Summer's End...

     It's over. The summer of 2012 has ended for me and there are no words to express how sad I am. This summer has by far been the best summer ever. I had the privilege of working with some great kids and teens, I had the best co-workers ever, my bosses were amazing, I attended a great church, and I met some great people and developed some wonderful friendships with them! I learned a lot this summer! I learned that even in the middle of what I think is a huge problem, when I can't think straight, and when I feel like I've reached my breaking point, God is right there with me, giving me the words to say, comforting me, holding me and whispering in my ear, saying "I've got you. Don't worry, you're my daughter and I love you dearly. I won't let you fall, I'll get you through this problem, I'll give you words to speak when you don't have any words, I'll keep you safe, and when you feel like you're at you're breaking point, that's because you aren't trusting Me, you aren't relying on Me, you aren't resting in Me. Find your everything in Me because I died to give you everything. I love you." Pretty amazing, right? I have an awesome God, He is my Heavenly Dad. I imagine my earthly dad, how much he loves me, cares for me and desires to protect me. God is like that, times a trillion and He's perfect. Leaves me speechless. His everlasting love is a perfect and Beautiful Thing.

     After all the struggles I've had this summer I am even more convinced that God is calling me into social work. If I can handle everything that I went through this summer without a college education, I can't wait to see what God is going to do through me with a college education! There was one day this summer where I sat down in the office after a really hard day running things alone and cried, and I thought to myself, "this is going to be part of your job if you go into social work. Do you really want to do this? Do you really want to major in social work? You'll have to toughen up, can you do it?" I sat there for a good 15 minutes contemplating this and praying about it. In the end, I came to the conclusion that social work is what God is calling me to, and I was so overwhelmed with thankfulness to God for allowing me to go through that situation, and giving me a little taste into what I'm getting myself into, before I actually get into it. I serve an amazing Lord who cares about me, and the profession I want to go in to. The care that my Lord has for me is a Beautiful Thing!

     I made some great friends this summer and they are part of what made my summer so great. They were always there for me, no matter what. I met them my first week in Tennessee. I had been emailing with Wes (the community group leader) and he told me when their group met and so I arrived, not knowing anyone, wondering what I was thinking, showing up at some persons house for Bible study with a bunch of people I didn't know. I am so glad I went. I feel like I've known these people forever. They have challenged me and helped me grow. They have comforted me in difficult times, made me laugh when I wanted to cry, and they have all made my day more than once. They have become some of my best friends and I pray that the relationships that I have developed with them continue to grow. God blessed me with these amazing people and I can't wait to see what God is going to do in their lives and how He is going to grow the friendships we have with one another. I know I've said this before, but, friendship is a Beautiful Thing designed by God and I am so thankful for it!

     I am so sad that the summer is over, but I can't wait to see what God has planned next for me! I am going to miss all my kids, my middle school girls, my Knoxville brothers, my co-workers who have become my friends, my bosses, and my wonderful friends, but I know I will see them all again. Hopefully next summer. We'll see what God has planned for me. Life is a Beautiful Thing given to us by God and we should live our whole lives for Him!

(P.S. I will continue to post things on here, it just won't be as often as it was over the summer. Be patient with me and check back occasionally!)

     

   

A Typical Week

There is no "normal" day for me. "Normal" does not exist, we have organized chaos. Every day for me looks different. So here is a little peek into what my week typically looks like!
Mondays are crazy, I get to work at 9 everyday and the elementary kids arrive by 9:30, and then program begins! The morning activities are different every day, Mondays we have Fitness and Nutrition. We have two wonderful ladies who come in and do this with the kids. Tuesdays and Thursdays are Market days at the Baptist Center and we take the kids on field trips during the mornings, so Tuesday's we go to swim lessons! 25ish kids who can't swim + water + 4 lifeguards = a very interesting morning, the kids love the lifeguards that are teaching them to swim. We started the summer with zero swimmers and we have at least 5 who can swim now! Wednesdays we do Science and Math with the kids that my co-workers Elizabeth and Josiah usually lead, then we let the kids play outside to give their brains a break from learning. :) Thursdays we take the kids away from the Baptist Center again and we go to Computer Labs where the kids play educational games and have Reader's Theater where the kids get a part in a story and read it aloud (I love Reader's Theater, it's always fun).
       
          Monday through Thursday the afternoons are all the same so this will be easy to take you through. :) We have mission teams that come in almost all summer and they run VBS for the kids in the afternoons from 12:30-3:30 Monday-Thursday, so my job during that time is to stay with one of the groups of kids, assist the mission team people and make sure the kids are where they need to be and make sure they're behaving. At 4:00 the middle and high schoolers come in and we have Bible study, supper, and we usually try to do something fun. My co-workers Savanah, Caitlyn and I lead the middle school girls Bible study and we love our girls! We have the middle and high schoolers from 4-6 then our day ends!

       Fridays are my favorite day of the week. Why? Because Friday is Fun Day! We take the elementary kids on a fun field trip and so far we have gone to Worlds Fair Park, Roller Skating, Children's Museum and a few other places. We also have fun day with the middle and high schoolers, but those are usually planning something fun to do at the Baptist Center, usually the Wii gets brought in and we just have fun with them! Then BAM! The week is over! Needless to say, the summer has flown by with my crazy (But good!) busy weeks!

 Brandon and I!

 Savanah and Elizabeth got some of the girls to push them on the swings. :)

 Some of my elementary girls getting ready to put on a little skit for Caitlyn and I!

 My group of kids for VBS this week.

 One of my middle school girls! Her name is Kiki!

 Some of my wonderful middle school girls and boys, one of my high school boys, one of the high school graduates and Josiah my co-worker!

Three of my elementary kids and one of my high school brothers going off the diving board at swim lessons!

So there is what a typical week looks like for me! Hope you enjoyed, it's not what I normally do, but it was a request by my Mom. :) Here are some pictures!

Love

Last summer I came to the Baptist Center to help me decide if God was calling me to work with kids in the church or inner city kids. I fell in love with the kids here and by the end of the summer I had come to the conclusion that God was calling me to work with inner city kids. Church kids know all the right answers to most church questions, and if they don't their Sunday School leader will tell it to them. They grow up in a loving home, and they have a good model of what Christ's love looks like because they see it in their homes and churches all the time.

     What about inner city kids? The majority of the kids I work with live with one parent who may or may not be loving. They don't all know who God is, or why Jesus came to earth and died for them. Love is foreign to some of these kids, and because I belong to Him, I have Christ's love in me, which means that I should have plenty of love to pour out onto these kids.

     I came back to Knoxville because I love these kids, and I want them to know that. Kids need people in their lives that they know love them, and for a lot of the kids and teens I work with there are probably very few people in their lives that love them they in the way that they should be loved. I grew up in a family that loved Christ and each other very well. I have been shown much love, both by my family but even more by Christ. I long for these kids to know the love of Christ and it is my duty as a Christ Follower to show it to them.

1 John 4:19  "We love because He first loved us."

1 John 4:12 "No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and His love is perfected in us."

Love is a Beautiful Thing, given to me by God, because He loves me, I am able to love others.

These are just three of the many kids I get to love on every day!