March 2022 Thank you

If you have been around the Daystar house lately, you would have seen, heard and witnessed several new sights, sounds, and encouraging moments. Our staff has sure witnessed these moments, thanks to the continued support from friends like you.  

For starters, we have seen lots of kids coming into the house for group. The joy of kids gathering together has been palpable! It’s been over 3 months since kids have had the chance to attend group, break bread together and remind one another that there is still a place for each of them.  

We have certainly heard memorable stories that kids are sharing with us and each other. We witnessed one group sharing how lonely life has become this past year, while another group of kids showed up with hopeful reminders and physical hugs. We heard the Daystar vans crank over for the first time in 2 years! Groups are going to dinner and soaking up the most simple, yet deeply impacting, tradition of sharing a meal together.  

Together sure feels like a word we all need as much as we ever have as we continue to come out of a season of separation and isolation.  

Together reminds our staff that we do not endeavor in this work, this mission, this purpose alone, but with one another.  

Together reminds us of how the Godhead relates and functions, Father, Son, and Holy Spirt, together as one.  

Thank you for being together with us as we all continue to bring light to dark places here at Daystar.  

Sincerely, 

The Daystar Staff  

February 2022 Thank You

While optimism makes us live as if someday soon things will soon go better for us, hope frees us from the need to predict the future and allows us to live in the present, with the deep trust that God will never leave us alone but will fulfill the deepest desires of our heart... Joy in this perspective is the fruit of hope.

      - Henri Nouwen

Before I had the privilege of working on staff at Daystar, I, like so many of you, was a parent in search of help for my child. Little did I know how much I would be helped, too, along the way. 

My daughter started seeing Sissy in 2002, before the little yellow house even came to be; back then, in an unassuming office building in Green Hills, I watched miracles happen. I watched as my daughter fell in love with Sissy’s first pet therapist, Noel; I watched as my daughter journeyed off to Hopetown for the first time, not knowing how many summers she would eventually spend there, the seeds of lifelong friendships that would be planted there. 

Thanks to many prayers and generous supporters over the years, we at Daystar were extremely blessed to move into our little yellow house that so many of you know and love. But, I can’t help but remember that the true magic of Daystar, of what happens in these walls, is possible with one not-so-small but simple thing: hope.

I’ve always told my children that I want nothing more than for them to be happy; as I’ve gotten older, I’ve learned that we as adults can’t always ensure that for the children in our lives. This does not negate our hope. In fact, it actually reveals our need for hope in a much deeper way.

Today, my daughter, years after college, always makes time on her trips home to see friends from Daystar groups or Hopetown. And I, in my role at Daystar, have the immense privilege of speaking with parents and telling them what I really, really know to be true: this place will spark hope in your child’s life and yours.

Years ago when I needed it most, Daystar provided hope for me and my family. Today, thanks to the generous support of our contributors, we at Daystar are able to provide hope for more families than ever.

Thank you for all you do to keep hope alive here at Daystar.

The Daystar staff

Stephanie Rippee Memorial

We are deeply grateful to receive memorial gifts in honor of Stephanie Rippee, a longtime Daystar friend.

https://www.dignitymemorial.com/obituaries/nashville-tn/stephanie-rippee-10593323

Stephanie grew up in Memphis and later Nashville, Tennessee and graduated from St. Bernard Academy in 1989. She attended Lambuth College in Jackson, Tennessee, receiving a Bachelor of Arts degree in Communications in 1993. While in college, she was a member of Sigma Kappa Sorority. She held numerous jobs, in commercial finance and retail sales, over her career.

Stephanie was an enthusiastic football fan and particularly loved the Tennessee Titans and the Ole Miss Rebels, the school her brother, sister-in-law and nephews attended. She attended many Ole Miss sporting events with her family. She was a sweet and gentle soul; a devoted daughter, sister, sister-in-law, niece, cousin and aunt; and a loyal friend. Although it is comforting that she is now in the presence of her Lord and Savior, her presence on earth will be intensely missed by the family and friends who knew and loved her.

She was preceded in death by her grandparents Theo and Lina Rippee and Woodrow and Virginia Bond; her uncles Leslie, Lloyd, Sonny and Gerald Rippee, Bryce Bond and Ernest Reece; her aunts Donna Noe and May Hood; and her cousin Justin Shields.

She is survived by her parents Doyle and Virginia Rippee of Nashville, TN; her brother and sister-in-law Brian and Stephanie Rippee of Jackson, MS; her nephews Davis Rippee and Walker Rippee of Jackson, MS and Brian Scott Rippee of Dallas, TX; her aunt and uncle Martha and Howard Shields of Frisco, TX; her cousin John Shields and his wife Jaquelyn of Frisco, TX; her aunt Neva Dean Reese of Charleston, MS; and many more cousins and second cousins scattered throughout Mississippi.

The family would like to thank all of Stephanie’s healthcare providers for the excellent medical care she received during her illness.

A Celebration of Life service will be held Friday, March 4, 2022 in the chapel at Woodmont Christian Church at 11am with Dr. Clay Stauffer officiating. Inurnment at the Woodmont Christian Columbarium will immediately follow the service.

The family asks that, in lieu of flowers, memorials be made to Daystar Counseling Ministries, Inc., 2801 Azalea Place, Nashville, TN 37204.

January 2022 Thank You

My all time favorite book is “The Secret Life of Bees.” It’s the story of a young girl who finds shelter in the company of three sisters, beekeepers, who love her through a very difficult time, helping her make sense of her past and some peace with her reality. My copy of the book is tattered, littered with highlighted and underlined passages. Upon re-reading it for the umpteenth time, these words landed on me in a fresh way: “Most people don’t have any idea about all the complicated life going on inside a hive. Bees have a secret life we don’t know anything about.”

Isn’t the same true with families? Each day my coworkers and I are reminded that the lives of the Daystar families are complex. From the first interaction with our front office to assessments to individual sessions, we bear witness to the difficulties and inner workings families navigate. As our clients and their parents spend time in our house, we offer shelter and do our best to enter into the complex.

The book's heroine is a young girl. In her plainspoken way, she explains what the beekeepers have done for her: “The world will give you that once in awhile, a brief timeout; the boxing bell rings and you go to your corner, where somebody dabs mercy on your beat-up life.”

Couldn’t we all use a brief timeout now and then? Couldn't’ we all stand to have someone come to us in our brokenness and woundedness and dab mercy on the tender places in our hearts? Daystar is a place for timeouts—timeouts from life. With your support, we throw the door open wide for those who feel as though their “beat-up” lives are in need of repair. I think of Daystar as a house full of “mercy dabbers.”

Thank you for partnering with us as we enter into the complex. We consider you to be those who grant the brief timeout, who ring the boxing bell and encourage our clients to go to their corner, where we are, God-willing, ready to dab all the mercy we can muster on their precious lives. We are the brief timeout, the place where children are given a chance to pause from the fight and experience mercy and grace and a healthy dose of the truth—they are valuable and loved.

Your support means everything to us,

Amy Jacobs, M.MFT

December 2021 Thank You

I recently spent time with two different boys in the same day communicating something identical. One is a 7th grader and one is a Junior in high school. Both are navigating the complicated developmental space of adolescence. One is on the front side of  adolescence and the other is in the middle.

I’ve always believed being a teenager was difficult. I’ve never believed it more than in this day and age. As I write this, the U.S. Surgeon General just issued an advisory to highlight the current youth mental health crisis and to call for urgent action. Our country is seeing the highest rates of anxiety and depression in kids and adolescents than any other time in history.

The young men I spent time with talked about what it’s like to face what they are facing, and how alone they often feel alone in it. Adolescent boys aren’t often skilled in sharing their struggle with others. It’s difficult for them to articulate their experience, but it’s never been more important for them to learn to do so.

Both these young men are part of  different groups at Daystar. They are learning to be honest about how they are doing in the company of a safe group of guys. They talked about how almost no one at school knows what’s really going on in their lives but all the guys in group do. One of them described feeling “alone” at school and “surrounded” at group. The other young man, describing the same difference, said its like “night and day.” 

When I consider the phrase “night and day,” I think about why we celebrate this season. A baby arrived and everything changed. Night and day. We no longer walk in darkness without hope. As Daystar seeks to reflect all the arrival of Jesus means for us and how that night changed everything, we get to anchor kids who are struggling and feeling alone to hope.

Thank you for helping us offer that hope in the midst of a youth mental health crisis happening all around us. You are helping us create a night and day difference in the lives of countless kids and adolescents. We couldn’t do the work we’re doing without you surrounding us.

With much gratitude and Merry Christmas,

David Thomas

Director of Family Counseling