ann kiemel

a young mother of six..
in the middle of a divorce.
fiery for God. all His.
she's helped me while
house-bound.

she sends a text:
"what kind of wine do u like?
red? white? dry or sweet?"

i begin to smile. big.
sitting on the couch. and
text back: "you make me
smile. so sorry, but i don't
like wine. any kind of alcohol.
come over, and you can have
your wine..and i'll have tea."

and she came.
it was her husband's night
with the children. we laughed.
talked about Jesus. being
single parents. our struggles.
our victories. she had promised
our mutual friend that she would
go with her at 3:30a.m. to take
someone to sacramento airport.
and she sipped her wine. i looked
at her and felt such love.

a bottle of wine. giggling.
i talked her into staying over
with me. we crashed. each on
a couch. tere was on her way home
from the airport before my guest
opened her eyes. 4:45a.m.

well, cat didn't make it to keep
our friend company on the road,
but all was forgiven. in the mix
and blend of life, God brings
people together. i was lonely.
so lonely. and Jesus sent
me a friend. and fun. and another
friend who understood.

when you have so graciously
donated money to my ministry,
almost every single penny has
gone to help single mothers. to
have lived there is to understand
the terror of not enough money
for the children's food. a roof
over our heads. i can never thank you all enough.

"the Lord will give strength to
His people...be of good cheer!
it is I; do not be afraid."
psalms and the book of matthew