God could not have given us a more beautiful day for our Moments with Mom at Hilltop!
The bright sunshine was only rivaled by the huge smiles on all the faces of the moms and their kids! Two years ago, we headed to this event and unfortunately, Covid cancelled it. It was a huge disappointment for both our volunteers and the families, but today some of those same moms got to return for this event they’ve been looking forward to for two years! Watching these children, toddlers to teenagers, running into their mom’s waiting arms was a heartwarming sight to behold! Our volunteers fought back tears as we saw them being reunited, some after years of being apart.
The day was full of fun, as the moms and their kids played games and competed with each other with activities like sack races, football toss, horseshoes, and hula hooping. Inside the chapel, families had a great time with crafts and just time spent at the table talking, snacking on pastries, and getting to reconnect with one another. They loved it all, including sharing a lunch of chili dogs and chips, watching a movie, and playing table games in the afternoon.
As always, the day goes by very fast for them, and saying goodbye is always so hard. We gathered the ladies around for a time of reflection after their loved ones left, and as each one took time to tell us what this day meant to them…
…we were reminded how much God loves to use events such as this to tear down walls, open up communication, and restore relationships between family members.
Emotions were overtaking a few as they tried to describe how great it was to experience their kids while having the freedom this day offers them. One mom told of how helpful it was to her son to be able to see other children that have moms who are incarcerated. These children sometimes feel like they’re the only ones being raised by grandparents or other family members, and some feel like they’re so different from other kids, but days like this help tremendously in allowing them to see they are not alone.
This day was quite healing for many of these moms and allowed them to see how they are still a vital part of their children’s lives.
We are so grateful to God for all our volunteers that gave of their time and resources this weekend, and very thankful for each of the moms and families that participated in this event! It also touched our hearts to see that the 10 ladies from Hilltop chosen to help with this event were so blessed by it. They loved serving and they also enjoyed watching all the moms interacting with their kids. They were so delighted to play with a few of the kids as well! We greatly appreciate all of you who prayed for this day!
