Avenues To Peace

From December 25, 2000 until February 8, 2001 I spent most of my time caring for my Mother-in-law as she fought the battle of pancreatic cancer. We were almost inseparable. She helped me by simply desiring the Spirit to remain present. A wonderful, beloved friend Susan provided a CD player and spiritual music and Mom and I would spend hours listening to music, praying and reading scriptures. Her eyes were jaundiced and tired and she lost the ability to read her Bible long before she was officially diagnosed. This is how we started the closer bond was been she asked me to read to her. I felt honored. There is another story to be told about Mom’s last days but that is for another place and time.

With the reliving of the Spirit I was able to move on after Mom’s passing. And with this Spirit I was moved to bring Avenues to Peace, my focus, to life.

It is a pleasure to provide this web access to help others. The site was created to provide a resource for people in need of assistance and to provide links to resources nobody thought possible. My own Mother Thelma Tomey passed in 1988. Mom was quite a unique, caring soul. She felt her feelings and laughed and cried with no reserve. Mom great up the "great depression" and always managed to see the humor and light despite gloom and despair and her own hunger. She always encouraged helping others and never turned anybody away who asked for help. Mom was in every sense a lady and even when times were toughest you would never know it. She always made sure her family, her home, and herself looked great and presented a well-rounded respast. This has had a great impact on my view of people who are less fortunate. They may not be able to afford the fancier amenities of life but that does not mean they would not gain from the benefits. People who have done without are strong and resourceful. They have strength that only they can know. My personal phrase has been: "People who smile in the face of adversity have the world in their back-pocket."

To simply give is not the answer. We also have to receive. In order to experience benevolence it is important to be able to walk in the shoes of those have less. How can we truly feel what others feel and have our heart invested in it? We risk though… We risk: Learning from the best teachers, learning about resourcefulness, learning about self-respect, learning about true caring, learning about faith and so much more. None of this is learned through any book but through the walk of life. We risk opening our heart in such a way it can never be closed again.

So…how do we walk in these shoes and how do we keep from stepping on toes? We can walk along the Avenues of Peace and plant seeds: Seeds of support, an outstretched hand, a warm embrace, a spirit fire, providing and benefiting for others we are truly concerned about. To dare to be a friend... Will you walk down the Avenues to Peace with us?

Lisa Tomey-Davis

Founder

Avenues to Peace