I would like to ask you a question. What are you afraid of? Instantly a little voice inside your head might be telling you things. You could be thinking I'm not afraid of anything or I'm afraid of everything. I hear many things from many different people; some are afraid of getting laid off work, while others are afraid of an illness or death in the family. Everything that we are afraid of has one thing in common: fear of the unknown and fear of change. If you have a fear of the dark, you fear not knowing what is there that you can't see. If you are afraid of moving, you fear not knowing what is going to happen or what it will be like when you get there. When I was hired on at New Beginnings, I was terrified. I knew I would have to change so many things, including my ride to work. What if I got lost on my way there? My coworkers would be different. What if they didn't like me. My work and purpose would be different. What if I couldn't meet those goals and I let everybody down? This was all a change for me and I was afraid. We need to look at why we are afraid of change and what God says about it. Did you notice that every single fear that I had about starting a new job involved something bad happening? Getting lost and letting people down were preparing me for the worst. I knew all these bad things could happen but I still went for the job anyway. Why? I wanted to give myself and everybody involved the chance for something better. I wanted to make a difference. I didn't want to do this just for me or just for my family but the bigger picture and for God's Glory. I knew that I couldn't make things better by staying where I was. It was time for me to start a new chapter in my life. The same is true with the mothers and babies at New Beginnings; in essence, the mothers are starting an entirely new life full of what ifs. Change is tough, but the mothers at New Beginnings can rest assured that they have the full support of staff and the other moms residing in the program. Not only do the mothers have our support, but they have the love of their Lord! So what does God say about my fear of change and the unknown? Psalms 115:11 says "You who fear him, trust in the Lord-he is their help and shield." Isaiah 41:10 says "So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand." I know that my fear was sinful. I did not trust the Lord like I should. I also knew that the Lord has promised to be there for me. He will be there for me and protect me and provide for me. Ultimately, I had faith. I trusted God in the end that things would work for His glory. Change was hard and always is difficult for me and many others. We need to make those changes anyway. This is how we grow and make things better. We need to trust God that he will guide us and protect us in everything that we do. "in God I trust and am not afraid. What can man do to me?" - Psalms 56:11 ![]() Christina Pritzlaff is married with two children. She has completed Early Childhood 1 & 2 classes, Infant Toddler classes, and completed the coursework for her Associates degree in Child Development. Christina splits her time between spending time with her family and working at NewBeginnings. In her free time, she enjoys spending time with her children, camping, fishing, reading, and doing counted cross-stitch.
0 Comments
As a new year opens for us, let’s remember that God works every detail in our lives into something good. A new mother was sharing with me how God had so magnificently brought together so many details in her life to bring her to New Beginnings, and how God continues to bless her and her child through the New Beginnings program. “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” Romans 8: 28 One of the things that means so much to me is the devotional every evening at New Beginnings. It is a time for the staff and mothers to share their meal time, and be encouraged as we read and discuss Grace Moments together. Do you think you can lose something worth keeping by God’s ordering of the affairs of the world? You can’t! What a blessing to be able to come to New Beginnings and learn about our Savior! He is our God, and has called us according to His own purpose. God works out everything in agreement with the purpose of His will. In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, (Ephesians 1:11). In Him, in everything that occurs we will gain something. It might be hope, or praise, holiness, faith, patience, wisdom, or something else. However, always our best interests are made sure. Everything is working for the good of those who love Him, and even if it may seem hard, it is the right way for us, the best way for us in the end. ![]() Karen O'Leary is an Assistant Home Manager at New Beginnings. She has her BA in Bible Theology and her Masters of Divinity. She has 8-years of experience as a Social Director at a non-profit organization helping those in crisis with financial assistance, brief supportive counseling, and being a spiritual presence in their time of need. In her free time Karen enjoys reading, cooking and traveling. The travel industry naturally booms around the holidays. Airports are swamped, traffic is outrageous, and people’s schedules are crazy, all because everyone wants to head HOME. The value of spending Christmas with family and friends, in a warm welcome environment is immeasurable, and the thought of spending the holidays alone is almost unbearable for many. Unfortunately, not everyone can go home for the holidays. At New Beginnings, a physical home is provided, both for residents and resident assistants. However, New Beginnings is much more than just a physical home, and this has been especially true for the month of December. A lot of what makes home so appealing around the holidays is the Christian loving environment, full of traditions, food, and God’s Word. As a college student, I sometimes miss out on the Christmas spirit, because I am far away from home. This year New Beginnings helped both the residents and Resident Assistants celebrate Christmas through our devotions, tree decorating, and Christmas dinner, and therefore gave me a Home for the Holidays. I am incredibly thankful for my earthly home for the holidays, and grateful for the daily reminders at New Beginnings that I can always look forward to my home in heaven as well. ![]() Naomi Brandt is a resident assistant from Salt Lake City, Utah. While her major at Wisconsin Lutheran College is in Business Administration, she hopes to go to law school after graduation, and work in either law, politics, or public relations. New Beginnings has been a great opportunity for Naomi to expand her work experience, grow in her faith, and have a home away from home. I think we can all relate to the familiar feeling of end-of-the-year stress. Whether it’s finishing up the school semester, getting important tasks done at work, finishing up shopping for presents, or planning family Christmas dinners and parties, there’s a lot going on this time of the year! Balancing work and personal obligations can be especially hard when there’s so many demands coming from both sides. It’s easy in times like this to become too productive and overwork ourselves, causing exhaustion and stress that affects our health, relationships, and even our spiritual lives. Jesus told his followers in John 9:4 to work while it is day, which reminds us to not waste the time we’re given here on Earth. However, we can’t forget how big of an advocate God is for rest! Even God, as powerful and almighty as he is, set aside the seventh day after creation to be a day of rest after seeing all the work he had done (Genesis 2:1-3). That’s how we got the Sabbath. And while designing and creating everything in existence may seem like a much bigger task than what is on our plates, he still wants the same thing for us. Setting aside time to peacefully rest and temporarily let go of commitments allows us to complete them and serve him even better afterwards. Jesus is our Sabbath, and in him we can find the peace and rest we need to feel rejuvenated after daily struggles take their toll on us. Matthew 11:28 says, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” Remember during the Christmas season that God has blessed us with this time to be with our loved ones and to meditate on his love for us. It’s easy to worry about what still needs to be done or what’s coming up in the New Year, but rely on him to bring you through it and give you the rest that you’ve earned! A Former Resident Supervisor
What comes to mind when I say "Christmas Traditions"? Do the thoughts of tree decorating, baking Christmas cookies, gift wrapping and attending Christmas service come to mind? How about getting together with family and friends? In my family, we have a tradition of hiding a small, toy bird in the tree every year for the children to look for. Not all families celebrate Christmas with the same traditions and that is okay. We all come from different families with different backgrounds and different traditions. At New Beginnings we strive to expose our residents to traditions such as decorating the Christmas tree or making Christmas cookies. Many of the moms at New Beginnings have never participated in these Christmas time traditions. Now, imagine if some of those well-loved traditions to you participate in where not there. Could you go without putting up a tree? How about going without the gifts for this year? "It just wouldn't be Christmas without Uncle Jack around." Has that thought ever crossed your mind about a loved one who has passed? Do you really believe Christmas has changed because things seem different? How about if you lost your job or fell on hard times? Is it still Christmas? The answer is simply "Yes". It is still Christmas. Just because something has changed, doesn't mean the true meaning of Christmas has changed. The fact is that Jesus was still born part God yet part man. He still lived the perfect life and suffered our terrible punishment for us. We celebrate Christmas to celebrate his birth and the fulfillment of the prophecy. Where is the best place to celebrate such a joyous event? Around a tree? Opening gifts? The best place to celebrate His birth would be in His house. If you have not made going to church on Christmas your tradition, I urge you to do so for that is where we can truly celebrate. For those of us who do make this our tradition, how blessed we are that no matter how much things change for us here on earth, we know that Christ was born, Christ has risen, and Christ will rise again in Glory one day to take us all home. May God bless you this Christmas. ![]() Christina Pritzlaff is married with two children. She has completed Early Childhood 1 & 2 classes, Infant Toddler classes, and completed the coursework for her Associates degree in Child Development. Christina splits her time between spending time with her family and working at New Beginnings. In her free time, she enjoys spending time with her children, camping, fishing, reading, and doing counted cross-stitch. Over the past 5 years, our government has spent more than 3.7 trillion dollars on welfare programs. That’s 5 times greater than the spending amount of transportation, education, and NASA combined. Though poverty rates have gone down from 15% t0 14.5% in 2013, there are still 45 million Americans living below the poverty line, second highest among 35 developed nations. Although money is a great resource to help the poor, research has shown that poverty may be more than just a lack of financial resources. For us to see a significant improvement in the poverty rate of our country, we must first understand the culture of poverty and create solutions that include MORE than just money. The following video was created by Abednego Samudera: The Culture of PovertyIn her book A Framework for Understanding Poverty, Ruby Payne described that poverty is a set of hidden rules or “norms” that influence an individual’s “patterns of thought, social interaction, and cognitive strategies.” Poverty is a lifestyle, and like any other lifestyle, it is composed of many different elements besides financial resources, such as emotional, mental, and spiritual support. Support systems are as crucial as money for an individual to break away and stay out of poverty. One of the biggest downfalls of social welfare programs is the notion that if an individual is given money, it will help them secure other resources. Theoretically, it makes sense. Realistically, however, money cannot buy a good support system, especially considering that an individual living in poverty is probably surrounded by other poverty-stricken individuals who need the same resources. The SolutionThere isn’t one correct solution to this problem. However, there are other cost-effective ways that can yield greater results than just money. Sure, money will be part of the solution, but it will not be the whole solution. Since poverty is a culture, we must teach individuals to break away from that culture. Enrolling in a program that provides support group is a great step to teaching individuals that there are other possibilities besides their own. Education is also a crucial part in getting the poor out of poverty. It’s important that we teach them basic, yet very important, coping strategy skills, such as problem solving, positive attitudes, resolving conflicts, and setting priorities and goals. Along with that, having a support system also means that we are providing them with a network of people who can be a resource to their success. As you saw in the video, New Beginnings aims to break the cycle of poverty for each mother and baby at New Beginnings by providing an abundance of resources and support. When we understand that poverty is an accumulation of the lack of numerous resources besides money, the solution to fight poverty is exponentially greater than just using money as the only solution. As educators, professionals, mothers, fathers, and students, this means that we need not invest thousands or millions of dollars to this cause. We have opportunities to influence with other resources besides money that can make such a tremendous impact on the poor.
Today I would like to talk about friendship. The dictionary defines it as: 1. the state of being a friend; association as friends: to value a person's friendship. 2. a friendly relation or intimacy. 3. friendly feeling or disposition. One Sunday a month the residents, staff, and RAs at New Beginnings-A Home For Mothers go to church together; afterwards we join for a family meal. This is called Friendship Sunday. Two Sundays ago, as we all (there were ten of us) walked into St, Marcus, a beautiful modern Gothic style church with large stained glass windows, we heard perfect harmony coming from the four person choir as they sang Friend of God. Written by Israel Houghten it goes: "Who am I that you are mindful of me, that you hear me when I call. Is it true that you are thinking of me. How you love me, it's amazing." Then 3 XS the chorus - "I am a friend of God." finishing with "He calls me friend. God Almighty, Lord of glory. You have called me friend." That is not a small thing! That is a mind blowing, life changing concept. Through Jesus Christ's sacrifice for us on the cross we have been united with God and we are called His friends, James 2:23 says "And the scripture was fulfilled that says, " Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness, and he was called God's friend." In John 15:15 Jesus says, "I no longer call you servants because a servant does not know his master's business. instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you." Do you believe that today?
![]() Yeah, I know the title got your attention! So let’s just jump right into it, shall we? At New Beginnings we recently had a Thanksgiving Dinner in place of our regular Thursday night group session. Everyone brought a dish to pass and we had an amazing meal of turkey, cheesy potatoes, salad (made by staff), corn bread dressing (Shaneka), homemade mac n’ cheese (Dana), green bean casserole (Resident Assistants), apple pie (Volunteer, Lisa), and more! What a blessing. After the meal, we had a short devotion and then wrote down some of the blessings in our lives. I was surprised by the range of answers: friends, family, sharing this meal together, police officers, education, toys (yes, kids were present, but I am thankful for toys too!), and Jesus, were just some of the answers. One of the blessings that surprised me most was “haters,” and I can honestly tell you it was written down by more than one person. Now before I go any further, let’s see how Urban Dictionary defines a “hater:” hater |
Brianne Kluge is the Home Manager at New Beginnings. She grew up in Marshall, WI and graduated from Lakeside Lutheran High School. Brianne has a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology from the University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee. In her free time, she enjoys singing, camping, refurbishing furniture and spending time with her fiancé, Daniel. |
![Picture](/uploads/3/5/4/3/3543641/4568453.jpg?1447258892)
Henry David Thoreau reminds us of this with his quote:
“What lies before us and what lies behind us are small matters compared to what lies within us. And when you bring what is within out into the world, miracles happen.”
On our heavenward journey, we will face trial and tribulation and days that leave us feeling worn and weary. But throughout it all, we are to keep our heads up knowing that the things of this world don’t matter compared to how the Holy Spirit is working in our hearts to strengthen our faith in the God who already has our life perfectly planned.
![Picture](/uploads/3/5/4/3/3543641/1172462.jpg?176)
All the way from San Diego, California, Cait Seastrand is a Junior Sports and Exercise Science major at Wisconsin Lutheran College. God-willing, she will be a physical therapist for children, soldiers, or academy cadets for the police and fire departments. Until then, she is very thankful for the opportunity to have a family away from home here at New Beginnings.
![Picture](/uploads/3/5/4/3/3543641/3759043.jpg?705)
Take a minute to think of all of the volunteers you encounter on a regular basis.
Here are a few places that come to my mind where I see volunteers in action:
* In schools, tutoring and mentoring young people
* Working as volunteer firefighters
* Coaching a youth basketball team or leading a scout group
* Raking leaves for the elderly couple next door
* Baby-sitting the kids while Mom and Dad are at work
* Filling positions in your church, such as teaching Sunday School, working as the secretary, or accompanying services as the organist
* Building houses for families in need
* Cleaning parks and highways
* Educating on health and safety
What other ways do you see volunteers serving faithfully around you? There are hundreds of volunteer opportunities around, and you may not even realize that some of the people you interact with daily are volunteers – 62.6 million Americans volunteered in their communities in 2013!
Now take a minute to imagine a day when no volunteers show up….
It’s a scary thought! We NEED volunteers, but the truth is, the number of volunteers has been declining over recent years. What challenges would you face if volunteers were not giving their time freely to benefit the lives of others? You may not realize it, but the impact of volunteers on our nation is pretty huge. The Corporation for National & Community Service stated that in 2013, volunteers gave almost 7.7 billion hours of service to their communities, which they estimated to be worth about 173 billion dollars!
![Picture](/uploads/3/5/4/3/3543641/7376108.png?250)
* Provide physical and social activity
* Offer educational and professional experience
* Reduce stress
* Provide a sense of purpose
* Strengthen your community
* Increase your problem-solving skills
* Improve physical and mental health
* In adults age 70 and over, you may experience lower rates of mortality, lower decline in functional ability and lower rates of depression
Volunteers are needed in almost every non-profit organization, and New Beginnings has been blessed by having faithful volunteers as part of our staff. We encourage you to get involved in your community by
volunteering your time to a cause you believe in and support. If that leads you to volunteering at New Beginnings- great! We would love to have you. But we also believe that there are several other places that need volunteers, and we would love to see you become involved at a place that suits your talents and interests.
Click here for some tips to help you start volunteering.
If you are interested in donating your time to New Beginnings, please email [email protected] or call (414)376-0595.
![Picture](/uploads/3/5/4/3/3543641/3126221.jpg?124)
Beth Shiels is the Assistant Home Manager at New Beginnings. She has been married to her husband, Zach, for seven years and they have three charismatic daughters, with a fourth baby arriving in December. Beth splits her time between staying at home with her children, working at New Beginnings, and assisting in Zach's chiropractic clinic. She loves this crazy busy life God has blessed her with and is thankful to have the opportunity to share His love with the moms and babies at New Beginnings.
Archives
October 2019
September 2019
August 2019
July 2019
May 2019
April 2019
January 2019
September 2018
August 2018
July 2018
June 2018
May 2018
April 2018
March 2018
February 2018
January 2018
December 2017
November 2017
October 2017
September 2017
August 2017
July 2017
June 2017
May 2017
April 2017
March 2017
February 2017
January 2017
December 2016
November 2016
October 2016
September 2016
August 2016
July 2016
June 2016
May 2016
April 2016
March 2016
February 2016
January 2016
December 2015
November 2015
October 2015
September 2015
August 2015
Categories
All
Abortion
A Resident's Perspective
Beth Shiels
Brianne Kluge
Christina Pritzlaff
Group Night
Helpful Hints
Holiday
Karen O'Leary
Life At New Beginnings
Parenting
Recipes
Resident Assistant/Intern
Staff Perspective
Taleya Williamson