Good morning…
Yesterday, after I spoke aloud the final prayer at the end of our Ministry of Movement fitness class, I intended to walk with a friend. God had a different plan.
I left the church and drove to my friend’s house. She greeted me with a long, loving hug, expressing her deep sorrow over the violent murder of Mike Mike’s mother, a beloved matriarch in the Grove Park neighborhood of our city.
“I’ve been thinking,” she said, “I wonder if Mike Mike could use some of Tom’s warm coats and sweaters as we head into this winter storm weekend.” Her husband, Tom, had died about a year ago, and she felt ready to share his good quality things.
We went to the closet and pulled out three coats. Hugging in her front hallway, with the coats pressed between us, she tearfully lifted a prayer of hope and blessing for Mike Mike and his family, asking that God’s powerful love be felt as he and his brothers wear these gifted items. We went back to her bedroom and, recounting old memories of her lifelong journey with Tom, we gathered a few of his thick sweaters, also tucking them into a padded blue bag.
“Tom would be so pleased to have his clothes given to Mike Mike,” she beamed.
I told her what some of the matriarchs in the Grove Park neighborhood said, as we circled around Mike Mike on Tuesday to begin processing the tragedy in our therapeutic community group. “Mike Mike, we have known you all your life, and we’ve got you,” they encouraged. “We’ve got you. We are going to make sure you have all of the love you ever need.”
They spoke with bold, faithful confidence, and I believed every word.
This story tipped off my friend’s memory of the pictures we had taken when we went to Montgomery, Alabama to visit The Legacy Museum and the Peace and Justice Memorial Center a few years back. She forwarded the photos to my phone. The power of praying women has carried the community through adversity, generation after generation.
After I taught my afternoon class, I fought traffic to get to PAWkids to drop off Mike Mike’s clothes and to share donated gift cards to buy groceries for his displaced family. These prayed-over gifts invited us into the loving matriarch matrix surrounding and supporting this big, grieving family.
“Who are my mother and my brothers?” he asked.
Then he looked at those seated in a circle around him and said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! Whoever does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother.” (Mark 3:33-35, NIV).
I marvel at this multi-faceted matrix. Joining the unending circle of enduring love is such a powerful privilege.
Thanks be to God.
…Sue…
P.S. LaTonya Gates, the founder and Director of PAWkids said, “Sue, we will be feeding Tracey’s whole, big family for a while, as they are being housed in three different places. If people want to know how they can tangibly help at this hard time, we need gift cards from Kroger or Publix to buy them their groceries.”
I am happy to gather your gift cards and take them to PAWkids.
You can also go to the donate tab on the PAWkids website to give a monetary gift or to send a check. Please indicate “Support for Mike Mike’s family.”
