The transformation of spring in north Georgia is happening all around us and we’re excited to get together with many of you to celebrate the transformation the Lord is making in the lives of those we serve. We’re just under four weeks away from this year’s annual banquet. It is a night of celebration, inspiration, fellowship and food with a purpose of providing resources to continue this minstry. We’re looking forward to welcoming around 500 guests to beautiful SharpTop Cove. Our program will include a presentation of both our teen-residential program and our community counseling center with testimonies from each. We would like to share with you a couple of different ways you can participate. We still have room for a few more table hosts. As a table host you simply invite and fill a table of eight including yourself. There is NO COST, to host a table. At the end of the evening all of our guests will be given an opportunity to invest in the ministry as they are led by the Lord. If you are interested in hosting a table, please contact Steve via email: steve@thejoyhouse.org or via phone 706-253-7569. We still have room available for individual guests. There is NO COST to attend. You can RSVP by following the link below and simply clicking the “Register” button. We hope many of you will plan on joining us for this special evening RSVP Here |
|
We’re really excited about all the progress being made on our new girl’s home. You can see we now have a full house wrap, windows and doors, a roof, and changes have begun to be made on the inside with plumbing and HVAC. We are still hopeful it will be complete by August, and we can begin sharing Christ’s love with several young ladies in this new home. Labor and material prices are highly inflated at this time. We have been so blessed by construction friends who are providing donations or discounts to help us meet our budget. We are still looking for ways to cut cost. We’ve got some great partners lined up for plumbing, HVAC, and electrical. We’re still looking for partners that can help cut cost on remaining labor and materials. For materials that would include siding, brick, trim, flooring, counter tops, etc.… Contractors would include siding, insulation, trim, masonry, flooring, etc.… If you are someone you know would like to partner with us, please reach out to Steve via email: steve@thejoyhouse.org or phone at 706-252-7569. |
|
Being relational and intentional in the way we care for the girls in our home is something very important to Seth and I as we serve as their house parents. We try our best to get to know the individual interests of each young woman and how they best receive love and care. When a resident has a birthday while in the program, we provide a beautiful cake in their favorite flavor and I cook a meal of their choosing. Throughout the year, we make holidays extra special by decorating the home accordingly. As well, we enjoy giving goodie bags, stockings, flowers and other gifts to the girls in celebration of each special day. While we think it’s very important to teach the young ladies life skills within the program home such as chores, responsibility and healthy communication, we also find it important to provide creative outlets for the girls to have fun, express themselves, and release any stress. Around the home the girls enjoy many outlets such as playing card games and creating beautiful artwork with sidewalk chalk on sunny days. We also take nature walks, fish at the Joy House pond, crochet, play piano, play pool, draw, journal, play basketball, and read Christian girls’ magazines. We get the privilege of seeing the girls laugh and enjoy their adolescence, and we want to cultivate an environment where they can feel comfortable being the unique individual that God created them to be. All in all, we want the girls to know that they are seen and loved for who they are, and we’re thankful to have the opportunity to work with each of them! |
|
Wow! It’s hard to believe it’s almost been a year since I started at The Joy House Counseling Center. It has been an honor to join the counseling center team and help continue Gary’s legacy in bringing Christ’s hope and love to those we serve. The beauty I have found in working as a Christian counselor is that God gives us hope and I am able to share that with our clients. I can say God is with us in every season of our life. When our clients face the unknown, we can trust and share that He is in control and working out every situation for our good. As I prayed about this entry piece, a constant word kept repeating in my mind…seasons. Seasons remind us of one constant in life is “change.” As counselors, we go through the seasons of life along with our clients. Are these seasons always easy? No, not at all. Sure, we have happy seasons in life, but often clients are coming to us in their most difficult seasons in their lives. The winter months are often most challenging for our clients with depression. There are many reasons for this including the loss of loved ones, holidays, and the cold and dreary days the seasons bring keeping us indoors, not to mention the days are shorter with less periods of sunlight. This month, as we say goodbye to winter and turn our attention to Spring and its Easter celebrations, may we remember the plans He has for us and our future, regardless of the change it may bring. With Spring, it brings us hope and love of the resurrection. The coming of Spring means rebirth. It’s the rebirth of nature, a lot of animals wake from hibernation, birds return to their homes with warmer temps, and flowers and trees begin to bloom. Spring allows us to be more outdoors and admire the beauty that God created. My prayer is that you will get outside and enjoy the season of rebirth. |
|
The young people served by the Joy House residential program have had a wide variety of experiences that have conspired to cause the issues that bring them here. Some of them are cultural, some academic, some family-related. Many times, the experiences that people have had long before their teen years are at the root of their behaviors. In fact, the experiences of humans in their first year have a major impact on how they see the world and how they learn to cope with it and the people in it. To learn more about the long-term effects of trauma, the Joy House staff attended a workshop sponsored by Eagle Ranch, “The Impact of Trauma: Exploring the Attachment and Trauma Spectrum. Delivered by Dr. Dan Sartor, the director of the Wings Center at Eagle Ranch, the conference addressed many aspects of trauma, ranging from the resulting attachments issues to the neurological changes that occur to the informed care and practice regarding those who have suffered early trauma. People who have experienced early trauma, especially those who have experienced it at the hands of caregivers, develop unhealthy and often self-destructive mechanisms. Their brains are wired to view others as dangerous at worst, not to be trusted at best. As a result, in later years, that wiring often manifests as anger, anxiety, and depression. A host of damaging coping strategies develop, many of which bring residents here. Because trauma does, indeed, have long-lasting, detrimental effects on one’s coping strategies and beliefs about the world, recovery can seem hopeless. However, Dr. Sartor offered some surprisingly straightforward approaches to support those who have experienced trauma and even begin to reverse those effects. Many of us want to DO something, to say just the right words to put a person back on the path to health. Unfortunately, that technique usually does nothing to help. However, simply listening, giving undivided attention, “tuning in” to that person CAN help begin the rewiring process. Asking “what happened,” rather than “what’s wrong” can change the narrative for both the listener and the speaker. We learned that it’s not so much WHAT the caregiver says or does, but HOW it is said and done. As early as the day after the conference, our staff was able to put some of these strategies into action successfully. In short, trauma at any time can cause an apprehension to be vulnerable, and those effects are not easily overcome. It requires us to be patient and to celebrate even the smallest steps toward healing. With time and attention, there is hope. |
|
|
|
|