Temptations . . . our weakness, God's strength

So, along with a transitional housing program, comes the opportunity to case manage some of the cases. Traditionally, case management is the responsibility of the case manager - right? Well, our cm only works ten hours week and she is only responsible for five of them - so I am taking on the others (4). Today I had my initial interview with three of them.

One of the interviews was with the couple that had been put on probation last week. We had prayed at the end of that previous meeting that temptation would not come into their path and that if it did, they would have the strength (from God) to be able to resist it. She shared with me that the same day we prayed that prayer, somebody offered them both beers and they both said no very quickly. That weekend, they helped someone move and the person bought a case of beer. She said they were both surprised at how easy it was to say no and grab the sodas instead. In her mind, that would not have been the case a week earlier - and in fact, it was not (hence, the probation).

But she said that the prayer and knowing that someone else cares about what happens to them made all the difference in the world. They are very interested in going to Celebrate Recovery at a nearby church and working God into their life of recovery and change. That's how it is supposed to work!!! I love it when a plan comes together.

Hope's Alive.

Now it's official – I'm officially sad. Hope is gone to be with her “true love” - her husband, the one who loves Hope more than himself. The one who couldn't stand to be without her so he prepared a place for her and took her there. The one who gave HOPE new life - both here on earth and there with Him.

I think about how Hope used to “cut” - and it really was an addiction with her. When she came to The Salvation Army, it was like coming home, she used to say. It had all the warmth and laughter and hugs that she used to dream about . . . It gave her hope and something to live for – promise of new life – in fact, her user name was always the same “htnewlife07” – 07 because that's when she “woke up” she said (after Marge's testimony, she loved that phrase).

My heart is heavy – Hope was truly a friend to me. At first, I was just there for her, helping her, being nice to her but I realized after about a year, that it had changed – and we were truly friends. When I called her one day just to call her, I knew that we had past the point of me being the bossy mom – I had become her friend. She was there for me, helping me, telling me when I needed to change. When I would face road trip by myself, I always called up Hope – and she always brought CD's and stuff to talk about.

If I ever start a ministry for young girls who need hope – I think I'm going to call it, “Hope's Alive.”

Because she is.