The Metro Times Atlanta May 2018 | Page 11

MOM’ S CORNER
MAY 2018
Page 11

FAMILY LIVING

BUILDING FAMILIES WITH DADS

Mother’ s Day and Father’ s Day will soon be here. At Refuge, we want to honor both. Every year we have our baby bottle campaign, and it begins on Mother’ s Day and ends on Father’ s Day. This fundraiser is the one that keeps our doors open so that we can continue to minister to our community. We desire to share the love of Christ to every man, woman, and child who enters our doors.

Over the years, pregnancy centers have changed with the needs of our communities. The initial thought behind pregnancy centers was to save the child. It did not take long for those ministering to these women to realize that to help the child you must first help the mother. We already offered encouragement and prayer throughout the entire pregnancy. Soon centers began to provide free clothing, food, diapers, car seats, and more.
Educational classes were soon added to support and help the mothers. Centers continued to see some of the same clients over and over. We then noticed a lack of education. So many centers opened their doors to all for GED programs, which was done with the hopes that this would move them to complete independence. But the problem remains.
After 18 years with Refuge, I have realized that things will not change until we get to the root of the problem. We have a family problem. Our families are no longer structured the way God intended. Over 47 % of the children in Rockdale are in single-parent homes. I am passionate about turning those numbers around, but this is 50 years in the making in America! There is no reason to pass blame, all have fallen short, but if God calls us and if He places something in our hearts, we must stand up and do what we
can. Refuge may be tiny, but so was David when he fought Goliath.
Refuge is starting a men’ s mentoring program called Practical Fatherhood. The program will encourage, educate and minister to new fathers. They need to be taught how to be a good father. We are in need of male volunteers to mentor to these young men, so please pray and ask God if he wants you to be part of this exciting ministry. These men need us to care about them too because they have been forgotten and overlooked.
To kick off this new program Refuge is doing something that we have never done
before. We are holding a men’ s conference on June 9th where we will have several speakers discussing the importance of fatherhood and how to be fathers in our community. We are encouraging men’ s groups, church leaders and community leaders to attend. We may not be able to make a difference for the entire country, but together we can make a difference in the lives of the families in our community. I am inviting all of
you men to attend. This event is not a fundraiser as your ticket fee pays for your lunch and our cost for the program. Our only desire is for“ a few good men” to stand up for the love of family.
Angela Worthey Director
Refuge Pregnancy Center

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Saturday, June 9th- Crosspoint Christian Church

MOM’ S CORNER

NOT SO DIFFERENT

Recently I stood at my kitchen counter, breaking a store bought chicken down into pieces, cleaning what would become that night’ s BBQ dinner. I gave as much attention to the details of my task while also trying to appease the hunger requests b e i n g made by my two toddlers playing in the adjacent room. As I stood there working, I began to remember

being a ten-yearold girl, standing at my mother’ s kitchen counter doing the same. As a young girl, I felt frustrated that my mom wouldn’ t purchase the boneless skinless version of our dinner, saving me from what seemed to be a pointless chore. I remember feeling slightly nauseated and utterly disgusted that the slimy meat was going to be my food. I complained just as much. Now as an adult, doing the same task, I don’ t feel the annoyance. Those feelings are replaced with a warm thankfulness as I fondly think back to my childhood and being my mother’ s little helper. What I would give to go back in time to her kitchen counter, to hear her instruct me in simple tasks and feel her hugs after a job well done. Looking back at my childhood, I realize mothering in the 80’ s wasn’ t’ too different than what I experience now. Sure, there were differences, like not having to strap all four children into car seats because that wasn’ t a‘ thing’ back then. But there are a lot of things that are still the same today. She looked for ways to
pinch pennies from our grocery budget, even if that means chicken with bones and skin, and now I do the same. She didn’ t get to use the bathroom without someone calling her name because of a sibling dispute or a lost treasure that had to be found immediately. Just like many moms today, my mother stretched herself thin to get my siblings and me to our music lessons, art lessons, or any other play date we had begged her to schedule. Most importantly, I can now look back at every sacrifice and see her strength through her struggles. There were days she sat in her room and cried out to God,
not knowing the“ right” way to parent her four children despite the stack of parenting books she had poured over. As an adult, I am thankful that I was able to witness my mother’ s own insecurities and frustrations related to parenting and running a home. I watched her strive to find a balance between“ mom” and being“ herself.” That’ s a battle I face daily as I feel myself slip a little deeper into motherhood each day. As I look back over the past thirty years, I realized that she would probably describe some of my memories as moments she would love to change or to do over, but I couldn’ t disagree more. I am drawing strength from those moments because they allow me to know that I am not alone.
Tiffany Hanson Wife and Mother
Isaiah 54:1
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