One Story

Challenged to do something out of love

She's a 66-year-old retiree from Pratt & Whitney with multiple sclerosis. A widowed mother of three, she lives alone now in her Palm Beach Gardens home. She had the courage to give up her car, and thus a lot of her independence, a couple of years ago because she felt she could no longer safely drive. Her doctors say she should be using an electric wheelchair, but she mostly sticks with her walker - only sparingly, grudgingly giving ground to this progressive disease.

Her name is Flo. But the name she gave to her toy poodle might be an even more appropriate as a nickname for her - "Scrappy."

"When I was diagnosed with the disease, and I lost the ability to do one thing, I always had another ability to take its place," she says, her speech halting. "I can’t do this, but I can still do that. I’d do the best I could with what I had. But now I have no more abilities to fall back on.

"Still, I am so thankful that God has been good to me."

Life Group steps up to the plate

When Flo lost the ability to stand at the stove and cook for herself, her friend Lois Kent brought it up to the Life Group she’s part of in Lake Park. The 12 women meet each week for fellowship, dessert, Bible study and prayer, says host Pat Hartman. But instead of being satisfied with learning and growing within themselves, they feel compelled to impact the lives of others with the love and message of Jesus Christ.

"When it came up in our group that we needed to be doing something in our community, I stuck my hand up," says Lois, a North Palm Beach resident."They latched onto it right away."

"I know she was living on TV dinners," says Pat. "We felt challenged to do something out of love."

Now the women take turns bringing Flo a hot, healthy meal each week - with enough leftovers for her to enjoy for several days. But they bring her much more than meatloaf and mashed potatoes.

"She’s such a sweetheart and she’s so appreciative of this," says Lois. "We visit with her. We spend time with her. We pray with her before we leave."

Hot meals and warm conversation

While she enjoys the meals, Flo says, "When you have a disease like this, people often stay away from you because they don’t know what to say. The easiest thing to say is nothing at all.

"When these ladies come, they stay awhile and talk with me. That’s just as important. These ladies are so special."

Pat says the feeling is mutual - "We’re so blessed by her" - adding that providing these meals is not a project for a month or a season or even a year. "When we began this, there were only six members of the group, so each of us was doing a meal every six weeks," remembers Pat, a greeter at the Gardens Campus. "Now with 12 members, we have a schedule and if someone can’t do it one week someone else can.

"Flo is always taken care of. ... As long as Flo is there and she needs us, we don’t plan to stop."