She's going to camp!!

The craziest story of the week has a happy ending, thank goodness! Yesterday at staff prayer J mentioned trying to get an extra scholarship for one of our pre-teens to go to camp. I suggested M and even said that I would be willing to pay full price for her to be able to go. I have really enjoyed watching her blossom over the last few months, and recently she and Linda have become really close, which is so great for both of them. So, the idea of M going to camp with Bonita and Linda was so exciting.

J said that if we were able to pay full price then it shouldn't be a problem at all to get M in. Unfortunately, in my excitement I assumed way too much and it came back to bite me. I immediately called M and went to her house to get all the forms signed. She was SO excited! By the time I got to her house she had already told her neighbors all about it. :)

About 20 minutes later J got a phone call that camp was full next week. I was devastated and knew that there was no way I would be able to tell M that she couldn't go to camp. I immediately started praying as J tried to find another solution. We found out that there were plenty of spaces available the following week and I decided to switch Bonita and Linda to that week so that M wouldn't be at camp alone. (J, another girl from our church, will be at camp next week. This will be her 3rd year at camp, though, so she will be okay without Bonita and Linda).

Then we got a call that the camp the following week was for 7th-9th graders. Linda is going into the 7th grade, but Bonita is going into 6th and M is going into 5th. M is actually turning 12 in September and should be going into 7th, she is just 2 years behind. We asked for special permission for Bonita and M to be allowed to go the 2nd week, but we had to wait for the camp to make the decision.

All day yesterday different scenarios ran through my head (I'm a big time planner). What do I do if M can't go at all? What if we can only switch Linda to the 2nd week? Can Bonita and Linda go on different weeks? How in the world am I going to tell the most excited 11 year old girl in the world that she can't go to camp?

Thankfully, none of those questions had to be answered. We found out today that Bonita, Linda and M will all be about to go to camp the 2nd week!!! THANK YOU JESUS!!!!!! Bonita and Linda are a little upset that they have to wait an extra week before they get to go, but they will be alright. Another exciting piece of news is that Linda will be allowed to go for the entire time! She has summer school and is only allowed to miss 3 days. Camp will make her miss 4. Today we also got special permission from her principal for Linda to miss 4 days and still be able to pass.

God loves these girls SO MUCH!!!!

He's Back!

One of the most exciting things of the week for me has been the return of Dario!!! Dario is Bonita and Linda's oldest brother and used to be very involved with things. After the kids moved out of my house Dario slowly drifted away and wasn't around much. I would invite him to church and God Squad, but he rarely came. In fact, I have hardly seen him in the last 2 years.

I didn't realize how much I missed him until he started coming around again. He has really grown up and is a very sweet and kind boy (almost man I suppose). He still loves cars and motorcycles, and has grown up SO much!! I have enjoyed him so much and I am praying that he will stay around. He came to God Squad on Monday night and the Teen swim party tonight. His best friend backed out of coming to the swim party, but Dario came anyway! We have an Extreme Hike planned for Saturday that he is planning on attending. He has also signed up for the Teen Leadership Camp that my home church is hosting in a few weeks, and I can't wait!

I really love him so much and I can't wait to see what God has in store for him. Please pray that he will continue in his faith and stay strong!! He has made a few friends so far, but the one he is closest to will be leaving for college on the fall. Please pray that he will make some other friends that will help him stay involved and on the right path.

A Roller Coaster

The last few days have been a crazy roller coaster of emotions for me. There have been many amazing highs in ministry, but also some very difficult lows. I think it might be too much to put into one blog entry, so I'm going to split it up. So, the next few posts will all be everything that's been going on for the last few days. I hope you can follow. :)

Fun Fun Fun!!

This is a picture of Ashely, Jenna and Brooke drinking Shirley Temples at a restaurant in Washington DC. What a fun weekend! We left Friday morning to head to DC for the day and had a blast. When we arrived we ate lunch and then headed to the Holocaust Museum (the purpose of our trip). It was AMAZING and I highly recommend it for everyone. It took us over 2 hours to go through it, and we didn't finish. Each of us walked through it at our own pace and just met up at the end. It was incredible. I learned so much and afterwards we all went back to the hotel and just spent time journaling what we had seen.

Brooke's dad was in DC with his youth group and had an extra hotel room, so that is where we stayed for the night. The 4 of us went to a great dinner (where we drank Shirley Temples, haha) and then spent the rest of the evening hanging out in the hotel (it had a pool on the roof). We all really enjoy one another so much and we have SO MUCH FUN!!!

We left DC at 5:30 a.m. on Saturday to get back to Philly and head to the church picnic for the day. It went from 11 a.m.-8 p.m. and Brooke and I were there the entire time...along with Bonita, Linda, Dario, Luis, Pedro, M, and N. It was a BLAST! The girls literally spent 4 hours in the pool while the boys enjoyed exploring the woods and catching many various creatures. (The kid on the far left of the picture is Lindo, Dario's best friend).
It was REALLY nice to have Dario around for the day, I miss him so much. He is really growing up, and I am proud of the man he is becoming. He said that he wants to be more involved in church and I am going to pick him up for God Squad tomorrow, I really hope he comes.


We ate lunch and dinner at the picnic as well as played tons of games and really enjoyed one another. Tons of people from church were there and it was a really fun day. I loved it. It was also exhausting and we all pretty much collapsed when we got home. Bonita, Linda, M and N spent the night with me and while they planned on staying up late, it didn't happen. Despite the early bed time, though, we were all still very tired today. It was a full weekend!!
Today also turned out to be a great day, though very unexpected. Sunday School and church went well and although the girls wanted to spend the day with me again, I needed to sleep!! So, after church I took the kids home and then went home to take a nap. It ended up being a pretty long nap, but it felt SO GOOD!! When I got up I realized that I still had N's purse at my house and I had promised to take it to her. Brooke and I got in the car to go by her house and then get ice cream, but we never actually made it to get ice cream.

When we pulled up I got out to give N her purse and several kids came running to me. Some other kids that I love live next door to M and N and they were outside playing when I arrived. L and A are cousins and L was looking very sad when we arrived. She shared with me that her mom had a new boyfriend and she didn't like him, but she had to go to his house every weekend, which meant that she couldn't come to church, which she really didn't like. She also said that she was supposed to be going to summer school but her mom wouldn't take her and she was afraid she was going to fail. She looked so sad that Brooke and I decided to park the car and hang out for a while.

We ended up staying for over an hour and having so much fun!! I offered to take L to summer school, but her mom said no so we are praying that she will be able to pass anyway (that has happened to Bonita and Linda before...the dysfunction of the Philadelphia school system can work to our advantage!). M and N were down the street in a water fight with some other kids, but came and hung out with us when they saw we were there. The kids performed dances for us and just acted silly and laughed a lot. We took lots of pictures, but they are on Brooke's camera, so I will have to post them later. Other kids, B and J, came out and played with us for a while too and we all loved it. I am SO glad that we went by there and I hope I will have the time to do that often. All of the kids told me that they wished I lived on their street, haha. Honestly, I kinda do too...Bonita and Linda would love to play with them all the time, and I would love to see them all the time!

This week shouldn't be too busy, but surprises seem to always come up. Carisa is out of town for the next 2 weeks, but I think I can keep things together for that long. I have found myself really struggling with jealousy and anger recently and I NEED to take time to spend with the Lord. It has become very easy for me to focus on the things that are hard and only those things. I miss my family a lot and I am jealous of the people that get to see theirs. My family is having a hard time right now and I really wish I could go home and help them out. My dad is living in Washington, NC trying to find a house for him and my mom while my mom is still in South Boston, VA trying to sell that house. Then there is the packing and moving, combined with the stress of my parents living in different states. I know it is so hard on them and I hate that I can't go and help...but there is just no way I can leave Philly any time soon. It has become very easy for me to focus on myself and find many things to be upset or angry about, and I hate that. That leads me to not liking myself and its just not a good cycle to be in. I don't like feeling this way and I need it to change. So, despite my busyness I am really seeking to spend a lot of good time with the Lord. Brooke is going out of town on Thursday and won't be back until Saturday night. I am turning everything off on Friday and just hanging out with Jesus. I can't wait!

Happy Birthday!

I had a very happy birthday...for the last 3 days! The celebration started Monday night with an awesome dinner at the Schultz's (with AMAZING cupcakes). Tuesday was my actual birthday and while I had to work most of the day (Reading Rocks and Family Night) I still had a lot of fun. I got a lot of birthday wishes and even had the teen guys sing me Happy Birthday in 3 part harmony. :)

After Family Night, several of us went over to my friend Chris' house to eat ice cream and play games. We stayed until 2 a.m. and had a blast!

Since I had to work most of yesterday, we decided to "officially" celebrate my birthday today. I woke up to orange pancakes for breakfast and got to take it easy around the house all morning. Around lunch time; Shera, Brooke, J and I headed out to a buffet lunch (at one of my favorite buffets) and then went to see the movie Transformers. I have been waiting for months to see that movie, and it was so worth it! I LOVED it!!!

After the movie we just hung out for a while before ending the night with my mashed potato cake (which you see pictured above). It tastes SO GOOD! We had planned on going to watch fireworks, but they got rained out, which was okay with me. I didn't mind staying in.

I also got a lot of wonderful presents and cards. My parents sent me a "Magic Bullet" juicer and blender (that I love!). Chris gave me a sympathy card about elephants that made me laugh so hard I cried. Brooke made me a cookbook (with recipes to be included later, hehe) and Shera made these awesome pillows for me. (I think the "Kiss Me I'm Irish" shirts really look like, "Kiss Me I'm Trish", so I have always wanted a shirt that said that, haha)

So, in all it has been a fun few days. I have also been spending a lot more time with 2 of my favorite kids, M and N. They have recently memorized my phone number, so I hear from them a lot. They both remembered my birthday and got me a card and some candles. The card almost made me cry...they wrote "To our favorite god mom who cares about us". Apparently I am slowly becoming god mother to all the kids in church, haha. I am currently god mom to Dario, Luis, Linda, Bonita, Pedro, Miguel...and now M and N. Whew!

M also showed me her final report card, and I was so surprised!! Her grades improved dramatically between the 2nd and 3rd grading periods, the exact time she joined after-school. Her reading grade went from an F to a C, and she went from being on a 3rd grade reading level to a 5th grade reading level (she was in the 4th grade). All of her grades went up and she was able to avoid summer school; and even have almost all A's and B's! I am so proud of her!!

Seeing her report card made me pretty sad to not be having after-school in the fall. With my new job I know for sure now that there is no way that I will be able to continue, but I am praying about other options.

Right now I am strongly leaning toward doing a teen tutor program where I will have open tutoring hours for teens to come and get help. Jeff, J and Pastor Andy have all expressed interest in being a part of something like that. It will be nice because the teens will only come if they want to, and I won't have a program to plan. In light of today, I think I might see if one day a week I can do something similar for kids. For example, if it was a day that both Jeff and J were tutoring teens, I would be available for kids. Really the only kids that I am concerned about are Bonita, Linda, Pedro, M and N (Miguel doesn't really need help). I can handle helping them once a week...We'll see what happens though.

Tomorrow its back to life as usual. Friday I am heading to Washington DC with Brooke, Jenna and Ashley and we are all SO excited. We have tickets to the Holocaust Museum and a free hotel room for the night! Brooke's dad will be there with his youth group and they had an extra room, so we are taking it. We have to head back to Philly early on Saturday though because its the church picnic!! I am taking ALL of my kids and I am so excited. We go to a place with a pool and tons of other things to do and its always a fun and relaxing day.

I try to be extreme...

Today was the Extreme Team Bike Hike and I discovered just how NOT extreme I really am. :) Now, keep in mind that I haven't ridden a bike since last summer. I go running regularly and am getting better at it, but biking uses different muscles...muscles that I only exercise when I am lifting weights, which is a much shorter amount of time than an hour long bike ride!

I approached this hike thinking I would do pretty well. Like I said, I have been running and building up my endurance. I did pretty well on this same hike last year, and I had hoped to be even better this year. Alas, it was not to happen. See, last year I started going on bike rides for fun around February or March, so I had been riding for 4 months before the Bike Hike. Not this year. Today was the first time I had gotten on a bike since about August of last year.

Not only did I get on a bike today, but it rode it for 12 miles. I went very slow and was one of the last to finish (although I wasn't TOO far behind), but I did finish it. And I had a lot of fun...although I am having a hard time walking up stairs now. :) The Bike Hike was really about the teens, though, and they all seemed to have a lot of fun as well. It was a BEAUTIFUL day, probably the most perfect day for a bike ride ever. We rode at a state park with beautiful little waterfalls and incredible nature everywhere. It really was a great day!

The Bike Hike came after a crazy morning for me. Kaira started summer school today and I took her to make sure she was registered and had everything she needed. I planned on dropping her off at 8 and being home by 8:20 at the latest. That didn't happen. The school had messed up and not given any kids their room assignments, so we all had to stand in line to get them. However, there as no master list of classes, so each student's name had to be typed into the computer to find their class. There were only 2 people in the office working on this. I finally left Linda around 9:00 (the exact time I was supposed to meet for the Bike Hike) and I was assured that she would find her class. There were a lot of very angry parents there, I was glad to leave.

In other exciting news, I got a job!!! AIM was looking for someone to help with some administrative things and offered me a part time paid (not support raised) position where I can work from home doing something similar to what I did before when I worked for them. I will have to keep strict office hours, but I can travel and work (I can work from my parents' house when I go to visit them, for example). I will get to do a lot of the things that I loved about my job before, which I am really excited about. I honestly can't think of a better job, and I am SO excited! I am still praying that my support level will rise and I will be able to really save a lot of the money I will make with AIM. I'm really okay with whatever God has though.

I am a bit nervous about getting overworked...working a 20-25 hour a week part time job in addition to everything that I do at church. I have been learning a lot about perseverance, running the race and hard work recently, though, and I think the Lord is preparing me. In fact, tonight at God Squad we learned about Ruth and we talked a lot about how hard she worked collecting grain everyday for her and her mother-in-law. She worked all day every day taking very few breaks so that she could be prosperous. Her hard work is what got her noticed by Boaz, her eventual redeemer. So, I am praying for the strength and endurance I need for this upcoming season of my life!

Speaking of changing seasons...tomorrow I turn 27. Its crazy. All my life I assumed that I would be married by 27, possibly even with children. How did I end up here? Why in the world was this the plan that God chose for me? Why me? Why am I so blessed?