Little moments

I just feel like writing right now and I'm not sure why or what about but we shall see where this goes.

Its a Saturday afternoon and the first time in a least a month where I am relaxed and

 its quiet in my little apartment.

When you live with 5 other girls it can be quiet the challenge to find these moment.

I don't even know where to being in sharing what is happening in my life.

Life is very busy in a very good way. 

I love working with my kid even admit the challenging and rough days.

On Fridays camp works a little different the young kid have camp from 4 till 6 and then the older kids come from 6 till 8:30.

So on my day normal consist of a lot of fun times while cooking dinner for the kids and then cleaning the dishes with a few of the older kids while having epic towel wars which normally end with lots of welts.

Then we cook again and enjoy dinner with the older kids before worship  bible study and super 

hilarious entertaining group games.

Last night was super cool for me as one of my boys from the summer came back for the first time.

We did dishes together and where able to just have a lot of fun while working.

The game time consisted of "Win it in a minute" crazy games using household items while raising the clock.

There is always a lot of challenges when working in this kind of environment and

 living in such tight quarters makes it difficult as well but it also makes a lot of 

opportunity for growth which has been incredibly amazing to see and watch how God is changing and challenging me as well as the others around me.

I love being a part of these kid's lives even if it is a very small part of their life.

I love seeing what God is doing in and through Urban Promise and other ministries around the area.

Those are my thoughts for now as I reflect on the week.

There has been really tough moments this week but the little amazing moments out shine the difficult ones and that I am thankful for!

Battling against and pushing through

Persistently pushing against a large force that is bigger then us is what it feels like we are doing at times.

So many thing battling against these kids, their families and against the work we are trying to do in this community.

This week I had the chance to go into the local school to volunteer for a couple hours.

The school system is horrible, and this is not to say all school system are but this particular school has a very difficult situation as many of the teachers see is as a place that they need to put in their time before they can move to a better school with better kid. 

They don't care about how well the kid do or weather they understand the lesson or not. The kids at this school are so far behind, kids in grade 6 hardly know multiplication and students in grade 2 can barely read.

On Wednesday I was placed in a grade 2 class room with 20 little kids and one flustered teacher.

She yelled at the kids, told them it was their fault they where not learning, told little boys they will be womanizer and continually confused them.

If this isn't enough the have parents who don't understand or assist in their education. They are often time treated as a burden and told that they are stupid or not worth it when they cause trouble.

Some have parents who are not even aware enough to be able to put an "X" beside their child' name to sign them out when we bring them home.

On top of this they have peer pressure, gang influence, and many of the kids do not believe that they will ever be anything good because they have only ever been told something different. 

I see this when kids act out at camp, when fight break out, or when a child has to apologize to the pastor of the church we work out of for carving into a door very offence words. 

Last night while I was listening to Just like You by Lecrae I could see the faces of so many of my boys as I sang along to the line I grew up empty since my daddy wasn't with me, shoot I wasn't picky, I'd take any male figure You. 

This reminded me of so many of our boys but of one of them especially. He was a part of camp this summer but has not yet come during the school year.

Yesterday while I was walking down the hallway at school on my way out some one came up behind me and hugged me. I turned around to see this young man who was quietly thrilled to see me. All I could see was a broken hurt boy who desperately need love and a Godly man to lead him.

 My heart hurts now even as I think of him.

There are so many things battling against us and holding these kids in captivity but God is moving.

I see this in little ways when a group of 13 yr old girls sit down in silence to write letters of encouragement to others, when a little boy falls and the rest of the group stops to help him up.

When a new child shows up at camp with a form, when a child battle between making a good or bad decision and the good wins. 

There many be a great many forces battling against us but we have a great big God who greater then all of these things and He will not let a single one of His children fall.

Story Time

I love math, grade school math! It so much fun going through the multiplication 

tables and doing it backwards makes it division.

So I want to share an experience that I had this week.

On Thursday I was at camp and it was homework time when I noticed one 

of my boys sitting at one of the desk. 

This particular child is very behind in his academics and was sitting looking at 

his math homework rather hopelessly. 

Approaching him I asked how it was going and I was returned with blank 

frustrated stare, so I took a seat beside him.

I tried to convince him how exciting math really is but again he 

responded with a blank stare.

Nick is a quiet guy normally but when he is upset or frustrated he very easily closes down.

My supervisor who was observing handed me a bag of skittles to reward him with for 

every correct answer but even this did not get him out of his silence or blank stares. 

Getting creative I pulled out 12 skittles and explained the question to him once

 again, 12 divided by 3 equals what?

I handed over  12 skittles to him and asked him to make 3 groups so that both of us as well 

as the one other kid in the room could all have a fair amount. 

I was in my glory at this point, its fun doing math but its even more fun to do it with candy!

It took awhile for him to catch on to the whole idea of using candy but by the 

time we finished his math page 20 minutes later we were both laughing and actually 

enjoying the math home work after all!

I was so encouraged to be able to help this little guy enjoy his math and to be able 

to figure out the correct answers.

Please pray for Nick as he is 12 years old and has no understanding of math and literally needs to divide candies into piles to be able to tell me that 12 divided by 3 is 4. 

A lot of the kids I work with are far under the level of education that they should 

be at and I just love being able to be a part in helping them over come 

these struggles that set them so far back in life.

I have been blessed in many ways this week just being a part of life in 

my apartment and at camp as God continues to use me in way I am very

ill equipped to be used in, but remembering that in my weakness He is strong and 

this has been so very evident.

Growth

Growth is what I have been experiencing in a few different ways. The second half of last week was full of challenges and times of not having what I needed in myself but instead needing to look to God to provide me with what I needed.

Challenges at camp with the girls; challenges within 

myself while dealing with my roommates, challenges with different personalities 

and lack of sleep as well as being very busy. 

By Friday I was quite worn out, frustrated, tired and also convicted of things in my own life and actions that where not so good. 

At this point I was very thankful for my supervisor as well as 

another supervisor who could step in and be wisdom for me and edify me through 

talking about it. I am blessed by the people around me at UP who are supportive but 

also help me to grow.

This weekend wasn't any less busy as I had 2 weddings to attend on Saturday and I

needed to get a good night’s sleep before the big run on Sunday.

Turns out I hardly slept at all as I decided the moment I went to bed that I was 

starving and made noodles at 11:30 and then waking up every couple hours

 freaking out that I missed the alarm clock.

 My biggest fear about the run this past Sunday was that I would miss the start of it :S 

Turns out thanks to Micha for driving us girls there we all made it in time 

and did extremely well. 

The run was long and tough, the weather wasn't the greatest but wasn't too 

bad either. I really enjoyed the first half of the run even though my stomach 

still told me it was hungry :P The second half was a lot rougher and there 

were moments when the only thing that kept me going where the people around me and the prayer going up to God to run with me.

 I did make it through the whole race and only stopped to walk at 3 water stations.

 My time for the run was 2:07:07!! 

I was super impressed by myself as my goal had been 2:30:00. 

It was a great feeling accomplishing something so kewl but the very best 

part of the whole thing was cheering out the rest of my team. 

Three members did the brutal full marathon and finished very well. 

The emotion and excitement of seeing each and every one cross that finish line out of love to UP and everyone who benefits from it was a feeling I can’t explain! 

It was a Sunday morning and yes we missed attending church, but we were able to

 be the church as the family of UP running the streets of Toronto, praying for our team, praying for the kids and praying that God would move in this city! 

A huge thank you to each and every one that I know and don’t know who either supported through prayers, donations or words. It was a great experience and a tremendous blessing to me and many more!

A friend of challenges

As one of my fellow interns said last week "I'm a friend of challenges".

This is how I felt today while meeting the vice principle of the local school as she explained the major issues that these kids are dealing with.

It is exciting to talk about how our camp can side with the local school to try and solve these issues as well as assist in the homework and education.

I had a serge of energy and excitement as I thought of how I get to be a part in all of this. It is big and its intimidating but it is exciting!

Being a part of something bigger then yourself is the best feeling I have ever experienced.

It is something that a lot of people and even a lot of christian never get to experience due to fear of stepping out of their comfort zone. It sounds scary and its not very safe right? While in reality when you're leaning and depending on Jesus it is the most freeing experience you can ever have.

 This was my lunch conversation with my supervisor which was a very encouraging and blessed conversation. I am very thankful for my supervisor for the Godly man he is!

Blessings also extended into the afternoon of camp. 

Even now thinking back to the events I can't help but smile. I was pleasantly surprised to see one of my boys from the summer who is now to old for program but came by anyways. I had been waiting to see him ever since i got back so it totally made my day to see him again. He is also applying to become a street leader which is very exciting!

Camp also consisted of doing wordup with my girls which was a nice chill time to get to know each other using skittles and diving into the word of God. I am starting a series on the fruits of the spirit with them which I am very excited to see how God is going to use that over the next few months.

To top it off i got to cook with my boys!

We spent a good hour in the kitchen cutting veggies and making curry chicken over rice as well as doing the pile of dishes and sweeping afterwords willingly and with smiles on their faces.

I love my boys and spending this time with them was incredible.

I had a really great day with the all and I am just so thankful that i can be here and be a part of something that is way bigger then me or my team but that is completely in the hands of God our Father!!!

My list of blessings!!

Happy Thanksgiving to all my readers!

I have had such an amazing opportunity this weekend to have a very relaxing and

refreshing weekend at home with my family.

I was also able to bring home with me my five roommates, three of which had never

celebrated a thanksgiving before.

The joy of being able to share my family, childhood memories and

thanksgiving experiences with them.

We learned how to make pumpkin pies together, took plenty of walks to enjoy this gorgeous

time of the year as well as doing many spontaneous things for the fun of it.

These things included; pulling over on the side of a random field and running barefoot across the field during sunset, taking pictures in the middle of the road, taking a 6 km run

on thanksgiving morning with toques in 2C weather, and then jumping in to the pool

at 51F at 8:30 in the morning.

It has been splendid!

 

Since its thanksgiving I also want to share my 20 latest blessing that I have entered into

my book of blessings.

 

1. The hospitality of my family.

2.Group prayer for one another

3.Cool fall mornings

4.Harvest time

5.Reconciliation

6.Being home

7.Laughter

8.Crazy spontaneous moments

9.Grace

10. Wood fires

11.Sunshine

12. Prayer

13.Support of my family {especially my parents/eldest bro and sis}

14. Pumpkin pie

15.Grandparents

16.Toques

17. Morning runs and swims on thanksgiving morning

18.My vest

19. A hearty breakfast and coffee

20. Consistent Christmas's provided by my grandmother

 

As I typed these out my mind kept thinking of the many more blessings that I have been given.

God is so good to me in provided so much love and support.

I have experienced this so clearly in the past a couple months

which has been a huge encouragement.

Many little moments that we so easily miss could have such a huge impact of blessing if only we slowed down enough to see or acknowledge them!

Please take a moment or two this thanksgiving to write your own list of blessings

that God has given just for YOU!

 

 



A time of reflection

Retreat according to Wikipedia means a time taken to reflect or meditate.

For the last couple of days I was blessed to be able to go on a retreat with the staff of Urban Promise to reflect and meditate. 

Originally I was confused why right after the first week of camp we would take a few days off. 

It seemed like a waste of time and silly to the schedule of camp but now looking back I

realized what a huge blessing that it was.

After a really great week of camp, working with the kids, assisting in math homework and getting to know the new kids it was really amazing to go away for a few days and reflect on this first week but to also meditate and be filled up and spiritually prepared for the schedule to become much busier!

The last couple days at this retreat took place in Muskoka which is gorgeous this time of the year which was amazing to be in such beautiful creation as we spent time with the Creator.

It was also a time of getting to know everyone who is working with Urban Promise!

There was a lot of life stories shared and conversations had as well as some fun ridiculous games like super hero styled soccer game with a beach ball!

We also had times of prayer, devotions and seminars on the topics of 

The motives of a missionary and The mindset of a missionary. Both where given by Brett our executive director and where both incredible!

It was a very blessed a couple days and no so silly after all as it has equipped us all

in the power of the Lord to go forward into the future!

My first week at camp went very well and I was encouraged to see how excited the kids where to see me again. I love tutoring math and I was able to do plenty of that within the first week!

I am really excited and actually cannot way until Tuesday when we start up for good!

I also want to wish you all a very happy Thanksgiving!

Take this time and season to remember all the many blessings God has provided for you!

Remember that they are indeed blessings as there are many who do not have near as much.

Life a live of thankfulness!