The Gift of a Second Chance

In my novel Some Form of Grace, I describe a scene where the residents of Transformation Place are attending the annual Christmas party. That scene was inspired by a very special event that takes place for Exodus House residents, graduates, workers, and volunteers each year. A few years back those parties took place in the community room at Exodus House. It was a fun, riotous, and crowded affair. That small room was bursting at the seams with excitement ... and people!

Wesley United Methodist Church in Oklahoma City came to the rescue. They generously opened their doors and volunteered to host the party in their fellowship hall. I was privileged to attend this year's event, and I can attest it is still fun and riotous and buzzing with excitement. But it it waaay less cramped.

Dedicated people work tirelessly to ensure the success of this party as well as the continuing success of the Exodus House ministry. Among them are the sponsor churches: Wesley UMC, Yukon UMC, Choctaw UMC and UMM, Seminole UMC, New Covenant UMC in Edmond, Blanchard UMC, St. Andrews UMC, First UMC of Edmond, New Hope UMC, and Church of the Servant UMC. There are also some very special individuals I'll identify in the pictures below.

Hopefully, my photos captured at least a smidgeon of the happiness and loving spirit that was evident throughout the celebration.

Church of the Servant and the Angel Tree
project provided this bounty of gifts for
residents and their children.











                           

       

Tony Altizer, Facility Director at EH, instructing his "elves" on delivering the gifts

    

EH Site Director Robin Wertz, 

enjoying her role as Master of Ceremonies for the night ...

                              and enjoying opening her
                              own gifts

Gifts Galore!

(And food! I forgot to get a picture of all the food!)

This young lady nearly died of suspense while waiting

to open her presents, but thankfully 

she survived!

Sara, a recent EH graduate.

Nothing says "Merry Christmas" like

a new hat and coat and her 

radiant smile.

Rev. Stan Basler and volunteer Sherry.

As a former prosecuting attorney in Oklahoma, Stan

saw firsthand a justice system that wasn't working.

Exodus House Ministries in Oklahoma City and Tulsa are

the result of his vision for something better.

Exodus House volunteers from Seminole UMC (love that sweater!)

and Blanchard UMC

A volunteer from Wesley UMC on the left, 

and on the right, Kristen Harlin, 

Executive Director of

Criminal Justice and Mercy Ministries and

a tireless supporter of Exodus House.

Jay and Kim are past residents of EH. Now they

own a successful business, and Jay serves as a

mentor to current residents.

EH volunteer Kathy Sewell from New Covenant UMC

in Edmond has been instrumental in remodeling

two apartments at EH (she has her own tool belt!) and

mentoring many of the occupants of those apartments.

Her love of God is reflected in her love of EH residents.

"...I thank the Lord and my sponsors for the way

my life has changed."

A thank you note from an EH resident. 

Robin beautifully expressed her gratitude to all those who faithfully support the ministry of Exodus House, thanking them  "for believing in second chances and believing in us, for being a true light in each of our lives, for giving us an opportunity to be and have success in our lives, for restoring families." 

When you think about it, the story of Christmas is summed up in those words:

belief, true light, restoration, and 

God's gift of a second chance for all humanity

 offered through His Son.

Wishing You a Blessed Christmas!

Moonlight and Meatloaf

In the Author’s Note in Some Form of Grace, I promised readers some down-home recipes from Flo’s restaurant. Today I decided to go with Flo’s Famous Meatloaf because when Flo features this as her blue plate special, the line is out the door. (Get recipe here.)

To get the ball rolling on this post, I googled “quotes about meatloaf” (not to be confused with “quotes by Meat Loaf”), hoping to find something really clever or funny as a good lead-in. Fortunately, I found quite a few quotes. Unfortunately, I also found that in the food world, meatloaf is maligned only slightly less than Spam. Of those quotes, 99% of were not the sort that would entice you to click on a meatloaf recipe. For example: “Meatloaf. I don’t like it. It’s like a bunch of hamburgers that got caught in a car accident” (Norman’s Corner, 1987). Or this: “Meatloaf. Smeatloaf. Double beatloaf. I hate meatloaf” (Randy-A Christmas Story, 1983).  

But I was diligent in my search and eventually came across this: “If you make this meatloaf for the boy you’re hung up on, you’ll own him” (Bijou Hunter, Damaged and the Bulldog.)

Ding! Ding! Ding! I’d hit the Daily Double. A quote for meatloaf AND Valentine’s Day  all in one. I could multi-task! In the blogosphere, it doesn’t get much better. 

For all the verbal abuse it takes, meatloaf—if done right—can be delicious. And, believe me, Flo does hers right. As proof, I made her recipe for dinner while recently visiting family. My niece said her husband didn’t eat meatloaf, so she’d bring some fried chicken. Not that I was watching, but that evening I noticed he not only ate meatloaf but went back for seconds. 

So ladies, if you want to please your sweetie this Valentine’s Day, whip up this recipe for a romantic dinner. Chill the wine, dim the lights, and, as the quote says, “…you’ll own him.” 

Give this recipe a try and let me know how it works for you, but please keep your comments G-rated.

PS Gentlemen, this goes for you, too. What lady wouldn’t appreciate a meal thoughtfully prepared by your own hands? And if you throw in kitchen cleanup, she’ll be positively swooning.

PPS Wine with meatloaf? Why not? Go here and enter meatloaf in the search bar.

The Story Behind the Story

Available here

 This Saturday, Oct. 28, from 1-3 PM, I will be launching my second novel, Some Form of Grace, at Exodus House in Oklahoma City. After my first novel was published, I wasn't sure there would be a second. Oh, I enjoyed writing that book and will be forever grateful to the publisher who thought it worthy of taking a chance on. And there were many good experiences connected with the journey of publication. But there was also lot of stress that I didn't feel was necessary at this stage in my life. I decided to limit my writing efforts to blogging and contests and maybe the occasional magazine submission. But I changed my mind. I changed it because sometimes a story comes along that needs to be shared. Because sometimes people's lives are so inspiring that their experiences can possibly inspire others. 

   In 2008, I became acquainted with a few of the residents and workers of Exodus House in Oklahoma City. Exodus House is part of the prisoner re-entry program sponsored by the Criminal Justice and Mercies Ministry of the Oklahoma Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church. Until I became aware of this program, I had never considered the difficulties ex-prisoners face in trying to piece their lives back together.  I was dumbstruck at the challenges: finding an affordable place to live with a supportive environment; getting a job while having a criminal record; overcoming mountains of debt that have accumulated from unreasonable fines and jail and court costs. Day-to-day operations become big problems when a person doesn’t have transportation to get to a job or money for bus passes or a drivers license. Even getting decent work clothes can be difficult. Add to this list, child custody battles or dealing with addictions or health issues, and it is no wonder that in Oklahoma the prisoner recidivism rate—without additional support—is almost one in three. 

   As I became more involved with Exodus House, I discovered another group of story-worthy people--the dedicated people who work with this program. Some are employees of CJAMM, and some are volunteers from churches in the OKC area. So many of them give tirelessly of their time and generously of their money because they are convinced that "you can't just preach the Word, you have to be the Word." This book is a work of fiction, but in it I’ve tried to present some very real issues in a sympathetic and entertaining way and to show loving Christians actively responding to those issues. 

Equally important, I wanted to demonstrate the impact faith can have in overcoming impossible odds. Coincidentally (or perhaps not), about the time I became acquainted with Exodus House, my pastor began preaching a series of sermons on grace. I had already been thinking of writing a novel inspired by Exodus House, and when I began deeply considering the concept of grace, the idea for my character Gracene and her faith journey was born. Hopefully, this book can be used to bring about social awareness and, at the same time, spread the message of God’s matchless gift of grace made available through his Son, Jesus.

If you would like to learn more about CJAMM and Exodus House, please visit their website.