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Thursday, August 9, 2012
Monday, August 6, 2012
The Goodbye
I am extremely sad that my last week of Y.E.S is over for the
summer, but it ended on a good note. The last week of Y.E.S is the
week of Y.E.S camp! This is a sleep away camp in Joelton Tennessee
that we attend from Monday to Friday. The camp, filled with worship
and praise, creek time, crafts, ropes course, a water slide, and more,
was a blast. Some of the more memorable moments included my zip-line
experience, bed time, creek time, and worship.
summer, but it ended on a good note. The last week of Y.E.S is the
week of Y.E.S camp! This is a sleep away camp in Joelton Tennessee
that we attend from Monday to Friday. The camp, filled with worship
and praise, creek time, crafts, ropes course, a water slide, and more,
was a blast. Some of the more memorable moments included my zip-line
experience, bed time, creek time, and worship.
After walking up to the zip-line, I was told by a girl in
my cabin that she was scared and wouldn't go on it. This was after
she told me how excited she was to do the zip-line the day before.
Eventually we decided that if I did it with her she would do it. So,
I went down the zip-line before her, unfortunately managing to get a
few bruises from the landing. Needless to say she went down next.
Afterward, she went down many more times. Then I was told to go on
the giant swing. I wouldn't say I am necessarily scared of heights,
but I was scared of dropping from so high up. As they began pulling me
up, all the kids there started chanting my name and telling them to
pull me all the way up. As much as I tried to stop them, I still went
all the way up.
This wasn't the only fear that Y.E.S camp helped me conquer. While
getting ready for bed and finally calming down all the homesick kids
in cabin 9, someone spotted a spider. My first reaction was a deathly
scream and a jump back. One of the campers then asked, "Aren't you
going to help me?" As much as I wanted to say no, I knew I had to
help. I ended up throwing a shoe at the spider temporarily overcoming
one of my biggest fears.
Creek time also provided another fond memory. Although this wasn't an
experience that involved me overcoming a fear, it was a fun and sweet
moment. Many of the kids were scared of falling, as one girl had
previously fallen, breaking her hand. They were also scared of
snakes. They hung and clung to me, trusting me to guide them through
the creek. Not only did they trust me, but I even had one help me
catch a crawdad and then help me as I slipped.
Although all of this was fun, it was truly amazing to see how Y.E.S
helps these kids; 4 campers were baptized at the creek. God touched
many others at this camp, including me, as everyone's testimonials
left me in tears. Not only was I left in tears, but 3 girls that were
in my small group came up to me afterward telling stories about their
heroes and what they struggle with, trusting me to console them. I was
caught off guard by the trust they displayed in me by sharing such
personal stories that brought them to tears, for I had only been in
their lives for a part of the summer. This moment just made it that much
she told me how excited she was to do the zip-line the day before.
Eventually we decided that if I did it with her she would do it. So,
I went down the zip-line before her, unfortunately managing to get a
few bruises from the landing. Needless to say she went down next.
Afterward, she went down many more times. Then I was told to go on
the giant swing. I wouldn't say I am necessarily scared of heights,
but I was scared of dropping from so high up. As they began pulling me
up, all the kids there started chanting my name and telling them to
pull me all the way up. As much as I tried to stop them, I still went
all the way up.
This wasn't the only fear that Y.E.S camp helped me conquer. While
getting ready for bed and finally calming down all the homesick kids
in cabin 9, someone spotted a spider. My first reaction was a deathly
scream and a jump back. One of the campers then asked, "Aren't you
going to help me?" As much as I wanted to say no, I knew I had to
help. I ended up throwing a shoe at the spider temporarily overcoming
one of my biggest fears.
Creek time also provided another fond memory. Although this wasn't an
experience that involved me overcoming a fear, it was a fun and sweet
moment. Many of the kids were scared of falling, as one girl had
previously fallen, breaking her hand. They were also scared of
snakes. They hung and clung to me, trusting me to guide them through
the creek. Not only did they trust me, but I even had one help me
catch a crawdad and then help me as I slipped.
Although all of this was fun, it was truly amazing to see how Y.E.S
helps these kids; 4 campers were baptized at the creek. God touched
many others at this camp, including me, as everyone's testimonials
left me in tears. Not only was I left in tears, but 3 girls that were
in my small group came up to me afterward telling stories about their
heroes and what they struggle with, trusting me to console them. I was
caught off guard by the trust they displayed in me by sharing such
personal stories that brought them to tears, for I had only been in
their lives for a part of the summer. This moment just made it that much
harder to say goodbye.
These memories have provided me with probably the most
remarkable summer of my life so far. I learned so much from these kids
who have gone through everything and have managed to still stay
positive. Hopefully, in return, I have positively impacted their
lives. I want to thank all the St. Luke's staff following my blog for
letting me join such a great program, and the Turner Fellowship
program and all those involved for allowing me to be a Turner Fellow
and pairing me with such a remarkable organization. I can't wait to
visit all of my kids again with the after school program! Pictures
are to come, I promise! :)
These memories have provided me with probably the most
remarkable summer of my life so far. I learned so much from these kids
who have gone through everything and have managed to still stay
positive. Hopefully, in return, I have positively impacted their
lives. I want to thank all the St. Luke's staff following my blog for
letting me join such a great program, and the Turner Fellowship
program and all those involved for allowing me to be a Turner Fellow
and pairing me with such a remarkable organization. I can't wait to
visit all of my kids again with the after school program! Pictures
are to come, I promise! :)
You can conquer almost any fear if you will only make up your mind to do so. For remember, fear doesn't exist anywhere except in the mind.
Dale Carnegie
P.S. Sorry for the inconsistency of my blogging.
Wednesday, July 18, 2012
The Home Stretch
First off, I would like to apologize for the lack of updates and now
this attempt to cram everything in to this one post. Having said that,
this post will just give a quick overview of the last two weeks as
well as what is upcoming, leaving the insight and special moments for
my final blog post for the Turner Fellowship program (yes, I am trying
to give you an incentive to follow me).
Anyways, following up on my post concerning Wave Country, it was a
blast! From my stand-point, everyone seems to really enjoy this
outing. And as it turns out, keeping up with around 60+ kids was not
nearly as disastrous as one would imagine. I developed even stronger
connections with many of the kids, as they began to trust me enough to
swim in the wave pool with my help, and of course don’t worry, a tube.
The following week we went to a church for Vacation Bible School in
the mornings. I was put in control of the youngest age group at
Y.E.S. and as a result, I grew very close to these kids.
Surprisingly, Ms. Cynthia, a Bible School assistant from the church,
and I developed a great friendship. She even gave me her email
address so I could keep in touch with her as I contemplate what I want
to do in the future. This week provided me with many laughs, smiles,
and good memories. However, there were also some sad moments. Since
the majority of the Bible School kids were Y.E.S. kids, and I was the
Y.E.S assistant, I was responsible for the group's behavior. I knew
discipline would be inevitable, but there were still challenging moments
when I had to discipline some of the children for rude comments and
inappropriate actions.
This current week is the last official week of Y.E.S., filled with fun
activities such as the Y.E.S Olympic games, a movie trip to see the
new Batman, Kickball League playoffs (probably as equally intense as
our school soccer games, if not more), and our final trip to Wave
Country, Y.E.S was going to make this last week remarkable, but it
doesn’t end there for some of the kids. Some of the kids will spend
the last week of July at Y.E.S sleep away camp. Here they can partake
in adventures with zip lines and a 30 foot water slide as well as
participate in craft activities and bible studies. I am sure this
camp will provide even more time for incomparable memories,
friendships, and life impacting moments with the kids of West
Nashville.
I never did a day's work in my life. It was all fun.
this attempt to cram everything in to this one post. Having said that,
this post will just give a quick overview of the last two weeks as
well as what is upcoming, leaving the insight and special moments for
my final blog post for the Turner Fellowship program (yes, I am trying
to give you an incentive to follow me).
Anyways, following up on my post concerning Wave Country, it was a
blast! From my stand-point, everyone seems to really enjoy this
outing. And as it turns out, keeping up with around 60+ kids was not
nearly as disastrous as one would imagine. I developed even stronger
connections with many of the kids, as they began to trust me enough to
swim in the wave pool with my help, and of course don’t worry, a tube.
The following week we went to a church for Vacation Bible School in
the mornings. I was put in control of the youngest age group at
Y.E.S. and as a result, I grew very close to these kids.
Surprisingly, Ms. Cynthia, a Bible School assistant from the church,
and I developed a great friendship. She even gave me her email
address so I could keep in touch with her as I contemplate what I want
to do in the future. This week provided me with many laughs, smiles,
and good memories. However, there were also some sad moments. Since
the majority of the Bible School kids were Y.E.S. kids, and I was the
Y.E.S assistant, I was responsible for the group's behavior. I knew
discipline would be inevitable, but there were still challenging moments
when I had to discipline some of the children for rude comments and
inappropriate actions.
This current week is the last official week of Y.E.S., filled with fun
activities such as the Y.E.S Olympic games, a movie trip to see the
new Batman, Kickball League playoffs (probably as equally intense as
our school soccer games, if not more), and our final trip to Wave
Country, Y.E.S was going to make this last week remarkable, but it
doesn’t end there for some of the kids. Some of the kids will spend
the last week of July at Y.E.S sleep away camp. Here they can partake
in adventures with zip lines and a 30 foot water slide as well as
participate in craft activities and bible studies. I am sure this
camp will provide even more time for incomparable memories,
friendships, and life impacting moments with the kids of West
Nashville.
I never did a day's work in my life. It was all fun.
~ Thomas Edison
Thursday, June 28, 2012
The Return
After being at St.Luke's for 2 weeks and 1/2 a week being with the kids, I left for Hawaii. I returned Wednesday June 27th and wasn't counting on any kids remembering me, since they called me the New Christine. To my surprise on the 1st day back one of the kids was walking in, she immediately began sprinting yelling Maddie your back finally and giving me a huge hug when she saw me. As the day continued many more kids came up and started hugging me, saying I didn't think you would ever return and etc. I was somewhat surprised on how much I was missed considering I had only worked with them a few days.
Following the welcome we took some kids to the 1$ kids movie at Green Hills. That was where I had my 1st incident to deal with. A boy had fallen up the escalator and cut a deep whole in his knee. I immediately placed him on a bench and began trying to calm him down and clean of the cut while waiting for Dan to come and pick him up. After that the day was relatively calm as we then returned for a bible story and games about Moses and Joshua and the capturing of Canaan. A group of kids from a church in Manchester (TN) came and told the story then had a word search and a horn for them to decorate, followed by acting out of that story. The theme was Run to win and to do that you must trust God, obey God, and follow God.
Although the welcome I had surprised me at the beginning, I began to realize how connected I had already became with the kids. I missed them dearly during my 3 weeks away, and even had 3 kids calling me their mommy and hanging on me all day along with many other kids who would come over randomly and ask me to play and hang out with them. It was a great day, and left me exhausted beyond excited for the next adventure which would be an outing to Wave Country on Thursday.
Following the welcome we took some kids to the 1$ kids movie at Green Hills. That was where I had my 1st incident to deal with. A boy had fallen up the escalator and cut a deep whole in his knee. I immediately placed him on a bench and began trying to calm him down and clean of the cut while waiting for Dan to come and pick him up. After that the day was relatively calm as we then returned for a bible story and games about Moses and Joshua and the capturing of Canaan. A group of kids from a church in Manchester (TN) came and told the story then had a word search and a horn for them to decorate, followed by acting out of that story. The theme was Run to win and to do that you must trust God, obey God, and follow God.
Although the welcome I had surprised me at the beginning, I began to realize how connected I had already became with the kids. I missed them dearly during my 3 weeks away, and even had 3 kids calling me their mommy and hanging on me all day along with many other kids who would come over randomly and ask me to play and hang out with them. It was a great day, and left me exhausted beyond excited for the next adventure which would be an outing to Wave Country on Thursday.
Therefore, since we are
surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off
everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us
run with perseverance the race marked out for us,2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.
~Hebrews 12:1-3
Wednesday, May 30, 2012
Hero
Today was my 2nd day of work for St. Luke's community house. Although I have yet to meet the kids, for the Y.E.S program doesn't start till June 4th, I have already made some wonderful memories. Besides the fact that everyone I have met there are beyond excited to meet me and help me become accustomed to the program, they are heroes. They spend hours upon hours a week in order to help those in the St. Luke's area and have formed relationships with all of them. I've been very impressed by the staff, and can only hope to be as happy and service minded as them.
On another note, I would like to share a story about the few days of work I have had. Due to confidentiality, many stories about the people we helped can't be shared, but it is very eyeopening knowing how many people a day come to get a food box who thought they would never be in that situation, yet still manage to smile and be of service. Anyways here is the story, and trust me I won't be offended if you laugh, for I did. After helping out with mobile meals and cleaning the kitchen, I was asked to put the fruit back in the refrigerator, so that is what I did. The door shut. I began to panic even though not even a minute had passed for there wasn't a door handle to open the door. I automatically assumed it was locked, and began to look for a sign. I found one that said in case you lock yourself in the refrigerator turn knob 90 degrees to unlock. I did, but I still couldn't get out. Finally, they realized it had taken me quite a while to simply put up the fruit, so they went to the refrigerator to see what was going on. I had locked myself into the refrigerator for it was a push door. After that the day became much easier as I began to understand "the ways of the kitchen."
On another note, I would like to share a story about the few days of work I have had. Due to confidentiality, many stories about the people we helped can't be shared, but it is very eyeopening knowing how many people a day come to get a food box who thought they would never be in that situation, yet still manage to smile and be of service. Anyways here is the story, and trust me I won't be offended if you laugh, for I did. After helping out with mobile meals and cleaning the kitchen, I was asked to put the fruit back in the refrigerator, so that is what I did. The door shut. I began to panic even though not even a minute had passed for there wasn't a door handle to open the door. I automatically assumed it was locked, and began to look for a sign. I found one that said in case you lock yourself in the refrigerator turn knob 90 degrees to unlock. I did, but I still couldn't get out. Finally, they realized it had taken me quite a while to simply put up the fruit, so they went to the refrigerator to see what was going on. I had locked myself into the refrigerator for it was a push door. After that the day became much easier as I began to understand "the ways of the kitchen."
The best way to find yourself, is to lose yourself in the service of others. ~Mohandas Gandhi
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
The Build Up
April 13th, the 2012 Turner Fellowship Finalists were announced, and I was more than excited to be one! Since then I've been patiently waiting to figure out who I would be working for. (maybe not so patiently, but definitely waiting) Well now I know I will be working for St. Luke's Community House! When I found out, Christine immediately told me that I was the luckiest Turner Fellow, and that I would have an absolute blast. As the summer approaches and I receive more information about this program, I am about to enter, I get more and more excited and anxious. Tomorrow I am visiting St. Luke's in order to get my schedule, and the final touches for an incomparable summer! As you can tell from the amount of times I have said excited in this post and just the fact I am already blogging, I am excited. I'm not going to lie though, I am a little nervous about opening up so quickly to everyone at St. Luke's, but I know by showing them myself I will be extremely blessed. Anyways, I will be using this blog to tell about my summer experience being a Turner Fellow and the blessing it will bring, and I hope you will follow and enjoy!! :)
Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. ~ Hebrews 4:16
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