Tag: Dream Center of Southeast Texas

The Gratitude of a Community

A Year to Volunteer has taken over Sam Houston Jones State Park for the next two weeks!  This group of ninja volunteers is ready to help with the continued restoration efforts from the devastation caused by Hurricanes Laura and Delta in 2020.

This beautiful park needs a lot of TLC.

Sandy and I were here for a short time between the two storms and the one thing that stood out then was the resilience of this community.

This time around, it’s the gratitude of this community.

From the owner of The Laundromat in Sulphur who let us do Laundry for free when he heard that we were helping, to the A-Plus RV Park who let us dump and fill our tanks, to the Deputy Sheriff who is patrolling the park, to the members of the Henning United Methodist church that we attended with our dear friend, Lori Carter Pritchett who all thanked us for being here to lend a hand, it was nothing but gratitude that was expressed to us.

The material things in this community may have been crushed by those storms, but its spirit was not.

Many people outside the area have forgotten about it, but there is still so much more work to be done.

You may not be able to volunteer for two weeks, but there are other ways to help.

Research how to give and how to help.  I’ll try to get some of our friends in the area to put some links to ways to help in the comments.

Just because it’s not in the news everyday doesn’t mean that the job is complete.

Do what you can with what you have.

Peace.

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Edward Medlin – An Entire Life Lies Ahead

Edward was the youngest member of the discipleship program at the Dream Center of Southeast Texas while Sandy and I were there to volunteer.  At only 18 years old, he originally thought that he’d be entering into his freshman year of college, but God had other plans for him.

He had to get his life right and his addiction under control before God could use him as He had planned.

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Beauty in the Broken

There isn’t one single person on this earth who doesn’t have scars and broken pieces.  Some of those scars may have been self-inflicted.  Some of them may have been caused by other people’s actions.  Some may be easy for others to see and understand.  Most are hidden deep under layers of complexity.  In the end, how we got the scars and how easy they are for others to see really doesn’t matter.  It’s how we heal from them and how we move forward from them that does.

To each other though, we must be more empathetic.

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Bob Daniels – A Long Trip of Highs and Lows

Bob’s story is one of many highs and lows throughout his battle with addiction.  However, after years of drug and alcohol abuse, several failed marriages, thoughts of suicide and despair, God is restoring Bob’s life and his relationships with his children.

Bob is living proof that no matter where life takes you, you can always make a change for the better.  Through his faith and devotion, he truly is a changed man.

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The Power of One

We can’t change what other people are doing in the world, good or bad.  We can change how we approach the world and those that we interact with on a daily basis.  That’s where we can change the world for those around us.  Just by being kind, doing good, volunteering, surrounding yourself with others who are trying to make a positive difference in the world as well.  Just be out there planting seeds of goodness and grace everywhere that we go.

There are times that you may see the fruit of your labor instantly, but we just need to make sure that we’re always going out and planting those seeds.  Regardless of whether or not we get to see the harvest, we just need to keep planting the seeds of love and kindness.

Help other people in any small way that you can.

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Kyle Denton – From Rock Bottom to Finding Hope by Giving Back

He recently moved from heading up the warehouse at the Dream Center and overseeing the food panty to a case worker in the office.  Through my person interaction with Kyle, I can see that he has a heart for helping others.  I feel that his recipe for a successful and life-long recovery is to dive headfirst into the ministry of helping others.  Focusing on making other peoples lives better will allow him to move forward successfully in his own journey of recovery.

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A Happy New Year, but with Some Sad Good-Byes

After Destin, we’ll make our way down to Largo and I can’t wait to get there!  I should see cousins Carole and Patty and our friends Tim and Ron.  We stayed at Ron’s house in Washington and now we’ll get to see him again in Florida, how neat is that?

After Largo, it’s back to Melbourne with Aunt Sally and Uncle Randy for a while.  I can’t wait to see them again.  I’m sure that I’ll get to see cousins Jenny, Bobby, and Andi as well as Uncle Tom in Melbourne too.  It’s going to be a lot of fun.  Me and mommy and daddy will get to walk at Wickham Park with Aunt Sally and her friends Alice and Pat.  I’ll have to get right back to work making all of the Wickham Park people smile again.

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Jimmy Obregon – A Disciple at the Dream Center

He is one of the incredible humans that Sandy and I have been blessed to meet while we’ve been volunteering at the Dream Center.

The people here are all living examples of God’s grace and redemption.  Each of them is at a different stage of their recovery journey.  They are all strengthening their faith in God and understanding that their recovery is only possible with God and surrounding themselves with a strong support system.

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