Greetings from Shanon’s House,
The last few months we've had guests
from, Rainsville, Sheffield, Muscle Shoals, Tuscumbia, Russellville,
Hanceville, Al., Louisville Ky., also Maryland & Lawrenceburg, TN.
It's been a busy few months. In
November we had a very sweet lady from Louisville, Kentucky stay with us.
She came to church with us and all of you were so kind to her. She
and her daughter were in Huntsville for a wedding when her daughter became ill.
She learned of Shanon's House from the church service that Mayfair
conducts at the hospital each Sunday. We enjoyed this guest so much. I
told her that I would adopt her as my daughter and she said, "that's it, I am part of your family
now!" Several weeks after she left she called to tell us her
daughter was doing good and to tell us again how much she appreciated Shanon's House.
I always enjoy going to the mailbox in
the month of December. We receive cards everyday from guests who have
stayed with us over the years. I save all the pictures and enjoy looking
back and seeing how these tiny babies have grown. This year we received a
letter from guests that stayed with us five years ago. They updated us on the
family and sent a picture of their family. They were some of our favorite
guests and I still had their picture from 5 years ago on the refrigerator.
They wrote "We hope this letter finds you both happy and healthy.
We think and pray for you often, especially this time of year. We
can't believe it's been 5 years since our sweet boy was born. It was one
of happiest and scariest moments of our lives, but Shanon's House helped us
through that difficult time more than you will ever know. We plan to come
and visit soon!"
The month of December is a joyful time
of the year for most people, but for some it's the saddest time of year.
The last few years we have had guests whose loved ones have passed away
during the month of December. This was the case with a very kind lady and
her adult daughter. They were here for a couple of weeks when they had to make
difficult decisions. On the day their loved one passed away the daughter came
by the house to tell us bye and how grateful she was for Shanon's House.
This is the note she gave us. "Today is the day the Lord has made,
let us rejoice and be glad in it! Our Lord is a present help and He
definitely sent Shanon's House to help our family. God never ceases to
amaze. We will never forget God's love shown to us through Shanon's House".
We had a couple with a newborn that
stayed with us in December. This couple was a joy to have as guests.
The couple had been at Shanon's House for a week when the parents learned
that the baby would have to stay a few days longer. The mother said,
"I told the doctor it was ok if our baby has to stay longer, I like it at
Shanon's House!" This made our day! This is the note they left us.
"Thank you so much for the hospitality you have shown us the past few
days. You have no idea what a blessing Shanon's House has been in our
lives. It is so nice to leave the hospital and come to a house where we
feel comfortable and can enjoy great company. Shanon's House is a wonderful
ministry and we will always be grateful for this ministry. It's been a
blessing from God."
We had a couple that left this week.
Their baby was born very early and was very sick. They were one of the
sweetest families that have stayed with us in all the years. Every
morning the dad would leave me a note thanking me for the breakfast. One day I
told him I was experimenting with a dish I served for breakfast. He left this
note "Mrs. Johnson, your experiment was a success. Patent it! Thank
you for the wonderful breakfast. God bless you. You can never out
give God." The dad was talking with Johnny one night and telling him about
the baby. He said, “We believe
in the sovereignty of God. He knows what's best and we will accept it." We don't ask a lot of questions when our
guests come back to the House, but we knew that they were worried and when they
said they wouldn't be back for the night, but wanted to stay by the baby's bed,
we knew that the baby would pass away soon. The next afternoon, the
grandparents came back to gather the couples belongings from the room. The
grandmother told us the baby had passed away and hugged me and said how much
they appreciated Shanon's House. She said the couple would be back in a
few days to see us. Later that evening the sweet couple came by and said,
"We couldn't leave without telling you good bye. We don't understand why
this happened but we trust God. We only see the first float in the parade but
God sees the whole parade." Johnny prayed with them before they
left. This part of Shanon's House will always be hard for us. We only
knew this family for two weeks but they endeared themselves to us from the very
beginning. The father said after things settle down they would like to
come back and go to church with us to tell the church thank you.
Recently
one lady called about staying here and said, "This is wonderful! What would
make a church want to do something like Shanon’s House?” I
was able to tell her about how Mayfair is a very loving and caring and giving congregation.
This month we will start our 8th year
at Shanon's House. We've learned a lot of lessons in the past 7 years and one
of them is that the Mayfair church of Christ is a very unique Congregation of the Lords people.
They saw a need, stepped out in faith, and trusted God to make it happen.
Because of their vision they have blessed over 600 hurting people. Johnny and I look forward to another year at
Shanon's House. Thank you all for your prayers and support. We wish
for all of you blessings in the New Year!
In Him,
Johnny and Christy
