"It catches you off guard..."

Sometimes, God’s timing is unmistakable.

“We were just leaving a training downtown,” Mindy Theard remembered. As the Director of Child Hosting at New Mercies, she had attended the training and was going to head home, then decided to go to the office instead to drop something off. The New Mercies shared office space is located inside the St. Joe Community Church building. Because it is a shared space, staff mainly go to the office when they need flyers for a meeting, to drop something off, or for another small errand.

This stop wasn’t in Mindy’s schedule. But it wasn’t an accident either.

A Providential Errand

As Mindy was walking upstairs to the New Mercies office, a church member approached her and asked if she could talk to a mom who was sitting in the lobby with her baby son and a case manager. Mindy approached the mom, who we’ll call Talia. She looked up and said, “I really need help. I’m in a bad spot. Can you help me?”

The case manager, from Lifeline, remembered hearing about New Mercies at a community presentation Mindy had given months before. That day, she brought the mom to the church, believing it was where our staff were located—and in God’s providence, Mindy was there.

The Pieces Come Together

Together, they called the Support Line and reached Support Line Volunteer Randy. Mindy offered to hold the baby, who we’ll call Matteo, so Talia could speak privately. During her call, Mindy also gave some resources to Talia's case manager for her to use while she was waiting for the hosting to start.

From that moment, a hosting arrangement began unfolding. The Lash family, located closer to where Talia was moving, agreed to host baby Matteo. Now, as she works toward finding a job and reuniting with her older son, her baby is hosted safely, so she has the stability she needs to move forward.

Used by the Lord

At New Mercies, we believe in being available for God to use, not because we have all the answers, but because we’re willing to show up. And in moments like this, we see clearly that He’s already orchestrating the situation before we even arrive.

“There have been a few times now where I’ve just stopped by the office or church,” Mindy shared, “and someone’s been there who needed help. It takes you off guard a little bit — you’re not always expecting that.” God’s heart is for families in crisis. This time, He used Mindy and New Mercies to be His answer at just the right time for Talia and Matteo.