House Story - Sherea Geddings
Sherea started coming to House of Mercy at the beginning of January when we made the switch to Sunday morning services at The Mule. She and her new husband, Robert Ingle, have hardly missed a Sunday since. Fyodor Dostoevsky wrote in Crime and Punishment, "The darker the night the brighter the stars. The deeper the grief the closer to God." This pretty much describes Sherea's journey perfectly, and we are privileged to witness her bright Light as she moves closer to God.
Sherea grew up in West Virginia and it was an extremely hard life. She really didn't have a chance, and by her teenage years was shipped off to an orphanage in Missouri. This was a religious fundamentalist institution, and it is when her life grew very dark and the trauma greatly intensified. She got out of there around the age of 17 and life didn't get any easier as she ended up in the throes of abusive relationships, which then led her to cope with drug use, and eventually full-blown addiction. Unfortunately, this is a cycle that so many women end up in, and that path usually takes them to prison. This became the story for Sherea too, but that was NOT the end of her story. She ended up at Western Correctional Center for Women, but before we got there. Chaplain Shannon Spencer once told Pastor Chad that Sherea is a shining example of what happens when people are told that no matter what, they are God's child, and they actually internalize it.
When she was released in 2020 things began to take a positive turn. Sherea was learning to love her neighbor AS she loved herself, and that those two things must go together. She pursued recovery with NA, became a Peer Support Specialist, and got a job at Sunrise Recovery Community in their respite house. She heard about House of Mercy from others who were incarcerated, and she and her very redemptive new husband were at our very first service at The Mule. Since then Sherea has become a leader at our church, and because of her Christ-like Way, people just follow her to HoM. She and Robert have also gotten involved with the "Ashevegas" HoM Small Group. Sherea Geddings is now living as the child of God she's always been, and experiencing the Life that comes with it. We LOVE you Sherea!!
