January 22'

What’s Up in the Tree “Thank you for giving us a place to call home and spurring us on even when we don’t want it. You encourage us to become better men through our journey to find the answer to ‘how can I do it’? The answer is Jesus!” - a resident January 2022 In This Issue: Bed Available, Psalm 103, Volunteers Needed, & What It Takes to Graduate

Bed Available At press time we have one empty bed upstairs. Someone who is new to being around the recovery community may not understand what that means. An empty bed is recovery speak for there is space for another man to participate in our program. At press time we have space for one more man. So if you are a man or know a man that is struggling with addiction and is ready to get help, we would love for you to reach out and get started on this transformational journey. Call 937-207-0039 or click the button below to go to our online application.

Application

A resident reflects on Psalm 103:12 ”As far as the east is from the west so far has He removed our sins from us.” ”East and west can never meet. This is a symbolic portrait of God’s forgiveness – when He forgives our sin, He separates it from us and forgets about it completely. We need never wallow in the past, because God forgives and forgets. We tend to dredge up the ugly past, but God has wiped our record clean. If we are to follow God, we must model His forgiveness. When we forgive another, we must also forget the sin. Otherwise, we have not truly forgiven.” — a resident

Volunteers needed! Bible teachers needed on Wednesday and Friday mornings. Mentors needed who will meet most weeks one on one with a resident. Men needed who will cover part of one weekend each month so our house manager gets some weekend time away with his grown family. Will you please pray about joining us? Then contact 937-207-0039 for more information. Teacher Scott Wills wrote, “I am drawn to the hearts of the Tree House residents, as they work diligently at growing away from mistakes of the past. We have transparent conversations about life, sin, salvation. It is so refreshing to develop the relationships with these men as we each face our need for obedience to God.”

What milestones does a person need to accomplish to graduate? There are many things we desire for our residents by the time they graduate. We particularly long to see their lives transformed by Christ, not just conformed to our rules. But since that is something God works in each man at His pace, it is not something we can mandate. At a minimum our residents must be here through the entire 12-month program, have a church home, have a mentor, have learned the essentials for Christ like living, have a job, and have practice at budgeting. We make sure the residents have the skills and tools to follow Jesus and be productive members of society but whether they choose to continue these is up to each man.