Below are some of the photos Johnathon Kelso took for the Stories page on the Trinity website. They are taken on the steps outside of Merry's apartment. One thing that made my heart smile was the shirt that Merry is wearing. It's a tshirt that she bought with her own money when we went to Deaf day at the zoo back in the fall. (Merch at places like the zoo aren't cheap.) I told her we were coming to take the pictures so she put on a shirt that she bought, not one that she'd been given at a clothing drive. Pride. Dignity.
Another story of transformation in process:
When Amy first started coming to Trinity she sat slouched in the chair for a few weeks. She was resistant to conversation and rarely watched what I signed during the sermon. She recently had a falling out with Merry and Jerry (resulting in a trip to court) and stopped coming to church for a few weeks. Two weeks ago she called me and asked if she could come back to church. Sunday she brought a friend. Here is a girl that barely made eye contact with me for the first few weeks coming to church and now she is bringing someone along with her. God is working. The Spirit is moving.
Tonya has had a sour attitude with everyone she has come in contact with, including me. The people who've picked her up the past 2 weeks both asked me if she hated them. I assured them that it is just her attitude, not something they had done. On Sunday, after the meeting, Tonya came to me and showed me pictures of her son's wedding the day before. FINALLY, a point of connection resulting in a smile from her! She asked me if she could come weekly. (This seems obvious to us. Of course they can! But since we are providing transportation, they typically ask me if it's ok or possible for them to return to church on a regular basis.)
And now the explanation behind why Willie was standing against the wall during the sermon on Sunday. If you were at the 11:30 service you may have seen him. Daniel's version of the story states: "She put that man in time-out!" This is only partially true, ha. Willie was sleeping through the sermon, (which is typical for him) and the deaf around him were growing frustrated, elbowing him, talking about his disrespect, etc. So I told him to stand up to help him stay awake. I didn't think he actually would! But he did and it worked. He didn't fall asleep again.
It's in each of these stories that I see the hand of God. These are the stories that motivate and sustain me. Thank you for listening, caring, praying, and investing in this ministry.
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