{"id":1528,"date":"2012-09-16T06:00:25","date_gmt":"2012-09-16T11:00:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/?p=1528"},"modified":"2012-09-16T06:00:25","modified_gmt":"2012-09-16T11:00:25","slug":"tonyas-journey-to-gchdecaf","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/2012\/09\/16\/tonyas-journey-to-gchdecaf\/","title":{"rendered":"Tonya’s Journey to GCH:decaf!"},"content":{"rendered":"

Introducing……<\/h2>\n

GCH: decaf blogger Tonya Elliott<\/em><\/span><\/strong><\/h2>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I have always known who God was. I can remember as far back as 4 years old, kneeling beside my bed, with my mom and dad on each side of me, teaching me how to say my prayers\u2026you know how it goes: \u201cNow I lay be down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep\u2026\u201d. If my mother and father didn\u2019t do anything else, they made sure that my sisters and I had some form of concept of who God was. \u201cTrain up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.\u201d Proverbs 22:6.<\/p>\n

You have to understand that my mother and father weren\u2019t avid church goers, but my mother would consistently place my sister and me on the church bus every Sunday to go to church. In a way, I am so glad that she did that, because those wonderful ladies helped introduce Jesus to my sister and I more and more\u2026more seeds were planted\u2026\u201dI planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase.\u201d 1 Corinthians 3:6). Thank you Jesus for the lovely women of Christ who took time out to plant seeds, while others watered and I can now definitely see God\u2019s increase! God is awesome like that!<\/p>\n

I spent most of my elementary and middle school years traveling back and forth between Germany and Ft. Campbell, Kentucky. Ft. Campbell, Kentucky was my father\u2019s home base. He was a Sergeant First Class in the Army\u2026a Mess hall Cook. I LOVED my life growing up on the many military bases. What my sisters and I didn\u2019t know was that our father\u2019s drinking problem was starting to affect his work, and he was making more mistakes with his cooking.<\/p>\n

I can remember coming home from school in the 8th<\/sup> grade, to my mom packing our belongings. I was used to packing and moving, but I knew that my dad was not scheduled to be transferred anywhere else, so I asked her what was going on. She replied that we had to move because my dad was being discharged because of his drinking. I was devastated! My world as I had always known it was coming to a complete halt!<\/p>\n

How does a person\u2026a young teenage girl comprehend all of that? To be honest with you, I had a difficult time trying to adjust to the news. I was angry, I was frustrated, sad, confused, all of the above. We ended up moving to Memphis, Tennessee, which was where my parents were from. We moved with my mother\u2019s family and the saga began. I won\u2019t go into details about all of that, but I will say that it was a very emotional time in my life. We went from having everything we wanted, to not having anything at all\u2026well; at least we still had each other, right?<\/p>\n

During this time, I met a lady who changed my WHOLE life around! She was my Young Life leader who would take the second baton of my Christian \u00a0growth and help me to run with it. She took the time to get to know me, share with me in my time of hurt, frustration, confusion, and anger, through the love of Jesus Christ. She took what was a horrible time in my life and helped me to refocus everything in my life towards Jesus. She loved me in spite of what was going on in my life<\/em><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Did my dad ever stop drinking, I am sure that you are asking? Unfortunately no, he did not, but our relationship got better. I loved my dad unconditionally, even through all of the hurt and disappointments. I learned to see him through the eyes of Christ\u2026and believe me, once I truly became a Christian, that wasn\u2019t hard to do at all! My dad passed away in November of 1998 and I miss him so much, but I know that God has him in His care. I have learned so much since then.<\/p>\n

Today I am a Young Women\u2019s Coordinator for a ministry called Red Zone, which is under the Memphis leadership Foundation umbrella, here in Memphis. I work with youth in the inner city Memphis area. I work primarily with middle school aged youth, but I have been working with the youth in that particular area for such a long time, that I have youth who are now grown and some married. I know that this is what God was calling me to do. He wanted me to go through what I went through, so that I could see that trying Jesus really does work and that He could work for the youth too.<\/p>\n

I was married for 14 years and I have been divorced for 2 years, and I have 4 AWESOME children of my own, who have faced all kinds of odds, which I will share with you a later date. Trinicia (19), Jonathon (15), Justin (14), and Carlia (12).<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Smiling is my thing! It is one of my ways of encouraging others. I am crazy enough to believe that if you share your smile with others, especially those who may be having a bad day, you just might brighten up their day!<\/p>\n

I found Girlfriends Coffee Hour and it has been the BEST thing that I have ever done! GCH has brought life back into my world, and I feel alive again! My desire is to come alongside teen girls through this new ministry and walk with them and mentor them and share with them the love of Christ.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

_____________________________________________<\/p>\n

Please “like” our Facebook Community page here to stay up-to-date on all we are doing for teens over here at GCH: decaf: https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/GCHdecaf<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Be sure to email our lead barista, Megan, if you would like to join a small group or if you have any questions about the study or this ministry. She would love to hear from you!\u00a0 Teens@girlfriendscoffeehour.com<\/a> .<\/p>\n

Our first study will start October 1st!\u00a0 We will be studying A Daughter’s Worth<\/em> by Ava Sturgeon.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

________________________________________<\/p>\n

Tonya Elliott<\/strong>\u00a0is\u00a0a 40 year old Memphis native\u2026 \u00a0but she was raised all over the world, Germany, Kentucky, Tennessee, etc\u2026Her father was in the military for 16 years. She has 4 beautiful children, Trinicia (19), Jonathon (15), Justin (14), and Carlia (12).<\/p>\n

Tonya\u00a0met Christ when she was 7 years old and really began to walk along beside Him when she was 14 years old.\u00a0She has always had a heart for youth ministry! She currently works for a faith-based organization called Memphis Leadership Foundation as a Young Women\u2019s Coordinator, working with middle school aged girls, and she loves it!<\/p>\n

She\u00a0was married at 23 and divorced at 37 years old, but\u00a0she\u00a0is thankful for that part of\u00a0her journey because it has helped to shape\u00a0her into the woman of God that\u00a0she\u00a0is today.<\/p>\n

She loves to read, read, and read!! Tonya also loves to learn new things and is currently seeking\u00a0her degree in Human Services.\u00a0She\u00a0is eager to see where God is leading her.<\/p>\n

________________________________________<\/p>\n

we just LOVE that Tonya\u00a0is\u00a0serving with us on our Leadership Team AND with your precious daughters! Please take a moment to leave her a comment and let her know how happy you are that she is answering God’s call eith GCH:decaf!! <\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Introducing…… GCH: decaf blogger Tonya Elliott I have always known who God was. I can remember as far back as 4 years old, kneeling beside my bed, with my mom and dad on each side of me, teaching me how to say my prayers\u2026you know how it goes: \u201cNow I lay be down to sleep, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[21],"tags":[68,109,144,147,155,207,218,379,411,436,554,678,791,1039,1043],"class_list":["post-1528","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-teens","tag-a-daughters-worth","tag-ava-sturgeon","tag-bible","tag-bible-study","tag-blogger","tag-christ","tag-christianity","tag-fellowship","tag-gch-decaf","tag-god","tag-jesus","tag-mentoring","tag-prayer","tag-teen-girls","tag-teens-2","entry"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p39pHp-oE","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1528","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1528"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1528\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1528"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1528"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1528"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}