Sometimes, He does things like take a girl who'd been planning to go into Marine Biology and have her move to Nashville and study Music Business. Sometimes, He'll take that same Music Business Major and have her move to South Korea to teach English. Sometimes, He'll take that English-teaching Music Business Major and have her join an urban-ministries after school program called Cottage Cove and become their newest program manager.
Cottage Cove is an after school program that focuses on the spiritual, educational, and artistic development of each of our students. (You can find more details about our program at the link above!) Every day, we work with 50-70 students, making sure they get their homework done, feeding them snacks (and dinner on longer days), and giving them opportunities for life skills and fine arts classes.
If you've paid attention to me at all, you already know that I adore my current job.
On April 11 of 2014, we are going to be closing on Cottage Cove's second facility in order to expand our reach to Madison, TN of the greater Nashville area. This new facility is going to become my home away from home, and I will be in charge of running the day-to-day program there. This is both exciting and daunting, but the staff here at our Nashville Vine Hill location is working with me and getting me trained. Once I'm at Madison, we're going to be running the daily program and slowly renovating the building as time goes on, hopefully using it as an opportunity to expand our community (maybe even into yours!) and grow bonds.
Let me know if you're interested in coming by and seeing what we do, even getting involved! But if you're looking for some immediate ways to make an impact, let me make a couple of suggestions:
- Please pray! Pray for our everyday operations. Pray for the new facility. Pray for the kids we serve and their families. Pray for me and my attempts to return my Spanish-speaking abilities to their pre-Korea level (I'm primarily going to be working with kids from Hispanic backgrounds while I'm in Madison).
- Please prayerfully consider donating to our closing costs on the new facility. We are going to need $85,000 on April 11. As of February 26, G-d had provided $40,000. As is frequently His way, monetary things tend to come down to the wire around here, but He's always come through for us, and we know He will again. Your gift of any amount will help a multitude of kids for years to come.
![Photo: Cottage Cove is excited to announce that we are purchasing a second property/facility in the Madison area of Nashville – with a goal of serving this very needy area starting in August. As with our existing facility, it is our goal to renovate this new location over time, even while serving through it, so lots of service opportunities will exist in the next few years. We were able to acquire it for $85,000 (which we need for closing on April 11) AND God has already provided commitments of $40,000 toward this!!! Please prayerfully consider helping us with this fantastic opportunity; your gift of any amount will help a multitude of kids for years to come. [FYI, the teen girl holding the banner is the same one featured on it years ago – now a volunteer.] www.CottageCove.org](https://scontent-b-lga.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-frc1/t1/p526x296/1912296_10152038377006220_1079000261_n.jpg)
And, just so you know: The teen girl holding the banner is the same one featured on it years ago – now a volunteer. This is a beautiful program that is really making a difference in the lives of the families it serves and the life of Nashville as a whole.
