Announcement: Journey to Hope Counseling will be closed December 31, January 1st, and 2nd. We will reopen on Monday, January 5, 2015 and will operate regular counseling hours next week. Happy New Year to everyone! Praying for new beginnings and second chances in 2015. Blessings, Susie
Blog
You are invited to join us for Life is a Beautiful Struggle
Life is a Beautiful Struggle
What a great first day we had at Life is a Beautiful Struggle! The room was filled with beautiful women inside and out. Your stories about your struggles touched my heart and soul at a very deep place. It is my prayer that this group will be a place of healing and hope for all of you who come. Thanks to our amazing staff who helped me to decorate and prepare a wonderful lunch for all of you. It is not too late to join us! You can still be a part of this, our next Ladies process therapy Group, which began on Thursday August 21st @ noon.
The truth is that we all want sunny days, relationships that sustain us and a faith that is stronger than any circumstance that we face. And yet, sometimes we wake up, and life is a struggle. A beautiful struggle, but nevertheless a struggle. Sometimes for a short season, sometimes for a long season, and some of us might ask. "Will my life ever get easier?!?" If any of this sounds like the longing of your heart or the reality of your life, then please join us on on Thursdays. We have had such a nice response to this group that we are offering it on Thursdays @ noon and Thursdays @ 6 p.m., beginning August 28th.
The group will run for 6 weeks with the possibility of extending. Group therapy is paid for by some insurances, and you will only have to pay the cost of your copay. If your insurance will not cover group therapy, the cost for this group is $50/session, plus $10 for materials. The materials are available in the office, so just stop by and pick up a notebook if you want to look at the materials before we meet on Thursday.
Be Still Groups for Boys and Girls Starting this Week!
Be Still Groups for Boys and Girls start this week. Boys group meets Aug 5, 12, 19 @ 6, and girls meet August 6, 20, 27 @ 6:30.
What is Be Still All About?
The Be Still groups were designed originally for boys who are struggling with issues of life, whether it be handling emotions, anxiety, anger, family dynamics, bullying or even struggles making and keeping friends.
The idea is to spend a few weeks together talking about life experiences,how to deal with these struggles and be encouraged that they are not alone.
For the boys groups, it will be a refresher and reunion for the boys who were in our group last year, and having some new students join us. We have found that girls are experiencing the same types of struggles. So our girls group is new for 2014! If you have a son or daughter who might be a good fit for our groups, or know of someone who would, please call the office for details and how to be a part of Be Still 2014. Blessings, Susie
Summer Days, 2014..New Life, New Beginnings
Summer days are upon us. I love summer and all the things that are associated with it: picnics, beach trips, swimming pools, cookouts, summer vacations, and now and forever, I will add to that list….puppies. Many of you are aware that our golden retriever Izzie had 10 beautiful puppies on May 22, 2014 and as a result, our summer has been all about puppies. From the moment they took their first breath until we released them into the hands of their forever families, the joy and the weight of their wellbeing has been on our shoulders. Add to that the happiness that only a puppy can bring, multiply it times 10, and then multiply that times 8 weeks. It is a recipe for extreme joy and exhaustion. Tomorrow morning, we release the last 2 puppies into the hands of their families, and then I will say we have run the race, and we did not stop til we crossed the finish line. I have plans to sleep through the night again, to stop buying out Petsmart twice a week of all puppy products, and to eat dinner each night before 10:30 and stop being outside in my backyard at 4:45 a.m.! All to say that I am sure your life is the same. Maybe not puppies, but something that brings you incredible joy and yet takes a lot out of you during this season of your life. Let me say, Hang in there. Stay the course. Finish well. Whatever you do, do it with excellence and 100% heart. God has taught me so many life lessons through this 62 days of extreme puppy parenting. I cannot wait to unpack some of it with you. Here’s to golden retrievers. If you are an animal or golden retriever lover, Gabe and Izzie and the puppies have their own Facebook page. I have attached the link for you here. If you ever need a little stress relief, take a visit there an spend a few moments with some of the most beautiful creatures God ever designed. Blessings, Susie
GROUPS AND NEWS
Summer 2014 is filled with groups at Journey to Hope. Groups for Men, and for boys, and for girls and for women, and for couples! We have it all here, and be sure to check out the information on the following groups:
· Anger Management for Men
· Financial Peace University (FPU)
· Be Still for Boys
· Be Still for Girls
· Generation Change
· Process Group for Women Struggling with Life
Mother's Day Reflections
May 11th Dedication for Mackenzie Lynn. Her life verse is Mark 11:22-24
It is now a couple of days after Mother's Day and as I reflect on the powerful impact that mothers have on their children, it is no surprise that this day when we stop and remember or reach out with expressions of love for Moms on this day.
For my family, we had such a mixture of joy and sadness on Mother's Day! It was my husband's first Mother's Day without his mom, and for me, without my mother-in-law, and so there was sadness and sorrow that she is no longer with us. There was also great joy as my daughter-in-law Becca celebrated her first Mother's Day and our granddaughter Mackenzie was dedicated on Mother's Day. And then, there is the joy for who my Mom is to me and getting to celebrate her love for me. Being an only child means that my mother poured her entire life into this life of mine. I wrote that she has always made me feel more than amazing, and she responded, "you are more than amazing". That is a mother's heart and love.
And then, there was the wonderful love sent to me from my husband and my children for Mother's Day. Gifts and thoughts and love from all over the world remind me that the investment of a mother's heart in the lives of her children is an investment that will change their lives forever. These gifts and words made my heart sing!
I am acutely aware that Mother's Day may have also been bittersweet for you. You may be grieving the loss of your mother, enjoying your first mother's day, or in a troubled relationship with your Mom. May I just say that you are in my prayers, and it is my hope that you can find some ray of hope as you reflect on the relationship with your Mom. A quote I love about Mothers is this one
"To My Mom, I have my compassionate heart because of your kindness to others, I see wonder in the world because of your imagination; I pray God will watch over you and comfort you and protect you from any harm. YOU will always be with me, because I am who I am because of your loving hands. Thank you for loving me. Author Unknown"
I sent many of you a link to a video that is called A Mother's Prayer. It is the prayer we have for our children, and I have never stopped praying this prayer for my children. I never will. They are my heart.
Happy Mother's Day, A Mother’s Prayer
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=re5EIUIXbhc&sns=em
Blessings as you reflect on Mother's Day this year., Susie