A little one sits in her high chair. Macaroni and cheese is calling her name. Her little hands reach for the little pink bowl. Eyes wide with anticipation she draws the yummy goodness to her mouth only to release the noodles before arrival. Her gaze lowers to allow her sight to meet the detoured location of where her noodles arrived. Yet in seeing her lunch sit in another place besides her mouth, the grand idea to grab more noodles and drop them down her clothes and high chair erupted. As her chuckles filled the room her mother placed her elbow on her daughter’s high chair, and with a small grin said, “life get’s messy sometimes doesn’t it little one”. Her daughter held out some macaroni and cheese tightly gripped in her little hand to share with her mother, which was warmly received.
If only all messes could be so sweet. Yet at Acres of Hope we see the real messes that many mothers and their children are seeking to clean up. The desire to clean up bad credit. The need to finish a year of education. The hope of reunification with children. There are so many different messes to climb out of at times for our families because they are seeking to clean up a past of multiple disappointments, dysfunctional choices, and behaviors that led to a cycle of homelessness. Yet equipping women and their children to clean up the messes is what we do at Acres of Hope. It is not us cleaning up the messes for them. We equip our families with the tools to clean up their own messes, so they can face a world that is at times messy, and know how to make their way through successfully.
We have been watching success, upon success happen at Acres of Hope. Mothers and their children are diving deeper into their faith. A mother who thought she had too many messes to overcome recently went from needing to clean up her credit, get her license reinstated, and find work has done all three. A woman who feared her past would hold her back, has just finished filling out the paperwork to enroll in a 401k at her new job.
You see at Acres of Hope we know that for our families life has been messy. Yet it is so incredible watching our families learn to clean up their own messes, and move forward with their lives.
Do you want to see first hand how lives are changing at Acres of Hope? Come and visit us for a tour of campus.
To set up a time to tour with us:
Call 530-878-8030 or Learn more about Acres of Hope at: acresofhopeonline.org