 At New Beginnings, time management contributes to resident success in the program. Staff, also, works to maintain strong time management skills in an effort to further the mission of our ministry every day. Sometimes trying to accomplish multiple tasks in one day leads us to want to throw our hands up in the air and yell, “This is too much!” We can rest assured that everything will get done one day at a time, but in the meantime, here are some tips on time management. One of our former Resident Support Interns, Deanna Mose, compiled some important tips on how to manage time effectively. Thanks Deanna! Managing time is something that does not come naturally to us. It is easy to feel overwhelmed with everything that needs to be done. Time management skills, however, can be learned and improved. Here are some tips for how to manage time well:
Overcome Procrastination. Schedule. Avoid Perfectionism.
 This blog post was written by our former Resident Support Staff Intern, Deanna Mose. Deanna currently attends Wisconsin Lutheran College. She helped New Beginnings with a variety of projects including light office work, assisting with our Change for Life fundraiser, interacting with residents, doing research on generational poverty, and writing blog articles.
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Have you ever heard the phrase, “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime?” A handful of research studies and news videos recently reiterated this age-old notion that teaching work skills and providing educational resources is the key to getting out of, and staying out of, poverty. In fact, Ruby Payne echoes that idea throughout her book “A Framework for Understanding Poverty.” The concept that teaching someone how to do something provides a greater benefit than simply giving someone a hand-out seems obvious, yet not everyone wants to jump on the “teaching skills” bandwagon. Why? Well…because teaching skills and providing resources can be difficult work and require tons of patience. God knows that it is not easy, but He says in Proverbs 22:6, “Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it.” Have your kids ever struggled with completing a task, so you simply accomplished it for them? Tying shoes comes to mind. Or maybe the task was completed, but it was not done correctly; remember that time that your child put a red shirt in with the white laundry? Pink clothes – of course you remember. Have you been doing the laundry since the “pink clothes” incident? The reality is that if we continue to tie the shoes or do the laundry, the next generation will grow up wearing Crocs to job interviews and heading out to the store once a week to buy clean underwear. Okay, you understand my point. All silliness aside, we KNOW that skill training remains a vital piece of life’s journey to self-sufficiency. In fact, God says in Luke 6:40, “The student is not above the teacher, but everyone who is fully trained will be like their teacher.” So how does that play out in the New Beginnings’ program? At New Beginnings one of our goals is to break the cycle of poverty for the mother, and subsequently break the cycle of dependency for generations to come. Below are some researched points about the importance of education in our work at New Beginnings:
Opening the door to educational resources and providing opportunities to learn parenting, interpersonal, and conflict resolution skills are taught during our weekly group sessions and goal meetings. We understand that by increasing opportunities for higher education, we can enable a smoother transition into an independent life. The concept is quite simple: higher education = better job opportunities = increased pay = ability to live without the need for government assistance. Will you join the movement and provide opportunities for skill development for generations to come? New Beginnings is always in need of tutors, individuals to lead Thursday night group sessions, mentors, and more. Feel free to jump on the bandwagon!
 While I was driving into work one morning, the radio deejays were discussing a new study that piqued my interest. The study reported that one of the biggest stressors for moms today is striving to create the “perfect life” for their children. Moms aim to get their kids involved in several activities to help them excel and truly “shine” among their peers – at the average cost of $1400 per year per child for activity fees. This puts many families into financial stress, some even into debt.  Being a mom of three, I understand the desire to see my children succeed in academics, sports, music, etc. We either want our kids to be the absolute best at something or to be well-rounded individuals with a high level of exposure to multiple activities. This may easily lead to stress as a parent, and we ask ourselves questions such as: At what age is it appropriate to start pushing my kids to be involved in structured weekly extracurricular activities? When do I let them quit a sport or instrument because they’re sick of it, but I’ve already put hundreds of dollars into it? How many activities should I enroll them in to find THE ONE that they will really “shine” in? As I considered this, I realized that there is no dollar figure you can put on raising your kids to have an everlasting “shine.” Psalm 100:3 reminds us: “It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.” As children belonging to our heavenly Father, our kids already possess all that they need to succeed – the promise of eternal life in heaven. What a comfort it is to know this! The most beneficial things we can do as parents to create a “perfect life” for our children are to teach them about God’s Word, lead by example how to love others, and serve God and others before ourselves. That doesn’t cost a penny! Through our nightly Bible stories and devotions at New Beginnings, we are trying to equip our resident moms for doing just this. After they leave our program, our prayer is that they share the love of God that they learned about here with their child(ren) and teach them to grow in God’s grace, letting their light as His children shine to all people.   Beth Shiels is the Assistant Home Manager at New Beginnings. She has been married to her husband, Zach, for seven years and they have three charismatic daughters, with a fourth baby arriving in December. Beth splits her time between staying at home with her children, working at New Beginnings, and assisting in Zach's chiropractic clinic. She loves this crazy busy life God has blessed her with and is thankful to have the opportunity to share His love with the moms and babies at New Beginnings. “And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus.”
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