Beginning of the end

So, I went another week without posting, and don't quite remember everything that happened last week. It was really good week, though. God helped me realize that there are still honorable youth groups and honorable people out there by bringing us the youth group from Kingswood UMC, who was so wonderful with our kids! They brought crafts, helped us with a lot of the cleaning, and were so loving and genuine toward the kids. On Thursday when camp was over for the week, they even invited us to a swim party with them, so we got to hang out with them a little while longer, which was lots of fun. We were able to do some really neat things with stuff that had been donated to us, also. On Wednesday, we told the parable of the sower and the seed, and each kid got to decorate and take home a flower pot. The next day, we told them about how Jesus said He is the light of the world, and each kid took home a desk lamp! It was pretty exciting to watch how God was providing for us.

This past weekend was exhausting, yet so rewarding! My teammates and I spent most of Saturday planning a program for our kids on Sunday morning at church. We made each kid an individual award, bound all of their artwork into books that took a long time to put together, had to write out stuff to say, and lots of stuff, complete with trips to FedEx and Walmart. We also had to fill pillow cases that Wes and I tie dyed the day before with school supplies. We stayed up until around 2:30-3 a.m. doing all this stuff, yet we were completely convinced that not many kids would show up. None of our kids have come to church with us all summer; they just come for the day program. We sent home letters about having a special program where parents could see what their kids had been up to all summer, though, and guess how many kids came on Sunday morning? 20! 20 kids and most of their families! It was such a miracle, especially since we were only expecting maybe around 10 at the most. I had to choke back tears all morning, because it was so beautiful to be there with so many of our kids on Sunday morning. We got to sit with them for the first part of the service, and then we each shared a personal testimony. Next I gave out the awards, which we could tell the kids really appreciated. Each award was individual to the kid, and there were some groups of kids who got the same award. Shakarria, Brandi, and Laila all got the Sweetheart Award, Cantrell got the Christ-like Leadership award, Isaiah got the Young Leader Award, Levonta got the Compassion Award, Myia got the Kindness Award, Allegra and Arlexsia got the Peace Maker awards, and so on. After the service we gave them each their art books and pillow cases filled with school supplies, and everyone in the church was happy. Donald, Lanissa, and Laila's mom came up to me sobbing and hugging me, so full of thanks and love, and another mom talked about cooking a meal for us. We were so energized and happy after the service, and then we went out to eat lunch with a family from the church with whom we've become very close (we went over to their house for dinner on Friday night also!), and it was just such a great day, so full of love and blessings from God. Later I found out that my sweet sister prayed for me to get a blessing that morning....well, I sure got one! Sharing Sunday morning with my kids and seeing all of their happy faces was definitely a blessing.

Yesterday, another cool youth group from Dauphin Way came to help us do a community clean up, organize our art areas, and clean and organize all the toys in the nursery, so that was a big help. That same group came today to do a messy/water day for our kids. The kids had SO much fun! There was a tie-dyeing thing with shaving cream and food coloring, a station where they made homemade ice cream, outside games, a huge slip-n-slide, water tug-of-war, and a water balloon fight. It was kinda hectic, and there was so much to clean up afterward, but all that matters is that they had an amazing time. After water day, my team and I had our last mentoring session with Reverend Fail. In these sessions, we've each picked a verbatim, where we write down a conversation that we've had down here that struck us in some way, and then we discuss the conversation and what our actions and reactions say about us. I picked a conversation I had with Shakarria one time toward the beginning of camp, where she talked about killing herself and hating herself. It was tough to talk about, but Reverend Fail has a way of making everything better. He knows just the right words to say. I told him that I didn't know how I was going to leave here on Saturday....he said, "Well, you'll just leave. You may not know how to do it, but you will." And it really is that simple. I have to be able to let go of this place in a way (even though it will always be on my heart, and I hope to make several visits down here during the school year), and take everything I've learned back to Montgomery. It will be so hard though. I refuse to accept the reality of leaving until Thursday when I have to say goodbye to those kids, though.

Well, that's all I can think of to say for now. I didn't fall asleep until around 4:00 this morning, so I think I'm about to knock myself out with some Nyquil so I can sleep through the night tonight. Just too much stuff on my mind...plus, it was SO hot in here last night. Hopefully I'll get some better rest tonight though.