So Long...Farewell...

First of all, we jumped into Lake Superior as a team! It was much colder than I ever imagined, but totally worth it. Please click on the picture to get a better view of our faces. I think God rewarded us for doing our best this summer of talking about Him and how much He loves us that He wanted to give us a warm day to swim in! While it was about 75 degrees outisde, the average temperature of the lake is about 45 degrees at this time of year. Refreshing.....

The final week was a great one. The beginning of the week was great because Sunday night, the VP of YW John Potts stopped by! He was a blast. He stuck around for CLUB and in the middle he whispered, What do you like from DQ? He got us all treats for our staff meeting. He talked a little about his wife, Mrs. Potts. Ha!

We had really awesome adult leaders and some really good kids this week. At this point, my stress level was down to absolutely nothing...not because it didn't matter, but because we've had a great summer and we do good work as a team. One of the adult leaders expressed that because our staff has gelled so well and that we're consistent, it makes it easier to have a great experience. The kids were sweet too. There were three boys, Nate, Austin and Cass who were hilarious. They came in and ate cereal every night and hung out with us. (Something that would not have happened Week 2 but it's Week 8 so it worked!) There were also some more difficult kids. They were pretty disrespectful and mouthy. They didn't like the fact that they couldn't have their phones. We say that they can use them during free time from 315-515 and that's it. Not on ministry sites, evening activites, or during CLUB. It's distracting and pulls them away from being fully present. It was a battle that their leaders handled so well. In my experience, when kids have an attitude like that, there's some stuff going on at home. We found out that one girl's mother had committed suicide and another just has a rough home life. As soon as I found this out, my mission was to love them with everything in me, to kill them with kindness. I think it drove them crazy at first, but by the end of the week, they started to warm up, work really hard at their sites, and connect with kids from other churches. They even apologized for being so awful at the beginning of the week! The love of Jesus is powerful.

This has also been a week of a lot of goodbyes. We made chocolate chip cookies for all of the community members and wrote them all cards, so we got to deliver all of them. I hate change, I've realized. I've never been too bad with goodbyes, though. I figure if I don't see these people on earth again, they'll be in heaven someday. It was difficult to say goodbye to the people at the ministry sites where I spent the most time, which were CHUM (Churches United in Ministry) and Union Gospel Mission. It's amazing when you work and serve with people consistently how a bond just forms. A lot of that, I realize is Jesus in us too. We didn't have many conversations, just little side ones while we worked or in between. But we formed relationships that I never thought would form. Steve was the guy that I worked with at CHUM. I'm pretty sure he's an alcoholic because he talked about it all the time and he smelled like it most days. He doesn't really like his job, but keeps at it everday and I always enjoyed talking to him. A few days ago he came up to me and said, You can't leave. You're too good of a worker. I wrote him a card for the last day and as I said bye, he said, You'll be a great teacher. Thanks Steve.

Then later, I went over to UGM to say goodbye. Usually, not everyone is there at the same time, but they were when I went. So I got to get a picture with all of them! I was talking to Al (top left) who keeps it running outside while the kids were working inside and he said, Shoot us a line every once in a while. We always like to hear how the staff is doing once they leave, especially the good ones...the ones that care. I think I'll definitely be doing that. It's cool to see people who just make a life out of taking care of others. It takes a lot of energy and strength that I began to fathom this summer.
Another friend that I made this summer is Dave. I met him at UGM and he comes in to eat dinner most evenings, so he would be there when we would bring the kids. His distinguishing characteristic is his laugh. It's this bellowing, nasally type thing that I really can't do justice to. But we would be a block or two away and if he was laughing outside, we could hear him from the church. I would sit down with him every week and eat with him and talk. He lives in a little apartment behind UGM. He works for a temp agency and goes in every morning at 6am to see if he can get work. Most days he has luck. But if it's raining, usually he doesn't work. He always saw the bright side of things and was always interested in how my day was going. The last night, I took him some cookies and a card and he was so surprised and thankful. He gave me a big hug and wished me the best of luck.

I have now been gone for 11 weeks. It went by so fast, I can't believe it. I'll be house hopping next week, spending time with the families, back at Taylor on Saturday for Student Teaching Orientation, moving in to Aunt Linda's house in Indianapolis on Sunday, and Monday I have teacher meetings! I really don't ever slow down. :-)

Even though my work days were 7am to 11pm, this has to have been one of my most restful summers. It was great for me to learn more about myself around people who didn't know me before. I realized a lot of things that I need to work on, but a lot of things I do well too. I feel so much more equipped to student teach after this summer. I've used so many skills in so many different areas of life. It will be hard, but it will be so great.

We spend today in Duluth and then we leave after church tomorrow and head to Minneapolis. We'll stay in a hotel on Sunday night, check in our stuff Monday and then I fly out at 6:55 am on Tuesday!

Onto my next chapter of life. Thank you all for keeping up with me, loving me, and praying for me. I can't wait to see you all again!

Much love.

Why Are We Not Obese?

I'll be honest, it was a stressful week. We had about 78 total this week. Capacity is 72. There were 17 adult leaders, which as Kara put it, was a little much. It was hard to get to know so many kids, but the ones we did were sweet. The first part of the week was hard without John. Announcements during CLUB were not as entertaining but he got back before we had to do a skit. Praise the Lord. He ended up getting back on Tuesday afternoon. Having him gone was a good reminder of how needed he is on our team and how our groove just doesn't work if he's not there. Then, Paul Bertleson, the founder and president of YW, came by on Thursday afternoon with two board members. Eric mostly entertained them and showed them around. Even though it was just to check things out and not really an evaluation or whatever, there's still pressure there. Good thing we didn't buy enough hamburger buns and I got to run to WalMart right before dinner while they were there. Really, it was no big deal. Our site has been running well all summer and he reads every single evaluation that comes in. So, he knows that we've been doing good work.

During the week, we've gotten to the point where we pick and choose what we eat of the meals. I haven't eaten a sloppy joe in 3 weeks, and even salad is getting old. But regardless of the meals, we always eat oreos and milk on Thursday nights and candy all day from an awesome care package we received from Fun Size Dave! I saw on the news right before I left for the summer that Oreos are one of the 10 worst foods you can eat. There is nothing natural in them. We walked into staff meeting with 4 cups, a gallon of milk, and a pack of Double Stuff Oreos on Thursday night and John goes, "I have a question. Why are we not obese? I guess we run a little during our skits..." We all laughed and decided that it's because there are so many freaking stairs in the church that it keeps us going. Plus, Eric has a metabolism of a 6 year old and eats 15 freez-E pops at a time. What a luxury.

This week, I really connected with one of the adult leaders, Hazel. She and her husband Joey planned to go to Mexico but they felt that God was telling them that they shouldn't go. So, they cancelled, googled domestic short term missions and Youthworks popped up. They called, explained the situation, and YW put them with us! She and Joey were married when she was 16 and they have 6 boys! Two of the boys were on the trip and were incredible kids. One of them, Caleb, is so generous and wants to serve. Hazel was saying that if she and him are at the store and she needs to buy a toothbrush or something, he won't let her pay. He's like Mom, you're not paying for that. And he pays for it! He bought me a fudgecicle at the skating rink. So sweet. Hazel and I spent a lot of time together during the week and we shared a lot about our lives and our faith with each other. She's one of those people that you meet and she just radiates holiness. She is so in tune with the voice of God and wants to follow and obey him in everything. It is so apparent what their lives are about, especially interacting with her boys. On Thursday night for footwashing, I went to Hazel to wash her feet and asked if I could wash her feet. She said That's ok. I'd like to wash yours instead. After, she prayed for me and then I prayed for her. It was an intimate moment that we shared with God talking to Him and serving each other. Very cool.

I'm beginning to prepare for real life again. I need to start about 2 weeks before so I can be ready....I'll fly to Cincy for two days. Go to Dad's for 2 days. Be at Taylor on Saturday the 15th. Move into Indy on Sunday. Go into school on Monday. I am busy here. My work days are 7am to 11pm. But it's only one thing I'm focusing on. When I go back, there will be a lot more. One of my big lessons for the summer is that while I don't necessarily care what people think of me, I care what people expect. Being a PA fed this a lot and then I realized last year that I put a lot of pressure on myself with family and friends as well. I hate to disappoint people, especially those I care about and respect. People are going to expect me to be certain places or do certain things this fall. But I need to focus on what I feel is important and what God has laid in front of me. I'm so excited to student teach and live downtown and it'll also be nice to not be limited to going away just one weekend a month like I'm used to being a PA for two years. I have a lot to look forward to. I just need to remind myself that I need to live up to God's expectations and my own, and that is to be holy, not perfect. Let the balancing act begin.

And now we enter our final week. We have to report to Minneapolis on Sunday night, so we'll be leaving next Sunday afternoon. I'll have time for one more post next weekend and then I'll be leaving!

Prayer requests:

-To knock it out during our last week

-Closure with community members

-Energy and rest this last week

Thank you again for faithfully keeping up with my life and praying. It has worked.

Much love.

C.I.N.C.I.N.N.A.T.I.-Cincinnati!

Ok, first-Has anyone seen Babes in Toyland recently? I have not. It's been about a decade or more. But this week, I learned the Cincinnati Song from that movie! There's a Cincinnati Song! Here are the words I learned: C-I-N-C-I-N-N-A-T-I Cincinnati! The best town in O-H-I-O Ohio, USA.

At first it was just Cincy but since Cincy was so Nati, they called it Cincinnati so they say!

The girls are pretty pretty in this crazy little city.

The fellas are the fiestiest I've seen!

...And that's all I learned. It was in my head all week and it was awesome.

Also, I decided that I needed to document everything this week. So the pictures are just random from the week. Exhibit A & B.

Another thing right off the bat. Sad times. John's grandfather passed away on Wednesday. So, he decided that he would need to go home for the funeral. We had no idea how that would happen in a timely fashion and he was stressing out looking for bus tickets and stuff. Then he talked to his sister and was like, John, where are your groups from this week? One of them was from Wisconsin, about an hour where he's from. Thank you, Jesus. So, he hitched a ride home with them on Friday morning. The funeral is Monday and he'll be back Tuesday morning...how, we're not quite sure yet. We'll be without a very important part of our team for the first 30 hours of the week, which is a big deal. And we found out a lady from YW is coming to observe our site. She's coming Sunday and leaving Tuesday morning-the exact time span we'll be without John. Prayer for this situation:

-For John's family.

-For a way to get back by Tuesday morning.

-For our team as we're one man down.
-Dependence on Jesus for strength and not ourselves.

-We'll have our biggest group next week too. Ratio without John-3:76. Ha!
This week was good. We had our biggest group yet of 71 and next week we'll have 76. A lot. We only have 2 more weeks with kids coming. That is so crazy. We had some rainy days this week, but it worked out fine.
I spent a lot of time at my favorite ministry, C.H.U.M., Churches United in Ministry. It's a food shelf and so our work is spent sorting, stocking, and weighing food donations. There is the Funky Food Shelf for random things, such as canned Alligator, canned Gefilte fish (Rush Hour anyone?), an edible shot glass, Mixed Vegetable Jello. It feeds the organizational, compartmentalization freak in me. :-) Steve is an older guy that works there and so it's always good to talk to him. I love that there's always work to be done and that you feel like you're making a difference. Plus, it's cool to see the kids go in on Monday, overwhelmed and to go in on Thursday and they're experts on where everything goes.
Fact about Kirstie: Of all the ministries we go to, the ones that I prefer to not go to are the nursing homes. There's just something about them that make me really sad. I think it's the fact that I see these people and I know that they've had this life full of ups and downs, love and heartbreak, happiness and joy and now they're oftentimes limited to a room or a building. One of the nursing homes we go to is St. Benedictine. It's a really great facility. They have beautiful gardens and activities for the residents, such as Bingo, Polka dancing, a beauty shop and balloon volleyball. I went on Thursday and the students who are there all week always do a song or two for the Protestant church service. The residents love the students. Then I sat through the church service and the scripture was the Loaves and Fishes story. The chaplain talked about how we have a mindset of scarcity sometimes as the disciples did in this story, where we focus on what we don't have. The challenge was to focus on what we do have. I looked around the room and realized that I had that mindset while viewing nursing homes. All I saw was that they no longer had the life that they once did, that they were now confined to a building and many times cannot function on their own. But what they do have is a community who loves each other and who still believes that Jesus loves them even in the state they're in. During the Lord's Prayer, one lady grabbed the lady's hand next to her and they just looked at each other and held on so tight, knowing that their faith and each other will keep them going day by day. There is hope and love in those places, which is hard to see when all I could focus on is what they don't have. A strong challenge for me.
Last weekend was incredible, relaxing and so fun. We went to a cabin in Wisconsin. It belongs to Deb and Jim, who are on the YW board. They are some of the most hospitable, generous people I've ever met. The cabin was beautiful. The Minneapolis Staff went too. We all had a bed to sleep in, there was a hot tub, a boat, and an endless supply of awesome food. I took full advantage of the hot tub when the boys were like, Let's jump in the lake! I thought they were crazy but then about 5 minutes later found myself counting to three and screaming as I jumped in. Immediately following, I booked it back to the hot tub. There was no TV, so it was really fun to relax and just spend time with everyone, having great conversations. We lounged around, read, played Nerts and Spades, and went out on the boat all afternoon. The boys tubed, waterskiied, and attempted to wakeboard. I love boats, so I just sat in the front as we spun around the lake as the boys tried to get up on the wakeboard. Fine with me. One afternoon, I picked up Beloved by Toni Morrison and read half of it. I read it in high school and loved it, but caught so much more this time. I needed some magical realism in my life.

For dinner the last night we had steak, scalloped potatoes and french bread. Yes, those are t-bones.

I spent a good chunk of time by the lake in the morning. It was so still and so necessary to be still with it. As I sat there, I realized how much God created everything to be like him, particularly water. Check this out. Powerful, calming, constantly moving, transparent, three forms, cleansing. A great reminder that creation had a lot of thought put into it.
Week 7 of 8. We're almost done. I'm starting to get overwhelmed at life when I get back. Life is jam-packed and I'm always doing something here, but it's only one thing that I'm focusing on. When I get back, there will be about 6 or 7 things to focus on, as well as all the details in between. I can do it and I'll do it well, but it'll be an adjustment. And as incredible as it's been here, I'm beginning to miss people a whole lot and cannot wait to get back.

Pray for:

-Continued energy and a mindset of love

-Me to be fully present here and not count away the days

-For the beginning of the week without John + his family

Much love. Miss you all.

But These Go To 11

5 weeks down. Only 3 to go. How is this happening?!

I've decided that I love Duluth. I see why people are born here and then they never leave. Maybe if I was here in winter I'd think differently, but I'm not!
This week was straight up. Nothing too exciting, dramatic, or over-the-top. One night, I was about to dump the prewash bin where the kids wipe out their ranch dressing from the salad and bean juice and stuff and I picked it up too fast and dumped ranch water all down the front of me. It was disgusting, but funny.
The kids were a riot. Our typical week is about 65-70, but this week we only had 40. The thing about this week, even though there were only 40, is that the decibel level was twice that of a larger group. I don't know what was up, maybe it was the pounds of extra snacks they brought and munched on constantly, but they were super loud. Exhibit A. The boys' sleeping room is directly above the girls'. I'm in the gym and I hear this loud thumping at 10:45pm when lights out should be. It sounded like the T Rex was approaching in Jurassic Park. We realize that the boys were all jumping at the same time to create a ceiling-shattering effect for the girls. In response, 25 girls yelled Love Story by Taylor Swift up the stairs. Like yelled. The whole song. For 10 to be the loudest level was not enough--11 would have to do.
I was apprehensive at the beginning of the week of how well they would get it or get involved throughout the week, but Jesus always amazes me at how He affects and changes kids. Jesus is real and still moves, a fact that has been reinforces countless times.
One interesting conversation I had this week was with Mary at Interfaith Care Center. It is a really nice rest home facility. Kara and I stopped in to visit the kids and I ended up chatting with her for a second. She had only been there for a week and her son was coming to visit from Florida later that afternoon. Her husband passed away in 1990. I guess I never realized it, but I've only seen about 8 men total in all of the nursing homes that I have visited this summer. Most are women. She said, "I guess it's good for the men to go first. They just don't know what to do with themselves when their women are gone. They just look so helpless. You never think you'll end up in a rest home. Even though it's lonely, it's a nice place. They have a nice place here." I could tell she was still adjusting. I hadn't really thought of that before. I always think when I visit there that these people have had such full lives and now they are in a completely different stage of life. It made me realize that even though I've seen and experienced so much, there are so many stages and things that I have yet to experience and while I have years to do them, life is so short. A good reminder to love people well and with my whole heart, not just part of it, and give life everything I have while I can.
Switching gears, Minneapolis was a blast last weekend. We crashed with the Minneapolis staff and the St. Paul staff hung out too. We did some sightseeing, Mall of America which had a Chipotle (YESSS), played Nerts (which I'm awesome at from playing in Ethiopia), and went to a Twins game. We stayed at our prayer partner's house, Fun Size Dave, who was with us 2 weeks ago. We went to church the next morning and saw the kids. It's sweet to see them in their element. I think their world's were colliding a little when they saw us and some of them didn't know what to do.
The Twins game was fun. There were signs that read This is Twins Territory and I loved it because I'm a twin! I was like, If only Bri was here. I got a Dome Dog and experienced the Metrodome before it gets replaced by an outdoor stadium. I'm not sure I understand why there will be an outdoor stadium in Minnesota since it snows until May, but that's ok. Some things are meant to be a mystery.



















Also, I'd like to share the joy of Sam's Club with you. We spent $880.14 this week. And then my organizing fix for the week comes with jamming our fridge.

This weekend we were invited to a cabin on the lake in Wisconsin of one of the YW board members. The Minneapolis staff is going and we were like I don't know....we kind've want to stay here and rest. But then we found out that there's a hot tub and there's a bed for each of us and they're making us dinner tonight. OK! We're totally in. We're leaving tonight and coming back before Sunday morning because, lucky me, I get to sing a song at church during the offering. The worship director found out I play guitar and was like You should play! When can we count on you? Never thought I'd do that EVER in my life.
We're doing well as a team. We're not really feeling the lull of routine yet. Every group is so different, which varies the week drastically. It's great to serve alongside brothers and sisters that annoy you sometimes, but at the end of the day, I love them and wouldn't have anyone else.


Pray for:
-Rest this weekend.
-Endurance.
-Choosing to love, even when kids are annoying. :-)

Much love.

Adult Leaders Can Fly

I am sitting in downtown Minneapolis in a coffee shop called Wilde Roast Cafe....Wilde as in Oscar Wilde! The Wilde quote on the menu is "The only thing I cannot resist is temptation." It has art all over the walls, dark wood furniture, creme, tan and plum colored walls, chandiliers and drapes and has an 1800s look. My kind of place. I had a waffle and it was awesome. It makes me want to go read The Importance of Being Earnest that Bri sent me in the mail!
This week was so great. It was our first full week at full capacity with 71, 76 total with our staff and our area director, Katie. The kids were great and we had a lot of fun with them. There was a lot of Uno played and funny interactions. This is Emma. She was so funny. She had a sassy attitude but it was the kind that was funny and not annoying. She is someone I would want to just hang out with. Brooke, she reminded me a lot of you. :-)

While the kids were incredible, this week was one where the adult leaders were a blast and such a blessing to our team. There were 14 of them and we have already sent out an email with all of our contact info so we can keep in touch. On Tuesday night, our staff was surprised and so honored when the leaders told our staff to sit on the floor in the gym. All of the kids and leaders proceeded to gather around us and pray for us. It was such an honor and blessing, and proof that God is moving through us. We had adult leader parties a few nights, and our last night we played Spoons until 1am. All of us were flying across the table to get them and laughing so hard. I guarantee we kept the kids up, who had to be in bed by 11pm....oops. Now for a few stories.

Tom came and it was his first missions trip. He was really quiet at first but then really opened up to us and to the kids as well. He has a knee brace and nerve damage in his left leg. Tom is a firefighter and originally from New York City, but moved to Minnesota early in 2001. His accent is hardcore New York--let's just say that kids paid attention when he said Hey you get ova here! So great. Tom got a call from his mom when 9/11 hit and the phone cut out when the towers fell. He was on call from the fire dept. still and reported within 24 hours when he jumped in his truck and drove straight through for 23 hours to help with search and rescue. He was hesitant to talk about it at first, but you could tell that it was a story that needed to be told, and an incredibly powerful one that people need to hear. I can't imagine the things he saw. While he was in the rubble of the towers, the mercury from the melting metal was exposed and sunk into his leg, causing permanent nerve damage. He said there is a lot of survivors guilt in the people of NYC and he said all of the anxiety is literally just killing these people and causing them to decay slowly and they don't even know it. He hasn't been back, but plans to when the memorial opens in 2011. It was incredible to see him serve with the kids and be a leader for them. As a staff, we believe he was the most impacted leader, and the trip enabled him to be served and honored as a leader in coming alongside the kids. He's been through so much, and we feel like he was empowered and encouraged this week. Thank you Jesus.
Leah and I connected the first day. She goes to Bethel in Minnesota. We have parallel lives. Ready?

-Small Christian schools-Juniors-2 years as RA/PA-Started dating our bfs in early May-Middle name Marie-Education majors (she's ele. edu.)-Student teaching in the fall-Hate wearing shoes-Glasses/contacts-The list goes on.

We had great conversations throughout the week and hung out whenever possible. We formed an alliance during the rowdy game of spoons the last night and stayed in for quite a while. She and I are in very similar life situations and it was incredibly encouraging to voice a concern or uncertainty and to have someone know exactly what's up. I think I made a lifetime friend. :-)

Grant was an incredible leader. He is from South Africa and so I loved talking about how my best friend was getting back within the week. His sense of God is so personal and big and reminded me a lot of the people in Ethiopia. God is simple, but He's everything. He was great and gave me some guitar lessons on how to play bar and suspended chords. I'll be working on that.

A powerful part of the week was footwashing. We do a footwashing ceremony on Thursday nights. We read from John 13 and highlight that Jesus served his disciples by sinking to a low position and washing their feet, and then he calls us to do the same. The kids do odd and dirty jobs all week and serve some of the outcasts of society. To emphasize that they have done as Jesus commands by serving well is really cool. It is such a humbling experience to have your feet washed and then be prayed for. The staff wash the adult leaders' feet and then the adults wash their kids' feet. Up until this point, we've framed it and then stepped out and watched the groups during this time, staying close to make sure that we're accessible if they need anything. It's usually a very intimate and emotional time, so we let the groups share it among their own. But this week, we felt very much a part of it. Bryce was one of the participants this week. He's a pastor's kid and one of seven. This kid gets it. He was always serving, always loving, always asking if we needed anything or help and didn't complain once. Kara and I were sitting in our usual spot against the matted wall of the opposite side of the gym and were praying together. We open our eyes and see the shadowy outline of a boy coming toward us. It was Bryce with a footwashing basin and a towel draped over his shoulder. I started crying immediately. He knelt in front of us and washed our feet, and then we prayed with him. What a gesture of service and humility. Then later, Grant came to me and washed my feet. His prayer was so sincere and so powerful. He prayed that I would keep playing and singing and be bold in praising God with that gift. He prayed for wisdom and patience in the days ahead. He prayed for joy and endurance through the summer and through life. He prayed for God to guide my feet down His path, that there will be trouble and rough roads which He promises, but that He will always guide me and always be there. That was special for me, because my life verse is John 16:33-In this world you will have trouble. But take heart--I have overcome the world. I felt at that moment how the disciples must have felt--knowing that there was so much life ahead and so much going on, but that in that moment, I was being honored, humbled, and served by Jesus, except in my case, it was a servant of Jesus in Grant.

This weekend we are in Minneapolis. We went to the Mall of America last night and we'll be going to a Twins game tonight. Last night we stayed at the Minneapolis site with the Minn. staff and the St. Paul staff. We played Nerts until 1am. So fun to hang out with those guys again. I'll post pictures next week.

We're over halfway done. I fly home a month from today. That is crazy. 4/8 weeks done.

Our day by the pier was a beautiful one this week. God continues to show us the sweetness of the city of Duluth. The bridge went up as we were leaving and all of these sailboats came in. Awesome.

We're doing well as a team and thank God for how blessed we are to get along so well.

Continue to pray for energy, joy and rest.

Much love.

And the Rockets' Red Glare!

We attempted to do laundry yesterday, but it slipped our minds that it was a holiday. So here we are. Just thought I'd add some sweet pics from the 4th of July!

Yay Fun Dip!

:-)

Never Say Never

Yesterday was the first sunny Friday we've had, so Kara and I went and laid in the sun. Glorious. That is how I completely relax, I discovered. This week we had 64 people total. Big week. It turned out to be a great. Eric began the week asking the adult leaders why they were here and what they wanted to see happen this week. All agreed that they wanted to serve and see God change lives. Mission accomplished. Beginning with that attitude set the tone for the week. The adult leaders and the participants were so much fun. Super artsy, too, I might add--we went through so much paper because they drew little pictures all the time. It was overcast and in the 60s all week and rainy one day, but it was nice to work in cooler weather, especially the crews that were outside. Funny story. We went through the student evaluations on Friday morning and one of the kid's under Site Name, which is Duluth, wrote Physical Labor. Ha! We lost it. Our prayer partner's name is Dave, also known as Fun Size Dave, because another adult leader was King Size Dave. Fun Size is our prayer partner. He worked with YW and then has taken his kids on numerous trips. These men love their job, have great stories, and love junior high kids. God has given them a righteous and incredible passion and they do their job well. I'm sure you can tell which one is which. I cannot believe it's July and it's broken 80 like once. I have a feeling the mild weather will make this summer fly by even more, because I'm like waiting for it to be super hot but by the time it gets super hot, if at all, I'll be leaving!

I FINALLY bought The Fray's new album last week and have learned most of the words by listening to the cd over and over again in the car and in my free time. The song Never Say Never has become a favorite of mine and Kara's. One day we had to drive about an hour and a half total around town to visit ministry sites and we listened to the song 8 times. Not joking. It's become our theme song of the summer. Eric hates The Fray, but watch us care!

Kara and I had our first fight. It turned out to be really funny, though. John came through the kitched right after and we told him we had our first fight and he was like, Really? That's awesome! I want to hear about it! Kara and John had their first fight like 2 weeks ago, so we were all waiting for this one. So here's what happened. Thursdays are crazy dinner night because it's grill out plus leftovers. We have hamburgers, hot dogs, fruit, pasta, pizza. Everything compiled from the week. I would consider myself a generally laid back person, but I have especially discovered this summer that I am a straight up Control Freak when it comes to certain things. Exhibit A: I have a certain way of setting up the salad bar every night and I'm good at it and it looks good. So on Thursdays, John grills, I do salad bar and Kara does the rest. For some reason, we were just stepping on each other's toes and the kitchen was so stressful. We were snapping at each other and it just was not working. As soon as all the kids left, we were like Ok. What just happened? We both realized we are control freaks in the kitchen and we can't be in there at the same time. And we both don't like to leave things stewing so we just had to come out and deal with it. Things were said like Well you did this! Which I would respond with Well if you would just let me do my job it would be fine! All ended well, we ended up laughing and hugging and it was all good.

God has a funny way of teaching us basic lessons. I have found that I am having to learn, on different levels, the same lessons and principles that I am emphasizing to the kids in my talks every week. My Monday night talk is about Fame and how we like to control how we're seen and we want people to see the best of us. The main point of the message is that You are good enough exactly as you are because Jesus says so--You've always been good enough. That is something that I've had to accept personally. I read a verse in Thessalonians this week that said something to the effect of God does not call us to be perfect, but rather to be holy. I get perfection and holiness confused way too often. I get so concerned with being as perfect and impressive as a I can in hopes that I will be impressive as a follower of Christ. But, as I had to write out multiple times this week to jam it into my brain--I am human. I will mess up. I wll disappoint. And that's ok. I am human. To me, weakness is failure and failure is weakness. But as a human, I am weak and I will fail. And by accepting that, it acknowledges that I need Jesus, who is ultimate strength and ultimate victory. I think one of my insecurities is rejection and so somehow it's ingrained in me to be perfect. But the fact is that I am a control freak sometimes, especially when it comes to being in the kitchen or that I like to be the one who organizes the fridge after we go grocery shopping because I do it a certain way and it looks nice, even if it comes off as annoying or domineering. I am super organized and think months in advance, so much so that I know where I'm going for Thanksgiving and Christmas already. And it doesn't matter if that's weird or annoying to other people because that's who I am and how I roll. But my family and friends still love me, the staff still loves me, and Jesus still wants me to be like Him, follow Him, and do His work on earth among all of my shortcomings and imperfections. There's always something to be learning...

As much as I miss everyone and my girls, I needed to get away and get distance to reevaluate my life. I realize how much pressure I put on myself at Taylor and even in my family, and it's been nice to take a step back and look at the source of that and give it back to Jesus. Refocus, if you will. :-)

This week we'll have 75 total. That's 13 boxes of Mac and Cheese instead of 10. It's one of our bigger groups. 3 weeks down. 5 to go. It's going to fly by.
Pray for:
-Energy and patience.

-Love for the kids in the short time that they're with us.

-The boldness and courage to be weak.

Much love.

I said, Let Me See You Sanitize!

While I'll get to the other highlights of the week, this has to be the big one. On Wednesday afternoon, 47 of our 67 participants departed due to the potential threat of a fast-spreading flu virus....

I have to say, it was probably inevitable that we would encounter Mr. Swine Flu at some point this summer. Afterall, we have 70 kids coming in every week from different parts of the country. Facts that I learned about Swine Flu this week and Youthworks protocall:
-Swine Flu is no worse than any other strain of flu virus. But, it does spread more quickly and has no vaccine.
-The incubation period is 5-7 days, so we could be infected, but we won't show symptoms for multiple days.
-We had the honor and priviledge of sanitizing our entire castle of a church not once, but twice!

Once the group left, we sanitized before the other 20 could come back from ministry sites. And then we did it again when everyone was gone! I personally went through 4 bottles total of bleach spray. Finger cramps.
Of course now, our staff is a little paranoid, but not to the extent of being upset. Clearly, Kara and I got a kick out of it and so did John and Eric. Ultimately, we have absolutely no control over this situation. If we get sick, we get sick. We realized a lot of it is mental. It was funny after everyone left we were like, Wait, I have a sore throat and I'm hot....maybe that's because I just took a nap in my sleeping bag and haven't had water in a few hours.

Our beach day this week was successful. It was beautiful outside and the kids swam. The water was about 50 degrees...upgrade from 40. But it was super hot outside so it was bearable. Apparently, 80 degrees is hot for Duluth. Pastor John said it didn't break 80 two summers ago. We loved it!

Officially, we haven't had a full YW week yet. This was our first week with 67, as opposed to last week with 30. It's a lot more difficult to manage, feed, entertain, and send out 70 as opposed to 30. A lot more names to learn as well. It was great to have the whole group and there were some great kids. As unfortunate as it was having 2/3 of the group leave, having only 20 was great. It made for some closer friendships at the end of the week and more bonding time. Example. We do this thing called the Bugaloo, which is a marching chanting song. We did it in Ethiopia! It goes Let me see you Flop Like a Fish, and they respond, What's that you say? and it keeps going. When the smaller groups came back after we'd sanitized the first time, they were chanting, I said, Let me see you sanitize! What's that you say? Apparently they'd been singing it all morning down the street and in the park too. Made my day. These girls were hi-larious.

This week was frustrating and so challenging. I'm not stressed out by a lot, but I was stressed out. And it really wasn't even because of the swine flu. Many times this week, I felt like nothing I did or said was good enough. And that's a hard pill to swallow. I'm not perfect....a good, humbling reminder for myself. I had to go back to a basic lesson that I learned in jr. high and high school, coincidentally, the age group we're hanging out with. I am only one person. I have two hands and one brain and I cannot please everyone. That's hard when there are 16 adult leaders and 55 kids that are looking to you for guidance, leadership, and friendship. Out of all the stress and incidents, I again realized what a great team we have. We're all such proactive people and we never have to worry that someone isn't doing their job. And in the whole ordeal of the week, we still came together, were on the same page, definitely don't take ourselves too seriously, and we surrender everything we do and who we are to Jesus. We seriously have the best staff EVER.

After an exhausting week, we ran to Sam's Club and Wally World and then crashed for a few hours. I got my weekly Hot Dog Combo at Sam's for $1.70. Hey, better than a sandwich. We then decided to head up to the North Shore to get some fresh air and a place called Goosebury Falls. Best decision ever. We stopped at Betty's Pies for dinner. I had coconut cream. It was awesome to sit down and eat a meal slowly and eat until I was full...not something that happens during the week. It was great to put normal clothes on and some makeup even. Crazy! It was fun to just laugh and take a little road trip. It is so beautiful up here.

Pray! Yes please!

-Health. Health. Staying Healthy.

-For the next week of participants and their leaders.

-Continual strength and energy.

-Capacity to choose love over frustration.

Much love. Thanks for reading and sharing my summer with me. It means so much!

A Foggy Day in Duluth Town

I am currently enjoying my first day off since.....Christmas. I have absolutely no responsibilities today. I didn't know quite what to do with myself...so I went to Target for 2 hours! Target is everywhere up here because the headquarters is down in Minneapolis. I bought The Patriot for $3.49! Awesome.

I finished Angels & Demons. Now I'm going to see the movie. Maybe tonight because it's my day off! Can't wait.

The first week with kids was awesome! There were about 30 of them plus six adult leaders. It was a great week. We also had Nate, our site starter. He was a program staff in West Virginia a few years back and was around to help us with our first week of programming. So much fun. We went Sam's Club shopping yesterday for next week's food for 60 kids. $1,214.

One thing that I've realized about the weather here is that sometimes it's like summer, and other times it's like late fall, early winter. And then there's the Lake Effect. Downtown is at the bottom of the hill, right along the lake. When you go to the "top of the hill," (as the locals refer to it as, and what I now refer to it as since I'm a local!) there can be up to a 10 degree difference in temperature and humidity. And it can change daily. Yesterday, Kara and I went downtown, were walking and it was 45 degrees. We could see our breath! But people said it was like 55 at the top of the hill. And then today it's 75 and sunny everywhere!

Grandma's Marathon is this weekend. To eliminate confusion, Grandma's is a restaurant here. There are two of them-one at the top of the hill and one on the lake. Shout out to my fellow Cincinnatians--kind've like a more down-to-earth Montgomery in type thing where there's one in Montgomery and one on the river. So, Grandma's Marathon is a restaurant-sponsored marathon-not just for running grandmas, which was what I originally thought. We had at least five different people tell us not to drive anywhere before 12noon. True statement. There are so many in-shape people here this weekend. It would be a pretty route to run. Right along the lake. Too bad I hate running! I walked downtown today and watched for a while and then sat on the shore, talked to my dad, and caught some rays.

Duluth is starting to feel like my city. It's cool that I'm now getting comfortable just starting conversations with all kinds of people including the homeless. They all have a story. But not many people take time to listen. It's a completely different culture with a different set of rules that most people don't know, so those people can come off as scary sometimes. Even though they don't have much, they protect what they have and have respect for those who help them out. It's interesting--the more we talk to local homeless and ministries, the safer I feel. It's cool to drive down the street and see people we've talked to now and will see at Union Gospel next Tuesday when we serve a meal. They're as much a part of the community as we are.

Lesson from the week: Kids need a place to be kids. We went downtown to the lighthouse (where the above picture was taken) and the kids just ran around and were loud and obnoxious. One of them turned to me and was like, Thanks for letting us be loud. My mom would be mad at me right now. I just laughed and was like Sure thing! Yes, they were loud and really obnoxious and were probably pissing people off who were trying to enjoy the pier. But kids have so many serious things to deal with that they just need room to scream sometimes and sing songs off key at the top of their lungs.

Leading worship this week was great. It was a first for me leading a group and I loved it. While I love playing clarinet, I love that I've learned a more accessible instrument that I can worship God with and can help others do the same. I'm getting callouses and I feel so cool.

That's all I've got for this week. Kara and I took pictures downtown but she forgot her cord to download them. So they'll be posted next week!

Prayer for:

-managing 60 kids with 4 staff
-energy and good attitudes

-open communication

-boldness in conversation

Much love.

Avast ye, me hearties!

And now we're back in Duluth for the summer! And that's right, we're doing a Pirate theme! We thought it was sweet because we live in Duluth where ships and stuff still come into the harbor! Guys, it's sweet. I'll take pictures. Our attention getter when we want the kids to be quiet is, Avast ye, me hearties! (which according to the pirate translator we found online means, Listen up my friends) and they say Ahoy, captain! So cool, right? And our crew names are famous pirate captains, such as Barbosa, Long John Silver, Blackbeard, Hook, the one from Spongebob, and of course, Cap'n Crunch. P4J. Pirates for Jesus.

As I was pumping the air into my air mattress with my manual pump that was only $5, I realized that the next time I would deflate it would be for Off-RAMP at the beginning of August. But hey, there's only 7 weeks between now and then!

Early Bird was held in Minneapolis this last week. It's when 3 staffs come together to put on a Youthworks week. So, the Minneapolis, St. Paul and the Duluth staffs were altogether and there were 61 kids. The week was great. I'm finding that my life has now become defined more about relationships and people I meet rather than things I'm doing. So I'll tell you about those.

-Jordyn. She was about 13 years old and so sweet. I interacted with her a few times during the week, but we never had substantial conversation. On Thursday nights we do a footwashing service and it was really cool. After ward she was crying really hard and came up to me and gave me a huge hug. Teary eyed, she looked up at me and said, You're a really good youthworker. I just laughed and hugged her harder. Goes to show that I'm being watched...all the time...

-Melonie. Melonie was a lady I got up the guts to sit by at Loaves and Fishes, a feeding kitchen that we took the kids to help at on Tuesday evening. She was in a wheelchair. Conversation was awkward at first, as it always is, but then I asked her if she had any advice for a 21-year old college student. She said Don't be too serious. Learn to have fun. Good thing I'll be hanging out with Junior high kids all summer! They are prime-time fun.

-Robert. I think he was a freshman in college from the area. He came and helped out at Loaves and Fishes after class a few days a week. I don't think he was a Christian, but had been exposed to it. After some small talk, he goes, So you look like you're a churchy girl. Are you churchy? Needless to say, I've never in my life been called churchy. He said he just stopped dating a girl who was churchy. I said What exactly do you mean by churchy? And how was she churchy? He was like, She wore a lot of clothes. Like a lot of layers. I couldn't help but laugh. The cool part about the conversation was we kept talking about how I was churchy and how what mattered to me and how my life changed when I became a Christian was that I had something to live for. I know Jesus is real because my life changed. So instead of doing things how I feel all the time, I do my best to love Jesus and love other people and that's what matters in life. I'd never really done the one time talk about Jesus thing...as all of you know, I'm much more relational. I'm honestly always afraid of coming off "churchy," but in the pestering, pushy, obligating way. Talking with Robert was cool because you know he was searching and just wanted someone to be real. Later, one of the adult leaders came up to me and said, You were talking to that guy at Loaves and Fishes right? I said Ya, why? He goes, Well he told me to give you this. It was a piece of paper with his name, phone number and email address. Needless to say, I didn't come off as pushy, pestering, or obligating! Seriously, though, that was encouraging to me because when it comes down to it, I can let Jesus speak for himself and let my life of loving and serving show Christ without having to make a case for the Gospel.

Thomas-Thomas lives in Minneapolis and connected with Youthworks about 8 years ago. He lives in a home downtown and has a minor case of Cerebral Palsy. He has one tooth, always wears a bandana, and beats every person who plays him in King's Corners. He's very simple. At the park we went to, he beckoned me over and said, Look at the caterpillars! They're fuzzy and they don't hurt and I pet 'em. Then they turn into butterflies! Youthworks took him in, gave him a nametag and he comes and hangs out. He arrives at 630 am to make coffee for the staff, has breakfast, leaves when the kids go out to ministry sites for the day, and comes back for dinner and the evening activity. He's so simple and loves interacting with kids. He taught me so much about how love is a choice. I guarantee if we as a staff would have treated him poorly, ignored him, or shrugged him off, which would have been easy, the kids would have done the same. But by choosing to love him, we embraced him for who he is and so did the kids. And he always chooses to love as well. So awesome. We do happy fun bags which are a way to send little notes to each other in paper bags. (We're calling them Message in a Bottle to go with the pirate theme.) I put one in Thomas's bag that said, You're coffee this morning was the best. You rock! Later, he came up to me and said, I liked your note. It said I rock. I said, Well you do! And he responded with, You better believe it! Cool guy.

This will be our first week here with participants. Yesss.....

Pray that:

-we gel as a team

-we remember the little things

-energy and endurance

-choosing to love even when we're tired.

Miss you all and think of you often!

Much love.

This poster is in the children's room in the church. I laugh every time.