A “Typical” Day at Shepherd’s Gate

I am often asked, “What does a typical day look like at Shepherd’s Gate?”  I can only smile because, although we do have a schedule for getting up, being in rooms, attending devotions and eating meals, the rest of our days are rather like the box of chocolates—you never know what you are going to get!!  If you can just imagine your house with about 50+ people in it, you may understand how it feels to be in this building.  We have ladies looking for work, going to work and racing to appointments.  We have new ones coming, others going and some finally moving to apartments for which they have waited for months.  All of this movement goes along with lots of crying, laughing and lots of talking!

For all of the excitement that surrounds us each day, we still strive to make this building as clean, safe and comfortable as possible for the women and children who live here.  Most come because of past hurts that have left them helpless and without hope.  We offer them hope; hope that comes through knowing Jesus Christ as Savior.  Hope that tells them that no matter what their past looks like–God has a plan to give them all a future and a hope (Jeremiah 29:11).

God is always “showing up and showing out here” as some of the ladies put it!  He always seems to be doing something amazing!  In the weeks to come, I will be sharing stories with you that may seem hard to believe, but–they are all true!

So, a typical day? We don’t really have them.  A typical place to live—we are not.  But,  for the women who stay with us for a while, Shepherd’s Gate is a haven, a launching pad to a new life and, as one visiting, former client quietly said to her son the other day as they left my office–“This is home.”