Seeds and Signs of Growth

I'm not a gardener, but I love the happy feeling that comes with observing the sprouting of seeds and the promise of growth, change and maturity. Over the past few months I have enjoyed that sense of happiness every time I have been with some of our coffeemates (mentors and mentees) together.

When I pair our coffeemates, they begin by meeting weekly during the course of the CWJC program. I don't see their initial one-on-one interaction, which is a getting acquainted, sharing something of their stories with one another. It happens on Tuesday mornings for an hour and is followed by attending the Tuesday noon lunch and Bible study together. It is an obligatory time that must become much more than that if it is to last.

Recently one set of coffeemates has been a particular reminder to me of how each developing relationship is a living example of the uniqueness in relationships. Kim and Carolyn became coffeemates when Kim entered CWJC. I don't know now what was the basis for putting them together, but I know prayer was a part of it.

Last week when I was in the hospital following surgery, Carolyn and Kim came to see me. They brought a gift of a large cookie, some ice cream and toppings. It was obviously a "doing it together" ministry on their part to me. It reminded me of when I began seeing a lovely change in their relationship that bode well for the endurance of that relatioship.

Several months ago Kim had major surgery on her shoulder. Carolyn, who is a nurse, ministered to Kim with a pot of soup, changing the dressing after Kim was home from her surgery, offering encouragement and advice and more. A short time later Carolyn injured her elbow in a bicycle accident and Kim returned Carolyn's pot with some soup she had made.

Kim and Carolyn

In times since, they have taken their dogs together to the dog park, met for lunch, and done things not only for each other, but together for others. When Kim's friend, Jennifer, a young woman with special needs, moved into an apartment and needed absolutely everything, Kim and Carolyn together presented the need to our whole group of coffeemates. Everyone pitched in and soon Jennifer's apartment was furnished.

Carolyn and Kim have a relationship that is a growing friendship. With it comes a deepening communication -- real communication that is a result of content plus relationship.

  

Celebrating Milestones

I have to admit that I am not very good at celebrating anything. It is one of the things I need to learn to do better, since it's a very important piece of our program. We all need to stop from time to time and really look at what has been accomplished and enjoy the progress. My tendency is to see what is not finished and press on. But sometimes that gets discouraging and we all need encouragement.

Today I have decided it is time to celebrate a milestone. Last September we began the project of redecorating the space we have for the job corps at Buchanan Street Chapel. There were ceiling tiles falling in, tiles missing from the floor in places, locked closets full of things, etc.

With the leadership of Mary Stephens, the women in the fall session chose carpeting, paint for two classrooms and seven smaller rooms, and fabric for the valances. We started working for a couple of hours on Fridays - cleaning, emptying, mudding walls, and painting - and by the end of the fall session we were at a place where the ceilings could be lowered and new lighting fixtures installed. 

When we started up again in January some of the ladies were employed and our schedule didn't afford the same kind of time for consistently working on the redecorating. So, we built in a couple of Saturday workdays and added a few volunteers. Jozef and Jana were here to help. Elaine's husband came a couple of times and Jack Rhine helped out. Cindi Palmer has been a big help on a consistent basis. 

It has been a big task and we are not finished, but it is time to celebrate. The last large room was painted and the carpet has been installed. We moved furniture back into the office and some of the shelves in the supply room can be put back in place. For a moment we will pause to appreciate and enjoy was has been done.

A Servant's Heart and Hands

It is rather rare to see Marilyn O'Brien, our administrative assistant, on a platform. Usually she is moving and working quietly behind the scenes - taking phone calls and making them, formatting documents and forms, handling correspondence, snacks, transportation and doing many other generally thankless tasks.
The truth is that we would not function without her and I, especially, am most grateful for the tireless effort she puts in.

Marilyn reading Scripture at Graduation

Marilyn is the only volunteer, besides me, who is at the Christian Women's Job Corps every day that we meet. She is usually the first one there and the last one to leave. She also spends time at home working on her computer to make sure everything that we use from name tags, to notebooks, to thank you notes has the most professional look. Marilyn is a living example of Colossians 3:23: "Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men."

When we are not in session, Marilyn is still working. At this time she is meeting weekly with Larry Mills and me to create a single set of application and interview forms that will be used by both the Christian Women's Job Corps and the Christian Men's Job Corps.

Although Marilyn will not have to be available in the evenings when CMJC begins, she will be serving as the administrative assistant for both CMJC and CWJC. But before the next session begins, you will find her helping with volunteer recruitment, volunteer training, and preparation of all those things that go into it.

When you thank the Lord for Christian Job Corps of Amarillo, thank Him for Marilyn O'Brien too.

Graduation and Beyond

Our graduates - Stephanie, Barbara, Elaine, Kim, Stephanie, Leigh and Glinda

Graduation, the anticipated time and event, came on the evening of April 8th. We celebrated the accomplishments of seven women and celebrated them as well - women of courage and perseverence, who made a commitment to make changes in their lives and are doing it.

Since a number of those who read our blog were not with us that evening and follow the experiences of CWJC of Amarillo from other places in the country and the world, we have decided to add a number of pictures and share some of the activities of graduation day. For those who were there, we hope this provokes some good memories.

Activities for the day began with a special lunch at Park Place Towers for the graduates and the graduation speaker, Debbie Unruh. It gave them time for a level of interaction that doesn't happen at the reception following the ceremony, when everyone is engaged with family and friends. Since some of our graduates had known our speaker for a number of years, it was an especially relaxed and enjoyable time.

Immediately after lunch, we went through the graduation practice and then had the afternoon free to relax and get ready for the evening.

The chapel was full with 150 or more people to celebrate with our graduates. There were parents and children, siblings and other relatives, mentors, teachers, friends, volunteers, and people who supported the graduates and the program over this session with their prayers and gifts.

Although we started in the fall with eight women, only two of them, Barbara and Stephaine, completed the 26-week program. We experimented this year with a longer program because change takes time and we wanted to be part of their day to day support system over a longer period. Barbara's and Stephanie's last 13 weeks weren't always easy because we had to adjust some classes around their work schedules. But they persevered and had the satisfaction of completing something they had begun last September.

Our other five graduates came into the program in Jaunary of 2011. In order to give them the classes the other two had had, we abbreviated several classes from the fall term and then added some separate class times for them on Fridays. It all worked and we are grateful that because of several other plans developing -- an alumnae group and periodic continuing education -- we will be able to be a part of their ongoing support system.

Our guest speaker, Debbie Unruh, was invited to speak at graduation late last spring, when she was still a part of the Amarillo community. We first knew her as Captain Unruh, the creator and implementor of the one-of-a-kind Prisoner Reentry Education Program (PREP) at Randall County Jail. It is a program for a select group of men and women serving state prison sentences, who are chosen for this study and work release program because of their commitment to change.

People committed to change is what we want in CWJC. After Joe Ann and I began teaching the men in the PREP, Captain Unruh permitted two of the women to enroll in CWJC in January of 2010. They graduated a year ago and others from PREP entered CWJC in September of 2010 and again in January of 2011.

Debbie left the Randall County Sheriff's Office last summer and moved to Austin after being appointed by Governor Perry to serve as the Ombudsman of the Texas Youth Commission. Her career has taken her to a different place and a different job, but her commitment to helping women and men get a fresh start is as intense as ever. She was an appropriate and good choice for our graduation, since the majority of our graduates this year are a part of PREP. And, of course, her challenge to them was so fitting and meaningful.



Each of the graduates took a little time to speak and in their sharing we heard words of gratitude and spiritual growth, the commitment to continue what was begun in their lives at CWJC, and a desire to give back to the program and to help those who come behind the. Carolyn Terrell sang two perfect songs for the occasion, The Journey and Press On.

We are now beyond graduation and together we journey on. Two of our seven graduates are being baptized on Easter Sunday. Five of the graduates are still attending the Tuesday noon Bible study. (The other two are working at that time.) Relationships with mentors are strong. Some are meeting at the Family Life Center for exercise together once a week. Those who are not working yet are helping with the painting and other redecorating tasks at Buchanan Street every Thursday.

All "A"s



Our session is almost over. Seven ladies will graduate on Friday, April 8th. Two of them will have completed 26 weeks with us and the other five half that amount of time. Our staff and mentors and everyone who has touched their lives in these months has been handing out at least three important "A"s. These three - affection, affirmation, and assistance - are important to anyone going through a transition. Especially at times when we are choosing to make deliberate, systematic changes, we all know what it means to have important people in our lives say, "I love you. I believe in you. I'll help you."

 



Busy redecorating

As we finish our months of Monday through Friday interaction, we will not stop loving, believing in and assisting our graduates. However, to experience this ongoing care, there is another "A" that we can't give. It has to come from them. Our support will be there, but they must "Access" it.

As you think of those who are about to graduate, pray that they will stay connected. Whether or not we can fulfill our mission "to empower, to establish, and to sustain women's growth in all areas of their lives," depends on a long-term commitment to one another. They have only begun what will be a lifelong journey and we want to walk it with them.

As alumnae, they will have an opportunity to meet monthly in a planned event, be a part of future sessions as volunteers, take continuing education classes of interest to them, and be with mentors and others in spontaneous times. 



Elaine and Becky at Tuesday noon Bible study


We are delighted and encouraged that those who are graduating and not working full-time yet are planning to continue to come to Tuesday noon Bible study and also to finish the redecorating that was begun some months ago.

                                        

In Celebration

One of the important elements of CWJC is celebrating - big things, little things, group achievements, individual achievements, birthdays, and, of course, the completion of the program. Although our graduation ceremony is soon --Friday, April the 8th -- I wanted to write about someone's personal achievement that we celebrated recently.

On Friday night, March 11th, Lisa Lowery, who teaches our computer classes, was inducted into Phi Theta Kappa, the International Honor Society of Junior Colleges. Marilyn O'Brien and I, along with a few other friends, were able to celebrate that event by being in attendance at the program at Amarillo College that evening. The cwjc participants celebrated Lisa's achievement with hugs and words of affirmation on the Monday after.

I am particularly proud of Lisa's achievement for more than one reason. First, I know something of what it has required of her to reach this place. She entered the paralegal studies program at the age of 41 with the mental resources to do the work but lacking prior formal education -- 7th grade and a GED. Although the invitation to join Phi Theta Kappa came as a surprise to Lisa, she truly earned it. She set her goals, knew her priorities, and kept her focus and, as a result, has as a 4.0 GPA.

Lisa has the emotional resources to persist in spite of obstacles (There have been many.)  She also has the spiritual resources that are evident in her walk and talk; she continues to add to those resources in her personal spiritual life and her commitment to and involvement in the family at First Baptist Church.

Second, I am also immensely pleased because she is a role model to the ladies in our CWJC program. She knows many of the pains and difficulties of their lives because they have been hers too. Like them, she is starting over. Of course, they talk together, but she is also communicating so much by living her life before them.

One of the most important illustrations they see is that not only do you not have to accomplish things alone but also that you cannot accomplish things without the support of others. Lisa is demonstrating to them how essential a support system is, but that it only works when it is used. Because she has gratefully welcomed and utilized her support system, all of us who are a part of it feel that we have a part in her achievement.

So much that we teach at CWJC gives our participants new awareness of themselves and their potential, new knowledge they can apply, and some beginning experience with mentors and others that lets them know first hand that support is available to them. Sometimes it is just hard for them to believe that "This is really for me too."

What music to my ears to hear one of them say recently, "If Lisa can do it, so can I."

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The Blessing Bucket

Yesterday I received from the hands of Clarecia Jackson, the WMU director at First Baptist Church, the Blessing Bucket pictured above. Although the Blessing Buckets were meant to be given to CWJC and CMJC on the February day of prayer designated by the Texas WMU, that day in Amarillo turned out to be one of our blizzard days. Yesterday was perfect timing.

Messages of encouragement, of prayer support, and Scripture were written on the brightly colored paper in the shape of large drops of water. As our participants received and read the notes written to them by name, they were deeply touched.

Thank you to all of the ladies of the WOM circles who wrote them and prayed for us.