I want to introduce to you two good friends of mine, Jeff and Bitsy Namy. Jeff and Bitsy have been volunteering with David’s Refuge for the past several years and have just joined our host team. They are compassionate, selfless, and caring people who have been shaped and prepared to be excellent hosts by experiencing first hand the brokenness of the beautiful world we live in.
In 2006 their second son, Joel got very sick with bone Cancer. He came home from West Point for treatment and beat it. The next year he returned to West Point ready to play football again. Unfortunately, a few months later, they discovered he had leukemia as a result of the bone cancer treatment. He was given a bone marrow transplant but sadly died 82 days after the transplant.
As you can imagine this was devastating for Jeff and Bitsy and Joel’s three other siblings. They grieved, they struggled to understand how they would go on, and they wrestled with the goodness of God. Everyday they woke up they had a choice to make: will they allow this brokenness to cause them to be become bitter and withdrawn, or would they somehow become better by recycling the care and love others had shown them as they walked through Joel’s sickness and passing? While it took time, they chose to become better and now come alongside other families as hosts who understand first hand the difficulty of being a mom and dad whose child is sick or disabled.
Jeff and Bitsy, along with the other 23 couples who are hosts for David’s Refuge, are all recycling experts. They have consciously transformed the tears and pain and frustration and sadness and sleepless nights and unfulfilled dreams that are a part of being the parent of a child with special needs into something beautiful. They recycle the broken into acts of love and service to those who are still on the journey. This is why I think David’s Refuge has been so successful. I hope their example will motivate you to do the same. Without a doubt they would all tell you that you are not alone, what you do matters, and that you are loved by God.
If you want to hear more of Jeff and Bitsy’s story, here is a video from the church they attend: