Harbor Life Ministries

Now just a memory, recalling the evening brings a smile. It was intimate, much more intimate than other years where 400-500 people attended.

This year, just 133 people, but that brought everyone closer, and the quality of the speaker, the sincerity of the testimony, nothing was lacking there–in fact, it was probably the best (yeah, I know, you think I say that every year) Sharing Banquet that I can remember.

The young lady, Amber, who shared her pregnancy experience and how she got the help she needed, summoned up an emotion that everyone listening felt. I knew her struggles, I knew her joy at finding someone who stood with her through the difficulties.

14-year-old Hanna shared via video (she lives in Arizona and couldn’t miss school) how she discovered she was pregnant and all the implications for her: the near-abortion that was scheduled but then reconsidered and skipped, her parents finding a maternity home along with the odd “God-sighting” when they found out there was a shepherding family from HLM right near their family, and how Hanna came to renew her walk with God through the experience. If you haven’t seen the video, you should. Hanna’s Story…

Finally, there was Jeannine Floores. Founder of Sarah’s House in California and Breath of Life Ministries in Austin, Texas. Quite a resume Jeannine has. Since I’m married to a maternity home founder, this will be familiar and boring, I thought. Ha!

Jeannine claims to be adult ADHD and I have no problem believing her.

“Why,” she queried as she began her time at the podium, “if you know Bill (Rieth, HLM board chairman) is going to tell a joke (note: she had been fore-warned of Bill’s traditional ‘groaners’), do you allow him to get up here and do this to you year after year?” Her puzzled gaze was met with a smile from Bill and an uproar from the 132 others who had “suffered” earlier from his humor.

The laughs didn’t stop there, but Jeannine was also very poignant as she related her own personal story of growing up a pastor’s daughter, getting pregnant before she was married, and how she dealt with the relational damage in both her family and her church.

Jeannine then let us know that she didn’t come to Ohio because she was paid. (This I knew already, and yes, I admit I do look for bargains in banquet speakers.)

“Tomorrow I get to meet my daughter’s parents for the first time. They live about an hour-and-a-half from here and I’ve never met the people that have raised my little girl.”