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Tuesday, April 7, 2009

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

2 comments:

TheKirbysFootsteps said...

I'm sorry to hear about all of your rumors. I know that is a very difficult thing. I've always had a hard time understanding why LIES get out there too! I pray that the Lord helps you in all that you try to do!! God will never leave you!! He knows your heart! He will give you the desires of it!! I'm glad to know you!! I cant wait to see what God has in store for you!! HUGS HK

Amy said...

I am so glad that you came to speak to our class on Sunday! I think it is so wonderful that God has called you to do this work! And I can tell that you have such a passion for what you are doing.

At one point, you held up a book that I knew I wanted to purchased but I just assumed I would remember it or that I would be able to google it, but of course, my brain has gone blank. Could you email me at astanley@akgillis.com and let me know the title? Thank you so much! You're in my prayers - stay strong.