Unemployment: hope in the midst of devastation

Published with permission by Ryan Schwoebel. He and his wife Julie and son Clayton are OMC members who recently experienced unemployment, and experienced God’s grace in the midst of it. See the end of the post for more information on unemployment support and pastoral counseling through Oak Mountain Church.

I spent nearly a decade working in law enforcement, having worked as a police officer, deputy sheriff, crime scene investigator, and federal agent.  After leaving a lucrative federal job last fall to join a local police force in the Birmingham area closer to family, I was laid off suddenly in May of this year without a back-up means to provide for my family. 

As my wife and I scurried to seek any employment opportunities available to pay our mortgage, acquire health insurance and put food on our table, we also decided to seek solace in a church we had frequently visited (Oak Mountain Church).  My wife's parents were members, and ultimately we decided to become members ourselves. 

While working through our unemployment period, I joined OMC's unemployment support group.  The leader of the group helped me spiritually and emotionally to work through seeing my layoff as a personal failure to my family and myself, and to focus on the blessings I still had (my health, my family's health, family and loved ones living nearby, etc.).  God used that leader to pull me out of the pit of my own despair and realize that God had –for reasons I may not understand yet—called me away from that job to be somewhere else. 

Also during this time I began meeting with OMC’s Pastor for Shepherding, who is also a former law enforcement officer, allowing him to relate to my situation and understand it better than many others. Sharing a professional background was a small way that God reminded me of His perfect plans.

One Sunday in worship, the weekly announcements showed a video about how to become involved with the youth ministry, and I felt led to do so.  The problem was that I was currently working a restaurant management job that had me working 13+ hours a day, six days a week, typically including Sundays (although in God’s providence, I had the Sunday off when they showed the video). I began praying that God would lead me to a job where I could have Sundays off so that I could help with the youth and worship with my family.

In late August, God answered that prayer. I started working for a local private college managing their criminal justice degree programs—a job that not only allowed me to have weekends off, but also to make a salary slightly better than the one I had with the police department that laid me off.  Today I teach junior high boys Sunday school, a rewarding ministry that I feel blessed to be a part of, and my wife has found a source of additional income for our family helping with the church's nursery. 

While the personal devastation felt from an unexpected job loss is tremendous—a sense of spiritual, emotional and financial neutering—the love and guidance offered from the Lord through the OMC community helped us have hope in the midst of such devastation.  Looking back, we are in a much better place than we were and have so many personal experiences of God's blessings and work through His people, the body of Christ.

For more information on OMC’s unemployment support group, please contact Mike Williams at mkwmszoo@gmail.com.  For more information about pastoral counseling through OMC, please contact Julie Sparkman at 205.981.4333 

After the Tornados: A Story of Rebuilding through L.O.V.E.

Debra Flowers was living in Talledega to be near family the day the tornadoes hit her home in Pleasant Grove. It was two weeks before she was able to reach anyone who could tell her the condition of her home, the home she had drawn the floor plan for as a teenager and the home she helped her parents build. Her heart sank when she heard a tree had fallen on it, causing major damage.

Debra's house after the tornado

Because of serious health problems, it was January before she was able to make it to Pleasant Grove and see the damage first hand. After working through some red tape, she was granted permission to live in her aged camper so she could be “home” during the repair process. 

Over the last several months, L.O.V.E. (Locally Organized Volunteer Effort) has helped rebuild Debra's home, aiming to have repairs completed in time for Thanksgiving.

Debra's house currently under construction

L.O.V.E. is a Birmingham-based non-profit organization that mobilizes groups from all over the country and from all denominational backgrounds to help rebuild homes damaged in the April 2011 tornadoes.  Debra says that all the ministry staff and volunteers who have come to help, along with her caseworker, have been "angels." She says, "It seems like Heaven opens and people come. I could never have imagined that people would come from all over to help me." 

While the staff and volunteers at L.O.V.E. are absolutely bearers of hope, they would also be the first to say that meeting people's physical needs is how they demonstrate the love and HOPE of Jesus. It is His hope that motivates them to offer hope to others. As 1 Peter 1:3 says, "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to HIS GREAT MERCY, he has caused us to be born again to a LIVING HOPE through the resurrection of Jesus Christ." 

For videos and more information about L.O.V.E., visit their Facebook page under "L.O.V.E. (Locally Organized Volunteer Effort)" or visit http://love4pg.wordpress.com/.  You may also contact them by phone at (205) 744-5683 or via email at love4pg@gmail.com.

Making things new: one foster mom's story of hope

Posted with permission from Melanie Singleton. She and her husband are part-time foster parents, serving as respite care, relieving full-time foster families when they need some time away. Scroll to the end to find out how you can be more involved in foster care in Birmingham.

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This week we have an extra 7-year old living with us, a sweet little boy named B. His cow-licked blond hair, gray-blue eyes, and rambunctious nature remind me of my own boy. Yet, he’s not like any boy I’ve ever known. I’m not used to hanging out with children who have lost everything precious to them. 

For B, riding in the car stirs up memories of loss. He says that he lived on our side of town before with another foster family.  In fact, he’s lived with several different families in the past year. For my kids, they go to the park to be pushed high on swings by loving hands, run wild, and have picnics. But for this precious boy, the park reminds him of a place he used to go with another family— a family that has moved on.  


 


After lunch today, a trip to the grocery store prompts him to peruse the free magazines at the entrance. I go for the free car and truck magazines thinking those would be fun for boys. Instead, he goes for the apartment magazines.  




Mama says I need to help pick out a new house. Our neighborhood is bad—gunshots and drugs.  




Again, I am hit by the reality in which he lives. Shouldn't he be thinking about the things of 2^nd grade--wiggling loose teeth and learning to tie his shoes? We blast his favorite music on the way to pick up the kids from school and he sings loudly and looks through his magazines (I did convince him to get some car and truck magazines for fun). I sit in carpool line thinking about schoolwork and dinner and he shouts from the back seat every few seconds: Mrs. Melanie, Mrs. Melanie here’s the perfect place to live! Me and my mom can move here! And, yes, he got two of the apartment magazines just in case he should ever lose one. While my boys dream of becoming millionaires with a Ferrari one day, this dear boy is dreaming about going home to his mom. 

 


For me, it’s easy to move to despair. I want to cry my eyes out over the brokenness and mess of this world. I can easily wander down a road that takes me to dark places. But, the Father graciously reminds me of what a mess my own life has been. He is continually making things new. He is shining light in the dark places. He ALWAYS brings good to His people. So, in the mess of B’s story, I am trusting the Father is weaving a beautiful tapestry full of mercy and grace into this sweet boy’s life. He is not done with him. This is all part of B's story-- for HIS glory. There is always hope. He has B in the palm of His hand.  

So, when this sweet boy whispers at bedtime for me to pray for his real mom in the glow of the nightlight, I can do so with the hope of the gospel.




For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. (Jer 29:11) 

If you or someone you know is interested in being a foster family, contact Traci Newell at Lifeline Children’s Services (traci.newell@lifelinechild.org) or visit Lifeline’s website (http://lifelinechild.org/foster-care/).

Got Mercy? (Part Two)

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If you read part one, you know why we have mercy offering every Communion Sunday, but what you may still be wondering about is where that money goes after it’s collected.

The money goes into the Deacon’s Mercy Fund, which helps the deacons in one of their primary roles, to tangibly help those in need, both in our church and our community (Acts 6:1-4).

In the last year, God has used those funds to send workers and finances to Pleasant Grove after the tornadoes as well as assisting those affected by the Colorado wildfires this summer. The offering has also been used to serve our own church members’ needs, like providing baby formula and diapers, or paying a power bill for those families facing difficult financial situations.

Because of the grace our church has been given in Christ, it’s important that we show grace to others, and our prayer is that God would receive the glory for any good that comes from the mercy fund.

If you or someone you know is in need of practical assistance from the church, please contact an usher at the end of the service, who can direct you to a deacon. Also, if you have questions or comments about the Mercy Fund, please leave a comment at the end of the post or email your question/comment to the email address at the top of this blog and someone will respond promptly.

Got Mercy? (Part One)

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If you’ve been at Oak Mountain Church for a little or even a long while, you know that we take a special mercy offering after worship services that celebrate the Lord’s Supper. What you might not know is why we take that offering on Communion Sundays. The connection between taking an offering (giving) and taking Communion (receiving) is clear throughout church history. It’s a practical way of demonstrating Matthew 10:8, which says, “Freely you have received, freely give.” As we receive God’s grace in Christ while taking Communion, we respond in gratitude by freely giving grace to others by the power of the Spirit of God.

It’s as though we remember at the Lord’s Supper the first half of Titus 2:14, that “our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness,” and when we leave the sanctuary, we fulfill the second half of Titus 2:14, which is “to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.” By remembering our union in Christ as forgiven sinners and our identity in Christ as righteous by grace alone, the Holy Spirit gives us power to fulfill the imperatives of Christ to do good to those in need (Matthew 25:40, Luke 10:37, John 13: 14).   

Don’t miss that: doing good to others is not negotiable; it’s a must. Jesus is clear about that. BUT, He’s also clear that doing good to others is always a response to understanding the great good done to us: that Jesus died and rose again on our behalf, which both takes away our sin and gives us His righteousness so that we can know God intimately.

Stay tuned to learn more about how God is using the mercy offering to help those in need.