Most of us have a plan for our lives—a career, a degree, a specific path. But what happens when every door you try to walk through is slammed shut and nailed board-tight?
In episode 12 of People Around me, we introduce you to Summer. She thought she was just opening an Airbnb to pay the bills, but God had a different blueprint. Today, her home serves as a refuge for women and children who have nowhere else to go. From helping survivors of domestic violence to assisting those fighting addiction, Summer’s story is a testament to the fact that your “unworthy” past is exactly what God can use to change a life.
People Around Me Transcript
Hey it’s Bubba here with another Make It Happen Missions Project, The People Around Me. We’ve been very fortunate to have some great people and some stories that impact people. In so many different ways I’m here with a good friend of mine.
This is Summer. Summer was actually one of our volunteers with Make it Happen Missions. She’s is a roofer. Let me tell you. This lady can do anything worked on a house in Willis for three days. And she’s up on that house. kinda red faced, you know, kinda sunburnt. Just she wasn’t coming down and what a great job. Summer thank you so much for being here and preparing to share with us what you have to share.
Summer and I we’ve been talking, you know, a long time when we think God has something to do in life it makes sense with the gifts talents and abilities we have. So we begin to say well I need to do this or I should do that. And I don’t know about you, but that door has been slammed shut and nailed and board. And is that maybe something you have experienced as well.
Many times. Many times. I mean, early on, you know in the Christian walk we’re presented with so many opportunities and so many things, and we think God wants us to do those things. So we we start we we try to create a plan. We we schedule ourselves, we go to school and sometimes get a degree, right? All of that was none of that was open for me.
All of those those those paths I tried to walk down didn’t work out.
I know. Now I tell you the level of frustration you feel.
you want to give up, you know, you think i will just be a housemaid I’m just going to be a stay home mom, that’s my ministry, right?
Yeah. I’m done. Lord, thanks for nothing, you know. And it is an unexpected time. And I know for me, I have got in my personal life where finally have said Lord what do you want me to do.
and he said just want to ask you. and then kind of. in a sense yours just literally just on your doorstep. Correct?
Literally, yes.
Now before we get into that, I think people would know that Summer uses her home in a very unique way. Very unique way
Well the home was never mine. in first place. The day I walked into that home with the realtor and God said, I’m giving you this. But in in those words, it was, I’m here with you.
So what wasn cool was at home. You actually were doing were doing an Air BnB business for doctors and nurses and things of that nature.
I had to supplement my finances. I found myself in a situation with one income. the bills that I was looking at, 80 hours a week was draining me. And so my kids were not having parental supervision and I needed to supplement by income. And so I prayed about it and I said I am going to try Air BnB.
If is not safe, if this is not right. This is not a path you want to walk down. And the doors opened and between doctors and nurses, I live right across the street from the hospital. Majority of those bookings were nurses, doctors until, until a young woman. I get a message from this young woman who had booked the night pretty late and she was in a situation that until I realized until the realization, oh, this isn’t just a normal booking.
And she’s in fight or flight mode and she needs a place to stay. I walk her through, you know, realize, hey, it’s okay. I’m safe. You’re not in danger. And that her story of abuse, abandonment of her family because she was walking away, from an abusive husband, that her parents wanted to stay with. She was driving cross-country, coming from two states away.
Driving, completely lost and ended up in Lufkin Texas at my doorstep.
Oh, wow, Well, let me ask you this. When someone calls like this, well, I’m sorry about your situation, but not only did the Lord drive her over two states into a specific town to call a specific number. Oh, yeah. But she shared with me as the I guess we unfortunately, you you grew up with, you lived this first
This wasn’t unfamiliar territory for me.
There you go.
I myself, have come out of a situation where I felt like.
I know exactly where she’s been. Sometimes we want to. We want to we we can fathom what it’s like being in someone else’s shoes. But in reality, if you’ve never walk in somebody else’s shoes. You can’t connect with them or really see the need. Until you have
And I had.
And see that is what the beautiful thing about it is, God puts us in positions to use our experiences, you know, and I remember you mentioning that the enemy years ago tried to use to destroy you. And that is what the enemy does, he tried to kill, steal and destroy, break us. But what the Lord. If we give the situation to the Lord, he takes that same thing, and breaks us open to new opportunities, new directions, new horizons.
We’re not even aware of. And as soon as you open an Airbnb and now you’re quite far from an Airbnb. So that’s now in in the course of the time that you you’ve been doing this how many, how many how many young ladies have pass through your door?
Young and old. I mean, I have had a 60 year old woman in need.
For same reason?
Is not all for the same reason.
It’s been addiction, homelessness. It’s been a physical or mental abuse. It’s been just finding themselves in an unfortunate situation.
That’s beyond their control. You’re fault. My fault. Nobody’s fault. Decisions they made, you know, so sometimes we make in the past. God’s words are very clear, you are going to reap what you sow. And unfortunately they are reaping some of the things they have sown.
And you find yourself in a situation that is out of your control
Or broken, lost, completely empty and void of even what tomorrow looks like.
When? Now. And you said how many, how many have passed through?
A total of 12 women and 2 youth.
Oh, wow. Now, let me ask you this. What is the duration of time that they stay?
Anywhere from one night to the longest day of the year and a half.
You know what is so interesting?
And, you you out there may not be aware of this. You indicated that you’ve actually had individuals and, they have no high school education, they are no drivers license,
Never even tried to get a drivers license.
No job skills, no nothing and their whole life they have been told you are never going to make it. You’re no good. You can’t make it without me. And and here is Summer. They don’t even know and say, you know, here’s what we are going to do, and you help them form a game plan.
Well, not initially. You know, so many times when you when, you know, organizations are created to help fill needs in the community, right? Well, I’m not an organization, I’m just me. And they had come time when my mind or the influence of other people around me, like, how are you going to do this with the plan? What’s the protocol? How do you how do you implement this or how do you, you know, what resources do you offer them?
And there was a time when I did, I asked myself multiple times, how do I do this? Even God asking God, how do I do this? And I got silence. That was not what I was that he was asking me to study with the person next morning. Or to get them to learn a new schedule, learn new habits in their life or anything.
He just ask me open my door and offer a bed and live my life the way I have already and living my life for God.
You know, like saying right there is very simplistic., just showing the love of the Lord. Yeah. And you know why the there are no expectations. There are no paybacks or anything.
But think about this. How can you expect something from somebody who doesn’t even believe they have anything to give?
They can’t fathom what it’s like to show up for somebody. Let alone show up for themselves. They can’t see past right now, let alone this evening or tomorrow or 5 weeks down the road. They needed a safe place to sit down and breathe for a minute, to realize this is where I’m at.
Our bodies are fight or flight. Yes. High. High anxiety. Emotions aren’t under control. we can’t think straight in that time. We really just need the love somebody else, a warm body. Yeah. You’re not alone in this. And, if tomorrow is a good time to talk, we’ll talk more about this tomorrow but if tomorrow is still not good enough, and we still need to
let you breathe, let you exhale.
Yeah, kind of get your feet on the ground. because you. I mean, you’re you’re you’re not any form of social worker or counselor you’re just somebody that has been in that position that has a heart for those people. That the Lord said, Yeah, those are great ideas that you have there. But, we’re not going to do that. We’re going to do this.
I am not asking you to labor. I am just asking you to surrender.
It is also my understanding that you do you do assist people with their addictions and they stay with you, and if I understand correctly, they stay in your home. I am not going to call it a facility, because it’s not. They stay in your home until they can get a grip to where they can move into more of a mange care situation or
So sometimes they need, more resources than I can offer, but what I offer a resource right.
But, and there’s been times when they’ve been turned away because they’re still not sober or they don’t know where to go.
Turned away from? Other facilities?
Yeah. other facilities because they have protocol they have to follow.
And they’re not and they’re they’re not even in a level where they could enter into that. So they have to stay, sober or clean for x amount of time.
Or a drivers license or an identification.
You wouldn’t even think of that we take those things for granted. Everybody has driver’s license but their are people in this world who do not for whatever reason.
And so you assist them them and give them a place and give them a little direction. Right. Here’s where you need to go and stuff like that.
But, I don’t do it for them.
No no no no no no.
You know at the end of the day, it’s in their hands and it’s up to them to want it, you know, to do the work.
And, have their been times, Summer, where someone comes in and then you have a peace of just coming and they and they just follow.
And so have you had say hey look you’re going to…
So there has been, Most of the time, God has already given me the peace. So he has already prepared me, giving me the peace, so when a situation shows up and I start questioning it, God’s like, no, I already told you, don’t let the enemy steal this from you or steal this from us. But there’s been times when I want to help because I have seen the help, it’s worked out. It worked out.
And I have the hope for this person, you know, like, I see this person doing well, you know they just need a helping hand right now. And so going to God and I don’t really have that peace necessarily or.
How how God had normally worked and opened those doors, led the way and done it all, there has been situations where I have tried to step in. In my own ability and said I want to help.
And it makes it difficult for everybody because it doesn’t work out.
Usually there is a little bit of tension there, or there’s just something that just doesn’t feel right. And I’ve had to, So there was a time when I had somebody actually come and a few days later I had to ask them to leave, because there was things out of my ability to handle, you know, and there have been situation where before I said yes I realized I had to say no.
So, they are not easy situation, it’s not easy answers,
No, I understand, I understand but I’m so, so. But most of the time, you you work with, churches are aware of the ministry you do.
There are a couple of different organizations
like, can you help this young lady or this youth for a couple days. Well, we just need a little. Okay. So let me ask you this, In situations where the ladies and the children,
You have actually had children that come with their mothers. Correct.
I would say about half of the women who have come, have had young children.
Oh, wow. So that adds even a whole nother degree? Another facet of the operation. And I was wondering about this. Oh, I was wondering what would be your advice for. I have a friend mine. And he he perpetrates this kind of action from time to time on his wife with children, obviously.
I see it, so he’s comfortable enough that he is just going to do his thing, you know, and there’s something in me that says is not right. You know, what advice would you give me? Obviously in the midst of it, it’s probably not a good idea to address the issue. You, you know, what advice would you give somebody a guy that has a friend to, you know, I, I know there there is a friend of the abuser I mean no.
Yeah, yeah. Yes yes yes. True. Yeah. How do you how do you. Yeah. You know the golf courses. Yeah. Or your out fishing or whatever. I mean.
How would he go about that? Well do have you ever had anybody say, hey Summer, a friend of mine is doing this. From your own experience if someone would have stepped in, Would it have helped, would it have made it worse? What’s been your experience on that?
It really depends on the situation, whether it can make an impact in a positive direction.
From my understanding, the darkness in this world comes from brokenness. And a lot of times it’s just somebody that is portraying aggressive behavior. It’s really reaching out for a hand to hold. Yeah. So there is demonic activity in our world and there are forces beyond our control that won’t ever surrender to God. That happens.
And then you obviously if you mix alcohol and drugs, with that type of personality. You’ve got a ticking time bomb.
So so if you’re in a position where you you’re finding out that your friend is, is neglecting their their responsibility to take care of their wife or their children, even, and they are on the bad side of that. You know, they’re not a victim, they are actually they are actually creating the abuse. Right. Or coming from them. I have to ask, are you why are you in your life?
I don’t believe that, do you have a relationship with God. And if you do, did God put you in their path to shine some light. To be some, some guidance or a role model in their life. So many times, I think.
We can have a brokenness that showed we do not heal ourselves. So we start trying to control every situation in our life. Then emotions happen and stress happens in the world, and we exert that on the people that closest to us. Sometimes that is women and children, right?
Frustration of not being able to handle the storm. Well let me ask you this in closing. Assume there is a young lady and she is watching this.
What would you what would you tell her? If she was sitting right there. What would you tell her? She’s been told her whole entire life you’re never going to amount to anything. You shouldn’t have even been born. I hear some of this stuff and it is just gut wrenching. You know, you’ll never amount to anything without me. Maybe they are in a situation where they don’t have anything, but then there are also people that come from, they have money, they have homes.
And what would you tell, because abuse is abuse. What would you, what would you tell them?
Every situation you are going to go through is not going to be the same. And everybody in the world is not the same, if you’re, if you’re, a woman who’s had abusive partners in the past. Not every man is that way. And God, is not God is not in any part, trying to punish you or make you go through something because of something you didn’t do right. He already covered all of that when he sent his son to die for us.
Yeah.
Or if you’re in a position where you see that your children are not getting the life you planned for them, and they’re dealing with some consequences to a life you’ve lived. There’s another day. There’s another hour. There’s people out there that.
Want to help, that want to walk alongside you to get you to a place that maybe you never thought you could. You can get to. I never believed that I would ever own home. I never believed that I would be able to be in a position to help somebody else.
Until I found myself in that home that God had blessed me with. And in the exact position of being that someone for somebody else. My entire life I felt unworthy. I felt this just the life I have, you know, came from poverty, came from.
A dark childhood, homelessness. And I find myself now having that compassion.
Just because we survived it, doesn’t mean that other people will be okay, because we survived it. We can fill a need, we can help. Even if that just means initiate conversation. Sometimes somebody just needs a safe place to talk about their situation. Sometimes.
Summer, I think there’s no words that could try to say what you are trying to say. And that’s the thing if you’re in that situation, there is hope, you are created by the most loving God. And sometimes the decisions that we make put us in compromising positions and God’s Word says sometimes we have to reap what we sow. I guarantee you, you can plant new crops, you are valuable. God Loves you, and he has plan for you.
You’re not a mistake. You’re not an accident, you’re not a loser. Seek God’s God’s face. And he will put people like Summer, like the lady that drove across 2 states, to a particular place to call a particular number. God has the same thing for you. Summer thank you so much. I appreciate you, opening up your home, but mostly your heart. And, always remember God is more interested in doing something in us than through us.
Have a good day.