It Just Feels Like Home
Birthdays in the girls’ home on our Mobile campus are special in many ways! For each girl’s birthday, house parents Philip and Cara Jewell take time to blow up balloons and put them in a large bundle to have ready for the birthday girl—a balloon for every year! And then waiting at the dining room table is a gift ready to open as soon as she gets home from school.
It is special touches like these that make the Jewell’s house a home to the girls in their care.
COMING TO MOBILE
It’s been a little over a year since the Jewells came on board with us at our Mobile campus as house parents. Just a few short years ago, they had no idea this is where the Lord would lead them, but they can’t imagine being anywhere else.
During a season of seeking out where the Lord may have them serve together next, Cara says there was one night when she couldn’t go to sleep, and she started to remember that her grandparents were very involved with ABCH. She got up and decided to look at our website, and found out that there was a position open for house parents at our Mobile campus.
After applying for the position, they heard from Dana Watson, Chief Operations Officer, South Alabama. Philip says, “We talked for a long time, and I got off the phone, and I just had a grin on my face because I thought, this is where we’re supposed to be.”
FIRST YEAR HIGHLIGHTS
Some of the Jewells’ favorite times over the past year include taking trips with the girls, especially for those who had never been to these places before. Last August, they were able to take them to the beach, and to this day, they say the girls still talk about that trip. “The new girls who weren’t in our house last year always ask, ‘Are we getting to do that?!’” Cara said.
Even though the big trips are fun, it’s also the little things that really make being house parents worth it to the Jewells, such as buying school pictures for the girls. “We did that recently for them, and they were just so surprised, saying, ‘You’re going to give me money, and I can get these?’” said Cara.
She continues, “It means a lot when they realize that you’re going to meet their needs. When they come in and have a science project due in a couple of days, and they have a list of things they need, and you’ve bought the stuff for them to do it—it’s these moments that really stick out to me.”
Philip shares another memory that sticks out, “We had one girl who came in . . . who was very rough around the edges . . . She had seen way too much for her age. And she just softened over time. She really took to Cara, and would just run up and hug you. To see change like that is really something, and to see we’re forming a connection there.”
LIVING WITH INTENTION
The most important thing to the Jewells is sharing with the girls how much Christ loves them, and every day, they work to intentionally plant seeds in their lives, seeds they pray will grow and flourish. Every night at dinner, they take time with the girls to read through a devotional and ask questions, such as what the scripture means and how it applies to their lives. Then they take steps to walk out their faith in front of them.
“We tell them (the girls) it’s not just going to church; it’s not just reading the Bible,” Cara said. “It’s showing them the love of Christ. It’s not turning your back. It’s telling them you love them, even when they’re in trouble . . . It’s your words, and it’s your actions . . . I think that’s how you lead them to Jesus, [because] they’re very much watching what you say and how you act.”
And in the hard moments that inevitably come in parenting, the Jewells take those opportunities too for being role models and loving like Jesus. “I’m trying to teach them to love one another, to treat each other the way you want to be treated,” Cara said. “When I realize I’m having a bad attitude myself, I know I’m going to have to change my attitude, and I ask for their forgiveness . . . which is a very humbling thing. But it really means a lot to them that we do that.”
Philip is diligent and takes to heart the role of being a father figure, reflecting the love of our heavenly Father, knowing many of the girls in their home do not have a good relationship with their fathers, and some don’t have a relationship at all. “God is our rock, and if I’m showing them a loving father who is going to provide and protect . . . hopefully they’re going to see the love of Christ in that as well,” said Philip.
Over their years in ministry, the Jewells have cared for more than 40 girls, and they keep a journal with every girl’s name in it, so they’ll never forget them. We pray with them that the gospel seeds they’ve planted in each girl’s life will take root and create a foundation in Christ for years and generations to come.