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July proved to be a busy month for us at Norma’s House!
With interviews, meet-ings, and fundraising events, we have had to stay on our toes! We are also welcoming a new staff member, Tiffany Collie. Tiffany will be the Pro-gram Coordinator. Tif-fany just finished a week of training as Forensic In-terviewer at the National Children’s Advocacy Cen-ter in Huntsville Alabama. She will be taking over most of the forensic inter-viewing from Ann, so that Ann can focus more of her time as Executive Direc-tor. So stop by sometime when you have a chance and say hello to Tiffany!
Another exciting addi-tion to our Team this sum-mer is Sarah Westerfield, LPC-I. She is a therapist who is providing coun-seling services at Norma’s House to children and family members. We are very pleased to introduce her to our community.
July 7th, Bo Davis of DVS Productions held a Calcutta event at Pard-ner’s Dancehall, located at the American Legion. Eighty percent of the funds raised were paid back out as prizes for the top bull riders. The other twenty percent was donat-ed to Norma’s House. On Saturday at the PBR Bull riding event, the Gonza-les County Royal Court
sold 50/50 raffle tickets and Shark Tank tickets for Norma’s House with 100% of the sales going to Norma’s House. The Staff and Board of Directors of Norma’s House worked the gate for the event. The PBR was a great success, and our hats are off to Bo Davis for his support to Norma’s House and our mission!
An exciting new event to benefit Norma’s House was the “Come and Take It Bike Race” on July 23rd and 24th. Coordinated by Southern Clay, sixty per-cent of the money raised from the bike race was do-nated to Norma’s House. This was such a neat and successful event for the community that we hope to have every year! Thank you to everyone at South-ern Clay who helped to put this event on and for your support of Norma’s House!
Our new fiscal begins August 1. Tiffany is de-veloping our Calendar of Community Events for Fiscal Year 11-12. Events will include training for parents, teachers, youth group leaders, churches, and the general public. She will also schedule speaking engagements for staff, volunteers and board members to address clubs and organizations in Gon-zales and Lavaca Coun-ties. She is also coordinat-ing awareness and safety training for children. We really appreciate our de-
voted volunteer trainer, Carolyn Morrow, for help-ing with these. Watch for more about “Darkness 2 Light” and “Happy Bear!”
Now, over the spring months we had a “Raise the Roof ” fund drive. Very strong winds on February 2 this year, fol-lowed by weeks-on-end of wind, left much of our ag-ing roof on the lawn. But, with an insurance claim, donations from McCoys, the Gonzales Elks Lodge, Kardosz, Inc., and indi-viduals, and a fundraising Plant Sale, we now have a new metal roof which should last long and cut some of our overhead costs!
Two of our staff mem-bers, Judy and Tiffany, talked last week to the Smiley Neighborhood Watch group. The re-sponse was wonderful and Norma’s House has gained some very good friends. At the meeting, very good questions were asked that allowed staff to give important infor-mation and clear up mis-conceptions about what a Children’s Advocacy Cen-ter does and how it oper-ates. Several people came away saying things like, “Wow, I never thought of it that way.” This was in response to Judy saying, “When a child victim of abuse steps through our door, it is their first step to recovery. It’s our hope that the worst is then be-hind them.”
The Gonzales CannonThursday, August 18, 2011 Page B3
Faith & FamilyDon’t get so focused on the problem that you lose focus
F
ull Circle
Thrift Shop
830-857-5118
Mon.-Sat., 10-6517 St. JosephGonzales, TX
Furniture, Tools, household items & much more.
Weekly SalesBuy - Sell - Trade
Activities make for busy July for Norma’s House
2011 Fall League Registration ScheduleAges 4-12
Register Now thru August 27th
Registration Dates at WalmartSaturday, August 6th 10am-2pm
Registration Form Pickup LocationsTwo Rivers Church Office501 Saint Joseph Street
Revival Fitness Gym931 Saint Lawrence Street
You can also email us if you need a form at:[email protected]
Hilites, Perms, Facials, Nails, Pedicures, Massages,
New Line of Clothing
HAIR IT IS & CO.830-672-3904
1402 St. Louis, Gonzales, TX
Get Ready for Summer
Do you have a physical problem right now that will not let you en-joy your life? Is there an emotional issue that is draining your energy? Are these concerns occupying your mind day and night?
Do you toss things around in your mind and play the “what If ” game? You know the game… “What if this pain turns out to be…?” “What if I end up alone?” “What if I lose everything?” on and on and on until you feel you are going crazy.
If you answered yes to these questions I want to share some-thing that might help you. Take this paper and bring it up to your eye level. Now press it against your nose. Read what it says. Could you read it? Why not? Wasn’t it be-cause everything was out of focus? Well, that’s exactly what happens when we focus too closely on our problems.
Whenever we are emotion-ally entangled in a problem it is
almost impossible to see things objectively. We can’t find the so-lution to our dilemma because when our emotions are rattled they affect our ability to be objec-tive. It took a while for me to get into the habit of taking myself out of the picture when trying to solve my problems. Stepping back from the situation lets us get a different perspective on what is going on. Stepping back helps us see things clearer and helps us to recognize the things we can change, and the things we have no control over.
Next time you are having trou-ble coming up with the answer to your problem just consider how you would help someone
else with the same situation. You would probably give them advice from an objective and detached viewpoint. That is exactly what we must do when we are trying to solve our own problems. It takes discipline not to focus on what affects us personally, but it can be done.
There are times when trying not to focus on the problem causes you to think more about it because the mind is unable to process two things at the same time. Anytime you concentrate on not worrying about your pain, the pain is the only thing you are going to think about.
That is why the Bible tells us to reflect on what is good, about those things that encourage and uplift us. The best way to get a negative thought out of your mind and stop worrying is to replace it with a positive one. Get involved in a fun activity. Find someone to help.
Take a break from the mental gymnastics and stop scrutinizing your predicament. Whenever I’ve continually kept an eye on a con-cern to see if it is improving I can’t focus on anything else. This finally hit me…
Faith does not monitor. Doubt monitors. Once we have turned over our problems to God we have to let go of the reins and let Him take over. We’ve got to stop look-ing to see if the problem is getting better and get it out of our mind, get on with our life- without stop-ping to check for a pulse.
Worry doesn’t change anything but the quality of our life. There are some things that are totally out of our control. Figuring out the things that are ours to handle and those that are beyond our capabil-ities is a good way to relieve our-selves of a lot of stress. Letting go of whatever you can’t do anything about and allowing God to handle the rest is highly recommended.
Worrying about things that are beyond your control will wear you out physically and emotionally.
Our bodies need rest to func-tion efficiently. Anxiety is not a good prescription for a peaceful night’s sleep. We can’t manage the activities of our hectic days as we should when anxiety keeps us awake all night. A troubled heart and weary mind tend to view the world through blurred vision, and good judgment is adversely af-fected when the body and mind are fatigued.
From now on, right before you go to bed, whisper a little prayer of thanks to remind yourself that when you give your troubles to God your life is in the best of hands.
Do not be concerned. Do not be afraid. Lay your head on your pil-low and close your eyes knowing that you have a faithful watchman who never sleeps.
love, eloise
Love, EloiseEloiseEstes
Faith Family Church would like to thank everyone for investing in this project and making a difference in the lives of the stu-dents who received back packs and school supplies. Here is a list of all the individu-als and businesses who generously gave to make the Back Pack Give Away a success:
AC Collision Center, Buddy’s Natural Chicken, Dr. Vaz Clinic, E-Barr Feeds, Edwards Furniture Company, David and Casie Ehrig, Fehrner and Son Grain Co., Oaks at Winding Way, Gonzales Food Market, Gonzales Livestock, Guerra’s Grill, H.E.B., Holiday Finance, James Short/ Acero, Jim and Cecilia Singleton, Sisters In Christ Sunday School Class-Methodist Church, Kitchen Pride Mushroom Farms, David & Cindy Ackman, Lo’s Auto Sales, Mr. Taco, Soncrest Eggs, Blooming Cre-ations, Gonzales Elementary School, Merle Norman, Hoopla, Person’s Flowers, Steven & Sarah Liberti, J & G Antiques, James & Marilyn Schmidt, Mohrman Drug Store,
Christian Kids, The Gonzales Inquirer, Texan Nursing and Rehab of Gonzales, A G Construction, Michael & Shannon Gill, The Gonzales Cannon, Steve & Cheryl Turner, Kenneth & Sherry Poe, Betty Shows, Storey Jewelers, Diane’s Splitting Image, Walmart, Lone Star Bank, Caraway Ford, Hair It Is, D&D Liquor, Brian and Rebecca Fees, Asset Capital Management, Myrna Patterson McLeroy, William A. Sawyer, Jose J Garcia, Bealls, Victoria Wal-greens/Stefanie Porras, Margie Shows, All Seasons Heat & Air, Sage Capital Bank, Ri-pley & Wolff, Adams Extract & Spice, Nor-man Burns, John & Kara Williams, Jeffrey Gonzales & Allie Singleton, David & Ruth Gumper, Darryl & Trisha Becker, Bruce & Elaine Baker, Darin & Brenda Kuntschik, Family Dollar, McDonald’s, McCoy’s, Per-sonal Impressions, Munson Office Ac-count, Jean Johnson Peterek, Kate’s Klean-ers, Paige Gass, Hearty Gourmet, and West Motors.
Thanks to all the sponsors of annual backpack giveaway
Cannon News Services
