23 Jul Learning to Love and Trust
“To everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under the heaven: a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to break down and a time to build” Ecclesiastes 3:1-3
Hello, my name is Tia Morris, and I have been on staff at Wheeler Mission’s Center for Women & Children since October 2017. After working as Kitchen Manager at the CWC for 11 months, Colleen Gore, the Executive VP of Women’s Programming, told me about a position she and the administration team thought I might be interested in applying for. The position was for an Intake/Orientation Case Manager for the Higher Ground addiction recovery program. Although I had no experience as a case manager, I was told it might be a good fit for me based on how well I served and loved the guests in the kitchen. Also, I have been in recovery from alcohol addiction and have experienced healing through Christ Jesus. I know first-hand the journey these women are on. So, in September 2018, I was honored and humbled as I transitioned to this new position within Higher Ground.
I encounter women who are defeated, broken, beaten, rejected, blinded, lost, and don’t know themselves. The broken world in which we live has told God’s daughters some ugly lies and half-truths about who they are. Because of these distorted views, the biggest challenge I face is helping women see themselves the way Christ sees them. My goal for anyone who struggles with an addiction is to discover their identity in Jesus Christ. In Higher Ground, our recovery principles come from The Genesis Process. The Genesis Process is a biblically-based recovery program that helps those struggling with addiction to identify their false belief system and replace it with truth. I have a whole-hearted desire for the women who come to Higher Ground to have an opportunity to start anew and experience Christ’s healing power, no matter what her past looks like. I want them to feel welcomed and experience Jesus. Truly the time we share with our guests is short and only for a season. The world does enough to “break down” God’s children. I want to be a servant that helps “build up” others.
This piece was authored by Tia Morris, Case Manager at Wheeler Mission’s Center for Women & Children. Pictured above: Tia (on the right) with the first guest (on the left) that she counseled through the Genesis Process.