Welcome, Mrs. Lizzie Norris, to GTH

We are happy to add the “Norris” family to our Gleaning the Harvest families. Mrs. Norris is the husband of Lee and the mother of James. You might wonder why we are adding a married mom to our widowed and fatherless families, and the reason is quite simple: Lizzie Norris is living as a single mom, while her husband is incarcerated.

Amanda received an email a week ago, asking if we ever support moms whose husbands are incarcerated, and she forwarded it to me. It was not from Lizzie, but someone who knew of her story. When we started working out GTH in our heads and on this site, there were many scenarios played out as we worked and discussed the mission we would have. Wives of incarcerated husbands didn’t enter our minds. This was a new avenue for us to consider. Of course she is in need, but she is not widowed, and her son is not really fatherless. But presently, the family is fatherless. Perhaps that is why Deuteronomy instructs us to leave some to glean for the fatherless, the widows and the stranger. Perhaps the lines aren’t clear cut.

Deuteronomy 24:17-22
17Thou shalt not pervert the judgment of the stranger, nor of the fatherless; nor take a widow’s raiment to pledge:18But thou shalt remember that thou wast a bondman in Egypt, and the LORD thy God redeemed thee thence: therefore I command thee to do this thing.
19When thou cuttest down thine harvest in thy field, and hast forgot a sheaf in the field, thou shalt not go again to fetch it: it shall be for the stranger, for the fatherless, and for the widow: that the LORD thy God may bless thee in all the work of thine hands. 20When thou beatest thine olive tree, thou shalt not go over the boughs again: it shall be for the stranger, for the fatherless, and for the widow. 21When thou gatherest the grapes of thy vineyard, thou shalt not glean it afterward: it shall be for the stranger, for the fatherless, and for the widow.
22And thou shalt remember that thou wast a bondman in the land of Egypt: therefore I command thee to do this thing.

I personally spent several hours on Lizzie’s blog, A Dusty Frame. It is a very open window to the lives of the Norris family. My heart was touched as I read all that Lizzie has written and expressed in the past three years of this part of their lives.

Lizzie Norris is not her real name. It is a pseudonym. Neither is her husband’s name really Lee, but their lives are very real. I feel it is important to state that up front. We know this because Lizzie gave us all the info we need, including the cell phone of her pastor. Her pastor is very well-acquainted with Lizzie and Lee. Their pastor has gone through Lee’s jail time and his incarceration with him personally. In speaking to him, he let me know that Lizzie and Lee are both members of his church, and he asked that we pray for Lee as his brothers and sisters in Christ that he may overcome things in his life that he struggles with. The Norris family is well-loved in their small church, and their pastor explained that they are helping her as much as a small church can. I don’t know about you, but I am so thrilled with that.

You can get to know Mrs. Lizzie Norris and her life as a married single mom on her blog, A Dusty Frame. On it, you can read about how Lee is in prison and all they have gone through in the past two years. You can read about James, with whom Lizzie is staying home to love and educate. You can read her daily struggles as a wife and as a mom in a very difficult situation. I am thrilled that Lizzie wants to stay home and keep James in her care.

To support Lizzie, you will find the Norris’s Family page and ChipIn here: http://gleaningtheharvest.com/?p=473

May the LORD bless you as you seek to support the families on Gleaning the Harvest.

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