Donations

Recently, we have been working on accepting donations for our roofing building fund. Bro. Pepper Puryear from First Baptist Church of Mt. Vernon, presented Chrysalis House with a $2000 check from their mission's fund. This was added to our building fund giving us a total of $14,000. We are so thankful and grateful to the Lord for this generous donation in helping with our project.

Mylissa Bailey presented Chrysalis House with a check for $500 from the Key Club....the Key Club uses Chrysalis House as a connection for those kids that are in school that need to know more about what we do and get them involved with our organization. We are so thankful for the Key Club of Sulphur Springs for their generous donations and support through the years.
Lowe's has also started a new program called "Lowe's Hero's"....I interviewed with them last week....they are looking at helping other organizations, but we pray that they will choose our organization to help, so please pray with us that they choose to help with the roof. This would be such a blessing for us.

Update On Chrysalis House

Wow, it has been awhile since I have updated on my ministry blog....lots of things have been going on since I last posted....and sadly, I had gotten out of the habit, I am sorry to say....it is sad that our lives get so busy that we don't take the time that is necessary to update friends and those that support us. First, I am sorry and ask that you please forgive me.

I have been working from home, and just went through the anniversary of losing my dad....I have to admit that I was very sad and depressed as those of you who have lost loved ones know that anniversaries are hard to go through. It has been over a year now and it has taken me awhile to get back to normal, whatever normal is. Now my father-in-law has been re-diagnosed with lung cancer again, inoperable....he is 78....it has returned in the same place that it was before in his lungs and so I am trying to be there for my husband. It is how my own father died.

As Spring approaches, it brings with it new life and I feel that God is giving me new life to celebrate in Him. There have also been some hard challenges and trials that I have faced, but how could we appreciate all the good that God does if we don't experience some of the bad. God has been so merciful and gracious with me and I am full of gratitude for what He has done in my life even in the midst of my sin and disobedience.

I have just completed the Esther Bible study and have realized that God's timing is always perfect. Though God is not mentioned in the book of Esther, He is all over it and in it....meaning, although it looks like nothing is going on with Chrysalis House or me....He is all over us and is working behind the scenes to bring things together for the opening of Chrysalis House to one day house the women and children God wants there to help give them new life.

Now for the update....we had received the money to buy all of our roofing supplies from a company in Houston through a friend that got us a good deal on shingles and felt. We had bought and paid for the materials last year....and in the meantime, we were looking for volunteer roofers who would oversee the replacement....we finally found a retired roofer who would oversee it and I called to have the materials shipped to us....as our friend called the company, the company told them that they had sold our materials after Hurricane Rita hit....we DID get our money back, but unfortunately the cost of materials have gone up and we cannot get back the materials for the same price that we had received them....so we are busy looking, calling and asking for help with supplies. We are looking for volunteers or a church that would be willing to do a mission trip to replace our roof. If you know of a church or you would like to be a part of helping, please contact me.

We also had a film crew that came from Florida to do a documentary on Chrysalis House and they are now in the editing phase of getting it done....it will be a great tool for us to send to churches, and organizations so they will know what we are all about....we need some volunteers to hand deliver these DVD's once they are here to churches and give them to those that might be able to help. If you are one of those volunteers that would like to do that, please contact me.

We are also trying to get an annual event going on Mother's Day in all the local churches....we would like for each church member to donate a dollar for helping add to our building fund....since working at home, I have turned off a few things at Chrysalis to save money.

At this time, we just ask for your prayers and that God will give us His wisdom, His heart, His desires for this ministry to help single mom's. We know that He cares about them and we want to help do our part in helping them....and in this tough economic time, they are suffering....we have been getting so many calls from women that we cannot help, but rather have to refer hundreds of miles away. It is heart wrenching when you realize that innocent children are involved and are helpless in their situations. We know that God will provide for us just as He always has in the past and we know that we will open....but we cannot do it by ourselves....our board members give on a monthly basis as well as Chris and I to the ministry because we believe in what God is doing....He is working but He is also preparing us. I believe that when God does something like this, He has to prepare and it is in His timeframe, not ours. I am reminded of Moses and how it took 40 years in the desert to prepare him for what God called him to do...reminded of how long it took Noah to build the ark....reminded of how long it took before David took the place as king....God is not in a hurry and unfortunately, we live in such a fast paced world that we want things done fast and we miss what God is doing in the moment. We want to worship God while we wait, wait and wait longer if we have too.

Everytime I get discouraged, my husband Chris always reminds me that we are still ministering to people....we have so many opportunities to be Jesus to people that come through the doors....we have community service workers that have to work off hours. Just last week, we had two teenage boys that dropped out of school and to the world, they may seem scary and lost causes....but God has given me a great love for these kids....they were both homeless, but still having to work off hours....I was talking to them about their bad choices and one of them said, "that is why we all come here and all of our friends say to come work off hours at Chrysalis House because you are so nice to us and treat us like normal people"....it broke my heart, thinking that they are not treated normal in other places....I told them that I loved them, they reminded me of myself when I was their age, I was a good kid, but just made a lot of stupid mistakes and made bad choices but that God brought me through it and redeemed my life. I can see they really want to try and do good, but the world has beaten them down enough to make them think they are losers. That is the difference we want to make....so if we are not open now, it is okay, we have an even greater opportunity to LOVE on people....we want to truly LOVE those people that are unlovely to the world....and until we are open, that is what we will do.

We covet your prayers.
Tammy

Garage Sale This Weekend

As you might have guessed, we are having yet another city wide garage sale this coming weekend....October 9-11, 2008.....if you would like to help out or just come and shop and spend money, we would appreciate either one. We need help with setting up on Thursday and help tearing down on Saturday if you would like to come and help and have nothing else to do.....our parking lot at Chrysalis House will be full.....if you need more information, just email me at tammy@chrysalishousetexas.com/

Working From Home These Days

I have had a few calls lately wondering where I am and what I am doing since I am not at Chrysalis House....I will catch you up and let you know. I have had several things happen since last November that is keeping me home these days....in November, I began to have severe abdominal pain, I put it off as just stress. Me and a few people who volunteered cleaned Chrysalis House up and then decorated for our weekly Christmas tour, we had open house every Thursday serving cookies, hot chocolate, wassill, and coffee. We wanted people to come through to see all that we had done, catch them up on what our ministry was doing.

At the same time, my dad was about to have minor surgery.....the doctor's said that he had lung cancer and his emphysema didn't allow him to have just a biopsy and then surgery...so he could choose either or, or both...he chose to have surgery....he came out of surgery great, and found out that he did not have cancer, but a virus that most East Texans get....he was awake for 4 days and talking before he received a breathing treatment.... while having a treatment, his lung was ruptured and totally collapsed, he was put on life support and there was nothing that they could do to save him, his lungs were too bad...my sister, step mom and myself had to make the tough decision to take him off of the life support.

I lost my dad December 26th 2007...I praise the Lord that I know where he is and that I will see him again.....although I miss him terribly.....I still had severe abdominal pain, but put it off as stress again after losing daddy....I was very sad, couldn't sleep and felt so totally lost without him....I was close to him and he was my daddy and an example of what a dad should be, teaching me to love the Lord....one of my favorite memories of him was of him every morning, sitting in his chair with one leg under him, drinking coffee and having his quite time with the Lord reading his Bible....what a legacy to leave me and my sister.

At the same time that we were having Christmas tours, and right after losing my dad, I had been planning a huge two day special event with Best-Selling author, Shannon Ethridge called, "Completely His" which had been planned since the following October....it was a great success, but was very stressful getting things together because of the pain and the lack of sleep that I was not getting....but was a beautiful event indeed. I was still having severe abdominal pain, but putting it off as stress.

In February, my son came home from Twentynine Palms California just to say goodbye before he left for Iraq...leaving his wife in California and his baby (boxer) with us....I was still having severe abdominal pain, but thought with all that I was dealing with, it was stress....I really didn't feel stressed, because I felt as though I had left it up to the Lord, but you never know how your body reacts to stress.

I awoke in the middle of the night with severe pain one night and my husband had to take me to the E.R. in Mt. Pleasant and doctor's said it was just a virus...I knew better...yet they released me.

We had also been planning yet another fund-raiser with the High School Powder Puff game...it is where the Junior girls play flag football with the Senior girls and the football guys dress up as cheerleaders...I purposefully left the guys pictures off....they were dressed pretty bad and didn't make very pretty girls.....they would be really embarrassed if they knew that they were on a blog.

In May, I was having such severe abdominal pain that I finally called my doctor and he told me to come in right away....I had been bleeding internally since November and it was now May, I needed to have major surgery, and am now at home recovering from that...it will be a 6 month to a year of recovery time...the thing that has been amazing is this....I realized from home, I actually get more work done, I don't have as many interruptions as I did before, not that it was a bad thing, but I just didn't have enough time to do work. I have been busier giving presentations, I have been speaking to state representatives, congressmen, raised $27,000 for the roof, and am now at home working on grant research which takes up a lot of my time. I have researched close to 700 grants so far, and have about 600 or more to go and that is just with foundations, not including federal, state and corporate....but at home, I can do that.

I am also working on getting some men to place our roof on....I have bought the materials and am meeting and speaking to the Baptist Men of Texas in a couple of weeks to see if they are interested in helping out...I pray so, if not, at least we will have another contact.

Since the conception of the ministry, we have raised close to $500,000 in money, materials and equipment for Chrysalis House, we still need another $450,000 in case any of you would like to just donate the money :) Here is a breakdown of what is still needed....you have seen what we have done, here is what is left...if you or anyone you know that has any of these abilities and qualifications, wants to do a mission trip and can help, please contact me. The first three things that need to be done is the roofing (for which we have all the materials), the electrical throughout the building and then the fire alarm system, with those three things completed, we can then open one wing at a time.

Electrical Bid= $217,500

Plumbing = $52,920

Construction= $43,991

HVAC= $39,664

Fire Alarm System= $25,250

Roofing= $27,000 (which we have)

Outside Doors= $24,000

Insulation= $12,500

Sprinkler Heads only= $5,000

This is my dad, my mom, me (the baby) and Tammy Renee Parker of whom I was named after....My dad was stationed at Fort Hood and was in the Army....I was born there and cost my parents a total of $5.25 and that was for my mother's meal.

Another favorite memory....my dad and I made this costume together for a church event that we were having....if you couldn't guess, I am a pumpkin.
I have always loved this picture of my dad.....looks like he is in deep thought.
My dad was such a great grandfather to my kids and they loved him very much....he helped me every chance that he got with them....he is getting them ready for the day for me....I loved catching a picture of them.
My dad was a great fisherman and won this huge event winning a few thousand dollars....we were all so proud of him and were all there celebrating the day with him.....he LOVED to fish among other things.
My dad was so proud of my son, Aaron....the Marine...this would be the last time that Aaron got to see my dad before he passed away.
This was set up at my dad's funeral....a picture of his wife Sherrie, his racing helmet and a picture of him inside his race car....he also loved racing....that is where I get my lead foot and have to take defensive driving so much that I could teach the class.

My baby son Aaron who is just 2 here and so precious....the time has flown by so fast and you never think of them ever leaving you....I am so proud of my son...the Marine....he was a beautiful little boy.

Aaron at a birthday party at McDonald's....he was so precious and loved it.

A sure sign of Aaron getting older and putting up signs for his sister's to stay out of his room.....I had to save it.

Aaron with me and his sister at his 8th grade graduation....what a proud day for us....I couldn't find one of his graduation High School pictures....I am sure that I could if I looked hard enough.

Aaron went hunting for the first time during deer season....having never been before and shot his first deer....it was huge....he was so proud and we cried for being so happy for him....he didn't have his dad to show him how to hunt and had no one....my step-dad took him on this day and h cried like a baby himself....Chris had just had his bicycle accident and was in critical condition but was recovering from home.

Aaron loved going on mission trips....the men bragged on how hard he worked....he went with Chris this particular year to Milwaukee on a mission trip....he is building a wall that was needed at a church.

The first thing he wanted to do after coming home from Bahrain was go to the Dairy Queen and get a Blizzard....every time I talked to him, I would tease him about getting one....this was one of the first things that we did.

The day he graduated from Boot Camp in San Diego....we went to watch and then bring him home....we were so glad to see him....and he was just as glad to see us.

One of the few, the proud, the Marine....my son, Aaron Chase Welch.

The next few pictures are of the Chrysalis Christmas tour that we had every week of December and then on the Sulphur Springs, Christmas Tour of Homes....it was an honor....we actually had around 16 trees up that were decorated and all 40 bedrooms had decorations in them.

This is the "Completely His" event with Shannon Ethridge....you can visit her web-site to see what new releases she has coming out....she is a best selling author and speaker.....this was an awesome event....women are signing in at the table receiving their shirts, name tags, books, pins, etc.

Shannon Ethridge....great speaker and author.

This was an actress (Patti Lovelorn....looking for a wedding as a bridesmaid) that was hired to come and be a part of the program.....she has been a life long friend to Shannon....she was great....if anyone would like to hire an actress for an event....I can hook you up.

Shannon's book table with her mom on the left and Skyla on the right....Skyla graduated from Teen Mania with my daughter Ashley....they both were taught under Shannon....Skyla now works for Shannon.

My two good friends, Vicky and Cathy.

We served the women a 4 course meal....served by Judy's Kitchen.....it was a great dinner....and I had a lot of help with the serving.

Starting their meal with a salad and parmesean bread....waiting for the rest of their meal.

Flower arrangement that my friend Aldona made for the reception.

The Wedding cake....the theme of the event was on being the Bride of Christ and knowing what that entails....so our decorations revolved around that.....it turned out gorgeous....the cake was donated by our dear friend Kara Petty.

I had just gotten my daughter's wedding dress out of the seamstress and thought it would be a gorgeous prop for the dinner.....it was a surprise to everyone, including Shannon....my dear friend Kim let me borrow the manican to place the dress on.

Taking in money for the Powder Puff game.

Cindy who helped us at the concession stand was actually holding up the door and inviting you to come and buy at the same time.

Aldona working very hard at selling all types of items....dragging the people in as they walked through the gates.

The actual game that we never got to see....and I forgot who won....I am thinking it was the Juniors.

Pepperidge Farm Prayer Luncheon

As a group of us women met and prayed today over each other, we always make sure that we have food. We met at my friends Shirlee's house and we all brought items for the meal. My good friend Aldona brought the Pepperidge Farm cake. It was her daughter's first day of school and she was very emotional as we all have been, sending our young one's off to school for the first time. I sent mine off and cried so hard, my boss felt sorry for me and sent me home (that was over 11 years ago).

Bless her heart, as we were sharing, she couldn't hold back the tears, and as we were eating the Pepperidge Farm cake, she realized she hadn't bought one since her mother had passed away in 1991 and didn't realize it. It was always a staple with her mother and she always had a Pepperidge Farm cake. With Aldona's daughter going to school for the first time, and then remembering her mom on this special day through the cake. the tears wouldn't stop flowing. It was a special time, she felt as though her mom were there with her comforting her and letting her know that her daughter was going to be okay just in choosing the cake. I know it may sound silly to most, but to us as mother's and daughter's and losing a parent, it made perfect sense and soon, she had the whole room crying and tearing up. We were all privileged to be a part of it, as she realized that God was in the details in making her day of taking her daughter to school a little easier.

God really takes joy in the small things that we go through, though sending your child off to school is a big thing and Aldona was very upset and concerned, God knew that she needed her mother to comfort her, and how great of God to provide something as small as a cake to let her know that He cared about her. This was what was left of the cake.

This group of women, Aldona, Shirlee, Cindy and Kim have all been such a huge part of Chrysalis House in helping me get things together. They have gone above and beyond on all that they do. I appreciate each one and wanted to give special recognition to all of these wonderful ladies. I love them all very much. Kim somehow avoided the pictures but is at the table of women.

I pray that God will bless each one of these women for all of the hard work at Chrysalis House and their encouragement to me personally.

We Covet Your Prayers

These are just some of the rooms that have been completed or close to being completed. Chrysalis House still needs much more work, but you can see a small portion of what we have done. Some of the pictures that you see are still a work in progress. To date, we have put close to $500,000 into renovations, but still need close to $450,000. Please pray for our organization as we continue to stay debt-free and persevere in getting Chrysalis House opened to serve the Northeast Texas area, housing 108 homeless women and children.

Firmly Planted Retreat

I would like to announce the up and coming retreat held by Sherrie Kulwicki. It is our 10 year anniversary family reunion retreat held at Lakeview Baptist Encampment at http://lakeview1948witnesstoday.org/index September 19-20. For more information you can visit Sherrie's blog for more information.

The cost for the weekend retreat including all meals is $65.00 for motel room on site (limited number) and $55.oo for dorm room.

I have been on Sherrie's board since its conception 10 years ago. I credit her teaching for my love for the Lord and the work that I am doing today. She has taught me to love God's Word. She is a phenominal speaker and teacher and lover of the Lord.

You can read her testimony on her blog, she has an amazing testimony.

This is her family, just two of her 3 son's and their wives. Sherrie is in the middle of the girl's and her husband Billy is between their boys.

I hope that if you can, you make it a point to try and come to the retreat and "Return to Your First Love".

Her precious baby Justin who was killed in a car accident and will forever be remembered as one that loved those that were rejections of society. The daycare at Chrysalis House is being named after him. He loved soccerr and his nickname was Lil Wick, which we have named the daycare. When he was alive, he would ask his mother if she thought if there were soccer fields in Heaven, she would say, I am sure there is for which he would say, "well then, there will be no losing teams". Inside Lil Wick daycare, we are painting a mural of a soccer field in Heaven with him and Jesus teaching all of the little kids that have passed away in our local area how to play soccer. He loved children, and he loved taking up for the underdog. He leaves a great legacy behind him. He and his brother's together would make me laugh until I would literally wet my pants. Justin was full of life and a fun kid to be around. He was 23 at his death.

Doing Some Serious Fundraising

While we wait to get Chrysalis House opened, we have been having some serious fundraising going on. I feel that it is very important to do this without getting into debt. In fact, we are completely debt-free. We have been relying on volunteer help, churches, and civic organizations giving of their time, energy and money to help raise money to get the doors opened. Since we closed on the building and the land in February of 2004, we have been spending our time to gain sponsorship, raise awareness of the rising epidemic of homelessness, and raising money. Here are just some of our fundraisers.

This is a rendition of a Civil War quilt that is being raffled off to help raise money for Chrysalis. A group of ladies from Lake Country Neighbors at Lake Fork made this and have been working on quilting it every Thursday. Once they have finished quilting, they will start the raffling. It is beautiful and would it look like I was cheating if I actually won it. I will be buying several tickets for myself.

Standing in front of the quilt, Lake Country Neighbors presented our organization with a check for $2200 to help raise the roof. We have raised a total of $27,000 to replace the roof. LCN raised the money by having their own garage sale and made this amount in one day. The group is made up of about 55 women or more that all live around Lake Fork. They have been a huge blessing and their motto is "GET ER DONE", and these women walk their talk. They are huge doers and such a miracle for me. I love everyone of them. From left to right is Betty Davis, Pam Bowden, Me, Kathie Ruiz and Lyn Baldwin. These ladies are some of my new best friends.

Tom and Suzy Post wanted to do a fundraiser for Chrysalis House and brought Mark Schultz to Sulphur Springs to do a concert. He is one of my favorite Christian artist and I listen to him all the time, he is a really neat guy. Standing left to right is my youngest son, Zachary, Mark Schultz and me. We really enjoyed his concert, it was Awesome!!!

Glenda Burns on the far left sells Beauti-Control make-up and did some work at Chrysalis House for us and applied for a grant through the foundation that her company started, W.H.O. (Women Helping Others) and raised $10,000 for Chrysalis. We used the money for new sheet rock and various other materials that we needed for reconstruction. Standing in the back is Steven Janway, Mike Dodd, Kris Childress (board member), Shirley Lane, behind me is my husband Chris Pearson and Dr. Stan Foy, they were all there when the check was presented.

This was a check that was presented to the organization from Farmer's Electric. Last Fall, I got a call from a lady that worked at Farmer's and she wanted to know a little about our organization, she told me that they were going to start a foundation and asked me to apply once it was started. I did and Farmer's Electric out of Greenville presented us with a check for $5000. This money went towards the roofing materials.

The next few pictures are from a Christmas tour that we gave during the month of December (of course). Every Thursday, we had open house and invited the community to come in for cookies and other desserts, coffee, wassail, and hot chocolate. Me and another lady Shirlee State decided to do this two weeks before, we cleaned the whole 27,862 square foot building and decorated every room and had close to 15 Christmas trees all through the building and it still almost looked bare. These are just a few of the pictures that I had already on my computer. I will post more later, probably around Christmas time. When you first walk in, this is a temporary office that you see.

We put up a Santa that my mother purchased for our family two years ago, just for the kids that came by for the Chrysalis Christmas tour. My mother bought this for our family and thought that we would love it, but she sent my sister to go pick it up and my sister didn't read the box. We didn't realize that it only sang in Spanish until we opened it and turned it on. It was the funniest and best Christmas that I could remember in a long time, it was some Christmas memory that we will never forget. We laughed and laughed so until we almost wet our pants.

This is a simple Nativity scene that was so precious and looked so gorgeous. First United Methodist Church of Sulphur Springs renovated, decorated and furnished this room. It will be a counseling room for the women and is very peaceful and beautiful. We appreciate every group that has contributed to Chrysalis House.

This is an over view of the front area that is not yet completed. At this point, we still hadn't finished decorating and we added so much more that was gorgeous.

This fundraiser was the Chrysalis Fair that we had in the Spring. We had a dunking booth where we dumped all of the local pastors throughout the city from every church and every denomination who were willing. This just happens to be my former pastor Dr. Bob McCartney who just moved to Wichita Falls in West Texas, we will really miss him. He is a great preacher. He is also a triathlete and is winning in his age division. Good man and he and his wife are expecting a baby in October, their first.

As part of the Chrysalis Fair, we also had a bake sale going on. These ladies are busy setting up for the great sale.

At the fair, we also had different groups coming to sing and play. This little girl was part of the Ramsey family and all of their children played and sang, they were awesome. All of the kids played an instrument, very talented.

We had a man that brought his alpaca's. The children had a good time with them and loved looking and playing with them, they were very gentle and such an eye catcher.

This is another one of the Ramsey family members.

The Ramsey family playing while by standers are looking on. They were awesome!!!

What is a fair without a monkey. I brought the lady that owns him in from Dallas and for some reason, the monkey loved this man. He kept taking off his hat and putting it on himself. He was precious and did all sorts of tricks. He was great with the kids and a great attraction. If we ever do another fair, we will have to have the monkey back. Every one's favorite attraction.

This is me posing for the camera at our Chrysalis Garage Sale that lasts 3 days. It takes us a whole day to set out everything. You wouldn't believe all that we have donated, and it brings in quite a bit of money, we average in a 3 day sale around $4000, sometimes more, sometimes less depending on what we have donated. We usually have a lot of furniture, but it is very hard work. We are very cheap too, and we have gotten famous for our sales, we sell all clothes for a quarter. We are on the corner of a busy intersection and we seldom have to advertise. The sale takes up the whole parking lot from front to back, from left to right. Can you spell H-U-G-E!!!!

More of our garage sale items that we mark so cheap.

More items, and we make up the prices as we go along, too much work having to price everything. Plus, it is a lot more fun just making up the rules as you go along. That way, you don't have to think. Most of the time, we just ask, what would you pay? and usually, they end up donating more than what we would have asked for.

Just a tiny portion of the toys that we get donated.

This are two tables that you can't really see full of nothing but jewelry. We have local businesses donated to our organization. It is a tax deduction for them and a blessing for us. We also have businesses donate furniture too, that is where we get a lot of our good stuff. We mark these things higher since they are all new.

That is just some of what we do. Since we closed on the building, we have raised close to $500,000 in money, materials and donations. We still need another $450,000 left to finish with all renovations. We have replaced all 95 windows with Low-E energy efficient windows, replaced approximately $64,000 in kitchen equipment (it was all stolen just before we signed all the paperwork, our copper throughout the entire building was also stolen). We have replaced around $10,000 in new toilets, sinks and hardware, all new sheet rock throughout the building. We had our sprinkler system fixed free of charge by Metro Fire and Safety out of Dallas (we love those guys), we have had $20,000 from the Mary Kay Ash Charitable gift Foundation (this was my first grant ever and it was only for $10,000, they doubled it to $20,000).

Our needs are still great, based on bids from 2007, we still need:

Electrical-$217,500

Plumbing-$52,920

Construction-$43,991

HVAC (9 units)-$39,664

Fire Alarm-$27,250

Roofing)$27,000 (which we have raised)

Outside doors-$24,000

Insulation-$12,500

Sprinkler heads (over 200)-$5000

I know that it seems overwhelming and I have been told to give up, but God has not called me to be a quitter. He has called me to persevere. Whenever I am tired and want to quit (it is only a feeling) God always reminds me of Noah and him taking 120 years to build the ark, what would have happened if he had been a quitter. God has strengthened my faith, my walk, my endurance, my perseverance, my gentleness, and He has had a lot of work to do on me personally stripping away all of the dross that keeps coming to the surface of my heart. I have to say, there is some ugly stuff that He is having to strip away. He always prepares a person before for His call. He equips the called, we are all called for something. I love to say that God loves to do extraordinary things through ordinary people, so that He can have all the credit, all the glory, honor and praise. For a long time, I wanted all of his praise, honor and glory, so you can guess at how much humbling He has had to do within me.

I couldn't close this post without adding this: if you are reading this and you feel called to give with your time, money, energy, prayers, I pray that you answer that call. If God is convicting you to step out in faith to do something that you feel is just insane, but you know His voice and you know that it is Him that is calling you, step out in faith knowing that He will equip you through every step. He loves for His children to know that He will take care of them and make their paths straight. I personally am not qualified to do what I am doing, I don't have a degree, but God has called and equipped me in every step. If I hadn't obeyed and answered when I thought He was calling me to do something so crazy, I wouldn't have that building helping others that were just like me. Oh, He is big enough to fill my shoes and use someone else, He doesn't need me at all, but I believe He wants to use me and personally, I want to be used in a big way. I will not be able to change the world, but I hope that I contribute in the tiny part of the world that I live in. God Bless you if you are being called right now.

Let The Renovations Begin

Once we closed on the, to be exact 27,862square ft. building, we began to renovate. One of the first things that we had to do was gut the entire building. Lots of hours and man power went into it. We used a lot of community service and the rooms had been sponsored out to every church in town, every denomination (I felt as though that was part of the vision, all of God's children working together no matter where they went to church), every organization and anyone else who would participate. The building had been setting for not very long, but long enough for the sprinkler system to freeze over the winter and bust over the summer, molding all of the sheet rock. Now a lot of people asked me if it would be better to just tear it down and start all over. The answer to that was NO, the structure was still very good. I had to have an asbestos abatement team come and check for asbestos, it was in the flooring and the HVAC rooms and that was it, so we can cover over the flooring, no problem. We set out to raise money, gain more sponsorship for renovating rooms and some of the rooms will be shown later, first, I wanted everyone to see what type of work went on. I wish you could have seen how many of those huge trash dumpsters we filled and had hauled off. That is what the tractor is doing, dumping it in there and then having it hauled off. I am on my fourth year of renovating, but we are doing this debt free and with all volunteer help. We are totally debt-free at this point. The building was free and the labor has been free. I can't wait for you to see some of the rooms. We gave each sponsor the freedom to renovate, decorate and furnish however they wished within reason of course. This is a God-sized Noah task. This can only be God, but He has His own timing and in His own timing it will be done. Pray for me to continue to persevere, that has been the hardest thing to do when you live in a small town, living and fighting all the rumors, that I am stealing all of the money, don't know what I am doing and so on. I had a couple of pastors tell me that I am way over my head. My answer to them was "you are right, I am in way over my head, but God is not and I may not know what I am doing, but He certainly does and I just have to make sure that I follow His lead and listen to Him". It didn't touch them that I had just gotten this building free of charge when there were several in the town that wanted it and that there was a couple that had even tried to buy it and the company had always said no. I just wrote a letter and even sent it to the wrong address. The next post will let you know what we have done in the past four years. A little bit at a time. You will be amazed at what God has done for us.

Chrysalis House

This is a picture of the outside of Chrysalis House when we first took ownership. You can't see that it has 4 huge wings off of each side and is 28,000 square feet and sits on 9.4 acres of land. It was donated to our ministry, Women Offering Women Support.

My Testimony

I accepted Christ as my savior at a very young age. I fell in love with Jesus and surrendered my life to the foreign mission field. As an adolescent who was just beginning to learn what Christ wanted for my life, I made many mistakes. My spiritual pride and arrogance made me think that I was not subject to the same mistakes that other young people make.

God humbled me very quickly when I fell in love with the preacher's son, became pregnant and was married a week before my 16th birthday. I could not face my friends and fellow classmates because of my shame and humiliation. I had blown my witness to those who had believed in me. More importantly, I felt that I had let God down. I didn't think that God would ever forgive me because I could not forgive myself.
I hit rock bottom spiritually and suffered from deep depression that lasted for years. Seven years into my marriage, I had an affair and my marriage fell apart, ending in divorce. I was a single mother of two and months behind in my house payments. Back taxes had to be paid or the house that my Dad had built for me would go into foreclosure. In desperation, I finally turned to God knowing that if I was to keep the house and get on my feet, it would all be His work.

On my own for the first time in my life, I had no education and was scared to death that I could not support my children and myself. I waited tables to catch up on my house payments and taxes and care for my family. The work was hard but I gained acceptance from the people I worked with. My self-esteem was still very low, however. I did not feel that I could ever experience the happiness I saw in the lives of others.

I longed to have a husband to take care of me and share the burdens of life. I believed that I would have to settle for anyone as long as they liked me. I didn't ask if they loved me because I didn't love myself. I prayed that if the men I dated weren't who God wanted for me that they would break it off. I was hurt many times as God weeded out those relationships, showing me over and over that this was not what He wanted for me.

After a couple of years, I finally met someone who I thought was "Mr. Right". We dated for a year although I was full of guilt and conviction over the relationship we had. After praying to God for strength I finally told the man I was dating that we either had to get married and make our relationship right or break up. Just two weeks after we broke up, I found myself pregnant again and not married.

After my baby was born, I thought I was through with men. I was finally okay with being single, though I still yearned to be with someone who would love and value me. I prayed that if God had someone for me He would literally set them on my doorstep. One month later, I met my future husband on my doorstep, just as I had prayed. It wasn't love at first sight. However, we became friends and eventually I fell in love with his heart. He loved the Lord, and like me, had made many mistakes. The thing we had in common was that we both yearned to live for the Lord. We dated for two years before getting married in 1996. He had 2 girls and 1 boy, I had 1 girl and 2 boys. We were a slightly altered version of the Brady Bunch.

Looking back on the years as a single mom, I developed a passion to help others in that situation. I wanted to let them know how much God loved them and wanted His best for them. God began placing me in the lives of struggling single moms. Drawing on my past experience I began to share with them and encourage them as much as I could. As I searched for what God wanted me to do with my life, doors began to open that led me to search for ways to really help these women. The Lord impressed upon my heart the need for a place where single mothers could come and stay until they could get on their feet. I envisioned a place where they could become grounded in God's Living Word while living in a supportive, Christian atmosphere.

I knew that I could not afford a place like I envisioned on my own. I approached my pastor and asked if there was a program that he could plug me into to gain experience. He suggested that we start a ministry for single moms which led to the beginning of WOWS, Women Offering Women Support, in February 2003. The church advertised in the surrounding counties in newspapers, television and flyers announcing a weekly meeting for women and their children to share a meal, have Bible study and share our concerns.

The first night that WOWS met we had one person show up. I was a little discouraged until the following week when I was watching "The Miracle Worker" on television. The Lord drew my attention to Ann Sullivan. She was only one person working with one person, Helen Keller. Both teacher and student have had a lasting impact on the world. The Lord's message was clear, "If you will be faithful with the one that I have given you, I will be faithful to you." I was excited though our growth was slow. I knew in my heart that this could become something larger than one or two moms meeting together.

In September 2003, I was compelled to find out more about a former nursing home in Sulphur Springs that had stood vacant for a long time. I contacted the owners in California and asked if they would consider donating the building as a tax deduction. I shared my testimony and my vision of having a place to house these women and children and my prayers were answered 3 weeks later. They called and agreed to donate the building and we quickly moved to form a board of directors, incorporate and file for tax-exempt status. God moved Heaven and Earth for us. He has moved so much among His people that it blows my mind daily.

The one thing that I have concluded is this: God loves to do extraordinary things through ordinary people. If He can work through a donkey...He can work through me or anyone. I love that about Him.

There is still so much to tell...but as I post...I will continue to blog about all that God has done through the lives of those of us who are apart of this project.

New Family Blog

I have created a new blog strictly for my family news and I will start making this blog about ministry updates only. My personal family blog is on my sidebar named,

"My Life, My Journey, My Calling"

opposite of this one, named

" My Calling, My Journey, My life".

So you will begin to see changes on this blog and it will only have ministry updates. So click on the new blog and add me to your list.

The reason for doing this is so that I can have a link from my ministry web-site to this blog so that I can give daily updates for the work that is going on. But keep on viewing this blog as well, because there is so much to tell. I will try and download video's of mine and my husband's testimonies, presentations and loads of information that will really encourage your walk with the Lord.

I will also let you know when my web-site has been updated so that you can go on our site and view it, but right now, we are far behind in our updates on it. I hope that you will enjoy both blogs!!!