The Story: Hope
For five long months, a package had been tucked away inside one of Sanctuary Nights supply bins...waiting.
This package has journeyed well over one hundred miles...back and forth, every Monday night...from our storage unit on Long Street in downtown Columbus to the Lower Lights Ministry building we use on Sullivant and Cypress and then back again.
As weeks turned into months, hope began to fade, being replaced by concerns that the violence of the streets had taken the life of yet another precious woman...one who had found sanctuary with us on a Monday night early in May. On that distant night, this woman touched us deeply as she shared a poem, “Stranger In The Glass”, that she authored. Her poem transparently displayed the rawness, the brutally, the desperation of the battles she fought just to stay alive.
On that night she shared how writing was her way of copping through the addictions and harshness of her life. She also told us that she didn’t have any more notebooks or journals to write in. That was when I told her “I will get you a journal.” And so the following Monday night in May, a package with her name on it, found its way into one of our storage bins...
...and waited....
Not all stories have a happy ending...but this one does! On the last Sanctuary Night of October 2019, "Rebecca" came by! After our greetings, I told her that we had something for her. As she opened the package I reminded her of that night in May and of my promise to get her a journal.
The journal has a leather finish and is lavender in color with an elastic band to hold it closed.
As she stood there holding that journal in her hands, something beautiful sparkled in her eyes...hope.
brought to you by Dan Olson
Other November Updates!
As always, the Sign Up Genius for bringing food and hosting.
If you want to host, remember that a pre-requisite for our training is the She Has A Name training, which is taking place this month! Sign up here!
Next Sanctuary Night training: Saturday, November 23rd from 2-3:30pm at the Lower Lights building (1067 Sullivant Ave.)