Jess Lex will come back with her amazing Downsizing With Ease workshop.  If you hope to move here or if you just want to rehome some of your excess stuff, please join us on Thursday September 17th at 10AM. Jess is so much fun! For those of you wanting to learn more about the housing we are working to build soon, We will have a New Beginnings Conversation on October 21st at 10:30 AM. Please mark your calendars!

I am also looking for one to five more volunteers for our project with WESLI. This is an opportunity to talk with young adults learning English as a second language.  They want to interview seniors who have grown up in the US.  This will happen on Monday September 14th from 10:30 to 12:30 at the Central Library.  The following week On Friday the 25th, students will give a presentation about something they learned from you. The second session is fun, but not required. I think the real fun is that you can ask questions too. I learned so much the first time I did this, that I will be there doing it again! If you can join us please send at email to [email protected]  

To all of our volunteers, encouragers and supporters, we are grateful! Thank you!!! Our legacy is that we truly are a community built by a community and “That’s so nice!”