One of our residents wanted to write about her experience in the program at A Friend’s House. Below is the first of her posts, and she plans to write each week. I hope you enjoy getting to know her, and learning about the progress she’s making.

-Pam

Dear Friends,

I am starting this blog for two reasons. One, and the most important, is to express my gratitude to ALL the people who support A Friend’s House Ministries, whether through prayer, monetary donations, helping with the Stock The Shelves campaign, or in some other way. So many different people, groups, and organizations help to make AFH possible that it would be pretty extensive for me to list everything, but I do want you all to know that everything you do is very much appreciated. There isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t think of all the different people who contribute in some way to this ministry. I had at first thought of trying to make a thank-you card every day to be sent to different donors, but then I remembered one of my favorite movies, Pay It Forward, and I had a different idea.

That brings me to the second aim of this blog. My hope is that it will, in some way, connect you to us, the residents. If I chose to contribute to a ministry, I think the biggest “thanks” I could receive would be to know that I had made a real and powerful difference in someone’s life. My desire is to share with you the joys, struggles, laughter, and tears of this journey so that you might see the way you have made a difference in my life.  You have provided me with a beautiful home in which all my needs are more than met. You have helped me to be able to study amazing, Christ-centered curriculum that has empowered me to make good decisions. I’ve also been shown a very real love here that, along with growing stronger in my faith, has helped me to be able to love and respect myself, flaws and all. I’m excited to continue to grow here, and even more excited about how well-equipped I will be to truly love others when I graduate the program one day. I can only hope to “pay it forward” by touching someone else’s life in as meaningful a way as you have touched mine.

Thank you for providing for me so generously, for believing in me when I didn’t even believe in myself, and for loving me though we’ve never met.

Love in Christ,

Emily*

*The resident’s name was changed to protect her privacy.