Dreaming is not often something a single-mom thinks she can afford to do. It often feels selfish, or an unproductive use of her time, when she’s holding down the responsibilities of being the sole caretaker of her children 24/7. But dreaming is so important! When God created us, he gave humanity the job of stewarding creation. We are people who are called to create, to use our gifts and talents, to dream about what could be, and to uncover the good He has for each of us! But it’s something none of us accomplishes alone.
Recently, we have really pressed into dreaming with our families through vision boards while creating resident action plans. One mom in particular has begun slowly filling out her plan as she begins dreaming about a different future for her family. She does this one day at time, often chasing her precious small children around in between the questions her Family Advocate leads her through. The pause and concentration this takes is necessary for thinking about such big life questions and doesn’t come easily to this busy mom. Yet, even in the midst of felt chaos, good life affirming conversation is arising. And this dedicated mom is identifying the things she would like to accomplish during her time at The Restoration House and beyond.
It is our hope that these moments, followed by this type of awareness, will result in a family knowing exactly what dreams and goals they are working towards, knowing they are not working at it alone, and knowing there are a lot of different ways to overcome the barriers we all face in life.
Through weekly meetings with their Advocates, families have the opportunity to think about and discover the strengths they possess, the concerns they have, develop their priorities, and then dream!
Once their goals are set and the form is finished, both the Advocate and the family’s signatures create a contract between them that these are things they are working towards together. As families experience success, it is celebrated together. As they experience barriers, they consider other available resources or reimagine that goal together.
We find that this process is an effective way to draw out the desires and possibilities that already exist within each family, and it gives language to being able to identify and address barriers. The process allows us to be holistic with each individual family – whether they want to go back to school, advance in their current career, learn a new language, gain reliable transportation, grow in their leadership abilities, or create more opportunities for family healing and family fun – each mom gets to decide the direction her family moves in while at TRH.
This life-changing strengths-based approach to goal setting has become such a vital part of our work. And every donation made to the Restoration House allows us more daily access to the resources and opportunities that help us walk along-side each family on their unique journey of self-discovery in much more effective ways.
Learn more about how you can join us in investing in the dreams and futures of these amazing mother-led families today at BigGiveKnox.org.