Blog – Page 9 – Fortress of Hope Ministries

When life crashes around us, the last thing we feel like doing is singing a “hallelujah” chorus. The problems drain our energy—physically, emotionally, and mentally. That is when we must refill ourselves with the presence of God. No matter where you are on your walk with the Lord, whether a new believer or if you are a seasoned veteran, if we’re not continually refilling ourselves with the Lord presence, we become weakened vessels. One of the most powerful forms of…

Advocating for Your Loved One – Part 2

Shonda Savage Whitworth

Advocacy

In Part 1, I shared how there will be times we need to speak up on behalf of our loved one in the penal system. We must learn to find that right balance of when to make those calls and when to not. We do want the prison staff to know that we watch out for our family member’s needs. Yet, we do not want to exasperate the staff with too many requests or demands as then they may not…

God Remembers You

Shonda Savage Whitworth

hope

In a previous post, I wrote about Resolve to Trust God where we looked at Joseph’s life. His brothers hated him and sold him into slavery. After about a decade of slavery, his master’s wife accused him of attempted rape. That false accusation landed Joseph in prison. Both as a slave and as a prisoner, Joseph trusted God. That is evident as God’s favor was upon Joseph. (See Gen 39:21.) While in prison, the Lord was with Joseph and whatever Joseph…

Advocating for Your Loved One – Part 1

Shonda Savage Whitworth

Advocacy

Advocating for our incarcerated loved one at one time or another during their confinement is inevitable. I learned early on as a family member on the outside that I needed to learn to find a balance between when to call the unit on behalf of my son and when to leave things alone. On one hand, it may be beneficial for the prison staff to know that the inmate has family on the outside who care about their loved one…

Resolve to Trust God

Shonda Savage Whitworth

General, hope

Joseph’s brothers despised him because he was their father’s favorite of the twelve. Because of their father’s open partiality, the brothers hated Joseph and would not even say a kind word to him. Then one night Joseph shared a dream with his brothers. “We were out in the field, tying up bundles of grain. Suddenly my bundle stood up, and your bundles all gathered around and bowed low before mine!” (Genesis 37:7 NLT) Well, this stirred up Joseph’s brothers’ hatred…

How to Have a Relationship with the Lord

Shonda Savage Whitworth

General

In the last post, we looked at Daniel and his resolve not to eat the king’s delicacies. His resolve was much deeper than sheer willpower. His resolve was rooted in his love for the Lord. When we love someone, we want to know them and be in relationship with them. This week, let’s resolve to build a relationship with the Lord. Our God is a relational! How do we engage in a relationship with the Lord? We set time aside…

Resolve to Love God

Shonda Savage Whitworth

General

Have you kept your New Year resolutions? We start off with good intentions to change; however, after a few days or months, we return to old habits. These resolutions are unsuccessful. Let’s look at resolve from a biblical perspective to see if it moves beyond good intentions to something more lasting. There once was a young man who lived in the country known as Judah, which was the Southern Kingdom of Israel. Due to the country’s unfaithfulness to follow the…

Welcome to Fortress of Hope

Shonda Savage Whitworth

General, hope

Welcome! I’m so glad you’re here! When I received that middle of the night phone call that my son had been arrested, it was my next to the worst nightmare. Then following year, my son was convicted and sentenced to prison. After being in church for about 15 years, I turned to the first place I knew to turn to when there’s trouble–the church. However, my church, though loving and compassionate, did not know what to do for me. Then…