by Hannah H.
Every Wednesday night the youth group would gather at Ed and Anita’s house in Newbury for dinner. Anita always prepared something delicious. Sometimes it was waffles. They were really good waffles.
After dinner we would take our usual spots in the living room. Ed always sat in the reclining chair by the stairs, and Willy the cat was notoriously sprawled on some piece of furniture. The faces around the room inevitably changed throughout the years as people graduated and moved away: Matt & Jon, Leslie, Charlie, George, Sean & Trudy. But Ed and Anita were there every week, eager to open God’s Word with us.
In addition to adding to our collective list of questions to ask God when we meet Him in heaven (i.e. When God created the animals, were they babies or fully grown?), those Wednesday nights also allowed us time to share prayer requests. I don’t remember exactly when it happened, but somewhere along the way Ed and Anita shared their dream with us: they wanted to purchase land out west and invite homeless youth to come live and work on the ranch.
I initially thought it was a pretty random goal. (Remember, I was a teenager). I mean, it was great to see their desire to “declare His glory among the nations, His marvelous deeds among all people” (1 Chronicles 16:24). But it seemed so distant, so impossible.
Over the past few years, however, I’ve seen Ed and Anita’s (and Meredith’s) dream take form. I’m so thankful to them for sharing their vision with us when it was only a distant possibility. Of course the details of their dream have shifted and solidified since its inception, but their patience, faithfulness in God’s provision, and their heart for the homeless have been apparent in every stage of this process. Soaring Wings Ministry is now up and running. The homeless are being served, awareness is being spread, and God is being glorified.
And in a week and a half, Ed and Anita will, once again, open up their home to us. We’ll share meals together. We’ll have devotionals together. We’ll pray for each other. And we’ll celebrate God’s faithfulness in doing “immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine—to Him be the glory” (Ephesians 3:20-21).