Living in the Present
“Don’t be afraid; just believe.” (Mark 5:36) Amy, a mom at Grace’s House of Hope, our Family Care home in Mobile, clung to this verse in a recent season of life. She says, “I felt it was a spoken Word one night when I was praying really hard.” Amy was facing a difficult choice—she knew she needed to go through a rehabilitation program for a drug addiction, and to do so, meant finding a safe home for her children to live throughout the duration of that program.
“I was trying to decide at that time, if I should put my kids in foster care with Alabama Baptist Children’s Homes (ABCH), and I turned to that verse in Mark . . . knowing nothing about it (ABCH), I was at peace with it; that’s the only decision I felt at peace with, and so I figured that was God.”
She then took steps to place her two children into one of our foster care homes while she attended and completed a Christ-based rehabilitation program through Mobile-area ministry, Home of Grace.
FINDING HOME
Once in rehab, Amy not only found freedom from drugs that had enslaved her for so long, she also found a true relationship with Jesus Christ. She shares, “I found God at the Home of Grace—well, not really. Really, it was more like he found me, right where I was. And I have a real relationship with him. It’s like that void that was always there—it’s filled. I’m just overflowing!”
A counselor at Home of Grace shared with Amy about our Family Care home as a possible next step. It worked out for her to move in, and Amy says it’s been a great experience for both her and her children, “My kids LOVE it here. They love the community living and always having somebody to play with. For the past two years, they haven’t had much of a good mom out of me. Over the last year, I was really, really bad off. So that’s another reason they love it, because it’s just us, and we’re all together, and they actually have me all the way.
“We do budgeting work here—I’ve never really done a budget plan before. We also work on life skills and are evaluated by our House Manager on things like how you’re taking care of your children, things to improve on, or things you’re doing really well . . . general life skills like cleanliness, mindfulness of what your kids are doing, your attitude—practical things.”
GIVING BACK AND DIVING IN
When Amy first entered our program, she was without a job or car, but was blessed with help in making those things happen rather quickly, through the aid of a friend and fellow graduate of Home of Grace. Because of that assistance Amy received, she is even more motivated to help others.
“My friend prayed for someone to help, so that’s what I’ve started doing now too. I started praying, ‘God, send me someone that I can bless; let me be a blessing to somebody.’” And she says God has done just that. She has already been able to help one of the moms who moved in across the hall from her at Family Care by helping her get a job where she works.
When it comes to work, Amy has a marketing degree, but has found a new passion in service to others through the food industry. In a matter of months, she has already received a promotion and a raise. She’s also been recruited into her company’s management-training program and is excited for higher management opportunities ahead!
THE ROAD AHEAD
When asked about what she thinks about life after Family Care, Amy says she is saving money, but is also trying her best not to worry about what is next. “I’m just trying to have faith. God has put everything that is supposed to be in front of me, in front of me, and I feel like it’s going to be that way (later). I’ll know when it’s time . . . I put money aside, but I’m not stressing about the future. I know it’s going to be okay.”
Her assurance and peace comes from her faith and relationship with Christ. “I love everything God has done for me. It’s the most important thing in my life—even above my sobriety and my children—my relationship with God. And I mean it. I’m just on fire for him . . . I want to get involved in the church in some way, to help other people who are out there, like me. Right now, I’m taking the next steps to get involved in the missions work my church does in the community.”
Family Care wouldn’t be possible without the community of people who have given and continue to love and support this ministry. From a mom’s perspective, Amy says of these donors, “They’re supporting something that matters. You know how it says in the Bible, to go forward and make disciples? That’s kind of like what I feel places like this do. Especially with children . . . I would just say keep supporting the Baptist Children’s Homes and all their ministries. Because of the difference it makes. One life is worth it. It makes a difference.
“I prayed while at Home of Grace that God would give me and my kids somewhere I can go where we can be together; that he would give us a good foundation to start our lives. And it’s amazing.”
And that’s exactly how Amy sees this opportunity in our Family Care program: a good and Godly foundation for the rest of their lives. The past is the past. Today is the new thing God is doing, and that is where she is truly living.
EDITOR'S NOTE: Corrections have been made to this article, originally published on June 6.