I have always been a believer in our Lord, from a small child on my grandmother’s lap. My grandmother was the woman that raised me with my father; the woman that taught me to respect my elders and to treat people as I wanted to be treated; and the woman, although she was not a believer, that would make sure that I went to church by myself every Sunday. I was a little child, so I’m sure that I did not sit still or pay much attention. But it was a start to a beautiful relationship that I would have with our Lord throughout my life. It planted the seed.
In February 2008, our Lord knew my fate. He knew I needed a boost in faith. He knew I needed to meet my new family. He knew I needed to get in contact with the mission, the Bread of Life Rescue Mission, my home away from home. So He put His plan for us into motion.
As I said, in February 2008, I was getting ready to move to Tennessee. I had had enough of the heat in Arizona. So we, my husband and I, decided we would move to Knoxville, TN to be close to our oldest daughter, Sarah, who lived in Fairfield Glade at the time. My husband was already in Fairfield Glade with Sarah checking things out for us, so I used our income tax refund to get our car road ready. $800 and a full Penske truck later, off we went.
Sabine Smid
My 2nd oldest daughter, Mary, age 17, was driving the car, and I was driving the Penske with my son, Joseph, who was 16 at the time. Mary had the rest of the children in the car with her. Let’s see, there was Mary’s son, Alex, who was 11-months-old; Emelia, my 12-year-old daughter; Natalya, 9; and Hannah, 6. We had a good trip all the way to Nashville. When we were 20 miles outside of the city, though, in the middle of the night, the car broke down. That was the start of the Lord’s guiding us to the mission.
Our plans changed. We stayed at our daughter’s house for about three weeks and used all of our money that we had planned on using for a home. We knew that we could not stay at Sarah’s for much longer—not that she wouldn’t let us but we didn’t want to do that to her and to her family. In the meantime, we had checked out Knoxville…and I didn’t like it. So, we decided to stay at a motel in Crossville. Matthew, my husband, called the Bread of Life Rescue Mission, and my son and I went by the mission to talk with Jim Young, the office manager. The next day, I came to stay with all the children minus Mary. (She and her son, Alex, went on the Knoxville, but came to stay at the mission later after I had already moved on into our home. Mary & Alex stayed at the mission for about six weeks until she’d gotten all the help she needed.)
I stayed at the mission for about a month. Everyone there was very welcoming and helpful to us. We got the help we needed to get back on our feet. We also got the so-much-needed boost in faith.
I thank the Lord every day for leading our way to the Bread of Life, and it all started with a broken down car. Thank you, Lord! The mission means a lot to me and to my family. They are family. It is my home away from home. I thank the Lord for Connie & Ralph Reagan. Everyone at the mission puts the needy person’s needs first, before their own.
I want to thank everyone at the mission for being there: Jim, Ralph, Connie, Kim, Wilma, Frank, Linda, Bobbie, Sammye, and all the volunteers.
I have a home now, a good job and, most importantly, a close Relationship to the Lord.
