We are living in an anxious age. Many of my friends involved in social work continue to share that increasing numbers of people are struggling with anxiety. What would the Lord have to say to us regarding this during this Thanksgiving season? One of my all-time favorite passages of scripture is Philippians 4:6-7, it reads as follows:
“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the pace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."
I’ve often had to remind myself of God’s great promise in this verse as I’ve felt anxiety and worry in my own heart over something I’m facing. I’ve claimed this promise and went to Him in prayer to hand it over to Him. Let’s look at it a bit.
This promise covers any situation we’re facing that creates anxiety. It may seem small to someone else or it may be an issue that would make any of us hit our knees, but our Father says I will cover anything that makes you anxious. We see this in the words “anything” and “everything” in verse 6. What about this command to bring our requests with thanksgiving? What role does thanksgiving play in this? As I thought about this, perhaps the Lord wants us to remember all the faithful care in our lives He has already accomplished. What about the situations in the past we’ve been anxious over and we’ve seen Him provide. In the last couple of days, I’ve just seen the Lord answer with provision in an amazing way that had created a small amount of anxiety for me. I’ve seen Him do this over and over.
As we enter this special time of Thanksgiving, I know that I can benefit from recalling with gratitude the many times I’ve seen the Lord provide and move me through anxious moments in my past to a place of peace. This builds our faith and as we continue to face anxious moments we need to approach his “throne of grace boldly” with confidence and thanksgiving knowing that He is a faithful father who loves His children more than we can imagine. We can then rest in that confidence and have a peace that can only come from Christ in a difficult time.
Please know that we are grateful for each of you who make this ministry possible and share your resources, time, and prayers with us to see Christ continue to make a difference in the lives of those we serve. I hope you can remember all the goodness of God to you during Thanksgiving and it will give you peace, courage, and hope as you encounter challenges you may face. |
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Daily in our public schools our administrators, teachers, and other staff are encountering children in crisis. Those issues make their way to our school social workers and counselors. This means our school social work staff are coming in contact with many of the families in our communities that could benefit most from the services we provide. We’ve been blessed for several years to host our Pickens County School District social work staff for a luncheon on our campus where we share about the services we provide through our teen-residential program and our community counseling center. This has allowed us to build a partnership with these school social work staff and they become a great referral source to us.
Because of this relationship we’ve enjoyed with Pickens County school social work staff we’ve been seeking to make those contacts with other surrounding school systems. In October we hosted all the social work staff from the Cherokee County school district on our campus for a luncheon. It was a great time of interaction and questions as they discovered more about the services we provide. We hosted our yearly luncheon with the Pickens social work staff during November (pictured below) and we will be hosting social work staff from the Gilmer school system in early December.
We’re grateful for these compassionate people who are encountering children and families in crisis daily in our communities and we’re really excited about these opportunities to partner with them as a referral source to these hurting families. Please be in prayer for the Lord to use these relationships as we seek to bring Christ’s hope and healing to more hurting children and families in our communities. |
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What if you could make a difference in the education of a teen at The Joy House through dollars you are already going to spend? What if you could receive a dollar-for-dollar tax credit by helping a Joy House teen with their education? The good news is you can through the Georgia Education Expense Tax Credit Program. This program has become a very important source in funding for us over the past several years. We are funding a large majority of our educational expenses through this program.
Several of our partners have found this is a great way to give and realize the tax credit benefit. We are looking for a few more partners to join us for the 2021 tax year with a goal of funding our entire educational program. You can do this as an individual, business owner, or married couple.
Please follow this link for the details on our website. If you need more information please contact Steve at 706-253-7569 or [email protected]. Thanks for your consideration and we hope many of you will choose to take advantage of this as we roll into the New Year and make a difference for a teen at The Joy House. |
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We cannot really explain how grateful we are for all churches that partner with us in various ways. Sardis Baptist Church of Canton is a monthly partner that brought the most amazing Thanksgiving dinner for us this past week. Not only was the meal amazingly delicious but it fed the hearts of The Joy House girls home as well. When our partners are the hands and feet of Jesus in such a practical way it really is such a blessing.
In addition to their practical partnership they also are a financial supporter of the ministry just adding another area for us to be truly thankful. If you or the church you attend are looking for a way to connect locally we would love for you to be a partner with us in this great ministry. There are so many different opportunities at The Joy House for partners to make a difference in the lives of our residence... meals, drives, work projects as well as financially. We are so thankful for the partners that have blessed us in so many ways this year and look forward to meeting anyone wanting to join with us in the future. |
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| We're looking for our next great house parents to serve in our boys home. A mature Christian couple with a desire to share Christ's love with the teens and families we serve. You can get all of the details here. https://thejoyhouse.org/2021/10/05/employment-opportunity-2/ |
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