“Pleasant words are a honeycomb, Sweet to the soul and healing to the bones.” – Proverbs 16:24
Sweetness. The word that immediately comes to my mind when I think of Joanna Hatfield is sweetness. Joanna is one of our volunteers that have what we lovingly call “dual citizenship.” You see, we share Joanna with another ministry that partners with Grace Klein. She volunteers with a sewing ministry that makes beautiful garments out of our dirty rags, kind of like the Father does with us. But Joanna just does not stop there. She volunteers here at GKC as often as she can and as often as we ask her to help. She is as steadfast and reliable as they come.
May 18th and 19th were full days for We Sew Love and Grace Klein Community. From our monthly food delivery, to a Meet and Greet at Huffman Baptist for We Sew Love, to our We Sew Love Preview Day at Liberty Church we were rocking for Jesus. And of course Sweetness was all in the mix with us.
When Joanna walks in the door she brings with her this air of kindness and gentleness that cannot go unnoticed. She’s quiet yet commanding in her presence and has come to be a vital part of what we do here at Grace Klein. There are many days that we call upon her to either open the door in the morning or cover the fort when one or more of us must run out or be somewhere else. In addition to her kind and loving nature, what I love the most about Joanna is she is always open to learn and take on more. She values other’s opinions and asks questions that are thought provoking, while showing a genuine interest in knowing more at the same time.
No matter how hard life gets, and her journey has been hard – ask her and she will share – she is a quiet observer that appreciates every person in the room and really SEES each person. Sometimes she will text these amazing updates about how this person was doing or this other person and she is always spot on to their needs, their hurts and their delights. Her heart is relationships over tasks every single time. Sweetness.
Not only did she help make pillows and curtains through We Sew Love for the new community house, she also serves on the prayer team for The House on the Hill and served as a host at our recent Open House. Here is a brief testimony of what she shared with us: “I am amazed everyday at the things GKC does for the community…I am one of those odd people that likes to stand back and watch what God does! At the open house you can not imagine the comfort I had just serving food and watching people interact so pleasantly. You could hear the chatter and laughter in the room. It didn’t matter that I couldn’t actually hear conversations, I could see and hear the happiness!”
She is definitely a valuable treasure to us and we are so grateful that she has chosen us to bless with her time and love. Thank you, Joanna! You are SWEETNESS. We love you!