Shanon's House update

Greetings from Shanon's House of Compassion,

In September and October we have had guests from Scottsboro, Decatur, Albertville, Collinsville,Florence and Athens, AL. In September and October we only had a few guests at Shanon's House, but as I write now we have a full house! This is what we want and pray for. As of October 31 we have had 86 guests.

Most of our guests have had babies in the NICU. It always amazing to see these precious babies come into the world so small. The parents have showed us pictures of their babies with the daddy's wedding ring all the way up the baby's arm. One mother came by this month and brought her baby he started out a 2 pounds and is now up to 10.

One couple who stayed with us this month left us with a special memory. They were surprised when they got to the hospital that morning and were able to bring their baby home a day early. They came by the house to gather their belongs and to show us the baby. As they were saying good-bye Johnny asked if he could say a prayer with them. As he started to pray they held out their hands for us to hold. I was touch and had tears in my eyes. Here we were strangers a week before now we were friends forming a cirlce of prayer around this precious baby girl. After the prayer the father gave Johnny a big hug. Once again we were so thankful for Shanon's House.

Toward the end of the month we had a guest whose husband had suffered a stroke. When she came in the first thing we said was "this is a God sent." I didn't know what I was going to do, now I know I can handle whatever is to come." She then realized she knew about Mayfair because of the Abundant Living television program.

Also in October we had a couple who had just welcomed triplets into the world. The babies were born at 28 weeks. When the Dad came over the first thing he said was, "This is a God sent. We didn't know what we were going to do, they told us our babies would probably be here until Christmas."

The Madison Academy 10th graders came over one day to help. They raked leaves, cleaned windows and blinds. We always enjoy having young people come to help, they bring a lot of energy and laughter to Shanon's House. The Servant's at Heart Class at Mayfair made gift bags for the guests and wrote notes to the guest. I put a bag in the rooms for each guest. We always want our guests to know that Shanon's House is a church wide ministry.

We get updates from some of our guests about their babies. The mother who adopted the baby with Down Syndrome wrote recently that he had gone home from the hospital. When we first met her she was told her baby would probably not live. She was told to make funeral arrangements. Now he is called the miracle baby. His mother wrote in her update "I sit in the rocker and I think what was and what could have been and what is. I think of how good God still would have been even if He would have taken our baby to be with Him, but how incredibly and unspeakably thankful I am for His grace. I did take him to church yesterday (and hope to as long as the weather and people’s health holds), and as we sang “Shout to the Lord” I tried to shout, but sometimes I only squeaked out a whisper as I choked back the tears. Fourteen weeks ago I had tried to take him to church, and now we had finally made it. My heart was so full of praise that it seemed so surreal." If we ever make it back down there, you can be sure we’ll stop by! Please pass on our thanks and gratitude. I could have never made it through one of the most difficult trials of my life without you! The Lord answered SO MANY prayers through the Shanon House!"

It's been one year since Johnny and I were asked to consider being a part of Shanon's House. It's been a journey with so many blessings along the way. We continue to meet some of the nicest people that enrich our lives. We continue to see God using Shanon's House to show the world that God's family cares for the hurting. God has been so good to us and we are thankful to Him and to all of you who encourage and help us to continue this ministry. We feel as our guests do this month "Shanon's House is a God sent!"

In Him,
Christy