Rebecca soon fell behind on her rent, and after options ran out, she was ready to find help. “I was broken, scared, and trying to figure out how to start over,” Rebecca said. “My boys deserved to have a stable, sober, and level headed mother, and I knew I needed to restart my life.”
She had heard about Open House Ministries from friends who had gone through the program, and she knew staff who worked there. She remembered being ready to choose something unknown again.
Rebecca reached out to OHM to add her name to the list, and on her 39th birthday in December of 2024, Rebecca was accepted into the program and moved into the shelter. “It was the best present I could have ever asked for,” she said. “Things that had held me back my whole life I was able to release to God.”
Time at Open House Ministries was transforming for Rebecca.
She remembers how grateful she was to have Chaplain Jon’s counseling as she worked through tough issues. And how important it was to be met right where she was when she arrived, but challenged to grow and take accountability for herself so she could learn how to create a new life.
“Open House saw me, invested in me, and helped me see things in myself that I could not see at the time,” she said. “They gave me space to grow, but also guidance and correction I needed along the way.”
Rebecca shared that she appreciated the program’s clear expectations and the importance of an open line of communication with staff. “The classes stretched my mind, and I learned a lot that will guide me the rest of my life,” she said. She added that the program is well thought out, with residents responsible for keeping their rooms in order and showing up to class on time. She also said she learned to be present with her children.
Rebecca appreciated the struggle other residents in the shelter were going through too. “I loved the community of diverse people just trying to make life changes,” she said. And when it came time for Rebecca to leave the shelter after finishing the program, she recalled how she was moved to tears with her shelter friends, grateful for the stability and growth in her own life and the opportunity to build a better future for her sons.
“I found healing, support, accountability, and a stronger relationship with God. Even in my darkest times, I was able to thank God for my beautiful life,” Rebecca said. “I had faith that I would walk out of OHM completely changed. And I did.”
We are so grateful for Rebecca and her sons. Her brave choices to restart her life and trust God are a blessing. Please keep Rebecca in your prayers as you remember Open House Ministries and the lives God is changing as they put their trust in Him.
A Choice for a Beautiful Life
resident story
Rebecca enjoying a holiday event with her two sons.
Making big changes often comes with difficult challenges. For Rebecca, fear of the unknown became less unnerving than the decision to leave an unhealthy marriage. But it came with a heavy price and led to a relapse after being sober for over five years. The choice also impacted her mental health, and she found herself spiraling out of control.
chaplain's corner
Who gets to decide what I do?
Peter tells Christians to “live as free people” in the middle of a passage about living under authority (1 Peter 2:16). This sounds strange at first glance. How can someone live freely when another person sets the terms?
We often imagine freedom as answering to no one. Yet everyone Peter addresses lives within obligations they did not create: citizens under government, servants under masters, and husbands and wives with responsibilities toward one another.
That struggle can turn a required class into a battle over control. A resident decides the class is pointless and repeatedly refuses to attend. While fighting the authority behind one requirement, they risk throwing away the freedom still in their hands: the freedom to continue building a stable life for themselves and their children.
Open House Ministries provides housing, counseling, classes, case management, and pastoral care. We also hold residents accountable for how they use those opportunities. They must care for their apartments, participate in the program, remain sober, and treat others with respect. Their choices have consequences because their choices matter.
Accountability is part of treating people with dignity. Every resident is made in the image of God and capable of responsibility, wisdom, repentance, and growth.
Peter’s words belong to all of us. Someone else may set the schedule, enforce the rule, or make the decision. They cannot keep us from honoring God. Because we belong to Christ, the next faithful step remains in our hands. • Chaplain Jon Nichols
Yet, Peter locates their freedom in whom they ultimately belong to. They may answer to human authorities, yet they belong to God. No one else’s decisions release them from their responsibility before him.
Peter shows us this freedom in Jesus. His enemies arrested him, condemned him, and nailed him to a cross. Yet Jesus did not retaliate or make threats. He “entrusted himself to him who judges justly” (1 Peter 2:23). They determined what they would do to him. They could not determine Jesus’ response. Jesus remained free to trust and obey his Father.
Our residents know what it is to have someone else set the terms. One of the most frequent struggles we encounter concerns personal autonomy. Who gets to decide what I do? By the time many residents arrive, find themselves answering to parole officers, judges, counselors, caseworkers, and treatment staff. Then they enter a program with its own schedule, classes, and expectations. It can feel as though someone else now governs every part of life.
