Dove, Inc.

Working in a world where you have no control of your income. What a foreign world this was for me as I began my married life. When a time came in my life calling for additional income I would set out to get yet another job. I try to live within my means but costs for everything continue to rise. Always my thought was A need more, work more. @   = t mean we must discontinue the things we hold important to us. It just means we must find other ways to support what we value, much like getting that additional job. Over the years I have had to explain many times how you can achieve your goals while working in an environment where you have no control of your income. In the church we have goals, visions, or what we wish to accomplish for the year. We have to ask members, supporters, to pledge to that vision in order to reach it. We know that individual situations change throughout the year and our income toward that vision will also change. When we see ourselves falling behind we re-comm...

Who does not remember Aesop's story about the mouse and the lion?   The lion caught the mouse and was going to eat him.   The mouse begged for his life and told the lion that he might someday need his help.   The lion just laughed.   How was that little bitty mouse going to help him?   He got his answer sooner than he expected.   Caught in a hunter's net, his courage, sharp teeth and claws could not save him.   Along came the little bitty mouse.   He gnawed through the net and set the lion free.   Moral - no matter who you are, you can make a difference. Anthropologist Margaret Mead was asked one time, "What is the first sign you look for, to tell you of an ancient civilization?"   Thinking it would be pottery, tools or an article of clothing, Margaret said a healed femur bone. The femur is the large bone in the leg.   She went on to explain that when someone breaks their leg, they are completely helpless.   They must re...

Art. It’s a three-letter word that can have more power and meaning behind it than many other three-lettered words in the English language. According to Dictionary.com, art is defined as: the quality, production, expression, or realm, according to aesthetic principles, of what is beautiful, appealing, or of more than ordinary significance. What the definition doesn’t tell you is that, according to many research studies, art is also valuable in helping people overcome issues, troubling emotions, and expressing themselves in general. And making any kind of art work can be therapeutic. Did you know that Dove’s domestic violence program has an art group that meets every Monday? This has been going off and on for a few years now. The groups are led by an art therapy intern from Millikin, and there’s always a staff member that sits in, as well. Usually I am that staff member. I always look forward to the group because art has this amazing way of bringing people to a new sense of awarenes...

For those who don't know it, April is Child Abuse Awareness and Sexual Assault Prevention Month. It would be remiss of us not to bring this up on our blog, as one of Dove's programs is the domestic violence program. Domestic violence and child abuse very often go hand-in-hand, as do domestic violence and sexual assault. They are issues that people tend not to talk about. But if we don't talk about them, if we don't educate ourselves, if we don't look toward solutions, the issues will remain, and the victims will continue to be scarred by the forced silence. In 2010, there were 26,442 victims of child abuse and neglect reported in the state of Illinois.  As of February 29, 2012, for the year 2012, Dove Inc. has served 57 children who were either witnesses to, or victims of domestic violence.  If you want to help, Dove has a domestic violence training scheduled to beginning  Monday, April 30th.  Participants must be registered by noon on April 24th. Please c...