God's Love is on the Move!

We've been praying for God to bring into our lives people who need our help, who could use our resources, and who need God's love in action. At Mary's House, we strive to serve others through the spiritual and corporal works of mercy, focusing primarily on feeding the hungry, giving drink to the thirsty, and clothing the naked. That's what our family feels drawn to.

In the past week, God has answered our prayers by giving us an opportunity to encounter a trio of families who are quite in need of help with their basic necessities. Two of these families have created a makeshift home with tents and tarps a few miles outside of town. Another one is living in a non-functioning motor home across the field with 5 kids. Last Sunday after Mass, Patrick was able to bring them some clothes, socks and food. Since then, we decided that we would bring them meals, and visit regularly with whatever we can bring them.

A kind stranger and his wife, through a local Buy Nothing group, has generously donated gas cans, sleeping bags, a tent and a box of food and crayons for the kids when they heard about what we're trying to do.

Yesterday, I was able to go with Patrick to bring them these things and meet them for the first time. I wasn't sure what I was expecting, but as soon we drove up, they came running up to greet us, and they were so excited to see Patrick again. They were in the middle of working outside clearing some brush, something Patrick does a lot on our land. The teen boys were babysitting 2 younger boys from the other family. After talking to them about their living situation, it sounded oddly familiar to how we were living in the beginning of our life on the farm, when our family of 7 lived with nothing more than a tent for sleeping, a tent for bathroom and a covered area for cooking. These families rely on water from a nearby creek or pond or water jugs from a nearby market. They cook their food on propane or open fire, and their generator powers a deep freezer (something we didn't even have in the beginning). One of the younger guys was wearing the same shirt over the course of several weeks. The older uncle walked with a limp in wet and worn-out canvas shoes; not the best shoes for a muddy campground. One of the younger kids had on two different shoes.

Meeting these families has given purpose to our initial struggle living on the land. Our experience has made it easier to understand what they are going through and what they need. Like them, we had to figure out how to make our resources stretch, use what we had, rely on each other, and pray for God's providence. It also reminds us of the people who supported us by letting us have a place to shower and do laundry and giving us their extra clothes and shoes. There were Sundays when we would show up to Mass and our little one would have no shoes at all. Getting our little farm up and running and relying on others for basic necessities was humbling. And now that we're at a better place with our living situation, God has graced us with the opportunity to do the same for these families.

With Thanksgiving coming up next week, we were originally thinking of bringing some Thanksgiving meal to them. However, the Holy Spirit had a different plan. On our drive home after our visit, we decided that it would be much better to invite them to Mary's House for Thanksgiving. We'll pick them up in our 15-passenger van to enjoy a day where the kids can play on the playground, hang out with our farm animals, ride on the side by side, and the adults can relax and not have to worry about making food or work on the land. It sure would be a day to be thankful for. Everything we worked on and was given over the summer finally made sense, and it showed that God knew all along what's coming up ahead.

Since we've shared about what we are trying to do for Thanksgiving, our church family at St. Ann's has been a huge blessing with their generous donations. One of our church friends even volunteered to come to help serve that day. Our first volunteer! The same couple who gave us the tent and sleeping bags also donated turkeys! We are gearing up for quite the feast for Thanksgiving.

Please pray for us, for our first Catholic Worker Thanksgiving with guests and volunteers, and, if it is within your means, please contribute to the ministry. We will be making weekly trips to visit these families through the new year. Anything helps.

Current needs:

• Warm clothes for men, women, kids of all sizes

• Gloves, beanies, hand warmers

• Blankets

• Winter boots and socks of all sizes

• Toiletries

• Gas cans

• Money for gasoline & propane

• Non-perishable food items

• Bottled water

• Tarps

• Propane heaters

• Flashlights & batteries

For monetary donations, you can donate here. To send via check, you can make it payable to Henny Vallee and mail to P.O. Box 51, Goose Rock, KY 40944. If you have any questions regarding any of the needs, please feel free to reach out at mammahenn@gmail.com. May God bless you this Thanksgiving!