Winter 2020 Newsletter

I am focusing all my energies on this one thing:  Forgetting the past and looking forward to the what lies ahead, I strain to reach the end of the race and receive the prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us up to heaven. 

PHILIPPIANS 3:12-14, NLT

A lot of things can distract us right now and steer us away from our priorities. Whether we’re at home or work, it’s easy to all prey to the chaos that encircles us.

Thus, as we close out 2020 and anticipate 2021, my challenge to myself and the Shelter’s staff is to focus on our one thing and hold fast to what’s important:

“We provide emergency services and housing for  survivors of abuse to help build stable and independent lives, free from abuse. And, above all, we do it in the name and for the sake of Jesus Christ.”

I’m grateful to the Shelter’s founding board for so clearly establishing our one thing in this mission and vision.

I recently read something else that is helping me focus on our one thing: Discover Your True North, a book by Bill George. He talks about finding your true north, “your orienting point — your fixed point in a spinning world — that helps you stay on track.” I see this as the internal compass that guides us as we navigate life and strive to ignore the distractions.

We all need courage and resolve to resist being sidetracked by the constant pressures, legitimate challenges and our own and others’ expectations. We also need each other. Through your continual prayers and financial support, our staff will be steadfast. Through our staff’s courage and compassionate hearts, our work will go on. Until every home is safe and all forms of domestic abuse are eradicated, we will focus all our energies on one thing, keeping to our true north: the hope and healing found through Christ.

Thank you,

Cassie Mecklenburg
Executive Director