Project Zero

          I am going to tell you about a 2nd foster care organization and it is called "Project Zero". It is in Little Rock, AR but it works all over the state of Arkansas. They are known for three things: Raise Awareness, build relationships, and connect families to children. Their mission statement is: "to raise awareness about adoption through the state foster care system with the ultimate goal of finding a forever family for every child that is waiting. I also love their little saying under their logo on things and it is: "Imagine a world where 1+1=0". 
         This organization has a wall on their website called: "The Heart Gallery" and it is where pictures of children are put up that are waiting for "forever" families. It tells the main points about each child especially like what kind of household that they need, which I think is pretty neat. Sometimes, it is sad, but people can get pretty picky but yet if the child has the right home to grow in, it does help a lot. They even keep siblings together or try to at least. They put one picture in the gallery under a spot just for siblings and if people want siblings they can look under that spot. 
         Also, this organization has a shop online where you can buy things like t-shirts, jewelry, and other things to help support it. It is not a big shop and it is still mostly t-shirts but most of them are cute. They also have a motoring program that anyone can get involved in but you would have to ask more about that by calling or writing an email to them because there isn't much information about that our their website. The way I understand it though is that if they have to keep moving from foster home to foster home they will at least have someone there that they know and that should help them a lot.
           That is something new I even learned about this organization and I think that is pretty cool to have a program like that. Pretty thoughtful and it does make sense. At least, the children will know that one person will be with them through everything. Then, of course, like every great organization, they have a blog on their website to help keep you updated on things that are going on. It would be interesting to look on that and then on their New and Events page too. It will keep you updated and you might even find something you want to help with if you are in that area or can go to that area. 
           That is it for my second and last foster care organization for the month of May (aka National Foster Care Awareness Month). This one and the last one I did are the only big two that I know about here in Arkansas but I am sure they are more. I want anyone that is reading this to look up their own foster care organizations or state department and see what you can learn and find out to help the children in your state. Arkansas, we are more then blessed to have as many organizations as we do in the state. I know of a lot of little ones but these are the main two big ones. If I would write about all of them, that would be all the entries for this month. 

May is National Foster Care Awareness Month

            After April (abused children awareness month) comes May (National Foster Care Awareness month), I love these two months and I'm glad they come after each other and that makes more sense too. I have learned a lot about the foster care system while living in in AR because of where I used to work and that was at the children's shelter. I have never heard or seen a state that is so passionate about Foster Care. Arkansas has so many systems and organizations just for that one thing but it makes sense when you have about 10,000 abused children in the state. Over 100,000 children waiting for a foster home. You want to make a home for them.
          I know of a organization that is big in this state and it is called "The Call". That is what this entry will mostly be about. It will be about me telling you about and promoting "The Call" in a good way. Their motto is: "No Waiting Children in Arkansas". This is their website:
http://thecallinarkansas.org. It is a Christian based organization. I found out about first through my church and then more when I was working the children's shelter. "The Call" does a lot within the community and finding and building foster homes for children that need them.
         I know that they have a monthly meeting and the start of each month at different churches around the communities. The meetings usually happen on a Monday night so the first Monday of every month. The meetings are informational meetings on how to become a foster home and the guidelines to follow with that. That is the first step through this organization and the state if you are wanting to become a foster home. "Come explore what God may have for YOU to do in the life of a child in foster care in your community!" That is the first sentence they have on their events page on their website. I love it! 
        They also have a place on their website where you can sign up to volunteer for anything. You can volunteer in every county to help them. There is CALL office volunteers, child care volunteer during meetings, foster family support system, fundraising, hospitality team, mentor, prayer team, and so much more. I need to volunteer to help with child care during one of the info meetings. Maybe I will do that soon and write about it. Maybe next month? But while I do that, I challenge you to get out there and volunteer with them some how this month or in the next coming month to see how it feels to serve people in need. 
        Here are some facts from their website and there are some more facts that you can look at. I wanted to put them all on here for me to keep but then what good would it do you and them if you didn't go to their website at all. 

         

Facts about children in foster care

FACT: 7,000 children spend time in foster care in Arkansas every year.

FACT: Today there are about 4,500 children in foster care.

FACT: Children are placed in foster homes because they have been removed from their own families due to abuse, neglect, or other family problems that endanger their safety.

FACT: Each child deserves a safe, loving temporary home where they can heal and grow.

FACT: Children in foster care range in age from infancy through 18 years of age.

FACT: Some children have special medical, physical, or emotional needs. 

FACT: Children in foster care are from every ethnicity or race.

FACT: 85% of the time the permanency goal for children who enter foster care is reunification with their biological family.

Here are some more Fostering Facts from their website:

Fostering facts

FACT: Foster families provide a temporary, healthy, loving home for children in foster care while biological families resolve the issues that brought their children to into care. 

FACT: If you are you willing to build into the life of a child temporarily and support reunification without the expectation of adoption – then you will be a perfect foster parent. 

FACT: Foster families are expected to provide a nurturing family environment which includes guidance, stimulation, affection, praise, encouragement and appropriate discipline.

FACT: Foster families can specify the age group of children you are willing to take into your home. You choose which children come into your home. 

FACT: Foster families prepare children to enter school at an appropriate age and provide opportunities for children to express their strengths, gifts and talents.

FACT: Foster families transport children to doctor visits, court, and family visits.

FACT: Foster Families teach children life skills.

FACT: The CALL recruited foster families only take placements from their home county.

FACT: 1,000 more foster homes are needed statewide to have a home for every child in foster care. 

           
       




There is also another organization in Arkansas for foster children and families and it is called "Project Zero". This is also their website: http://www.theprojectzero.org. That I will write about in my next entry. This organization took up a lot of space. More then I thought it would.

Spiritual Failure to Thrive

            Finally, I have found some time to sit down and write something more meaningful then the last few entries I have wrote. Sorry about that. It has just been a busy past couple of weeks for me. I have been so sleepy because I am working longer hours at work and then I had a tooth worked on this week so I had that to deal with plus everything else. I also haven't been feeling very well these past couple of weeks but I am all better ready to write again so hopefully, I will get caught up this week. I have a lot to write about.
          God had been working in my life and giving me ideas to write about. God has not taken a break from anything in my life like I have. That is just God for ya, I know. Well, Spiritual Failure to Thrive is an idea I got from my church a couple or more weeks ago and I love it and the sermon that went with it. Even though, I don't want to write the whole sermon down, I will write about this phase. Being a child development major, I can understand things better when people talk on my terms and during the sermon the preacher did and he used this phase, "Spiritual failure to thrive" and I connected right to the sermon.
           To let people know, just the "failure to thrive" is a term used in child development, when talking about children that don't have enough of something like touch, food, or sadly love and then there is more that they can be failure to thrive for or with. I never thought of it for us as adults as a spiritual phase. This is how the preacher explained it for people like us. He said, "Spiritual failure to thrive is when we stop growing in God."
           Growing in God is a process that we are going to be in all of our lives. We might not think of it as that. Some people might think if I get baptized, then I will change just like that. That won't happen though, every season of life as its ups and downs. We will keep learning until we are in Heaven. We can never fail to thrive for God and what He has for us in this life because our reward is Heaven, where we will be prefect. We have to thrive and live for God while we are here on this earth going towards our time in Heaven.
           I also like something else the preacher said in that sermon. He was also read some verse in 1 Corinthians about how when we are born again Christians, we start out like infant needing some milk. When I heard that comparison I, again, totally connected and it was interesting to think about it that way. Even though, this is all about community and leadership, we need to see the comparison. There are baby Christians, toddler aged Christians, elementary aged Christians, middle aged Christians, and old aged Christians. Sorry it helps me when I picture it exactly that way. That is why I am a teacher's kid.
          When we are infants in Christ we need someone to feed and teach us the Word of God. Then we can teach our own friends and then we can teach the world. It is one step at a time and one season in life at a time too. You might think you got it all down but then God puts you in another season of your life and you feel like you are a baby Christian again. Some examples are: you got your personal study time down but now you need to love others with it. You got the job that you love but you either want to buy a house or start a relationship. You get comfortable in this one spot but then you have to move again. At the time, we might think "God why are you doing this to us", when really it is a good think for us because He is helping us grow closer to Him.
            Another example that has happened in my life is my loved ones passing away. The first one wasn't easy at all for me because it showed me I was getting older and someday all of my loved ones will pass away. As each one of them did, it seemed to get easier. Of course, it is never easy losing a loved one but I really think it was easier for me because I knew I needed to rely on God more and more. Just remembering all the things they did when they were alive gave me the strength to move on. Sadly, being the 2nd second youngest, I didn't get to spend munch time with my grandparents as some of my other siblings so I really learned a lot about my grandparents at their funeral.
             God did that for a reason and the reason was to make me as strong as they were in life. I am a strong, stubborn, determined, country girl and I couldn't have been that if things did't go the way they have been going in my life. I will tell you I have learned to appreciated the people that are still alive more closely because I regretted not knowing them better. The point is we should never have Spiritual Failure to Thrive. We should be thriving for God and what He wants the most for us everyday of our lives. We should remember to that God is never done with us and it is always going to be a process. Growing in and with God is what I mean by that.


Challenge: Remember to thrive in and for God. Joy unspeakable. Faith unsinkable. Make your love unstoppable. (Casting Crowns) Love that song! 

Emotion Vs. Truth

"Emotion says, "Nobody cares."

Truth says, "Jesus cares for me."

Emotion says, "I am angry and will show her!"

Truth says, "Be angry and do not sin."

Emotion says, "I'm afraid to hear the doctor's report."

Truth says, "Fear not, for I am with you."

Emotion says, "I can't do this anymore."

Truth says, "My grace is sufficient."

-Written By: Holley Gerth


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"Emotion says, "Do I stay or do I follow?"

Truth says, "If you don't leave your things behind, you are not worthy of me."

Emotion says, "Am I even worth loving?"

Truth says, "I would give up my life for you."

Emotion says, "I don't want to go talk to him/her."

Truth says, "If you love him/her, fear is gone and you have the power to talk to them."

Emotion says, "Am I really blessed?"

Truth says, "Look at the flowers of the field and the birds of the air."


Rewritten/worded (to fit my life) by: Tiffney Wilson


          Hope this make somewhat of sense and by this I mean my part. I want to do a longer version, maybe someday, but this is all for now. I would have to do more research and scripture memorization. Not that it is bad because I need to do more of it but you understand what I am saying. I hope. :)

1 Corinthians 2:1-5+1 Corinthians 2:6-13+Psalm 143:8

"And so it was with me, brothers and sisters. When I came to you, I did not come with eloquence or human wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. I came to you in weakness with great fear and trembling. My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power."- 1 Corinthians 2:1-5

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" Yet we do speak wisdom among those who are mature; a wisdom, however, not of this age nor of the rulers of this age, who are passing away; but we speak God’s wisdom in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God predestined before the ages to our glory; the wisdom which none of the rulers of this age has understood; for if they had understood it they would not have crucified the Lord of glory; but just as it is written,

“Things which eye has not seen and ear has not heard,
And which have not entered the heart of man,
All that God has prepared for those who love Him.”

For to us God revealed them through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God. For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so the thoughts of God no one knows except the Spirit of God.  Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things freely given to us by God, which things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words.- 1 Corinthians 2:6-13 (NASB)

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"Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love,

    for I have put my trust in you.
Show me the way I should go,
    for to you I entrust my life."- Psalm 143:8

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Challenge: Who knows why I have these three verses on the same page? They go together somehow, but how?

Perfectionism Vs. Growth

Perfectionism is all or nothing.

Growth is little by little.

Perfectionism is all about the goal.

Growth is more about the journey.

Perfectionism is about outward appearances.

Growth is about what happens on the inside.

Perfectionism is about what we do.

Growth is about who we're becoming.

Written By: Holley Gerth

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Perfectionism is about worrying.

Growth is about trusting.

Perfectionism is done after one little thing is done.

Growth is progress.

Perfectionism is about the here and now.

Growth is about the future.

Perfectionism is where other people think about you.

Growth is what God thinks about you.

Worded differently by: Tiffney Wilson-so it could fit her life right now.

Everyday Prayers Vs. Certain Prayers

          It is about time that I wrote this entry because this draft has been in the draft folder for a month now. These two things have been on my mind a lot and I have been putting them in action in my our life. It is so funny and strange how we, as human beings, think that sometime we need two or more prayer journals for different things and people. I just had this thought: "If we had two or more prayer journals, are we really giving everything over to God like we are suppose to? Or are we holding on some things that we don't want God to take care of but trying to take care of ourselves?" Here is what I am talking about when I say: Everyday Prayers Vs. Certain Prayers. 
          I'm going to get into my personal prayer life a little bit here and tell you how I did it and how I do it now. When I say everyday prayers, I mean the prayers that I pray every night before I go to bed, I talk about everything that went on that day and every request that I had but one that was very special to me and I wanted to keep track of. God showed me last year that I don't need to do two journals one for everyday prayers and certain prayers. I shouldn't do two prayer journals but I needed one.
          My certain prayers were different from my everyday prayers. My certain prayers were in another journal and about one thing and only one thing. I couldn't write in the prayer journal if it wasn't about that one thing. I will be honest too, as I kept doing it for 2 years, it did get boring and I did get to where I didn't know what to say in that journal. Those prayers were boring and I was stressing over what to write in that journal and when to write in it. Prayers are not suppose to stress you out and you aren't suppose to think too much about them. You are just suppose to talk to God about what's going on in your life. Let everything that is bothering you out to God and then you might feel better.
           That wasn't happening to me when I had the 2 different prayer journals. The lesson from this whole thing is that: you just need to give everything over to God. Give Him all of your heart and then life will be easier in a way. You don't have to worry about the little things or big things when you write it all out in one journal to God. I think this is the prefect picture of us, human beings, trying to keep God out of part or certain areas of our heart when He wants it all in the first place. We cannot make anything right in this world so why do we try to keep things to ourselves especially the things we love and care about the most. It is so funny that we know that God can handle it in a good way but yet we don't trust Him with our important things.
           Now I went back to one prayer journal, a while back, and you wouldn't believe how much simpler life is with just one journal. It does make a difference. I can pray about that certain thing or person anytime I want to without having to worry about it. I know God has everything under control. Since I am involving that certain thing or person in my everyday prayer life, then it helps me to include that person or thing into my everyday life, if that makes sense. I'm not just putting something or someone on a stand because they are special to me. I'm putting them in my everyday life because they are special to me.
          I don't know what it was about those 2 prayer journals that I did have but I just felt like one of them was better then the other one and I couldn't have anything to do with one of them. I had to stand back from it until a special occasion came along or that is how I felt and I didn't want to feel that way anymore so I am back at one journal. It is a great feeling when you can pray anytime for anything and knowing that the Father is listening to your prayers, no matter how strange they might be. It is also a great feeling when you can pray just about anything for that special thing or person and feel okay about it.
         It is also neat to see how things and people fit into your life if you pray for them along with the other things that are going on in your life. God might show you something in that way when you put the pieces together, you might get an answer.
        All I am saying is: don't keep anything from God because you never know what He might do in your life.