When she first arrived at Bethel Bible Village, Alice had a hard time understanding her reason for being here. She says, “I was so upset when I first got here and felt like I couldn’t do it. I said to myself ‘I am not going to participate in my program.’” Finishing her program felt like such a daunting task to her, and she would constantly ask when she could go back home. She came in struggling with communication and isolating herself from others during relational conflicts, and she had no real desire to work through these issues.
Alice’s mindset changed when she was able to see the bigger picture. Morgan Granberry, one of our Staff Social Workers, worked with Alice every day to improve her communication and conflict resolution skills. Morgan was able to show Alice the negative impact that her response to conflict had on relationships. “Once she saw the pattern of how she handled conflict and the result of her actions, everything changed,” says Morgan. Alice was finally able to see that by isolating herself as a response to conflicts, she was hindering the relationships in her life.
After Alice accepted this as an unhealthy pattern in her life, she was determined to change it. She felt like God was calling her to pray, so every day she prayed for God to work in her life and help rebuild her broken relationships. While at first she was discouraged to not see immediate results, she knew she had to keep praying. She says, “I felt like God was telling me, ‘Just go on with your program. You got this.’” She started communicating more effectively and working hard to complete her program. Within a few months, God had completely redeemed some of the relationships in Alice’s life.
Alice is now so excited for what the future holds and for her journey with Jesus. “I never thought of being a Christian, that wasn’t what I wanted to do. But after seeing what God has done in my life, I want to follow what God wants me to do,” she says. She has become very passionate about her relationship with God and reading His Word daily. One verse that she has continued to read during this season is James 4:8 which says, “Come near to God and He will come near to you.” She says that she wants to keep reminding herself that when she prays and listens to God, He will draw near to her. She now knows that she can trust in God because He has a plan for her life and will walk with her every step of the way.