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robin-article-2Are you familiar with the game Jenga? It’s a tall tower of blocks where each player attempts to remove one single block without toppling the tower. Of course, eventually the weakened structure crashes. When one of Robin’s teachers used a Jenga tower as an illustration of what had happened in her life, it made sense. Rather than building solidly block upon block, holes had been created through abuse and neglect until the structure of her life simply could not hold. Everything came crashing down. The teacher then asked Robin to draw a picture of what a whole, restored life would look like for them. Robin drew a slightly lopsided heart. She colored outside the lines because she wanted to remind herself that it wasn’t about being perfect. A strong vine, representing the presence of Christ in her life, wrapped securely around the heart, and flowers were beginning to bloom. Because, Robin said, life can be beautiful again.

Mothers & Children in Recovery

5 min read

Mothers & Children in Recovery

Happy Mother's Day! Union Gospel Mission of the Inland Northwest has been providing services to women and their children since opening Anna Ogden...

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A Letter From Becky Wall

2 min read

A Letter From Becky Wall

Former Director of Women's Recovery Spokane and beloved friend of UGM, Becky Wall shares her family’s involvement in the UGM community and what that...

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Volunteer Spotlight: Nicki Petrie

4 min read

Volunteer Spotlight: Nicki Petrie

Nicki is a volunteer chaplain at UGM, discipling the residents of Women’s Recovery Spokane. She started out about twelve years ago, serving dinners...

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LeAnna - Lost

LeAnna - Lost

Throughout her life, LeAnna Vargas was repeatedly treated as though she had no value, and eventually, she began to believe she didn’t. Feeling...

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Binding up the Brokenhearted

Binding up the Brokenhearted

“I believe what drives people to bad behavior, whether it’s addiction or abusive relationships or being abusers, is brokenness of heart. They harden...

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