“Not Self-Made, God-Made!” Is Key to Hope

“I’m not self-made, I’m God-made!”

That was the message of Julia Greeley Home graduate Penny, who returned to the house Feb 18 to share her story with current residents, urging them all to continue to work toward their own success. With the help of Jesus Christ, she said, all things are possible.

“You can do it too — you, you, and you!” Penny said, pointing to each person in the room.

“Thank you for what you said tonite,” one of Julia’s residents told her. “I was pretty discouraged this morning and you have given me hope again.”

Penny herself had little hope when she joined Julia’s two years ago. As she explained, she was estranged from her family, divorced and homeless. Years ago she had hoped to complete her education, but those dreams were crushed by serious physical illnesses that had led to depression and deep discouragement. Her self image was in ashes: “The world gives us names, like homeless, and says we’ll never amount to anything, but don’t believe it,” she said.  

She recalled walking toward a homeless shelter on an achingly cold day in early 2016, her only possessions were stuffed in a backpack, and her only hope was that the shelter would have a place for her that night. 

Then one day she heard about the Julia Greeley Home. “Everything started to turn around here, at Julia Greeley,” she told the group. “They saw something in me.” Today, Penny is living independently in her own apartment. She is a straight A student working toward a degree in social work, thanks to the scholarship she won through Julia Greeley’s partnership with the Ward Family Foundation, Alexandria, VA.

Penny and the residents shared phone numbers and a pledge to stay close. Penny, whose goal is a career in mental health counseling, is eager to help women who are suffering the way she was. Most of all, she wants them to know there is no circumstance they cannot overcome, whether it’s illness, loneliness, or poverty. The key is to never give up — and to give God a chance, because that’s where real success begins. 

“It’s God,” she likes to say. “It’s His hand written on my life.”