Uncharted Territory

Message Transcription

Karl: Well. Good morning church. It is good to be with you this morning. This is one of our favorite Sundays here at Broadway. It's children's home Sunday. This church has a long, long relationship with the children's home. I'm excited to get to be joined with my buddy here, Jimmy Moore. And in just a second, he's going to tell you a couple of things. But I know the question that's on everybody's mind this morning as we begin, is which four teams do you and Shelly think are going to make the playoff today? Shelly.

Jimmy: Shelly, can you help me?

Karl: Shelly. Okay, okay. I had a feeling that's what you guys would say. Yeah. Jimmy, we are so thankful to you and Shelly for the ministry at the children's home. And you and I were talking about this the last couple of weeks. And knowing we've got a lot of new faces, a lot of new folks here at Broadway who don't know the story and the history. So tell us a little bit about who you are and who the children home children's home is.

Jimmy: Okay, first of all, I see a lot of familiar faces. Bobby, I see you don't fall asleep on me. First of all, I'm a guy who I would say. Fortunately, today went through some hardships as a little kid. At the time I thought was unfortunate, but today I can see why I went through what I went through. I my dad was killed by my mom when I was four years old. I had all this trauma and these things that were built up in me. I didn't realize why they were there, why I had them for many of years, I hated school. I just felt like life in itself was unfair, as most kids have a dad or a or a mom to fill in for them. I never had those kinds of things, whether it was athletic events, whether it was going to the state tournament and having a representative with you to celebrate with you and your family. I never had that. So I really think deep in my heart that the reason why I experienced those things, because God was going to say, I'm going to use you in another fashion years later. And so today I work with those kids who are the least of these those kids who have the children's home, who chose not to be there but went through more hardship than I would ever fathom and are becoming strong, productive citizens because of the community of Lubbock, because of you.

Jimmy: You don't get to see. You don't get to deal with them directly. But this church is a place where some thoughtful minds went into what can we do to better serve our youth in this community? And you've done it for over 70 years. I'm just going to let you know today. The planning took place years ago, and to this day, there are still some of you who can remember the day that buildings were put up, dirt was dug, you name it live, replace in homes with strangers at the time and you may have done some of that work yourself. So that's what the home has done over the years. It's a little bit about me. And we're in uncharted, uncharted territory right now, and we'll talk about that in a little bit. But that's the gist of it. And you have played a major, major made a major contribution to that.

Karl: Now you sent us a video.

Jimmy: Yes I did.

Karl: Would this be a good time to show.

Jimmy: Well our why okay. It may be our why. Sometimes we have to see the faces. Sometimes it's it's better to see kind of who's place with us because I think a lot of times over the years we thought they were just little babies and they were toddlers. We have adolescents now that need our support. So this is a great time to do that.

Karl: So you alluded to. Yes. He alluded to a minute ago. Things have changed a lot in Texas when it comes to adoption and fostering, and that's certainly something at the heart of this church. So many of our families know the challenges have experienced, some of that have longed to be foster parents, adoptive parents, all those kinds of things. So tell us a little about what does the children's home do now in the midst of all these changes?

Jimmy: And of course, we can pull that slide up, too. There are so many services. You know, in the past, the way we originally started was we were what we'd call the grow or residential facility. And so we took in mom and dad and brought them to campus. And they took in kiddos, at least on campus. Outside of campus, we've had foster care who kids were placed outside in the community for guardians to take care of, you know? And that was kind of the base of what we would do. And of course, I don't know if I don't know if I saw the movies today. And of course, I always have to think about the farm, because you had the Mounties who were there, who took care of kids and taught them how to work, loved them. Of course, it was not a slave trade. I know y'all think that was what it was back then, but it was not. It was actually teaching them how to take care of themselves and be responsible. A lot of kids come back today, and it's the first people they ask for is the Mounties. And so we had a farm that was out there. Not only that, you know, because of your dollars and people donated donating to the organization, there was a GM. So we have education and recreation. We have outside help for kids, not only just with school, but maybe coming to fill out paperwork to to get a job.

Jimmy: Some of the things that have really developed that I say today is kind of some of the highlights is because we're not seeing as many little babies. Every time I say that, guess what happened? We'll probably have babies tomorrow. Last couple of weeks ago, we had four infants come in, and because of the scarcity of homes to provide to take these kids to, we had to send three of those kids to Houston area instead of staying in their community. And that's what I want to preach more than ever, is that we would love to see our kids stay in our region, so that's what we're fighting now. In the past, we didn't have as much of that, or really, people didn't care so much about it as long as those kids were taken care of. We take care of big groups. That's one thing we pride ourselves in. If we have a sibling group of five, we're able to account, you know, for them and keep them at the home. Teenagers. You saw a young man holding a driver's license, one of our kids the other day who has transitioned out in what we would call aftercare. So that's anyone who's 18 years of age. Think about this. You're 18. Let's go back in time for some of you. And all of a sudden you're out of your household and something happens. Most of us back then could go back to family, right, and ask for help.

Jimmy: These kids do not have that. They're out of their house for a reason. They do not really have a connection to family. And so we have what we would call a contract with the state called supervised independent living. And we really pride ourselves in that contract. We would love to have a very good name for this program, not just supervised independent living, because that's the contract. So we may have a contest with that one, but these kids have an opportunity to go to school at Texas Tech. And we start partnering with tech because, you know, during the holidays, if you're an older kid and it's time to go home, where do you go? There's nowhere to go. So Texas Tech has started allowing those kids to stay on campus and housing. They can stay there in the summer as well. They have a meal plan. So man, what a great thing. This community is really picking up on that side. And so we have kids who have been successful in that. We have some who have gone to culinary school, gotten their associate's degree. And this young man that you saw earlier got his CDL. And most adults have trouble getting their CDL. So we we pride ourselves in being able to give them something that they could either have a job, some type of trade, or continue with school. So those are some of the newer things.

Jimmy: Not only that, now we're probably out in the community more than ever. We're not just based on campus. We have what we call our Family Success program. And some of you may have heard it as targeted case management. So we have two individuals who are going out into the community. And actually we have three and they can work with families. That's the big thing today is families. You know, forever. We work with kids, not with the family. Now we can go out into the community, make sure those families stay together if they're having hardship and this is not court ordered. We met with Judge Tash the other day and she does a lot of court ordering, but we do not have a court order to do this. This is something that we can go back and build Medicaid, because more than likely they're going to qualify for that and be able to take care of some of the, you know, the things that. We have to pay for it for a day to day basis. But your dollars in the community started this. We were fortunate to have a grant about four years ago to hire the first person to do this, and so it's really grown. I think we have 30 families so far that we're working with, and we're looking for capacity to, to increase. So and maybe adding an extra person here pretty soon.

Karl: Yeah. You know, it's I know it's been so hard with the changes and you guys are forced to adapt and to pivot to new things all the time. And but it's inspiring how you've been so proactive to find ways to keep serving these families, because it's not like the need went away. Ideally, you know, I'd say this with Lynn all the time. I say it with you all the time. You know, I know your goal is to work yourself out of a job. It would be great to not need the children's home of Lubbock because every family, every child is cared for. But until that time, you guys being willing to kind of stand in that stead, I know all these changes have forced you guys to go back and reassess. Why are you doing what you're doing? And so I wanted to give you a chance to share some of what you and your team have have been talking about, of what what really motivates and what drives you guys to keep seeking and finding ways to serve kiddos and families here on the South Plains.

Jimmy: You know, every day I wake up, you know, a lot of people dread what they do. You know, I dread that I have to do it, but I enjoy what I do, trying to bring reconciliation and hope to kiddos and families. I think the motivator for us is that God's ministry will always be here. It's not because of us we get to enjoy. We get to walk the day to day. We get to see the success side. I've been at it long enough that I get to see the kids who are now in their 40s come back with their kids and their grandkids now, and they'll talk about just how good things were for them. They didn't know at the moment, but the path that that set them for. So I think that's the things that we get to enjoy. Unfortunately, we get to enjoy them and don't get to tell you guys all the stories, you know, and and that's what I hate. I wish there was an opportunity to have a reunion where everybody's there. And, you know, I remember that kid, you know, and and their stories that I get to write now that I can actually put their names, put their face to the name or a name to the face, even. I think the other motivator that drives us is, you know, as I look around our campus, there's there's people that don't make a lot of money. And, you know, most people would go, oh, gosh, what are we going to do? How are we going to get through this? But those folks who have been there, you know, ten plus years who understand what the ministry is all about? Yeah, we want to make sure we don't take it for granted.

Jimmy: We know the cost of living has gone up and everything, but you don't hear a lot of complaining at times from the individuals about dollars. Now that's a little different when you talk to the directors, right? Because they want the best that they can possibly get. But we don't hear the complaining. And so even those folks who come in to work in our ministry, it's amazing to me now, and I think this is another part of my why. We spend a lot of time ministering to them because they've been in situations for most of their life, and they didn't realize they had trauma. And so we were able to start, I want to say 7 in 2017, what we would call an employee assistance program, and they get counseling sessions. And so it's amazing. I'm the only one that gets to see what's coming across the desk. Who's going to counseling? I don't know why, but I'm the one who gets the text message from a certain individual that I've never met that says it's okay for this person to seek counseling. And usually it's yes. So we know that we have to take care of not only our kids, but also those folks who work for us because they're doing God's work. And as someone said earlier, it's a messy job sometimes.

Karl: Absolutely. Well, in this passage, Romans 12 I know has been so meaningful to you. We've talked some about it. I want you to share with the church a little bit about how this passage has been impactful with you and your team, especially in the midst of the chaos and the craziness. Keep coming back to Romans 12 one and two, and.

Jimmy: You have to you know, Paul mentions this and, you know, forever. I always thought it was all about, you know, maybe just individuals never thought about it in a business sense or what we do as jobs. But, you know, we're always asking folks to pivot. You know, we're always looking for those tipping point opportunities when it's time to change, you know, not so much what God has said us to do that stays constant. You know, he wants us to take care of those love others, you know, love your neighbors. All those things stay intact. But how you do it changes. And so when we go through, as I call it, these, you know, uncharted territory, you have to make a pivot. You have to you just can't do continue to do the same old thing thinking you're going to get better results. And that's where we're at. We're at I would say unfortunately. Unfortunately. And I say unfortunately, because whenever you have the legislator who's sitting there and they're making the laws, we can't change them right away. We have to go with the flow. And so going with the flow means that let's do things that we know that are still god-centered. And you notice I said that I didn't say Church of Christ centered. I said God centered, Jesus centered. As we navigate during these, these, these uncharted times. And so when I look back at it, I think about being transformed. How can you be transformed? I think that's been my whole thing this month. Just this morning, Shelley was like, you're going to get up. Are you going to get up? And this is what happened.

Jimmy: My dream wasn't about football, but it was about a football coach and a basketball coach and myself. And it was Mike Leach. He was packing up his office and it was Larry Brown. Most of you don't know him, but Larry Brown was a very successful coach, and he was packing up his office. And I knew these two guys through some work that I did for him and then myself. And we're packing up everything and moving, and I'm like, what in the world? And I'm looking back at my house and there's some stuff that I love and I enjoy it. But I woke up this morning. I was like, you know what? You've been so fixated on transformation and everything else that you're looking and you're bringing everybody else into your, as I call it, my trauma. And but I was like, why did I why did I even have that dream? And I think this morning I dreamt that because I'm still going through that thought process, is that change is not bad, right? God stays constant. Jesus stays constant, the ministry stays constant. But the people who have to do some different things are you and I. And and so that's the excitement I get. Although there's scary times, people don't want to step out there and do those things, but it's for the benefit of the ministry of those who were before us, those who will come after us. And it's going to be at the at the end of the day, it's going to be loving, loving others.

Karl: That's right. Well, you know, our mission statement here at Broadway is partnering with God in his reconciliation of all creation. And so a couple of minutes ago, you mentioned this idea of reconciliation. That's one of the core works that you and your team are doing at the children's home, something at Broadway that we want to be more intentional about always is not just giving money. We want to give money in church. And I'm going to ask you to give money. And I want us to be really, really generous because of the work that they're doing and the challenges they're facing. But we also want to be able to take the next step and say, how can we get involved? How can someone who's here, maybe new, learning something about some of these things for the first time, who says, hey, I would like to I'd like to be involved in helping bring reconciliation to the children's home. How can we partner with you guys as we head into 24?

Jimmy: You know, one thing that that's different now than over the years is there used to be a time that I would look up at the balcony and we would have at least a cottage or two that were up in the balcony, sometimes down here as well. I think the more influence we have outside of the building, if that makes sense to you, the more influence we have outside, the more we see people gravitate and coming in, and I'm a strong believer in that. So I think having a campus tour, you know, and then maybe not just a big group, maybe some small groups come out and we give you a tour of what we're doing. I think that's lost. I think everyone would assume that they could come out during fall festival, maybe play a little golf, then the golf tournament. And those are those are okay things because you get to see kids in a different element. But I think just coming and seeing the day to day, those folks who are sitting back and I'm looking over at Jonah the other day, I think it was on a Friday. I go back there and they're holding a baby, you know, and it would just I just happened to go over because I wanted to go talk to some people. So even I have to do that.

Jimmy: I have to get back into it. Why? What's the why and how and why do we do what we do? And how can I get other people involved? And from that point it's like, okay, do we have clothes for this little one? Do we have formula? You know, there was a time that formula was a short. You know, we were short changed on formula. And I even realize that. But, you know, you can see clothing, but also maybe a small group or a class hosting a party for a kid. I know we have one church who will do actually birthday boxes, but maybe come have a pizza party for a kid, just kind of be exposed to their day to day. I think the more we put them in what we would call normalcy, put them, have them exposed to that, the better off those kids are going to be. I was one of those kids that it hadn't been for. My high school coach invited me to his house to see what a normal family looks like and operates like. Not that they didn't have fights, not that they didn't have disagreements, but I got to see a dad and mom and siblings, you know, and I would ride with them to level and Texas to the Pizza Hut back then, or probably the pizza.

Jimmy: And that's how old I am and have pizza with them. And I was like, one of these days, this is what I want. And so just a role model, you know, in order to have those we have things like clean up days that we do, you know, but I think more than anything to be exposed to, to see where you actually think you can fit in. Not everyone can be a, you know, a foster parent. Not everyone has a lot of money to give. Not everyone has the time to give. So even the respite. So as we have trainings on campus, we bring at times. Now we go to different places, but we bring all the families together who are foster families. And so we have to have somewhere for the kids to go. I've been there a couple of times. I know Lisa's done it plenty of times, along with Jana and some of you others where all the kids come and I'm about to freak out. I'm just going to be honest with you. You know, it's been a while. I've got some grandkids, but I don't have like 30 to 40 running all over the GM. And it's like, oh, what did I do? So just an opportunity to kind of be in, you know, be intentional. Absolutely. To help out there.

Karl: Yeah. Well, I hope church we're hearing that that there is an opportunity for us to get involved with these kiddos and their families in more than just, hey, good luck with all that. But actually to to show up and to be present that that the children's home is inviting us to say, would you come and help bless our kids? Would you help show and share the love of Jesus with them? In just a second? We're going to take up a special collection for those who brought a check. I think that's what we did. There are some envelopes on the gift boxes here, the donation boxes around the auditorium. You can grab one of those and put your check in there, your cash, whatever you brought with you. But there are also some ways to give digitally, and we'll talk about that here in just a minute. Jimmy, as we finish, what do we need to know going into 24? What are maybe a prayer request or two for you and Shelly for your team that we could join you in prayer about? And then I noticed you had the socials up there for us to follow along and kind of stay connected with. Is there any other advice you'd give to us about how to find out more about what's going on at the children's home?

Jimmy: First of all, I want to ask for forgiveness. You know, as we have transitioned over the years, there's been different. People come in in different roles. We have spent money doing more. Advertisement I hope you all have noticed some of that. We're trying to be more timely in getting responses to you when you send in memorials and, and honorariums and those kinds of things. But, you know, when you have changes within your department, sometimes you have hiccups. So I'll take all that. You know, I take the I won't even call it credit, but I'll take the blame for that. I will always stand firm on that. But for those things that are good, insightful, it's that team. So if you could be praying for that case manager, that house mom, you know, that accountant in the back who sees those bills coming through. And there's been times that Lisa tell being the CFO is like, how are we going to pay for that? You know, and you pray about it and you keep then you have to go home and remind yourself that, Jimmy, this ministry was here well before you. It's going to continue to be there. But it's for you folks who are behind the scenes that I know that are remembering not only our kids, but also our campus, those who are working day to day, the ins and outs.

Jimmy: You know, it's not an easy drive either for some folks. They drive all the way. I have someone driving in, I think, from outside of brownfield every day to come to work on our campus, but just just for that stability. And, you know, I'm not going to harp on this because we need it. I think some good things are coming as far as funding with the state, but we're 2 to 3 years out. I'm working on that committee. I ask for prayers and wisdom on that because I'm I'm there for the provider. And sometimes those meetings are all about those folks that I think who are thinking what's good for us, what's in it for us. And I'm looking at it from the standpoint of the providers who started off as mom and pops to people in the congregation and what the intent was for those ministries. So just keep me humble, pray for that, and then you can pray for Shelly and having to put up with me at times when I come home and I sit on the couch and I fall asleep, pass out, I'm just going to be honest, pass out. And she goes, what's wrong with you? And I'm like, there's nothing. Just give me my moment. So thank you for what you do. Thank you.

Karl: Yeah. Thank you Jimmy, thank you to the children's home for the for standing in that gap that's so critical and so important. It's a thankless job often. But we sure appreciate you. Church. Can we thank Jimmy and his team?