Merry Christmas!

6 Months?!?!?

I honestly had no idea that it has been 6 months since I have posted on this blog!! WHOA! I am going to assume that at this point no one still reads this blog, haha, since apparently I don't either. I am still in shock, I can't believe that I went this long... sorry!!I will use the two most cliche (but also very true) excuses that I have been extremely busy and that even when I had down time, I could never really think of anything to say that is blog worthy. Actually, I still don't really have anything blog worthy to say, haha, but I felt like I should post something now so I can keep this thing going at least a little longer.

I guess I can quickly catch you up on the last few months.

I think the easiest way to update the summer is with my newsletter! So, here is my newsletter from August:



Between 5 VBS groups, hosting my own mission group, Reading Rocks, a 9 day mission training program with the teens, my 30 hour a week part time job and all the regular Cornerstone activities (Kids Club, God Squad, etc.), you can understand why I didn't have much time to write, can't you? Well, things didn't really slow down for me in the fall either!

In September I began my first semester of graduate school at Temple University. Yup, for some unknown reason (God) I decided to go back to school and try for my MSW (Masters in Social Work). I applied to Temple but wasn't accepted right away (something about having taken almost 0 liberal arts classes in college and them not being sure I could handle the work load of grad school... blah, blah, blah...). So, I signed up for 2 classes (both on Saturdays) in the fall and I needed to get at least a 3.0 to be considered for entrance to the MSW program.

Of course, along with my two new graduate school classes as well as still working my 30 hour a week part time job, I was also promoted to Children's Ministries Director at church! Crazy!!! With my new title does come increased responsibilities, though I am still working my way through those (I don't always like being in charge). So, for this fall I basically worked 50-60 hours a week, plus went to class for 6 hours every Saturday and had approximately 8-10 hours of homework to do each week (so many papers to write!). Again, see why I have been too busy to write??

I hope I don't sound like I am complaining, because I am definitely NOT! I have had a really awesome time this fall. I am LOVING my work at CASA, LOVING the kids at church, LOVING my classes (seriously, I do!) and I even got to go on another cruise in November!! (Okay, so the vacation wasn't exactly a high point, but more on that in another post). And to top it all off, I somehow (God) managed to get A's in BOTH of my graduate classes and finish the semester with a 4.0!!!! I won't find out until February whether or not I am accepted into the program, but I think it have a pretty good shot at it. :)

So, here we are; after 6 of the busiest months I have probably ever had, I am finally taking a few minutes to update my blog. Whew!

Okay, now that you have an update on the activities of the last half a year, here is the reality of where I am. Life hasn't been perfect over the last 6 months and I have experienced some significant struggle. As much as I have loved so much of what God has been doing, I have also battled through (and am still battling) serious depression, a lot of questions about myself and my faith, and even more questions about where my life is headed and what God's plans for my next steps are. I would even say that I have come very close to the edge of burn out and I'm working my way off that edge. (Before you make a comment on my schedule as the cause of my burn out, please remember that in September I started my 10th year as a single, full-time missionary in inner-city Philadelphia. I have been through a lot in that time while never, in all my 9 years here, being fully financially supported. Simply living here for 9 years is enough to drain you...).

Thankfully, God has been MORE than faithful, even in (especially in) my times of little to no faith. I have no stories of miraculous revelations, just six months of my roots growing deeper even as my leaves seem to wither. The light in my darkness has been very faint for a while now, but it has never disappeared. I know that doesn't sound awe inspiring to you, but it's all I have and exactly what I need.

So, there you have a VERY condensed version of the last 6 months for me. I am on break right now from school and from Cornerstone clubs, and my CASA work is slowing down for the holidays, so I may have some more time to write in the coming weeks. I make no promises once everything kicks back into full gear, however. I definitely want to write an update on my vacation soon; if for no other reason than to make sure I never forget the ridiculousness that was my "vacation", though "not so funny comedy of errors" might be a better description, haha.

Hopefully you will be hearing from me again soon!

Grace and Justice

Looking back on my life, I would have to say that I was a very... interesting child. In some ways, I haven't changed much at all. So, imagine my passion for helping people being played out in a 2 year old. Thankfully, I had a little brother that clearly always needed me to "help" him. The poor kid didn't talk forever because I just decided I knew exactly what he needed all the time and would take care of everything for him!

I was also the "that's not fair kid". I mean, to a ridiculous point. If my parents could explain to me why something was fair, I would totally accept it. However, if they couldn't, well then it wasn't fair and therefore I didn't have to listen to them. How in the world they put up with me... whew...

As I grew older, my passion for justice grew stronger and stronger. (I think it has at least something to do with my dad being a police officer... and an awesome one at that...). I not only wanted things in my life to be fair, I believed strongly that things everyone should always be fair. In 7th grade I got into a very intense discussion (okay, it was close to an argument, haha) with my state representative (he came to visit our school to talk about... I don't remember what...) over the death penalty. Yes, as a 12 year old I was convinced that the death penalty was unfair and therefore should be outlawed (I had statistics, stories of people who were wrongfully executed and even financial data showing how cost ineffective it is... feeling sorry for my parents yet??) and felt that I needed to let my state representative know. I wonder why everyone thought I was going to grow up to be a lawyer...

Okay, cut to 19 years later and I am more than aware that the world is unfair. Working with abused and neglected kids in the inner city for 9 years has more than beaten the "fairness" out of me. I have seen way too many people get away with things and too many children punished for things they have no control over. I get it. My dad was absolutely right (shhh, don't tell him I said that!); life is not fair.

And there is another big difference between now and then (nope, I am actually not any taller now that I was in the 7th grade). Now, I am a Christian. 4 years after arguing (quite impressively for a 12 year old, if I do say so myself) that the death penalty was wrong, I accepted Christ into my heart; becoming a huge beneficiary of the most extreme example of a wrongfully convicted man in the history of the world. I got away with every wrong I have ever committed and fully accepted another man; a completely innocent man, being punished instead. Oh the irony...

This turn of events in my life, however, has not decreased my passion and desire for justice on earth. This is not entirely a bad thing, but it certainly causes me some problems.

I still get angry when I see injustice in the world. The cries of Habbakuk mirror my thoughts:

How long, LORD, must I call for help,
but you do not listen?
Or cry out to you, “Violence!”
but you do not save?
Why do you make me look at injustice?
Why do you tolerate wrongdoing?
Destruction and violence are before me;
there is strife, and conflict abounds.
Therefore the law is paralyzed,
and justice never prevails.
The wicked hem in the righteous,
so that justice is perverted.
~Habakkuk 1: 2-4
And I do fight against injustice, in every way that I can (Isaiah 58:6). Still, no matter how hard I fight or how angry I get, injustice continues. All over the place. All around me.

So, what do I do? I can't ignore injustice, but I also can't live life angry.

How do I go home at night and sleep soundly knowing that injustice continues no matter how hard I fight or how angry I get? And what about that whole; "Love your enemies" thing? How do I fight against injustice yet love those who perpetrate it?

I can't. It is literally impossible. My passion for justice runs so deep, I don't think I could ignore it if I wanted to. I hate injustice. And if I am really honest, I hate those who perpetrate it.

God hates injustice. But, he still loves those who perpetrate it.

I can't stop injustice, but one day He will.

I can't love those who perpetrate injustice, but He does.

So, what do I do?

I look to Him. I ask Him to fill my heart with love, even for my enemies. On my own, I have no compassion. But as Christ works on my heart, I find the anger dissipating and compassion emerging.

I spend time reading the Sermon on the Mount. Help me take the speck out of my own eye Lord, so that I can more clearly see the world with through your eyes.

I meditate on Genesis 1:27 and Psalm 139. Yes, I was knit together in my mother's womb, created for a purpose by the creator of the universe! I was created in the image of God, given life to spend my time on earth reflecting His glory! I wasn't the only one, however. Every single person was created in the image of the Almighty; Lord help me to see you in everyone I meet... and to glorify you because of that.

And finally, I remember. I remember that day in 1996 when I accepted the death of an innocent payment for my own wrongs; so that I could go free and escape the punishment that I deserved.

It's a lot easier to love my enemies when I realize that without Christ, I am the enemy.

New Direction

When I first started this blog, the purpose was mainly for my family and my supporters; basically a place for me to update you on all the things that I couldn't write in my newsletter. And for a while, I did a pretty good job of keeping up with it.

Of course, those were the days of kids constantly coming in and out of my house, lots of changes and new things happening in my life and in my ministry; basically things that I wanted to write about so that I could remember them years later. It wasn't difficult for me to sit down and write about Linda and Bonita or recount fun times at the beach or my excitement over the new challenges ahead.

But, life is different for me now. I am living in a home I plan to stay in for a long time (thank you Jesus!!) with two adult roommates and no plans to have kids living here any time soon (with Lindsay living in my 3rd bedroom, there is no room for foster children for the time being. I have always had the mentality that the extra rooms in my house are available for whoever the Lord brings into my home. For now, that is Lindsay and Ashley... and I love that). :) I am pretty settled in my jobs and the things I face day to day are not things that I am motivated to blog about.

At Cornerstone I am spending the majority of my time discipling youth, teaching kids, training leaders and, well honestly, cleaning and organizing rooms within the church. (I'm serious... for the last few months I have worked on cleaning out and organizing the church office, my Kids Club closet, several Sunday School classrooms and I am working on plans for more. I have no idea where this came from, other than possibly the desire to work on a project that not only benefits the church, but also has tangible results; I'm not used to tangible results!).

At CASA I spend my time advocating for kids that face some of the most difficult challenges I have ever seen. It is incredibly challenging, rewarding, and I love every second of it. But, I can't really blog about it.

I am really enjoying life in general and feel fulfilled (not sure if that is the right word, but it's all that is coming to mind right now) in all that I am doing. I truly love all (okay, well almost all, haha) that I am doing. But, it's not really much to blog about. It's just really life.

Because of this, I considered closing down my blog. But, I realized that I still do have something to say. See, as I live my daily life, I am constantly changing; changing because I am learning. I am learning about myself, God, ministry, the world, the Bible, kids and teens... I am learning so much about so much . Sometimes I even learn something, only to learn something else that changes what I thought I learned the day before (does that statement even make sense??).

For a long time, I shied away from sharing too much about my personal walk with Christ because of fear. Fear of making a fool of myself, fear of being wrong... fear of upsetting someone. And there is something to be said for just staying quiet rather than being an idiot on the Internet (Proverbs 17:27-28). However, that doesn't mean that I need to stay silent. I am not afraid to be wrong, never have been. In fact, I want to know when I am wrong so that it can be corrected. And, at almost 31 years old, I don't really care a whole lot about offending people. Not that I want to purposely piss someone off, that is not Godly at all. However, I also can't watch everything I ever say for fear that it might upset someone.

So, I am refocusing my mindset as I think about this blog. I AM going to share more about some of what I am learning. I promise I will not seek to offend anyone and will pray that every word that I type honors the Lord; even in my questions and frustrations. If I ever stray from that, I do have incredible people in my life that will challenge me in that, and if this blog ever becomes simply a place to vent frustrations, I will immediately end it. I want everything in my life to be honoring to the Lord, including the words that I type. However, I can't promise that I won't say something that you disagree with or that may even offend you. In fact, it's likely that I will say something that will make you think twice. Actually, that's kind of what I want. Not to offend, but maybe to challenge as well as encourage. I just want you to be prepared, if you choose to read my blog, to not always love (and maybe even occasionally hate) what you read.

Of course, you will also get occasional updates on life. I still do some fun and interesting things, I like writing about them. :)

Some posts will be serious, and if I know myself (and I think I do, haha), some will just be silly. I am going to take what I say seriously, while also trying not to take myself too seriously (this is going to be an interesting journey!).

I have no idea where this is going to go. As I write this, I have absolutely no idea what to write about. I might post this and then go silent for a while. I am not going to try and write anything, I am simply going to write as I feel that I have something to share.

Please don't expect much from this new direction. Sometimes I feel like I have something important to say, but more often than not I just have rambling thoughts. This new direction of my blog might (and actually will likely) be an epic failure. We'll see. But, for the first time in my life, I am not letting the fear of failure or the fear of others keep me from trying something new. If nothings else, I will at least be able to say I tried. :)

Wait, I have a blog?!?

Yeah... it's been a while. I long while. A really long while. If this blog was public and more than just my dad read it on a regular basis (my mom can never remember my blog address, so she just asks for updates from my dad. Seriously, haha), I would have lost all my readers. I do have a "mid-year" resolution regarding my blog, but I will tell you about that later. For now, here is a short (and abridged... leaving out a ton but hopefully hitting the highlights) update on life.

Wow, 2 months... I actually need to look at a calendar to remember what's been going on! Of course, it's basically been a whole lot of nothing. Well, not nothing; just nothing to really blog about. Mostly, I have been working. I now work 30 hours a week with CASA and I am still loving it. I have also been working hard to prepare for summer ministry at Cornerstone (we have 5 VBS groups this summer!).

In April, I did get to spend a fun weekend in Indianapolis with my friends April and Catherine. I do have a picture from the weekend, but it's not a pretty one, lol. We ran a a half marathon together, and unfortunately I didn't train well for it. So, it was a struggle to finish it but we did!! And we did have a lot of fun together. It was a really great weekend to get away from the city and to be around people that have known me for most of my life. I will never get over how incredible it is for us to still be close, after 18+ years. God is too good to me! :)

I also gained a new roommate! I am SO SO excited to have LINDSAY living with us! She is here until she goes off to college (which will be in about 6 months to a year), and we are loving it!

Just a few days after Lindsay moved in, we got to celebrate her 19th birthday! We decided to go to the Phillies game to celebrate, and it turned out to be quite a night. The Phillies DID win the game... though it took them 19 innings. Yup, the first time we decide to go to a game turns out to be the longest game in major league baseball all year. The game didn't end until almost 2 a.m.! It was long but a ton of fun; and we thought it was really cool that on Lindsay's 19th birthday, the Phillies won their game in 19 innings. :) (We will NOT be going to the Phillies game to celebrate her 20th birthday, haha).



Also, this past weekend Ashley and I traveled to NC for a wedding, and it was wonderful! About 5 years ago, Brooke and Ashley (and another friend, Jenna) lived with me and Brooke served as my intern at Cornerstone. It was a really great summer and Brooke, Ashley and I have all stayed close since then. Brooke lives in Illinois and we haven't seen each other much, but we try to talk/facebook as often as possible!

So, when Ashley and I were invited to Brooke's wedding we jumped at the chance to go! Plus, another friend (Kirsten) lives only about an hour from where the wedding was, so we had a free place to stay and a great excuse to go see Kirsten! At the last minute we decided to invite Melissa along, and it turned out to be a really awesome weekend. Well, other than me missing a crucial turn on the drive down to NC, which took us about 3 hours to correct; making the 9 hour trip into a 12 hour one. Whoops. We still had a really fun car ride!

Ashley, Melissa and I had a really great time catching up with Kirsten; seeing her school and apartment and even getting to meet some of her awesome friends. And of course, the wedding was beautiful. It was very small (only about 40 guests), which made us feel SO honored that we were on the guest list! Brooke even asked me to read scripture during the ceremony, and I only messed up once. (Word of Christ, when said too fast, can easily be misspoken as 'word of Cwiste, lol).

The only real negative over the last few months happened today when I woke up with a cold. It's not horrible, but I have been spending most of the day in bed. Although, now that I think about it, if I wasn't in bed all day I probably would have never found the time to finally update my blog. So, maybe it's not such a bad thing after all!

Well, now I feel like I need to take some medicine again and maybe make a cup of hot chai. (Yes, I am aware that it is 90 degrees outside; tell that to my throat! Of course, I have my air conditioner set at 65, so I think it will be okay, haha). I will blog again later tonight about my new resolution regarding my blog. (I have a sneaking suspicion that I am setting myself up for failure with this, but I am going to try anyway!).

Talk to you again soon!

Support Raising

So, it’s March and I still don’t have a newsletter completed and ready to send out. That is NOT okay, and I AM working on one right now, but it’s taking me some time, which is kind of unusual for me. Usually I can get a newsletter finished pretty quickly if I just sit down and get it done. I am apparently experiencing some sort of writer’s block, however, so for now my poor supporters have to check my facebook to make sure I’m alive, haha. I’m really hoping to have something out by the end of next week at the latest. I am working on it!

I think part of my struggle in doing this newsletter is a result of my overall struggle with support raising. I have no problem with the fact that I have to support raise. Honestly, I don’t. But, I’m not going to lie, as much as I LOVE LOVE LOVE my supporters, the whole support raising process for me often gets overwhelming. Part of the problem might be that I, alone, am responsible for all aspects of my support raising . I am the one writing all the newsletters, thank you notes, making all phone calls, speaking at all churches… all while still balancing life in the city and ministry. Don’t get me wrong, it’s TOTALLY worth it (and not just because it means that I get a paycheck!). I have the most amazing, supportive, encouraging and overall just AWESOME supporters I could ever ask for. But, the whole support raising process is nonetheless overwhelming for me at times.

It’s not just about the amount of physical work involved, though that is hard for me. I have no problem raising money for things that I am passionate about. I am passionate about what God is doing at Cornerstone Community Church and I will talk to people about it all day. I am passionate about CASA and the work being done on behalf of abused and neglected children. I will talk to anyone and everyone about the incredible things going on in either place and I have no problem asking for support so that the work can continue.

The problem I have is in asking for support for ME. Asking people to send money specifically for ME is a HUGE challenge for me. And it’s not a pride thing (at least I don’t think it is…). The problem I have with support raising is that I am constantly in the position of selling myself; trying to convince people that not only is the work that Cornerstone is doing important, but that I am an important part of that work. I have to convince them that I am worthy of their support, but the truth is, I’m not.

I am not qualified to do what I do. I have been stumbling through the last 8+ years in Philly and am only in the position that I am in because others have stepped aside and I was the only one around who could step in.

I LOVE what I do, but sometimes I don’t want to do it. (Be prepared, here comes some possibly uncomfortable honesty!). Sometimes I don’t want to teach Kids Club. Sometimes I try and think of valid excuses to not meet with a teen. Sometimes I get in my car and drive out of the city just to get away. Sometimes I lock myself in my bedroom and immerse myself in a book, pretending that the story that I am reading is my life. Sometimes I cry myself to sleep asking Him why this is the life that He has chosen for me; why I have to be alone in such a dark and hurting place having my heart broken daily. Okay, so let’s me real, sometimes I hate what I do.

It’s really hard and I am really not very good at it. I read a blog (that I LOVE) written by a woman who called herself, “Jamie, the Very Worst Missionary”. I would disagree with her; I am the very worst missionary. I think about myself far more than anyone ever should. I struggle trusting Him when things aren't even that bad, much less when things get really hard. I am incompetent, prideful, selfish, and lazy. There is absolutely no logical reason for me to be chosen by Him to be His hands and feet in Philadelphia. I fall FAR short all the time. All. The. Time.

But if I am really honest (and apparently I am in an honest mood today!), I have to say that God DOES use me in Philly. I can’t explain it (hence my support raising problem), but He does. I believe with all my heart that He has called me to be here and that He works through me in ways that I leave me literally speechless (thus my difficulty in putting things into words for a newsletter). When I teach Kids Club, words come out of my mouth that clearly did not come from me. When I meet with teens, I have words of wisdom that could never have come from my own simple understanding. When I pray, my heart cries out for things that my selfishness would never allow me to care about. I have insight into situations and people that could never come from even the most educated person. NONE of this comes from me and I am absolutely the least worthy of any of it. But, He does it anyway.

For some unknown reason, God has called me here and uses me and all my MANY faults to bring Him glory in this place. As a support raised missionary, I am supposed to be able to explain to you how and why He uses me so that you can feel confident in your support me of me. But I have no answers for you. I should be able to explain why and how He uses me. But I can’t, He just does.

And lest you think that that my life is just one big struggle, let me assure you that God is FAR greater than that! Every time I cry myself to sleep, my bridegroom holds me tight bottling up my tears in almost unbearable anticipation of the day that He will come for me and relieve all my sadness, forever. When I need encouragement, He provides it (often through my supporters! Oh the irony!). When I feel lost, He seeks me and finds me. When I am afraid, He brings peace. Again, please don’t ask me how, I don’t know. He just does.

Still Alive and Busier than Ever!

I know I haven't been around much over the last month, but I promise I have a good reason. I have been working hard at Cornerstone (including preparing for 2 of my own groups and 5 VBS's this summer!), starting a new job, having kids in the house and writing a devotional book for Teen Club. Of course, a lot of these things have not only added to my weekly work hours, but also my emotional stress. I am going to update you on everything (at least as much as I can remember!) today. I will be dating posts from when they actually happened, so hopefully you will be all caught up if you just keep scrolling down.

Thanks for being patient with me, and especially for continuing to pray!!

Shopping!

I HATE shopping! I hate shopping almost as much as I hate camping, which is saying a lot. Hell for me would probably be eternal shopping during the day, camping at night constantly surrounded by people chomping on gum and/or whistling. Oh, and I would probably have the hiccups forever too. (I have a lot of pet peeves, haha). Unfortunately, sometimes shopping is necessary and my new job at CASA has created that need.

Pretty much my entire wardrobe consists of jeans, Cornerstone t-shirts, some Virginia Tech sweatshirts and a few bridesmaid dresses. Not exactly proper courtroom attire, haha. Over the last year as a CASA volunteer I was able to borrow clothes from Ashley whenever I needed to go to court, which was only once every 3-4 months. Now that I have to go to court at least once a week (sometimes more than that), I don't think Ashley would appreciate me borrowing that many outfits, haha. Plus, I do occasionally have meetings at the office as well, so a "professional" wardrobe has become necessary.

My mom (because she is AWESOME!) ordered me several suits on line. Unfortunately, not one of them fit me. So, I decided to take them back to the store and make a shopping day out of it. And thankfully, Ashley and Shera agreed to go with me! (They have great fashion sense! Me.. not so much). So, we loaded up with the suits to return, some President's Day sale fliers, a few coupons and a gift card to Bahama Breeze (so we could have a yummy lunch!) and headed out for a day of horror shopping.

It ended up being a kind of crazy day, but I have to admit that it was pretty fun. We had hoped to eat lunch first, but the restaurant actually lost power just before we got there. We didn't mind, though, because they gave us a $10 gift card and told us to come back later. So, while we waited for their power to come back on, we did some shopping. Thanks to all the sales and clearance racks, I was able to get a lot for very little!

We went back to Bahama Breeze around 2:30 and they said they should be up and running in about 30 minutes. So, we hit another store and found more great deals! We went back to Bahama Breeze at 3:30, and by this time there was a wait. We decided to wait; it was basically free food thanks to our gift cards! We finally got to eat around 4:30, and it was worth the wait! We started with an appetizer, then each ordered fancy drinks and entrees and only spent $1.62 of our own money!

We made one more stop at another store having a great sale before we finally got home around 7:30. It was a LONG, but VERY successful day! Thanks to returning the suits my mom bought and combining that with coupons and sales; and shopping exclusively from clearance racks, I was was able to basically get an entire wardrobe (4 pairs of dress pants, 4 pairs of shoes, 7 new shirts, 3 new sweaters, and several new pairs of earrings and dress socks) while spending only $15 of my own money!!!

I went from a completely empty closet to this:

I'm still not a fan of shopping, at all, But, thanks to today, I won't have to do it again any time soon!

New Job!!!

I have just been hired as a supervisor for CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates), and I don't think I could be more excited!! (I am NOT leaving Cornerstone!) I will be working full time at Cornerstone and then part-time (15-20 hours a week) at CASA. I know it sounds like a lot, but its actually less hours than when I worked for AIM and Cornerstone (I was working 30 ours a week at AIM), and I am VERY passionate about my work at CASA and it goes hand in hand with my passion at Cornerstone. I can't wait!!!

I actually applied for the job back in August when they were looking for a new supervisor because my supervisor was leaving. I was interviewed and the director told me that they already had someone in mind for the position they were hiring for, but that they would be hiring another supervisor within a month or so and they would like to hire me for that position. So, she told me that she would be in touch.

Over the next few months, the director stayed in close contact with me, constantly telling me that they did still want to hire me, but they had to wait for the finding to come in. (CASA is a non-profit organization). CASA gets about 1/3 of their budget from the Department of Human Services (they have a contract with DHS), but DHS was about 6 months behind in paying them. The other 2/3 of the budget comes from private donations and those were way down for the year. So, I was basically in a waiting game.

In January I once again talked to the director and she said she was hoping to have the money to hire me by April. However, about 5 days later I got another phone call asking me if I could start in February!! It turns out that one of the other supervisors was leaving CASA and they needed to replace him immediately. So, a week after I got the phone call, I started my new part time job!

To say that I am passionate about CASA would be a HUGE understatement, and the more involved I become, the more passionate I become. If you don't remember exactly what CASA is all about, you can refer to my first post about it here.

As a supervisor I will be overseeing volunteers who are working on cases. I will attend all their court hearings, help them write court reports and provide support, advice, and whatever else they may need in order to advocate for the kids they are working with. I currently have 14 cases with 13 volunteers and a total of 26 kids.

I am kinda jumping right into the deep end, but I have a lot of support (another supervisor, Cynthia, actually took over the work of the guy who left CASA and then I took over Cynthia's caseload. So, she is still around whenever I have questions!) and everyone seems to have a lot of confidence in me; I hope they're right!

I'm just getting started, but I am sure you will be hearing more about all of this soon. In the meantime, PLEASE be praying for the kids who are in foster care in Philadelphia. Just reading through the case files on my cases brought me to my knees, crying uncontrollably and pleading for God to move in each of their lives. The blinders are off my eyes and my heart is broken; now use me for your glory, Lord.

More Kids!

February started off with more kids! I got a call on Wednesday asking if I was interested in respite foster care for the weekend. (Respite foster care is short term, no more than 2 weeks. Usually kids go into respite care because their foster parents either need a break or are going out of town and can't take the kids with them). Kids in foster care can't just go to a friend's house for the weekend. Any home they stay in has to be an approved foster home, so the phone call I got was not uncommon. :)

In this case, the foster parents were going away for the weekend and couldn't take the kids. I figured I could handle anything for a weekend, so I said yes! It turned out to be A LOT of fun, but also A LOT of work, haha.

"A" and "L" arrived on Friday night, and despite being only about an hour away from their bed time, they were FULL of energy. "A" is a 6 year old girl and "L" is a 3 year old boy. I had originally said that I would only take 5-10 year olds, but I okayed a 3 year old since it was just for a weekend. I don't think I will be doing that again any time soon. :)

Of course, the kids immediately fell in love with Gizmo and enjoyed talking to him (he's not exactly playful, haha). "A" even drew a picture of him (yes, I WILL be framing this):

Friday we just played with the kids and finally got them to bed close to 9:30. I had hoped that would mean they would sleep in the next morning, but that didn't happen. They were up and ready for the day at 7:00 a.m.! Ashley and I were NOT prepared for that, haha.

On Saturday we had a pretty fun day. We went to see the movie "Tangled" in the afternoon and then to my friend Shera's birthday party that night. Shera's party was Circus themed, so we all dressed up. Ashley and I were eccentric tiger trainers (a la Sigfried and Roy) and the kids were our tigers, haha. (We got the outfits from a thrift store!).

Once again, we had a pretty late night so I once again hoped that maybe they would sleep in the next morning... and once again, they did NOT! They were up and ready to go at 7 again, but we didn't need to be at church until 9:30!

Church was really fun and they seemed to enjoy it. (They mentioned that their church doesn't have toys, haha). They were kind of shy, but had already met some people from church, so they warmed up to everyone pretty quickly.

After church we decided to take a trip to the aquarium (yay for memberships!), and that was a BLAST! "A" really enjoyed getting to touch so many of the animals, and "L" really liked living vicariously through "A", haha. He wouldn't touch anything except the jellyfish, because they were squishy, haha. The best part was "L" constantly yelling either "I want to eat that!" or, "Can I go swimming with him?". He made us laugh a lot! (He was very insistent that he could swim with the hippos, he just needed to take his shirt off, haha).








I was actually able to get them to sleep at a decent hour on Sunday night because we had to get "A" to school on Monday morning. (The foster parents picked "L" up in the afternoon). Of course, the morning I actually needed them to get up early, they were both zombies! I was able to get them both up and ready to go and we drive the hour to "A"'s school. Then we had another hour drive home, during which "L" started to feel sick. We stopped to get some children's Tylenol and he seemed to feel a little better after that and a little nap in his car seat.

I had hoped that "L" would be picked up around noon (that's what I was told), but his foster parents didn't come until 4. THANK GOODNESS I own a Wii!! Otherwise, that poor kid would have been SO bored!! We did go to Chick Fil A for lunch and he played in the play area for a while, which gave me a bit of a break. (He wasn't so good at playing by himself. He CONSTANTLY needed my attention). Otherwise, he and I spent most of the day playing Disney Princess (which is actually pretty educational, haha).

Overall, it was a really fun weekend and they were really great kids. But, I definitely realized that I am NOT ready for toddlers in my house full time. I think I will stick with older kids for now!

Of course, it wasn't all fun and games. They had a few melt downs, and no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't get "L" to stop calling me "mommy". (I promise I was nice about it, just constantly reminding him that I am not mommy, I am Trish). I knew I would likely not see him again, so I wanted to be as careful as possible about any attachments forming. I don't know anything about their situation other than that they are so young and right now can't live with their parents. So, I hope they felt special and loved had a really fun weekend away. And I hope I will continue to pray for these most precious of creations.

("A" doesn't actually were glasses. She found these at our house and wore them all day, haha)


(And once again, THANK YOU AUNT PATTY for buying me a Wii!! We would NOT have survived this weekend without it!!) :)

Email Update

My friend Elizabeth, a fellow missionary here in Philadelphia, just sent this update out to her supporters. I LOVED it, so I decided to share it with you guys as well!! (Please note: I do NOT see myself as a "super-star missionary". Those are her words, definitely not mine!)

So, here is Elizabeth's Update:

Hello from the winter wonderland of Philadelphia!

I hate it when the weather man gets it wrong, tells us there is snow on the way, and it turns out to be a cold drizzle. On the other hand, when they call for 5ish inches, and you end up with over a foot instead, this Ohio girl couldn't be more thrilled! We've had fun in the past two days playing in the snow, shoveling alongside neighbors, and enjoying the company of friends who got a snow day off of work.

While the snow brings out some of the worst in our city and it's people (I wouldn't give many a Philadelphia an A+ in snow-driving skills) it a joy to see some of the grime and litter blanketed in fluffy white and to see neighbors help each other out. I'm not sure that I would have picked 12:30AM - 3AM as the ideal time slot for my boisterous neighbors to express their love by shoveling the sidewalk, but I am humbled by their kind intentions and servanthood toward us. (Besides, I'm pretty sure I woke up at 3 AM once last winter wondering, "Who is that psycho out there shoveling at 3AM?" only to realize that my husband was no longer in the bed with me.)

I've been thinking for the past couple of weeks about what to share in this update and two stories with a common theme keep coming to mind. Bear with me until you see where these stories are going ...

In moving to Philadelphia, it didn't take me long to catch sports fever. Philadelphia is well-known for having some of the most passionate sports fans on earth. (They even booed Santa Clause!) Philly fans are no joke, and I have proudly joined their ranks!

Baseball is quickly emerging as the favored sport in the Varaso household. We watched our Phitin' Phils every chance we got this last season, traveling to Florida to catch a Spring Training game in March all the way through to the bitter end on October 23rd when they were denied a chance to appear in the World Series by the San Francisco Giants.

Football probably comes in at a close second for us Varasos, but probably takes first place for our good friend Trish. She and her housemate Ashley and joined us as we watched the Phillies' fateful playoff game in October, and again a few weeks ago when the Eagles' playoff game ended in disappointment.

I'm not gonna lie - I think I cried in 2008 when the Phillies won the World Series and again is 2009 when they lost. I'm pretty sure I cried again this past year on October 23rd, but for a much more sobering reason. While we were watching the game, we got a knock on the door that our next door neighbor Priscilla thought she may be in labor, and needed a ride to the hospital. Her plan was to have her 12 year old cousin accompany her, so it took a while to figure out an execute a more reasonable plan.

While we were waiting in the van for Priscilla's mother to get ready to come with us, suddenly someone else came out of their house crying hysterically, screaming for someone to call an ambulance. Not knowing what was wrong, I called 911, and found out a few minutes later that 17 year old Gage had taken some pills, passed out and wasn't breathing. When we left for the hospital he had begun to breathe again, but the ambulance still had not arrived. While we were gone the EMTs showed up and took him to the hospital where he was seen and later released.

I saw him the next day, and if I had not witnessed it all for myself, I never would have guessed any of it happened. Same ol' same ol ... no lesson learned. Gage was always one of those kids who ended up being a the favorite of one of our visiting mission-trippers. If any kid on Fletcher Street has had a wealth of love, prayer and attention lavished on him, it's been Gage. Even so, I've watched him spiral into dumber and more costly choices with each passing year, and it breaks my heart.

Fast forward a few months to January 9th of this new year. We watched in frustration as our Eagles embarrassed themselves on the field in a loss to the Packers. In the last quarter, things looked pretty bleak. This time there was no knock on the door to disturb our sports-induced depression, but Trish got a notification on her phone that made our hearts sink.

About 7 years ago when Trish took four siblings into her home who were being removed out of their own. They lived with her for a couple months then, and last year, the two sisters Bonita & Linda moved back in with Trish again for the better part of the year. I don't think I've seen anyone pour themselves out for anyone in a way that compares with how I've watched Trish pour herself out for these girls. She's cared for their physical needs, taken them on their first vacation, shown and taught them who Jesus is, and loved them far beyond the love of a mother. They ended up choosing reckless freedom and chaos over the support and structure that Trish's home offered them, and their lives have become a pretty big mess since then. The message that Trish got during the 4th quarter was from 14 year-old Bonita who has all but dropped out of school, telling her that 15 year-old Linda is pregnant.

Nothing puts a disappointing end to your favorite team's season in perspective quite the way that these events did. Philadelphia is an awesome place to live, to cheer, to minister. It is also a place full of broken lives and desperate need. It's a place where sports heroes lose championships, and super-star missionaries like my friend Trish do most everything right and still see people choose a broken way instead of Jesus.

When I talked with Trish about my idea to share these stories, she shared how she has really been challenged to not look at any apparent victory or defeat in ministry as the end. Often, well-meaning folks can say, "Wow, you have really made a difference in those people's lives! Way to go!" as if the story were over. We can't accept praise, we can't accept criticism for any end result, because the story is still playing out. Please pray for Gage. Please pray for Linda and Bonita. Please pray for us, as we are a part of their continuing story. As with our sports teams, we hold on with hope for these young people's lives .... there's always next season!

With blessings and hope,

Frank, Elizabeth & Selah (and Trish!) :)

Twin Babies!!!

Meet Baby T!

And Baby C!

I had my first foster children in my home, and it was not at all what I expected!! Ashley called me on Sunday and told me that they had a very unusual situation at her work (she works for Adoptions from the Heart). Twin boys had been adopted by a family on Friday and that family called Ashley on Sunday to say that they no longer wanted to keep the babies. (so sad!!). So, Ashley and her boss had to go and pick up the boys and needed to find a place for them to stay until a new family could be found. As Ashley and her boss were trying to think of how in the world they were going to find someone on a Sunday afternoon, Ashley mentioned that I was just certified as a foster parent. So, they called me.

I was just leaving church when my phone rang. I picked it up and heard, "So..how do you feel about babies?" I knew immediately what Ashley was talking about (she had texted me earlier asking me to pray that the adopted parents would decide to keep the babies), and immediately said, "I'll take them". There was NO WAY I was going to let these poor boys be passed around more than they already had!

So, I quickly left church to head home and prepare my house for babies! (I will remind you that I am the girl that is usually scared to hold babies until they are at least 6 months old!). Thankfully, the parents already had a lot of stuff so I just needed to find beds (I borrowed pak n plays from some friends) and then drive to Ashley's office to pick up the babies. Talk about a crazy day! And it only got crazier, haha.

So, from Sunday night until earlier tonight, I had 4 month old twin boys in my house. It was AMAZING (and not easy! hehe)

Sunday night, the boys were clearly having a hard time adjusting to a new house, and one or both of them were awake at some point almost all night. I think we got about 2 hours of sleep total. Thankfully, Ashley had Monday off from work and Lindsay stayed to help out, so we managed pretty well with a 3 on 2 ratio. :) It also helped that both boys took a 2.5 hour nap; so we did too!

T was the laid back baby, pretty much just chillen most of the time. :)

This is usually what C usually looked like, haha.

But every once in a while, we would get this cute face. :)

Monday night they were a little more settled, but did get up several times. We probably got about 4 hours of sleep, haha. Unfortunately, Ashley had to go to work on Tuesday, so it was just be and Lindsay with the babies. Also, VERY unfortunately, I caught some sort of stomach bug and was SO SICK! Poor Lindsay had to do so much of the work! I had also agreed to make a meal for a family in our church, so that also had to be done during the day. Thankfully, I was able to do some things, just very slowly with lots of breaks. And, the babies were very cooperative; taking plenty of naps and overall being pretty happy. Somehow, Lindsay and I managed to survive, keep the babies alive and even get the meal made!

The boys seemed to have been pretty settled in by Tuesday night and each of them only woke up once, so we got a good amount of sleep! I was also feeling better, so today was a pretty easy day (as easy as it can be with twins!). Thankfully, Lindsay agreed to stay with us until the babies went home, so I had some great help.

We had to get a little creative sometimes, haha. We didn't always have enough hands! ;)

We originally thought the boys would be going home on Monday. Then we were told it was going to be more like Thursday or Friday (which I was not really happy about. Not because I wanted them to go away, but because I could see that they were starting to bond with us and I really didn't want that to happen. They needed to be at home with their parents!!). However, Ashley called me at about 1:00 today and said that they boys had a family and were going home today! We were so excited!! So, Lindsay and I quickly fed them, bathed them, changed them and got them dressed to meet their parents!

Gizmo did not know what to do with the babies, so he just kinda watched everything from a distance. :)

I have to say, walking into the room and handing the boys over to their parents has to be one of the most amazing experiences of my life!!! They were SO excited! They have been trying to adopt for years and had several birth mothers change their minds, so this was a HUGE day for them. What a blessing!!! The dad was really funny. He looked at me and said, "This is crazy. I went to work this morning thinking it was just a normal day, and now I'm going home with twins! We are so blessed". The new grandparents were also there, and the look on grandpa's face is something I will never forget. He was completely in love the minute he saw the boys and was beaming the entire time! I LOVED IT!

C in his going home outfit. :)

T in his going home outfit! :)

So, now the boys are at home with their family and my house is back to normal. It's really weird! I do miss them, but I am SO SO excited that they are with a wonderful family. They will likely never know anything about me, but I feel SO blessed to have been a tiny part of their lives. I know it isn't always going to be such a happy ending, but I really think I am going to like being a foster parent. :)