Be Careful What You Ask For

Dear God,

Wow, how quickly you respond to my prayers. Only a couple of weeks ago I was on retreat at SoulCare in Recovery at the Ranch in Tennessee participating in one of the "Soul Circles" as the inquirer trying to gain clarity on what I was supposed to be doing, how I was supposed to bring about healing on the planet. You helped me get clear during my time with the group, and now not only am I clear, I've got big time work to do.

What I came to during that time was that in order to make the greatest change in the lives of children I will need to work with the women, the mom's. I was reluctant at first not seeing how I would be able to contribute as I am not a mom and know nothing about how to be one, or so I thought. What guidance came for me during that time has continued to grow and evolve. You said, build a team, and I am, I asked you how I would get the money, you've begun presenting me with possibilities. You are now inviting me to continue with that work, to put legs to my prayers.

One of our clients at the Center is in a desperate place as a mom. She is in a women's homeless recovery program, HOPE Recovery, and has been signed over custody of her son by the boy's father. The catch, however, is this, the program she is in does not allow her to have overnight guests, not even her son. She has snuck and done so several times only for her now to be caught. During a meeting with her yesterday, her anguish was clear. How would she be able to deny her son, again? You see she is recently out of jail, new to recovery, and has been away from her son for about 2 1/2 years. He is a beautiful 4-year-old brown eyed, very sensitive, sweet, active boy. He doesn't understand, he only wants to be with his mom. To further complicate things, the social services programs in the area are unable to help at least so far and while the mom is working, she does not make enough money to support herself much less a growing boy.

So here we are, I've asked and you have offered. I am now looking globally for models of successful supportive, self contained women's healing programs, intentional communities of healing and support to use as a template to build the Women's Healing and Recovery Center in Virginia, specific location TBD. We will build the Women's Healing and Recovery Center to help moms like the one we are working with have safety and support to heal from their lives of addiction and trauma. We will help them learn to trust and to feel, to know they are loved and cared for no matter where they come from, what happened to them in the past or what they themselves have done. We will grow healthy children and break the intergenerational cycle of addiction in families by helping mom's heal and be well.

This is the work of the world I am called to do, to bring healing to women across world in order to positively change the lives of children. I have asked, you have offered.

I am ready to meet the challenge.

Thanks God.

peace, Jan