Blog Archives

Are You Thankful for HATERS?

11/18/2015

Yeah, I know the title got your attention! So let’s just jump right into it, shall we?

At New Beginnings we recently had a Thanksgiving Dinner in place of our regular Thursday night group session. Everyone brought a dish to pass and we had an amazing meal of turkey, cheesy potatoes, salad (made by staff), corn bread dressing (Shaneka), homemade mac n’ cheese (Dana), green bean casserole (Resident Assistants), apple pie (Volunteer, Lisa), and more! What a blessing.

After the meal, we had a short devotion and then wrote down some of the blessings in our lives. I was surprised by the range of answers: friends, family, sharing this meal together, police officers, education, toys (yes, kids were present, but I am thankful for toys too!), and Jesus, were just some of the answers. One of the blessings that surprised me most was “haters,” and I can honestly tell you it was written down by more than one person. Now before I go any further, let’s see how Urban Dictionary defines a “hater:”

hater
A person that simply cannot be happy for another person's success. So rather than be happy they make a point of exposing a flaw in that person.

Hating, the result of being a hater, is not exactly jealousy. The hater doesn't really want to be the person he or she hates, rather the hater wants to knock someone else down a notch.

I can honestly say that I would never think to write down this blessing, but I am happy that someone did! I believe that all of us have experienced a “hater” or two in our lifetime; you know, that person who isn’t happy for you when you finish your degree, fall in love, or start bettering yourself? Yep.

It is unfortunate that our residents also experience this; coming into the New Beginnings’ program can be a major life change. Often times, our residents have at least one “friend,” or even family member, that does not support their decision to make a change in their lives. Despite the lack of support, we can all have the motivation to move forward knowing that we have a support system at New Beginnings AND, more importantly, that God supports us!

In fact, God is not a stranger to haters ; he says in Psalm 69: 4-5 “Those who hate me without reason outnumber the hairs of my head; many are my enemies without cause, those who seek to destroy me. I am forced to restore what I did not steal. You know my folly, O God; my guilt is not hidden from you.” God also knows that people who criticize those who are on the right track do so because sin loves company. He says,

“ They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; they have no understanding, no fidelity, no love, no mercy. Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them” (Romans 1:29-32).

Ultimately, we can be thankful for our “haters” because they remind us that we are on the right track. In fact, our hope is that those who criticize us for doing well will soon follow in our footsteps! God never said our path would be easy, but he did say…say it along with me, I know you know this one…

“ For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future” (Jeremiah 29:11).

On this Thanksgiving, New Beginnings prays that you can find a blessing in everything. Wishing you a blessed Thanksgiving, from our family to yours!

Brianne Kluge is the Home Manager at New Beginnings. She grew up in Marshall, WI and graduated from Lakeside Lutheran High School. Brianne has a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology from the University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee. In her free time, she enjoys singing, camping, refurbishing furniture and spending time with her fiancé, Daniel.

0 Comments

Carrying On

11/11/2015

0 Comments

You know those days when you wake up and somehow you’re already stressed? You open your eyes as you’re lying in bed trying to find the strength to face the day’s challenges. Your mind floods with your mental to-do list and how you’re going to find enough time in the day to really get those things done. On this list, you have some short-term tasks, but also included are those long-term tasks that you keep pushing off. You consider the previous days’ activities, trying to justify your desire to not do anything today. But as hard as you try, you know that you’re still going to have to get things done. So, you muster the strength to get out of bed. Stressed or not, you face the day.

Despite our longing for rest when it seems that things just keep piling up, we have to remember to live in the present. We can’t use the past to justify our future actions, or lack thereof. We get so caught up in the worldly things we have to do that we forget the most important thing God called us to do.

Henry David Thoreau reminds us of this with his quote:

“What lies before us and what lies behind us are small matters compared to what lies within us. And when you bring what is within out into the world, miracles happen.”

Within us all is the Holy Spirit and He does make miracles happen. Each and every day, the Holy Spirit is working in us to help us grow in faith --- faith that gets us through those stressful days. While the past is what brought us to where we are today, we have to remember that the Holy Spirit is within us, guiding us in life, and leading us to what lies before us: A glorious rest in heaven.

On our heavenward journey, we will face trial and tribulation and days that leave us feeling worn and weary. But throughout it all, we are to keep our heads up knowing that the things of this world don’t matter compared to how the Holy Spirit is working in our hearts to strengthen our faith in the God who already has our life perfectly planned.

So, do not seek the world --- seek peace, seek truth, seek love, seek Christ --- because grace carried us here and

by grace we’ll carry on.

All the way from San Diego, California, Cait Seastrand is a Junior Sports and Exercise Science major at Wisconsin Lutheran College. God-willing, she will be a physical therapist for children, soldiers, or academy cadets for the police and fire departments. Until then, she is very thankful for the opportunity to have a family away from home here at New Beginnings.

0 Comments

Volunteering and YOU

11/4/2015

0 Comments

Take a minute to think of all of the volunteers you encounter on a regular basis.

Here are a few places that come to my mind where I see volunteers in action:

* In schools, tutoring and mentoring young people
* Working as volunteer firefighters
* Coaching a youth basketball team or leading a scout group
* Raking leaves for the elderly couple next door
* Baby-sitting the kids while Mom and Dad are at work
* Filling positions in your church, such as teaching Sunday School, working as the secretary, or accompanying services as the organist
* Building houses for families in need
* Cleaning parks and highways
* Educating on health and safety

What other ways do you see volunteers serving faithfully around you? There are hundreds of volunteer opportunities around, and you may not even realize that some of the people you interact with daily are volunteers – 62.6 million Americans volunteered in their communities in 2013!

Now take a minute to imagine a day when no volunteers show up….

It’s a scary thought! We NEED volunteers, but the truth is, the number of volunteers has been declining over recent years. What challenges would you face if volunteers were not giving their time freely to benefit the lives of others? You may not realize it, but the impact of volunteers on our nation is pretty huge. The Corporation for National & Community Service stated that in 2013, volunteers gave almost 7.7 billion hours of service to their communities, which they estimated to be worth about 173 billion dollars!

Maybe you already are a volunteer in some form, which is awesome! If you aren’t, we encourage you to consider it because volunteering can:

* Provide physical and social activity
* Offer educational and professional experience
* Reduce stress
* Provide a sense of purpose
* Strengthen your community
* Increase your problem-solving skills
* Improve physical and mental health
* In adults age 70 and over, you may experience lower rates of mortality, lower decline in functional ability and lower rates of depression

Volunteers are needed in almost every non-profit organization, and New Beginnings has been blessed by having faithful volunteers as part of our staff. We encourage you to get involved in your community by
volunteering your time to a cause you believe in and support. If that leads you to volunteering at New Beginnings- great! We would love to have you. But we also believe that there are several other places that need volunteers, and we would love to see you become involved at a place that suits your talents and interests.

Click here for some tips to help you start volunteering.

Finally, we want to give a huge thank you to our New Beginnings volunteers, who have put in hundreds of hours already this year! Our volunteers have helped with cleaning and painting our new building when we moved last fall, organized and collected donations, worked at our fundraiser events, mentored and tutored moms, helped fill staff hours in the home, performed home and vehicle maintenance, and much more. We would not survive without the generosity and support of our volunteers. THANK YOU!

If you are interested in donating your time to New Beginnings, please email briannek@homeformothers.com or call (414)376-0595.

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.

0 Comments

Are You Thankful for HATERS?

“ For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future” (Jeremiah 29:11).

Carrying On﻿

Volunteering and YOU

Archives

Categories

Carrying On