07/03/2024
I have written this letter several times. There just isn’t a perfect way to convey what I want to say.
The official first day of SG is January 2012, I would argue it could even be November 2011 when I was helping tutor a young boy who would become the first student to receive food from me, a mom who had NO intention of starting a food program. The truth is that the wheels were set in motion in 1999, at a time when I was a newly married woman and an even newer expectant mom moving to a new home thousands of miles away from all I’d ever known. It was a big change from New Mexico to Ohio!
I lived the first decade of the 2000s feeling displaced and struggling to belong in my new community. Honestly, it was the pits. I was young and didn’t have the gift of maturity and perspective yet. I prayed to move away, make friends, or have more social opportunities. There was little to no headway in my prayers (or so I thought). It wasn’t until I hired a babysitter to watch my youngest baby so I could volunteer to be a teacher’s helper. I didn’t magically make friends, or belong, but I was unknowingly discovering a purpose.
With one clandestine comment from a first-grade boy, my life took a whole new turn. What I will tell you is that what I thought was a mission laid at my feet was something more. I started to find my own community and sense of belonging. When I was given the Community Service Award from the West Jefferson Alumni Association, I thought I had made it. That’s as close as one can get to being a townie without being born here, right? Don’t get me started on being named the Grand Marshall of the Ox Roast Parade. Mind blown!
There was no shortage of work in those early days. I was a homemaker wife with four kids, raising beef steer and chickens. While also trying to find a way to feed the SG kids of Norwood Elementary. The Lord knew I was just stubborn enough to keep going. Having a full homelife and starting a nonprofit was no easy feat. I witnessed His faithfulness over and over in my personal life and in the program. I made it a rule that if a school asked us to help them, I would say yes and trust that He would provide. And He did just that hundreds of times.
I have given dozens of presentations and speeches. Greeted and hugged numberless kids. I prayed for guidance in the slim times and prayed with thankfulness when situations worked out. The funny thing about prayer is that we are thankful when it’s answered how we requested, but rarely when the answer looks different than requested. Truth of the matter is, favorable or not, we always get an answer. I have found myself with the realization that what was once a new beginning is coming to an end. I have spent the past few months knowing the probable outcome and just letting myself feel all the feelings associated with it. As you can already guess, Sufficient Grace will not be resuming operations. There are seasons to life. A beginning and an end. Along the way I learned that the true purpose life is to fully engage where God has placed you.
I have a happy home life to fill my time with. I have a great marriage with three and one almost adult wonderful kids, a son-in-law, and two lovely grandkids that I can pour more of my time into.
While the program is better known for feeding kids, I’d like to bring attention to the many adult friendships made, the prayer requests asked, the kids and work groups that got the opportunity to serve. I have been surrounded by so many loving and loyal people who have made the past 12+ years possible. None of that is by accident.
Thank you for supporting SG over the years. I’ll see you around.
