The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing.
He makes me lie down in green pastures,
he leads me beside quiet waters - Psalm 23
He makes me lie down in green pastures,
he leads me beside quiet waters - Psalm 23
Still Waters is a Resource Center, in Kaufman, Texas, that offers crisis support and prevention services to people in their community. Kaufman is the county seat for Kaufman County which is home to approximately 122,000 residents. Of those residents, there are approximately 2,000 teen parents. On Monday nights, from September through May, you will find programs specifically directed toward teen parents at Still Waters offers including: Thrive to teen/young moms; Ignite to teen/young dads and Chosen their 3-year program teen moms. Chosen is a TMC program and has been serving teen moms for 8 years.
Amy Armstrong, Chosen’s Program Director, is in her 2nd year of serving in her role after being a mentor for 2 years prior. She shared that after Christa visited Kaufman in March 2017 and talked with their group, she wanted to get even more involved in the running of the program. At the time the previous Program Director was moving out of the role and God had prepared Amy to say “Yes” to this new opportunity. With the encouragement of her Executive Director, Ketra Hancock, Amy completed TMCI’s Director Manual training and started planning for the next Lifeskills Workshop year. As part of her role, Amy has clarified expectations for both the teen moms and the volunteers regarding expectations of their time and commitments. She recognized where there were some “loopholes” in their procedures and it was her responsibility to “close the loopholes.”
This year the teen moms and their mentors are reading through Nicki Koziarz’s book “5 Habits of a Woman Who Doesn’t Quit.” It is based on the biblical story of Ruth who chose not to return to her people after her husband died but to go with her mother-in-law, Naomi, to a country and people she didn’t know. In choosing this book, Amy wanted to encourage the teen moms to look at those places in their lives where they have chosen to quit, explore why they made that decision, and how to respond differently in the future.
Please also pray for the volunteers of Chosen. There is a need for child care providers for Monday night as well as a richer understanding of why the TMC programs’ encourage grace and truth when tackling difficult issues. Grace without truth may encourage the teen moms to rely on the program instead of trusting God and does not hold them responsible for their choices. Truth without grace can be requiring and lack care. We are called to provide grace AND truth.
Amy Armstrong, Chosen’s Program Director, is in her 2nd year of serving in her role after being a mentor for 2 years prior. She shared that after Christa visited Kaufman in March 2017 and talked with their group, she wanted to get even more involved in the running of the program. At the time the previous Program Director was moving out of the role and God had prepared Amy to say “Yes” to this new opportunity. With the encouragement of her Executive Director, Ketra Hancock, Amy completed TMCI’s Director Manual training and started planning for the next Lifeskills Workshop year. As part of her role, Amy has clarified expectations for both the teen moms and the volunteers regarding expectations of their time and commitments. She recognized where there were some “loopholes” in their procedures and it was her responsibility to “close the loopholes.”
This year the teen moms and their mentors are reading through Nicki Koziarz’s book “5 Habits of a Woman Who Doesn’t Quit.” It is based on the biblical story of Ruth who chose not to return to her people after her husband died but to go with her mother-in-law, Naomi, to a country and people she didn’t know. In choosing this book, Amy wanted to encourage the teen moms to look at those places in their lives where they have chosen to quit, explore why they made that decision, and how to respond differently in the future.
Please also pray for the volunteers of Chosen. There is a need for child care providers for Monday night as well as a richer understanding of why the TMC programs’ encourage grace and truth when tackling difficult issues. Grace without truth may encourage the teen moms to rely on the program instead of trusting God and does not hold them responsible for their choices. Truth without grace can be requiring and lack care. We are called to provide grace AND truth.