It has been a year of transition for us at our counseling center with the passing of our founding director, Garry Barber. Since our opening in 2012 he laid a solid foundation establishing our identity and what makes the Joy House Counseling Center unique. While being a year of transition, we have remained very busy. Abby Elam and Bill Wattenbarger, who worked alongside and mentored with Garry, have continued to be the mainstays for our counseling, with Abby providing leadership and Bill increasing his counseling while serving in a part-time role.
In pursuing God’s direction for our counseling center, we’ve spent time considering and understanding the unique culture and identity that Garry built here. We’re all committed to carrying on his legacy in bringing Christ’s hope and love to those we serve through our counseling center. From this past we’re now looking forward with Christ’s anticipation to the lives He wants to continue changing through our counseling center ministry. With this in mind I’d like to make and important announcement.
After much prayer and consideration together I’m happy to announce that Abby Elam will be serving as the new Director of our Counseling Center. Who better to carry on the legacy that Garry gave us than someone he mentored in counseling. The Lord has continued to affirm her own gift for counseling over the past couple of years. Since Garry’s illness and passing she has done an outstanding job providing leadership for our counseling center.
Serving alongside Abby we will continue to have Bill Wattenbarger, who has provided great counseling to our clients for several years. We also have Kathryn Bracher, who joined our team a few months ago, serving as our intake coordinator and office administration. She has been doing a great job in that role with her empathy for others and helping us put some administrative practices in place that will allow us to better serve our clients/friends. I’m also excited to announce the addition of Heather McGinty to our counseling team. This one is special to me because Heather was a part of the youth group I led 20 years ago. I had the privilege of baptizing her and officiating her wedding. She completed her Masters in Counseling from Liberty several years ago and has been working in some different counseling settings. She is a great new member to our team. We will have more about her in a future E-News.
God has faithfully grown this counseling ministry over the last nine years and fulfilled the vision Garry and I originally had of seeing us become a resource for Christ-centered counseling along this 515/575 corridor. We are looking forward to continued growth and development with this team and those the Lord will add to it. |
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| Being house parents is a role that my husband, Seth and I feel the Lord has called us to fill and one we do not take lightly. As a house mom to teen girls, I get to come alongside the young ladies and their family to offer love, prayer, support and encouragement. I’ve been a house mom at the Joy house since January of 2021, and I daily try to show the girls an example of a Christian wife and mother. In the program home, I aim to teach life skills such as cooking, cleaning, manners, and healthy communication in hopes that the girls might implement these skills within their family and home. Some days the girls need me to simply be present and listen to their feelings and heart; I am honored to be available to these precious girls. I was very disrespectful to my parents as a teen, however, The Lord brought Christian women into my life to encourage me to repent and choose a better path. I hope to live out Titus 2:3-5 during my time as a house mom; I want to urge and teach these young ladies to align their hearts and minds to the Word of God just as women in the church did for me. My hope is that the girls at The Joy House see more of Jesus than myself as I work with them and point them to He who is far better than all else. |
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This beautiful fall weather has us excited about our upcoming golf tournament in just over two weeks. It’s not too late to enter a team!! You don’t want to miss it. For the first-time ever we’re going to have a Hole-in-One opportunity with a $10,000 prize available. We’ll also have a raffle for a Big Green Egg and great door prizes and competition prizes for our Putting and Chipping contest. We’ll also have bags for each of our golfers.
We want to recognize all our high-level sponsors. Special thanks to Southeast Restoration Group for being our Presenting Sponsor. We’re also grateful for these other high level sponsors: Flag Sponsors – NJ Wilbanks Contractor and North Georgia Christian Academy, Bag Sponsor – DayStar Apparel, Towel Sponsor – Kiker Wealth Management, Hole-In-One Sponsor – Cheshire Heating & Air, and Putting Contest Sponsor – Woodstock Church – Jasper. We still have two high-level sponsorships remaining.
Please pray for this special day as all the funds used help us make a difference in the lives of those we serve.
Included here is a link to all the sponsorship/registration information.
We hope some of you will join us to Tee Up for Teens!!! |
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We wanted to update everyone on some happenings in regard to our boy’s home. Nick & Kristen Richardson, our current house parents, are making a transition out of their role as house parents in pursuit of pastoral opportunities. While they’ve served faithfully here the last 4+ years Nick has completed his seminary degree. They now sense God’s call to pursue a full-time pastoral role for Nick. We are grateful for their service to our boys and families for the last four years and wish them the best as they continue their service to Christ.
Typically, we hold off on new placements from mid-October through the holidays because we want our new residents to get at least 30 days in the program before going home for significant time. With that in mind we’re going to take the next three months and focus on seeking new house parents, doing some needed renovations in our boy’s home with the goal of re-opening the home in January welcoming both new boys and house parents. During these three months we will continue doing intake on potential new boys and families.
We would appreciate your prayers in three regards: 1) for Nick & Kristen as they seek pastoral opportunities 2) for the Lord to provide us with new house parents and 3) the Lord to bring us the hurting boys and families for the home as we re-open it in January.
Thanks so much for your continued partnership and support in making a difference in the lives of those we serve. |
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| We are so excited to be able to share this photo of our new girl's home walls that are curing. Each step is bringing us closer to our new home. Soon work on the septic and slab will begin followed by the framing. It is amazing to see each step of this process. We are so thankful for God's provision and timing through this building process and for our partners that are walking with us each and every step. |
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