Hape Brfdaa to Carisa!!

Today was Carisa's birthday and to celebrate Brooke, Kirsten and I decided to take Paxton and Kyler for the day so Frank and Carisa could spend a day together. They had a blast, and so did we!!!

Paxton had a day camp at the YMCA to go to in the morning, and Kyler slept through that, so Brooke, Kirsten and I just hung out. We decided to take the boys to the park after we picked Paxton up, and I invited Bonita and Linda along (they love the boys!). Bonita was out with her mom, but Linda came with us and it was WONDERFUL!

Unfortunately, we got to the playground and found out that they won't let kids over 10 even go into the building. Poor Linda handled it well, but she was pretty sad. We didn't stay long, but the boys had fun while we were there. We left the playground and dropped Brooke, Kirsten and Kyler off at home. Brooke and Kirsten cooked dinner while Kyler took a nap. (Oh to live the life of a 1 year old!). At the same time, Linda Paxton and I headed to Ikea. Paxton played in their playroom for an hour while Linda helped me finalize my new kitchen. It wasn't the most fun for her, but we both enjoyed spending time together. Paxton really enjoyed having Linda around and she had fun playing with him as well, especially in the car. They both sat all the way in the back and I have no idea what they were doing, but they both laughed a lot. Ky also enjoyed Linda and she took such good care of him. He didn't cry once while she was with us, she was so great with him!!!

After Ikea we took Linda home (much to her and Paxton's dismay) and headed home for dinner. After dinner Paxton worked on a birthday card for Carisa (which is where the Hape Brfdaa comes from) while Ky practiced standing up and almost walking. He is SO close!!! We all played together for a while before it was bedtime for both boys. Paxton actually picked me to read him a story, which I was SO excited about!!! Now that he is 5 he has a lot more people around him to play with and he isn't as interested in hanging out with me. He still loves me though, and that was all I needed to know. :)

After the boys went to bed we all just hung out for a while until Frank and Carisa got home. I really enjoyed hearing about their day and I am SO SO glad that Carisa had a good birthday. It appears that Frank even had fun...even though they did things that Carisa loves that he doesn't necessarily always enjoy. Overall, it was a great day for everyone.

Our Ohio group is leaving early tomorrow, but I got to say goodbye to them tonight. I have been struggling with some guilt this week as I wasn't able to spend as much time with them as I would have liked. It doesn't help that J was able to. I had hoped to at least make it to their final debrief tonight, but J didn't have his phone on him and missed my phone calls. I heard it was an awesome time though, and they are already talking about coming back. It sounds like everyone had a great week and I don't think they are too upset that I wasn't around all the time.

I realized tonight that me hosting groups is always going to be hard. The ministries that I am involved with are ones in which I can not focus on the group, I have to focus on the ministry. If I were to lead work projects, I would get more time to interact with the group. However, I lead VBS, Kids Club, Teen Club, etc. It would be ridiculous for me to focus on the group during those ministries...I need to be focused on the kids and the teens. And of course, there is the fact that whenever I do have "down time", I tend to have at least 2, sometimes 6 or 7, kids with me...making it harder and harder for me to pour into the groups. I found myself getting jealous of J tonight as he spent the entire day with the group and was there for their final debrief, but when I really look at it, I like what I do. My ministries don't necessarily allow me free time for other people, but that's okay with me. Thank God J is available for that.

I am VERY excited about this upcoming week because we don't have a group in. I don't have to worry about how much time I spend with whom, I just get to me a missionary in Philadelphia. Yay!!

On a completely different note, I want to introduce you to 2 boys that I LOVE. One you have already met and the other you will get to know very well very soon. These two boys are almost exactly a year apart and they have so much in common. They both love life, love people and especially love God. They are fun, smart and everyone loves them. When I read Jesus telling me to have faith like a child, these 2 boys come to mind.

But there are some very distinct differences between these boys. I am learning a lot about myself, my ministry and my God from these 2 boys, and I want to share that with you soon. However, right now I need to get to bed. I wanted to introduce you to Paxton (top picture) and Lil' A (bottom picture) so you can be praying for them and so you can keep me accountable to actually writing what I am learning. :)

I'm a Survivor! :)

This has been one of the busiest weeks of the year for me, and I am not only surviving, I am thriving!!! Of course, I say this as I look at a ridiculously long to-do list with very few things checked off. I still have SO much to do, but I am seeing God accomplish SO much at the same time, so I am not complaining at all!!

We have a group from Ohio here this week and they are doing an outdoor VBS along with work projects and helping with out Kids' and Teen Clubs. They have been really great and although it is REALLY hot (the hottest week so far...we're in the hundreds with the heat index!), the VBS has been really fun! We have been having around 60 kids each day, and they have had a blast. I hear kids singing songs from the VBS all the time, all over the neighborhood! :)

Reading Rocks also started this week, and its AMAZING!!! Carisa and I commented that we would both love to make it a year round program, but it would be really hard to do with kids having homework and such. Tuesday was a "normal" day where the kids read books and earned points. Wednesday is our "special events" day where we do something fun at the church. This week we had them get in groups and write their own stories, which they all really loved. Thursday is another normal day of reading and earning points. We have a great group of kids (already 2o on the roster!) and an awesome group of teen leaders helping out. I think this is going to be our best year ever!!!

I have also gotten to spend a lot of time with Bonita and Linda this week, and I am really enjoying them!! I miss the days when they were so cute and little, but I am also enjoying watching them grow up. They have their bumps in the road (puberty is not easy for anyone), but overall they are WONDERFUL!! The have been at everything this week...VBS, Reading Rocks, Kids Club, Prayer Pals...and I have loved every minute of it. They even spent the night on Tuesday and we had a blast. They make me laugh a lot. :)

We discovered on Tuesday that they have very little summer clothing. In fact, Linda has grown out of almost all of her summer stuff and the only reason Bonita has anything is because she can wear Linda's old stuff. Shannon Schultz (one of the staff members at church) told me about an amazing sale at JC Penney where everything is buy one get one half off. So, today after Reading Rocks we quickly ran out to the mall and bought a TON of new clothes for the girls that actually fit them and are modest! They were SO excited! (Shannon also gave us a $50 gift card, which we made go a very long way...thank you Shannon and Jesus!). I am keeping all the clothes at my house, so they will always have things to wear when they come over. We got back from the mall just in time for Prayer Pals, which was small but nice.

This whole week has been just go go go! I leave the house around 9 a.m. and get home after 10. VBS is from 11-1, Reading Rocks is 2-3 (or 3:30 on Wednesday) and then we have stuff every night as well. The "down" time is used for running errands, quickly eating and preparing for the next event. Its been crazy, but fun!

Tonight was also really fun, and it actually included adults instead of just kids and teens!! I am discipling the AIM summer staff this summer and I get to take them out every Wednesday to just relax, have fun and talk and encourage them. Tonight was our first night out and I wanted to start with a bang, so we headed to Ben and Jerry's to eat a Vermonster. The Vermonster is a GIANT ice cream sundae that includes 20 scoops of ice cream (yes, 20 scoops!) with tons of toppings, bananas, cookies, brownies, and a lot of whipped cream. There were 7 of us, and while we didn't eat all of it, we ate way more than I thought we could!!! We had a lot of fun and spent some good time talking about the Lord and really encouraging one another. It was a really great night.

The rest of this week looks pretty busy, but next week is the light at the end of the tunnel. Tomorrow will include VBS, Reading Rocks and Teen Club, and I have several birthday and graduation parties to attend on Saturday, as well as worship practice. Friday is already full or to-do things to accomplish, so I am REALLY looking forward to Sunday. I am already planning a nap after church. :)

Despite all the things going on, I am really learning to focus on Him and not the plans or even the programs. He has absolutely called me to do exactly what I am doing, but He doesn't want me to lose sight of Him, not even for a second! Please continue to pray that I won't and that I will continue to have toe peace and joy that I have right now! And that I would get some sleep... :)

I am in Awe!

God is SO GOOD!!!! I know you all know that, but today I have to say it because its the only thing that I want to say. I just can't believe how good He really is!

This week has been insane. We had a group of 120 high school students working with the church, and while it was amazing, it was also draining. Of course, I had jury duty at the beginning of the week, but that seems like weeks ago. I have logged over 70 "work" hours again, yet I don't feel the least bit burnt out. Tired, yes...but the good kind of tired. The tired you feel at the end of a really amazing day. The kind of tired I felt after Hershey Park.

Frank and Carisa led this group themselves and I honestly don't know how they are even standing. They did an INCREDIBLE job and I am absolutely in awe of the things that God accomplishes through them.

During this week I helped with the morning VBS for 3-5 year olds. I really loved playing with those kids, they are so cute and sweet. After the VBS I was able to get a lot done (mostly preparing for Reading Rocks or other groups we have this summer) before picking my kids up for the afternoon VBS for 5-12 year olds.

Let me just take a second to tell you all how proud I was of my kids this week!!! The VBS this week seemed to get crazier and crazier each day, and while my kids are usually pretty well behaved, they can get caught up in things going on around them and get themselves in trouble. I am SO proud to say that my kids were GREAT all week!! Linda and Pedro were surrounded by kids that were acting up, and they didn't join in! It was SO incredible to watch them really do what they know they should despite what the people around them were doing. They are growing up so well!! Miguel even got a black eye after he was accidentally kicked in the face, and he handled amazingly. I would have expected him to get mad, but he didn't. He was hurt, but he didn't get mad or complain. YAY!!!

Anyway, the VBS's and preparing for Reading Rocks kept me very busy this week, along with all my normal ministry stuff. I didn't get yesterday off and today I had to run errands all day to prepare for another group that came in tonight. In fact, I left the house at 8:45 a.m. and didn't get home until after 9:30 p.m.!!! I really should be pulling my hair out by now, but I actually feel at peace and am excited about the upcoming week.

The group that is here now was a last minute addition to our summer. They were scheduled to come to Philly and work with a different church and 2 weeks ago received a call that the church they were working with no longer needed them. They had already done all the planning and preparation, and raised all their money and had nowhere to go. I honestly don't know how they found out about us, but they called and I agreed to lead their week. They have been so appreciative and encouraging! I also agreed to do all of their food for the week...although I'm not sure how that happened or why I agreed to it. But, I am doing it and its not stressing me out at all! Actually, this is a lot of what I did with AIM, so even though I haven't done it in a while, its kinda second nature to me. I am SO SO excited about this group, they seem really excited to be here and are ready to see God move. It's going to be a GREAT week!!!

Reading Rocks starts up this week and we are almost ready to go. Its been a lot of work getting everything ready for it, but that work is going to pay off. Reading Rocks is kind of like a summer after-school program...but with people to help me! How could I not love it?!? :) Actually, its one of the things that Carisa and I actually do together, which makes it that much more fun. I'm excited to get going!

The only thing I am struggling with is my time management. I have found myself getting to the end of the day before I realize that I haven't had any time alone with the Lord. I am also struggling to find time to meet with the teens that I am mentoring. I only have 3 to meet with, but so far I have neglected them, which I don't want to do. I have already accepted (reluctantly) that my house is not going to be as clean as I want it to be all the time, but I can't accept neglecting my teens. Its getting harder and harder to balance time with kids and time with teens. And of course there is always Bonita and Linda...

And then there is also the ever elusive full nights sleep. That's the one I am really craving...and I think I might actually get it tonight, if I can stop writing. Good Night!! :)

Oh What A Week!!

Let me start this post with, I AM OKAY!! In case you haven't heard (and I would be shocked if you haven't) there was a 7 alarm fire early this morning 2 blocks away from me. The reports on the national news have only mentioned Kensington and Potter St...which has worried many of my friends and family. The fire was on the corner of H and Potter, I live at F and Potter. Praise the Lord, no lives were lost, but several homes were damaged or destroyed. Hundreds of people have been displaced and need a lot of prayer. Bonita and Linda's oldest sister lives on that block, with her boyfriend and 2 kids (3rd one on the way). Thankfully, none of them were at the house last night, but they are not allowed near their home for a while. There have been rumors of robberies on that block since the fire, but nothing has been confirmed.

My tenure as a juror was very short as the entire trial was over and decided by lunch on Tuesday (it began just before lunch on Monday). Unfortunately, it was a frivolous lawsuit that never should have been filed, which made our decision as a jury very easy to make. I was sad to see the court system abused in the way it was, but also very happy to be going home and back to normal life so quickly.

Well, I WAS happy to return to normal life...until normal life got insanely busy. Actually, I am still so happy to be doing what I am doing, but I can feel the stress level in my mind slowly raising by the minute. There is just SO much to do and no time to rest, process, relax. I am finding it hard to quiet myself before the Lord, which I desperately want. I am hoping to have next Friday off. If I do, I am going to leave the city for the day and hopefully will be able to let my mind wander to Christ and not to my to-do list. Of course, I am praying that will happen sooner than next Friday....

My case ended Tuesday afternoon and I made it back to Kensington in time for the afternoon VBS. It was fun and from there I went straight to Kids Club. Kids Club was a little chaotic with many visiting leaders, but in the end it worked out and I had a blast, as usual. Tuesday was also Kareem's birthday, so after Kids Club Brooke and I took him, along with several other teens, to see Oceans 13 to celebrate. It was a fun time, but we didn't get home until after midnight (all of the boys fell asleep on the car ride home).

I got up early this morning to get to staff prayer and then helped the group with their morning VBS. The morning VBS is for kids aged 3-5, and yesterday they only had 3 kids come. It was pouring down rain at 10 a.m. and I was worried that no kids would come. Instead we had 7 kids, the highest number all week! It was really fun playing with the kids and watching them have fun, so it was an enjoyable way to spend my morning.

After that VBS I had a few hours to make phone calls and get some things done before leaving to pick up Bonita, Linda, Pedro and Miguel for the afternoon VBS. I didn't stay for that one (Carisa is in charge of the afternoon VBS, I am in charge of the morning one), so I had about an hour to get stuff done before Prayer Pals.

Prayer Pals went really well and I had a lot of fun. After Prayer Pals, Brooke and I planned on eating dinner together and then relaxing for the night while we worked on Reading Rocks. We were actually looking forward to our first night off in at least 5 days. Our plans were quickly changed...

I went to take 2 Prayer Pals home, M and N, but no one was at their house. I finally got in touch with one of their brothers but he was going to the church to play basketball. I decided that it would probably be more fun for M and N to hang out with me rather than watching their brothers play basketball for a few hours. So, I kept them until basketball was over.

We ended up having a really fun night! The girls at dinner with us and we laughed a lot. After dinner we decided to get some ice cream and took A with us. A is a 4 year old boy that I have completely fallen in love with. (Paxton is still my favorite 5 yaer old, but A has become my favorite 4 year old!!!) His dad is really involved with the church and I love being able to help him out...not to mention I really really love A!!! A, M and N had all won a free trip to get ice cream at our last after-school challenge, and we all enjoyed them receiving their reward tonight! I can't remember laughing this much in a very long time!!!!

Brooke and I finally got the house to ourselves around 10. We still got a lot done, but not as much as we had planned, which I am trying to be okay with. I had a WONDERFUL night, and I know everything that I need to do will get done...and the stuff that doesn't is not the end of the world. Its times like this, though, that I sometimes wish I had one of those jobs where I could leave at the end of the day and not think about work until the next day. My "job" is definitely not like that, but the pros most definitely outweigh the cons.

Please be praying for me tomorrow. Tomorrow night is Teen Club and I have really been struggling with Teen Club recently. Teen Club is our teen outreach, so we don't always have the nicest or most respectful teens there. I need to see these teens through Christ's eyes and have Him fill me with His love and patience. If I try and do it out of myself...well, it isn't pretty.

I'm a Juror!!

I can't believe it, but it is true...I was picked to serve as a juror on a case. I actually never thought I would be selected because my dad is a police officer. In fact, I probably never will be picked for a criminal case for exactly that reason. However, I forgot about civil cases, haha. So, today I was selected and the trial started. I am really praying that it will all be finished up tomorrow! Its not a complicated case, and its kind of a boring one, but at least I'm not spending 2 days waiting to never be selected!!

I don't mind serving jury duty, but I was very sad to have to leave the Teen Retreat early. Everyone had a BLAST yesterday and I stayed until bed time and then drove back. I really loved being with everyone and am sad I missed today. I heard it was an awesome day though, so as long as the teens had a great time, I'm happy.

We also have a mission group here this week. They have 120 people!!! They are running 3 VBS's and I am really excited to get to help out. I was scheduled for jury duty today and tomorrow anyway, so we weren't planning on me being able to help out until Wednesday. Hopefully this case won't make that any later. I heard everything went well today and I am itching to get to play with the kids!!

Serving on a jury has helped me feel even more affirmed in my decision to stay in Philly and get a part-time job. All I could think about today was the kids and the teens that I DESPERATELY wanted to be with. I can't imagine how I would feel if I ever left here, or stayed but couldn't be with the kids and teens all the time. Thank you Lord for your incredible plan!!!!!

I actually need to get to bed soon so I am not late to court tomorrow. Please be praying for wisdom as I help decide this case, and PLEASE pray that it will wrap up soon so I can get back to doing what I love. I am starting to question how good I am at it, but there is no question that I love it!! :)

Like Caleb

Have you ever studied much about Caleb? I have read a lot about Joshua but I have never really studied Caleb. I have always heard about Joshua and Caleb, but that is usually the end of what I hear about Caleb. I discovered on Monday, though, that I really want to be like Caleb.

His story starts when Moses sends him, along with Joshua and 10 others to spy on the land of Canaan, the land that the Lord has promised to give to the Israelites. All 12 spies come back, but 10 of them are scared. They have seen the Anakites, who are giants with a giant fortified city and they are afraid. All of them, except Joshua and Caleb. The spies come back and 10 of them try and convince the Israelites not to go to battle because the people in Canaan can not be defeated. Only Joshua and Caleb stand up for the Lord and proclaim the victory that He promised. Unfortunately, the Israelites listen to the other 10 spies, and as a result they had to wander in the desert for 40 years.

During that 40 years, and entire generation of Israelites died off and a new generation was raised. Only Joshua and Caleb survived and were allowed into the Promised Land. They were allowed into the Promised Land, but they also had to suffer through 40 years of wandering in the desert, even though they had been faithful.

Once in the Promised Land, the Israelites were sent to conquer all the different people groups of the land. The Lord promised them victory over everyone, but they had to follow a few rules. First, they were not allowed to take anything from the conquered cities. The "spoils" were to be set aside for the Lord.

Not too long after they began to conquer, they lost a battle!! At first they were very confused; the Lord promised them victory! Joshua went before the Lord to find out what happened and it turns out that Achan, one of the Israelites, had taken some of the "spoils" from their previous battle and the Lord had to punish them. The Israelites lost a battle they should have won, and many people were killed.

They were also told not to make any peace treaties with anyone in the land of Canaan. Enter the Gibeonites. To make a long story short (you can read it in Joshua 9) the Gibeonites tricked the Israelites into thinking they were not from Canaan and the Israelites made a peace treaty with them. (They didn't ask the Lord before they did it). Again, they were punished.

Caleb was not responsible for any of this and had to sit back and not only watch it, but also suffer the consequences. I don't know about you, but if it were me, I would be mad. At this point I would probably be pretty fed up with the Israelites by know. We don't read anything about him being angry and upset, just always faithful to the Lord.

The kicker comes in Joshua 14. As the Israelites are continuing their conquest of the land of Canaan, Joshua and Caleb decide to divide the land. When Caleb was asked which part of the land he wanted, this was his response: "Now then, just as the LORD promised, he has kept me alive for forty-five years since the time he said this to Moses, while Israel moved about in the desert. So here I am today, eighty-five years old! I am still as strong today as the day Moses sent me out; I'm just as vigorous to go out to battle now as I was then. Now give me this hill country that the LORD promised me that day. You yourself heard then that the Anakites were there and their cities were large and fortified, but, the LORD helping me, I will drive them out just as he said."

Can you believe that?!? Caleb is 85 years old...he has wandered in the desert for 40 years, fought countless battles, suffered the consequences of other peoples' sin...I'm tired just thinking about it. Caleb wasn't ready to rest though, he wanted to continue to see what the Lord could do!!

I have been thinking about Caleb a lot this week, mostly because I haven't gotten to sleep much and I feel tired. There is a lot going on all the time, and sometimes I get overwhelmed and I just want to rest. Not just sleep through the night rest, I want a few days off to do nothing kind of rest. I'm not saying that there is anything wrong with that, but I don't think its time for that. Right now the Lord is calling me to continue to fight, and stand strong. I need to be like Caleb.

This mindset has really helped me this week. The girls have been with me and its been really good. They are going to school and actually doing their homework. It makes life a little more chaotic, but its worth it. I have also gotten A LOT done, although I still have a lot to do. We have the Teen Club Retreat this weekend and then a group of 120 teens working at the church next week. They will be running 2 VBS's and a ton of other things. We also have to get Reading Rocks finished before the end of next week because that starts the week after. We also have another group coming in that week to run an outdoor VBS...so there will be a lot going on! There is a lot of planning to do for all of these groups, plus I have 2 more groups coming at the end of July. All of this is in addition to our normal clubs, all the Extreme Team stuff we're doing with the teens and the craziness of my block (which seems to always have something weird going on). Oh, and I have jury duty this Monday and Tuesday, haha...maybe that will be my time off. :)

I am taking Friday completely off, not doing ANY work. My roommates and I are planning on sleeping in as late as we want and then heading to Center City to hang out. We always have so much fun together, I'm really excited!!!

The Weekend

This weekend was really good, although it went by so fast! I left for Virginia Saturday afternoon and arrived around midnight. I stayed with the Sipher's, my second family. They are the family that first took me to church, and picked me up EVERY Sunday until I could drive myself. They are the reason that I am even a Christian, much less a missionary! I didn't get much time to talk when I first arrived, I was exhausted and went straight to sleep.

The next morning I got up and went to church. It was a great day to be at church! We had several families leaving for different places (Sudan, Congo and the Philippines) and one family just returning from China. It was missions Sunday, and we didn't even plan it! It really made me feel like a part of the community at the church and was such a blessing. I got the chance to share a little bit about what God is doing in Philly and everyone was so encouraging and excited. It was great!

After church I decided to try and surprise my grandmother. I haven't visited her in a while, and she was very surprised and happy to see me. We had a GREAT visit and I hope I can get back there again soon. Its hard since my parents don't live there anymore...

I ended the day with dinner at the Sipher's house with another friend Daniel. I really enjoyed being there and actually felt very refreshed when I left, despite the shortness of the visit. On my way back to Philly I stopped by another friend's house to talk through their trip to Philly this summer and didn't end up getting on the road until after 9. That put me back in Philly at 4 a.m.!!!! I went straight to bed and slept in until noon. It felt great. :)

This week is going to be a full week, but not nearly as busy as last week. I can get a lot of work done at home, which I really enjoy. Of course, my house is pretty messy because of the chaos of last week, so I think I need to take care of that first. I'll probably start on that tomorrow... :)

The Most Fun Day EVER!!!!

I have to say, the trip to Hershey Park was one of the best ideas that I have ever had!!! We had SO MUCH FUN!!!! There were 16 of us and we all left the park (after being there for 10 hours!), excited and feeling great about the day. Everyone had a blast and it seriously was one of the most fun days I can remember in my life!!!

Things didn't start out well as I was having a lot of problems getting vans for us to use to get there. I finally ended up renting one, but that even became a fiasco as the rental car company and priceline made mistakes that I am still working through.

Nonetheless, I got vans and drivers and at 8 a.m. we all met at the Hope House to leave for Hershey Park. Because of some drama (Linda forgot her bathing suit and some people were a little late), we didn't get on the road until about 8:45, but that was still okay. It was about a 2 hour drive to get there, and we didn't hit any traffic!! We decided to hit the water park in the morning, then go eat lunch and do the roller coasters in the afternoon.

As we headed to the water park we realized that we would need lockers for the morning, so we ended up spending $32 just on lockers to hold our stuff! That took up a little time for the leaders, so the kids decided to stand near one of the water coasters and get themselves splashed. They all got soaked. :)

The water park consists of a giant water playground with 7 water slides, and several other water rides that require inner tubes. We spent a while at the water playground before deciding to try one of the water rides. It worked out that we had one leader for every kid, which was PERFECT for the day! We each paired up, grabbed an inner tube and got in line. We had to wait in line for a little while, but it wasn't too bad, and it turned out to be the longest line of the day, which was awesome.

Before we got on any of the rides we measured the kids to see what rides they would be allowed on. The measuring system had the little kids as kisses, then Reece's, Hershey's, Twizzler's and the tallest were jolly ranchers. Paxton, Natasha and Miguel were all Reece's, Pedro was a Hershey's, Bonita and Adriana were Twizzler's and Linda was a Jolly Rancher. There were tons of rides for each height, which was awesome (I know I keep saying that things were awesome, but that's because they were!)

So, the water ride was our first official ride of the day. Frank, Brooke and I were all paired up with our Reece's crew, so we went on one slide while the other guys went on a different one. Our slide was still very exciting and made my heart race a bit! All of the kids LOVED their slide, but didn't really want to wait in line again. Plus, they were all getting hungry...and a bit cranky.

So, we started to get in line for one last water ride and then go to lunch when we realized that the wait was over an hour. It wasn't worth it for us, so we decided to go on the Falls Ride. That's where everyone is in a big boat that goes up a hill and then drops you down a waterfall, soaking everyone on the ride and the people watching. Our Reece's crew couldn't get on that ride, so Frank took them to a sandcastle water playground until we were finished. We all REALLY loved the falls and it was a fun thing to do as a group. I was a little nervous about our skinny kids flying out, haha, but they survived. We laughed so much together on that ride!

From that ride we headed back out to the vans to eat lunch. We were all SO hot, SO tired and SO hungry! The kids were getting really cranky at this point and I was starting to think we were just going to have to head home (it was already 3:00). Thankfully, lunch seemed to change everything and afterwards we were all ready for more fun. (Poor Frank, though, was exhausted. He had stayed in the park to eat lunch with Paxton before realizing that he had the keys to the van that had our lunches in it! So after eating, he put Paxton on his shoulders and ran through the park to get to us so we could have the keys. He actually made it to us before we even had time to notice we needed the keys!!!).

At lunch we worked out a game plan for the rest of the day. We split the kids (and leaders) into 3 different groups. We had the "Wild and Crazy" group, led by Joy, Kirsten and Jenna. That group was going to go on all the big, crazy and fast roller coasters. Next we had the "Middle of the Road" crew, led by me, Brooke and Kareem. We were going to go on some roller coasters and have fun, but not necessarily all the crazy ones. Finally, we had the "Little Ones" group, led by Frank and Lindsay that would ride the kid rides and stick to the more tame things. Linda, Monique and Pedro joined the Wild and Crazy group; Bonita, Adriana and Miguel were the Middle of the Road crew, and Natasha and Paxton were the little ones. (Miguel should have actually gone with the little ones, but he is terrified of heights and they were heading to the Ferris Wheel first, so he stuck with us and just sat out of rides that were too scary for him). We all decided to meet up at a "Wild and Crazy" ride at 7:00 so that Frank, Kareem, Brooke and I would at least get to ride one really fun roller coaster. The "Wild and Crazy" group was responsible for deciding which ride was the wildest and then letting up know so we could all meet there.

So, we all split off and every group had a BLAST!!!!! The Wild and Crazy group rode 7 roller coasters and loved all of them. There was only one that Pedro wasn't allowed on, and he handled it SO WELL! Actually, he shouldn't have been allowed on another one, the Storm Runner, but the guy at the front of the line didn't want to turn him away after he waited in the long line, so he let Pedro on...which was so great because it turned out to be Pedro's favorite ride of the day!

My crew had a really really great time. Miguel was able to ride every ride that he wanted to, although since he is so scared of heights, he didn't want to ride too many, haha. We did ride the Pirate Ship, which rocks you back and forth really high in the air. We realized a little too late that this was going to be a really scary ride for Miguel, so he spent the entire time with his head buried in my arm asking when the ride was going to be over. He survived, although as soon as he got off he commented, "never again in my life!!". I told him I was really proud of him for making it through the ride though, and he spent the rest of the day telling people that I had been so proud of him. :) He also commented that he was Wild and Crazy because he went on the pirate ship, haha.

We rode a few other fun rides (swings, etc) before we got to the Comet. It looked like a simple roller coaster, but Miguel was still shaking from the Pirate Ship, so I stayed back with him and played some games while the others went on it. Turns out, the Comet has a few pretty big hills that made it a pretty scary ride, though it was also a lot of fun! Kareem's heart was racing when he got off, haha. Right next to the Comet was the Super Dooper Looper, which the Wild and Crazy crew had told us was really fun and not too scary (although it does go upside down). Miguel again wanted no part of it, but Adriana and Bonita were willing to try it. This time Brooke stayed back with Miguel and the rest of us got on it. We were actually pretty nervous about it; it was our first big roller coaster of the day, and it did not have any shoulder harnesses. Bonita decided at the last second (literally) that she didn't want to ride it any more, but it was too late to get off and I assured her that she would have fun. Thankfully, I was right! We all loved it! In fact, we decided to ride it again, and since there was no line we got back on almost immediately. The second time Bonita even opened her eyes when we went upside down!

When we got off the ride we were a bit dizzy and wanted to sit for a few minutes. Unfortunately, Miguel had discovered the Tilt-a-Whirl and wanted to ride it over and over again. We were all still recovering, so he rode it by himself once before finally talking Kareem and Bonita into riding it with him, for his 3rd time.

From there we headed to the Log Flume (called the Coal Cracker at Hershey Park), which is mine and Bonita's favorite ride to ride together at amusement parks. It is a water ride, but you don't get too wet and its a lot of fun. Brooke didn't want to get wet at all, so she didn't ride it, but we actually talked Miguel into riding it with us. He sat in the front of the log with Kareem and I sat in the back with Adriana and Bonita. It was another really fun ride that we all loved, and decided to ride again (again, there was no line!). Miguel wasn't going to go on it again, but finally decided that it wasn't too scary, so we all 5 rode together again. This was one of the rides where they take your picture while you are going down the drop, and we all had such fun looks on our faces that I bought the picture (Miguel kept his head down, so you can only see the top of his head in the picture, which to me made it priceless). After the Log Flume, we had just enough time to drive some old timey cars around a track before we were supposed to meet everyone at the Storm Runner for our last ride and then head home.

Unfortunately, a storm started coming through and they shut down all of the roller coasters so it didn't look like we were going to get to ride the Storm Runner. We were disappointed, but it was in no way going to ruin our amazing day. Oh!! I forgot to tell you! The Little Ones crew had a blast during their time as well. They even rode the Comet!! Paxton was apparently pretty scared, but he made it through! He mentioned that the Comet was his wild and crazy, haha. Miguel wouldn't even go on that!!! Natasha not only went on it, but she loved it and begged to go on again! (Did I mention that her 17 year old brother had been a little scared on that ride?!?). These kids are amazing!!!

Since the coasters were closing, and we didn't know when they would reopen, we decided to all meet at the Log Flume. From there we were going to head to the Hershey Factory and do the 12 minute ride/tour and then head home. However, as were were walking out, we again passed the Tilt-a-Whirl. Of course, Miguel wanted to go again, and so did Paxton, so we decided to stop there. At some point while they were on the Tilt-a-Whirl we started to notice some of the roller coasters running again and realized they were open!!! The Wild and Crazy crew was insistent that we ride the Storm Runner, so we headed that way. On the way, we passed the Comet and Natasha wanted to ride it again. Pedro wanted to try it, and since we knew he wouldn't be able to sneak on the Storm Runner again, Jenna and Lindsay took them on the Comet. Adriana and Bonita decided to stay too, they weren't sure if they were ready for the Storm Runner. When we got to the Storm Runner we saw that there were tons of little kids rides all around, so Joy offered to take Miguel and Paxton on those while we rode the Storm Runner. Those boys had so much fun together!!! They rode every kids' ride there, and both were so excited about how much fun they had! Miguel couldn't stop telling me about all the things that he and Paxton had done. They even rode the kids Pirate ship, which was a lot more fun for Miguel than the other one had been. :)

So, that left me, Linda, Monique, Kirsten, Frank, Kareem and Brooke to ride the Storm Runner. The line wasn't too long, but long enough to really build up the anticipation. By the time we actually got on it, my heart was about to beat out of my chest and I thought I might wet myself, haha. Here is the official description of the ride: "This one-of-a-kind coaster will launch you from 0-72 mph in 2 seconds flat. 18 stories straight up, straight down. And that's just the beginning. You'll fly through a 135 foot cobra loop, barrel rolls, and a dramatic flying snake dive so fast, you won't know which way is west." Crazy!!! In all, I think the ride lasted about 30 seconds, but they were terrifying. I was SO proud of Linda, Monique and Pedro for going on it!!

While we were waiting in line Frank and I were commenting on how, as you get older, its actually even scarier to go on these rides. Frank, Kareem and I were all second guessing ourselves until we actually went on the ride. We LOVED it!! It was just as amazing as everyone had said it was and I am SO glad we went on it!!!!! It was great!

Finally, though, it was really time to go. It was after 8, and I had planned on leaving by 7, haha. We still wanted to do the Hershey Factory tour/ride, so we went there before heading home. It was short, but a lot of fun for everyone and we all got free candy. After that ride we headed to the cars and went home.

I ended up having all of the kids (except Paxton) spend the night at my house, which wasn't as crazy as you might think. They all pretty much passed out when we got home, and woke up this morning, ate breakfast, played video games and then I took them home. They were still talking about all the fun they had yesterday.

In all it was an AMAZING day that I would absolutely love to do again. I doubt that I will be able to afford it again any time soon, haha, but it was worth the money. Thank you Lord!!!!!

Now I am about to pack, return the rental car, clean up the other van and then get on the road to VA. I am speaking at my home church tomorrow and then having a luncheon afterwards. I should be heading back to Philly last tomorrow night or really early Monday morning. I just added up my work hours for this week, and I'm almost at 70 hours! I am most definitely taking next Friday off...not doing ANYTHING!!! :)

YAY!!

We're going to Hershey Park!!!!!!!!! (Please excuse the hair, its been a crazy week...)

EXHAUSTED!!!

The last 2 days have been SO busy! I can't remember the last time I felt this tired...and the rest of this week is looking just as busy at the beginning. Ahh!!!

I have been getting up around 7:15 to go to the girls' house and make sure they are going to school (which they are). From there I head back home to get work done. On Monday we had a college group from AIM come and clean the Hope House. Carisa, Brooke, Joy and I met during that time to get things started with Reading Rocks. I was with the group until about 1. The group is also running a special after-school week for me at the church. We have 25 kids signed up...and I forgot how much preparation goes into after-school! :) So, when I left the Hope House at 1 I had just enough time to run to the church and do some set up, head home and eat a really quick lunch and then go pick up the kids for after-school. After-school ran from 3:45-5:30. From there I took the kids home, went to my house to grab a very quick bite to eat and then head back to the church for God Squad. We finally got home around 10 p.m....completley exhausted. Jenna was in my room using the computer and I came in, sat on my bed and immediately fell asleep, in my clothes and nowhere near a pillow, haha. I didn't wake up until my alarm went off at 7:00 this morning!!

Today was pretty much a repeat of yesterday, with a few changes. Instead of having the group cleaning I spent the morning getting things ready for Kids Club next week, After-School today, Prayer Pals tomorrow and some stuff for our groups coming later this summer. Then around 1 Brooke and I met up with Jenna and Jenna and I got tattoos!!! :) I LOVE mine, its the word "Redeem" in Hebrew on my wrist. From there I did all my final preparations for After-School and then headed to pick up the kids. Unfortunately, I didn't take the time to eat this morning. Usually this wouldn't be much of a problem, but apparently getting a tattoo drops your blood sugar and if you don't have anything in your system...well, you get a bit light headed. Haha, I did NOT pass out, but I did have to stop and drink a coke half way through getting my tattoo. This was my 3rd tattoo, but the 1st time that has ever happened. Whoops!!

So, we had after-school and then went straight into family night. We again got home around 10. Tomorrow will start the same, with getting the girls to school, staff prayer, Teen Leadership meeting, After-School and then Prayer Pals. Prayer Pals is over at 7, so at least I will be home earlier tomorrow. Thursday will include a similar schedule, with Teen Club getting me home after 10 p.m., and then Friday we head to Hershey Park for the day!! Its insane!!

After-School is going REALLY well this week, and despite being very tired, I am REALLY enjoying it. I have the kids paired up and each pair has an adult leader. Its been so fun to see the kids bonding with each other and getting the attention that they desperately want but that I can rarely give them. There is one family with 3 girls that I really love that I have a hard time really reaching out to. They are all 3 very different, but I love all 3. I don't know how to show them that, but I am trying to learn. I am really glad that they are around this week and they seem to be enjoying themselves.

I will try and post some better pictures from After-School this week if I can ever find the time. Next week is looking pretty busy with clubs back in session, but I won't have an After-School program to prepare and run, so hopefully I will have some time for other things. Jenna, Brooke and I haven't even been able to find the time to go to the grocery store! We are coming up with some creative things to cook and eat in a hurry though. :)

What a morning...

It's 8:00 in the morning and today has already been an amazing day!! I had so much fun this morning, hehe.

I told you all a few days ago that Bonita and Linda haven't been going to school and their mom and I had a plan to try and change that. So, the plan was for me to come to their house at 7:15 this morning. I talked to Dario and Luis on Saturday and told them that I was also coming to make sure they go to school too. I also had a really long talk with them about how important school is, and they really seemed to get it.

So, this morning I got up early and got to their house at 7:20. Both Dario and Luis were up and dressed and ready for school (they have to be at school earlier than the girls do), and were sitting in the couch waiting for me to come. They were so excited to see the girls' reaction to me being there (the girls did not know that I was coming, haha). I walked in the house and the boys told me that the girls were up but refusing to get ready for school. I walked up stairs, knocked on their door and then walked into their room...

The looks on their faces were priceless. There was no way to capture them for you all to see, but they will forever be etched in my mind. They knew they were busted and that there was nothing they could do. Bonita looked at me, shocked, then smiled and immediately walked to her dresser to get ready for school. Linda hid her face for a minute, tried to fight going to school for a few seconds, but they she started getting ready too.

I ended up bringing them to my house to get a shirt for Linda before dropping them off at school and was able to have a really good talk with them. They are both going through adolescence and its a really hard time for them, and it reminded me that I do need to be around more for them even though after-school is finished. The next few years are not going to be easy for any of us, haha, but I know that they will come out on the other side beautiful women of God. They are already so amazing! Their mom told me they have been really good in every other area...helping around the house, etc., but school was a struggle. I was encouraged by that and I know we can get through this year, and hopefully start next year fresh.

So, the girls are at school today and will not miss another day this year (except Friday when we go to Hershey Park). I found out Miguel hasn't been going to school either (which is really heart breaking because he is an honor roll student), so I am going to have a talk with him later today. There are only 2 weeks left of school, they can do this!!!

On a different note, our block was struck by lightening last night! Isn't that crazy?!? Around 10:30 Brooke, Jenna and I were all in the living room watching TV when we saw a VERY bright flash of light come from the kitchen (I half expected to see an Angel standing in my kitchen it was so bright!) and then heard the loudest clap of thunder that I have ever heard in my life. It set off every car alarm on the block!! I talked to my neighbor this morning and he said that sparks were flying all throughout his house!

So, in the last 2 weeks there have been 3 shootings and one lightening bolt on my block. Its looking like this is going to be an exciting summer!

SO MUCH FUN!!!

Yesterday was one of the most fun days that I have had in a long time. The entire day was a blast!! I realized recently that I have lived in Philly for 5 years and I don't know a lot about the city. So, we all decided to spend the day out in the city yesterday! The group started with me, Brooke, Jenna, Ashley and Joy. We got on the El and decided to just pick a stop and try and find something cool from there. None of us wanted to pick a stop so we called Kirsten and just asked her to pick a number between 2 and 60. She picked 43, so we got off the El at 43rd street.

Unfortunately, there wasn't anything at that stop, so we started to walk. We headed back toward 30th street, near the University of Pennsylvania. We finally stopped and asked someone where some good restaurants are and she pointed us in the right direction. (We had been walking for over an hour, but hadn't realized it because we were all having so much fun!). We found this little side street with some restaurants and coffee shops and finally picked this little Irish Pub. The food was INCREDIBLE!! After we ate we walked around a little, went in a few bookstores, stopped at a coffee shop and then headed home around 4. We had done a lot of walking, and had SO MUCH FUN!!

After we got home we had about an hour before we needed to go to the church for Jared's graduation party. Joy headed to the church to help her family set up for the party, while the rest of us grabbed a newspaper and checked out all the fun stuff going on this summer. We have made some big plans for the summer to see and do a lot of the fun Philly things that none of us have ever done.

Next, we went to the church for Jared's party and had a lot of fun. The party ended around 7:30 and then we headed back to Center City for First Friday. Every month, on the first Friday, all of the art galleries in Center City are open for free, and they have live music and food. We only got to enjoy it for about an hour and a half, but we had a lot of fun. We saw some amazing art (even met one of the artists...she was amazing. She listens to music and then paints what she is hearing...its awesome!). We also saw a really great folk band, some belly dancers...it was just a really cool night!

We finally got home around 10 p.m. and we were all pretty exhausted. We left the house at 11 a.m., and were gone for over 11 hours! We all had so much fun together! We laughed A LOT, but also had some great conversations about life and the Lord. Incredible is the only word I can find to describe the day!

Today should be another really good day. I am going to pick up the girls in a little while, and I haven't seen them in a while. Its actually not going to be too fun for them, but they don't know that yet. I found out yesterday that they haven't been going to school for the last 2 weeks, and they are about to get it. Their mom and I are working together to make sure they go for the rest of the year, and they will face some serious consequences if they don't go.

After that, though, Jenna and I are heading down to South Street to get tattoos! Well, at least talk to someone and get some ideas. We both know what we want, but we aren't sure exactly what they will look like, so we're going to check things out. If we don't get them today, we're going to go back later this week, so we're both really excited. Also on South Street, they are doing some really cool art exhibits and painting at Whole Foods, so we are going to check that out too. I think Brooke is going with us too, but I'm not sure. We don't have any big plans tonight, which is fine with me...yesterday was such a busy day, I don't mind relaxing tonight.

There is an AIM group coming tonight that is going to work with Cornerstone next week and will be running a special After-School week for me. I am SO excited about it! We have 25 kids coming each day, and its going to be a blast!! The summer has definitely started, but so far so good!