No Longer Bound

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Julia, a new resident at STCH Ministries Homes for Families (HFF), moved to Marshall Ranch determined to commit her heart to Jesus and to give her infant daughter Jordan a good life. After ending a bad relationship, she knew the time had come to break the abusive pattern. HFF allows mothers and their children to live in a safe, comfortable home setting as supportive staff help address the physical, emotional and spiritual needs of the family.

There are four phases in the program: Phase I – The Restorative, Phase II – The Equipping, Phase III – The Launch, Phase IV – The Landing. Inspiration for the phase names comes from the book Streams in the Desert by L.B. Cowman, “Jesus Christ is not my security against the storms of life, but He is my perfect security in the storms. He has never promised me an easy passage, only a safe landing.”

Julia experienced tremendous trauma during her formative years. Her dad hung himself when she was five years old and in the aftermath, she grew up in a controlling environment with her mother and a string of boyfriends. During this restorative phase at HFF, Julia recognized the hurt she experienced as a child resulted in her repeating the same manipulative habits as her mom. “I had to go through a forgiveness process which was possible only through Christ to overcome the guilt of the choices I have made,” She admitted.

Julia asked God to remind her of a time when she was not manipulative. He took her back to the age of seven when she had a nanny, Zonia, who served Jesus and taught Julia the scriptures. Her life, at that time, was devoted to pleasing Jesus. Julia hoped to become, for her baby, the same example Zonia had been to her. To do so, she knew she needed Jesus.

Encouraged by that memory, Julia continues to grow and seek God’s face. She is learning how to break free from the bondage that taught her to look to people instead of to the Lord. She describes the best part of living at HFF as the opportunity to show Jordan what it means to know who she is in Christ. The chance to live on Marshall Ranch with no distraction allows Julia to learn how to keep negative experiences from taking root in her heart.

It is beautiful to see what Jesus is doing through His word, prayer, praise and worship in her life and the other women at STCH Ministries Homes for Families.

In Permanent Ink

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Desirae, a STCH Ministries Family Counselor in Corpus Christi recently experienced God’s encouragement when He used her to make a difference in a young lady’s life. This client, a high school senior, struggled with low self-esteem, eating problems, getting along with her mom, anxiety and family adjustments. Desirae worked with her throughout the school year with a focus on Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) to help her understand and change any irrational thinking patterns she had developed.

This client struggled with a thinking pattern known as emotional reasoning. Sometimes identified as “Feelings as Facts,” this distortion causes the belief if you feel something it must be true. She often thought, “I feel ugly, so I must be ugly.” Desirae taught her about the cognitive triangle, a diagram explaining how thought, emotions and behaviors are all interconnected. In this example, the thought that she must be ugly led to the emotion of disgust. Feeling disgusting led to the action of isolating herself from hanging out with friends or going on a date. Desirae helped the girl to alter her thoughts using the triangle. They replaced the original thought with “Nobody is perfect, not even Instagram models. I have good qualities.” These new thoughts brought a new emotion, feeling worthy, which led to her new action of hanging out with friends.

Although they can see the progress clients make over time, counselors may not always realize how deeply visuals, such as the cognitive triangle, affect their clients. The week after graduation, Desirae received a welcome affirmation; the client showed her a tattoo of a small triangle on her ring finger. The tattoo serves as a permanent reminder of the powerful impact the visual has on her thinking. It helps remind her as she goes off to college in San Antonio that her thoughts, feelings and actions intertwine.

Completing treatment with this client gave Desirae a great feeling of accomplishment. She shares, “This is one of those moments where I understood the importance of encouraging someone to find a passion that not only changes the way they think but the way the world thinks.”

STCH Ministries Family Counselors serve on the frontlines to carry out the mission of healing hearts and sharing hope every day. God, in His goodness, weaves together motivation for each individual through the process. Desirae enjoyed the privilege of sharing in a journey to self-discovery and acceptance and the client now has a story to tell others when they ask her about the triangle.

For information about a STCH Ministries Family Counseling location near you: https://www.stchm.org/family-counseling/family-counseling-locations/