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One of our volunteers, Barb Maples shared this on her Facebook page last Fall when a ramp built for her mom was disassembled and taken to a new location to meet a Kind at Heart Neighbor's needs. It was and is truly a gift of love! (Shared with permission).
I don’t think I have ever thought of a ramp as being a “Ramp of Encouragement”, but that is what Wayne Thomas of Kind at Heart Ministries prayed this ramp would be.
Since the day I heard that prayer, I have realized that is exactly what this ramp has been to me. It was built in August of 2017. Mom had moved in with me and we needed the ramp to help when using the wheelchair. The day it was being built, mom had to go back to the hospital. She never came home from there and we never used the ramp for her.
For over a year, I have looked at the ramp with mixed emotions. Some days, it is a sad reminder that mom isn’t here and we never got to use it for her. But, most of the time, it is an encouraging reminder of the kindness shown to our family during a very difficult time.
So, when Wayne prayed the ramp would be a “Ramp of Encouragement”, my heart was truly blessed and my mind was flooded with reminders of the encouragement it had been to me. The ramp is being taken down today. It is being moved to another location where I pray that it will be a symbol of encouragement for the next person, just as it has been for me.
I am in a Bible study and we are studying 1 Samuel. A couple of weeks ago, we were in chapter 7 where Samuel set up a stone and named it “Ebenezer”. The “Ebenezer” stone was a reminder the Lord had helped the Israelites.
Even though the ramp is not made of stone, it has been an “Ebenezer” to me. A reminder of help given at a time it was very much needed and that has been encouraging.
Thank you again to the group from Sager Creek Community Church who built the ramp. Their kindness was such a labor of love, and there is no way I can ever express to them how much they ministered to me and my family at that time. And prayers for the new person this ramp is going to, and for Kind at Heart Ministries. I do pray it will be a “Ramp of Encouragement” to everyone who steps on it or who rides over it in a wheelchair.
WE ARE THANKFUL THAT BARB CHOSE TO GIFT HER MOM'S RAMP TO KIND AT HEART, AS IT PROVIDED THE MATERIALS NEEDED TO BUILD A RAMP FOR ANOTHER MOM IN NEED OF HELP. WHAT AN INCREDIBLE WAY TO PAY IT FORWARD! THIS PHILOSOPHY OF "RAMP RECYCLING" TRULY ENABLES US TO MEET INCREASING NEEDS IN OUR COMMUNITY AND, WE BELIEVE, IS GOOD STEWARDSHIP IN ACTION. A FEW YEARS AGO WE RECOGNIZED THIS POTENTIAL AND CHANGED BOTH THE WAY WE DESIGN RAMPS (IN MODULES/SECTIONS) AND THE WAY WE PUT THEM TOGETHER (SCREWS INSTEAD OF NAILS).