April 9th -  Open House last Monday was a great success.  We loved meeting people we had talked to on the phone only and finding new friends.  The childbirth education 6 class series is now finished. We had 4 families to start with and then 1 faithful family by the end that was greatly benefited by the women who shared.  We are thinking about doing a special class, one day a month, that would be just for a few hours during the evening or daytime so that more families could get away and join us.

        We want to thank the guest speakers.  Julie Tobin, our Doula,  Valencia speaking about hospital care, Alisha Bradon, massage therapist and Jeri Unruh, childbirth educator.

Next fun day will be Midwives Day celebration on May 5th at the library park from 1 - 4 in the afternoon and then an evening panel of speakers and sharing from 7 - 9 at the visitors center.

March 1st  - Tomorrow our first Childbirth Education series starts.  Childbirth 101 runs for 6 weeks, every Tuesday from 6 - 8 pm.  It is free.  We have 7 couples signed up so far.  This first week will be on how a healthy diet, exercise and relaxation can make a positive impact on babies life and birth.

        We have 8 volunteers that have worked out a schedule for Tuesdays and Thursdays.  Fridays, in addition to being open as a pregnancy center are free Midwife Day. 

        We are once again in need of rockers or chairs.  Two of the chairs we had broke last week and the love seat was taken out because it was too big. The chairs endure heavy use, so I can certainly understand them wearing out so quickly.

        Meeting with the girls at the Alternative High School and Junior high went very well last week.  We are hoping to be able to share something with them again in the near future.  I am also looking at taking a few of the girls out individually for lunch as soon as my birth schedule quiets down. 

January 19th - Sanctity of Life Day was yesterday.  It was also Tom's birthday!  So he feels especially thankful today for his job with CHASK.  We have now been open for two weeks, going on our 3rd.  We have seen both teens in need of help in the midwife part of A Blessed Beginning and a couple moms who are wanting a prenatal check.  Our volunteers are really needing some girls to work with.  I do hope that they will be given an opportunity to try out their skills this week.

    I had a meeting with Riverside Alternative Center with the boys this time, and at the high school with Mr. Bear, Laurie Anderson and Paulette, the County nurse.  They were all very kind.  The high school is sure different from the alternative school.  They were all very kind and basically have delegated the referring of kids to the school nurse. 

    We are having a Childbirth Education class starting March 3rd.  This may be a good way to reach out to girls in Boundary county that need education and support.  Anyone willing to help, I could sure use it.

January 8th  Today was our 2nd day of opening.  We have not had any real clients yet. I am wondering if we could have some volunteers to help us practice.  Especially teens.  We will be giving out $8.00 gift certificates to Zips, Pizza Factory and Espresso to all teens who can come in to ABB to help us run through our paperwork (and for those who want real help).  We are getting more organized and feel that we are ready.  Decorating today was fun.  We have a great atmosphere of sweet-home-like flavor that I think will make young women feel comfortable... I hope!

December 29th - We have our first official ABB crisis pregnancy volunteer meeting at 1:00pm at A Blessed Beginning on January 2nd.  We will be using the Care Net manuals and they look really good. 

Our big signs are done and ready to be put up on the poles outside and up high in the front of the garage door. We need some help finding out how to get lighting out to them. (Snow complicates things!)

            Our lighted, OPEN/ WELCOME sign is up and we have ordered a lighted, changeable letter sign to hang inside the sliding glass door, to let folks know our hours and special upcoming classes. 

            Our sliding glass door is in and we will be putting that in some time this week.  We need to be able to insulate my back office and hope for warmer weather, as it heated with a small portable heater right now.  Carpet would be nice too to keep the chill off feet and the cement.

            The community letter that went our introducing A Blessed Beginning was warmly received and we look forward to sharing more of them, as we are able.  It will be fun to share baby announcements, childbirth classes, picnics, dinners, and parenting resources all in good time.

December 15th -  Our next meeting for volunteers is Tuesday at 1:15 pm at ABB's  Main street office.  This is a training session for the upcoming opening day of January 6th.  We moved the exam room equipment from the Meadow Creek office to the one on Main street, because we already have clients coming in for OB help and  need a way to be able to that gracefully. 

                We will be sending out a letter to the community announcing the our opening date and our needs.  If you would like to get mailings and more info, just send us a note via e-mail   sherry@blessingcatcher.com   or call   267-1491

December 13th

                            We got the office equipment set up and the neon Welcome/Open sign up.  Our first staff training session went very well.  I am very encouraged with the enthusiastic response from folks. 

                            Here is a listing of the  items we still need.  Our first day open will be Tuesday, January 6th.  We are still needing ABB counselor / volunteers for both Tuesday and Thursday afternoons from 2:00 - 5:30 pm.  I will be there at those hours until we find someone to work them for us.  The mornings for those days are covered, and I will be there all day Friday.

                            ABB Supporter meetings for anyone who wants to come and find out what we are doing and how to help, are going to be the second Friday evening of every month at 6:30 at the Main Street office.  We welcome anyone who wants to know more.

                            The rest of the Friday meetings are staff / volunteer training sessions that we all learn from each other.  I think that since are are all trying to figure things out, we might just come up with our unique way of dealing with issues prefect for Bonners Ferry.  Fact is... we are not a big city CPC.  Just a small town pregnancy center, figuring out a way to help our own ladies that need help.

December 9th

                  We are almost set up and ready for business.  The new sliding glass door will be in on the 19th of Dec.  but will not be put in until after Christmas.  We still need a few easy chairs.  Our hours are posted on our calendar here on the ABB web site.  Tues - Thurs.  10:00 am - 6:00 pm  FRIDAYS Sherry will be there all day from 10:00 am until 4:00 pm 

                 Setting up the clinic side is also underway.  We need to find a used medical exam table with stirrups.  Anybody with some ideas?  Sherry will be donating the midwifery side of things all day Fridays.

December 1st,

               Our work party on Friday at A Blessed Beginning across from Boundary Trading Company, was a great success.  Thanks to the Unruh family, we finished up the new entrance with a nice wide path right to the door and pruned the entire front yard.  It looks great!  We will be installing a new sliding glass front door this week, along with setting up the furniture and other items.  ABB Crisis Pregnancy Care Meeting for all interested in helping, Friday, December 5th 6:30pm at A Blessed Beginning's office across from Boundary Trading Company.  Call Sherry at 267-1491 for more information.

November 24th

                 I spent the day today trying to decide what goes on which sign at our new office.  The small room off to the side is going to make an ideal little prenatal room.  The carpet cleaned up pretty nice, so that is one less thing to worry about. I am making a list of needed items right now to send to people in the area that have expressed an interest in helping.

The biggest costs will be our signs.  We need 3 of them. We also have printing costs for brochures and cards, plus a number of crisis pregnancy items that will be needed right away, such as counseling material, books and DVDs.  If you want to be on the mailing list to get updates, just let me know.  They will be posted here on the web site too.

November 21st

       For the past few months, we have been praying about renting a room or building close to the high school for A Blessed Beginning.  This week, we were very excited to have Dr. Pam Svec, a local chiropractor across from Boundary Trading Company, and only 2 blocks from the high school, rent us a room and office space in her building. It is absolutely ideal in location. Now we begin the process of locating local donations for furniture, carpeting, signs and such.  We also need to make the entry way more accessible by fixing the landscaping a bit, and replacing the sliding glass door and do some minor repair work for her here and there. 

        Sherry plans to be there on Fridays and occasionally more often is busy, for appointments as needed.  (We have no school on Fridays around here.) So, we would appreciate your prayers, advice, and any thoughts you might have regarding this.  Anybody know of a talented interior designer around here ???

November 18th, 2008

        We have been looking for a place to have an up-town office, close to the high school.  We are needing just a few rooms and a bathroom, cheap!  Our new Blessed Beginnings web page is up and going, obviously.  We are happy to have a unique design created by our own Jacob Bushnell, graphic artist.  We are praying that if the Lord wants us to have an up-town office, that we won't stand in the way, but let him work out all the details. Needed shortly:  Volunteers to work weekly, furniture and office items. Panhandle Health has been very supportive and we thank them for their kindness!

November 13th,2008

    Our interview with the Digest went well.  I think that there was a lot of information given to him and he was most intrigued with the CHASK part of what we do, more so than A Blessed Beginning.  We are trusting that the article will be just what we are supposed to have right now.

November 12th, 2008

Today we had a visit from Myrtle McLean, with Boundary County Digest.  They seem really excited about letting folks know about ABB's resources.  I guess I am really excited too.  I would love to be able to share with young moms who are maybe disappointed with how things are going in their lives, and need a more positive perspective.

Tomorrow we have an appointment with Boundary County Digest to share about CHASK / and A Blessed Beginning.  Perhaps they will be able to have some ideas about how to find moms that need care.  We plan to purchase an ad or two and start with that.

For days we have been praying about which direction to go, now that my training is all done.  As we are working toward service in the community and advertising more, please keep us in your prayers.  We only want His direction.

I fixed the ABB web page to reflect more of what is going on right now.  I am almost done with the NATHHAN / CHASK news. Our family pictures are almost ready and we have some really nice pics done by Sarah Friesen in Concepts Design in Bonner's Ferry, Idaho.