#project transformation

Transforming Lives Through Relationships

Sorry it's been so long. I have been so exhausted that writing a blurb doesn't happen. 

The end of camp was a tear jerker. One of my kids gave me his necklace he wore every day. Then when we all hugged him goodbye he started to cry. I watched him go from being sent from because of behavioral problems to being the best helper we had. Oh of the other kids who I got really close with wasn't there the last day.

This kid was a problem child. Only if he wasn't getting one on one. Which admittedly was difficult because we had so many kids. But he loved to help. I wanted to sweep every day and help with water bottles all the time. One of the last days he was there we sat on this bench during a whole movie talking about things. He was such a sweetheart. 

These kids changed me. 

Literally two days after I got home we went to Mexico with Edward Jones. There was so many children just running around. Not a big deal. But these kids were like six and had uppity attitudes. So many of the parents were like "Oh they are going to a charter school." I just thought about the kids I worked with and how they just wanted attention from their parents. I went from one extreme to another. It was a rough transition. 

I know that my Oklahoma kids are going to do great things even if they don't get to go to fancy charter schools. They are all so wonderful and have so much potential. 

This week was really trying. For a lot of reasons. 

Number One. I'm sick. It's that time of the year when Janessa starts to lose her voice yet again. So in the mornings when I am the most busy I'm just all gross feeling.

Number Two. We have had a Texas Invasion this week. We were basically kicked out of our arts and science room so they could sleep there. Which made the kids go crazy. It also meant that for Afternoon Activities we just had movie week. We watched three movies this week. Three. The kids where outside all morning so I didn't want them being outside anymore. One of them was because our speaker quit. 

Though it was trying I saw God in so many places this week.

On Wednesday our kids were CRAZY. Like bouncing off the walls crazy. Then Thursday they were awesome again. Three of my favorite campers got to help us make popcorn. Two of them are siblings, they have nine siblings. Total there is 11 of them. I found out that the boy sleeps on the couch every night because he mom took his room. Seeing them kind of blossom is so amazing. God is doing so much for our kids it's great.

Today we went to help the Texans on their job sites. I went with a team to go work on painting a house. Total there were three teams painting. The team I was with was awesome. They had been working on that house the whole week. Before they got there you could barely see the house. Now all the bushes are cut down and the house has a fresh coat of paint. It's beautiful.

The best part about that was the guy who lived there had this old gross couch. Like the fabric wasn't on the seats. He told the group he didn't want to get rid of it. Today a truck came to pick it up so he could get new patio furniture. The team didn't know he was going to get more. They were so devoted to making sure that couch didn't leave because the guy said he wanted it. 

It's so easy to get caught up in mission work. Trying to make sure you get things done but not think about the people who you are working for. The group I was serving with had their "client's" best interest in mind. They weren't working for themselves, but they were working for their client. While the Texas group made me frustrated this week, today I saw God working so big in their lives.

So basically we are all exhausted. We all take naps every day after camp. It's fine because of the magical thing called coffee. It's the only thing that helps get me through my day. But really.

This is really no surprise but I love my kids already. I think I have already mentioned this but I have the youngest kids they are going into first and second grade. They are all so wonderful and awesome. Sure we have some discipline problems but it's expected. They are kids and they are young. 

I do a lot of running around. In the mornings I'm all over the place. First we sing songs which has become my job is to sing songs with them. I read with this one kid every day, who is so adorable. You just can't say no to him. Then I do errands for everyone else. Like today the arts and crafts teacher needed more duct tape so I ran upstairs to grab that. Then I went to get another intern water. Then I move the kids from reading to arts and crafts. Drop the arts and crafts kids of at science then take the science kids to rec. THEN it starts all over again. I also run around a lot in the afternoon. Just to make sure everything is going smoothly since that is my time to plan things. 

We have also gone to three of our campers little league games. I totally forgot how crazy little league gets. I also realized I was the annoying sister who was always screaming. It's fine. It meant a lot to the kids because they just keep talking about it. 

I normally don't bring my laptop over to the church much. So that's why I haven't been posting a lot. That and I'm always so tired. 

Well it's spotty signal but it's signal. 

The last couple days have been an adventure. We took the tour of the church to see where we would be working all summer. And found out that the church has a twin. Some where in texas there is a church exactly identical to Mangum UMC. Crazy. 

The pastor drove us around Mangum after the tour. Fun fact, they mine clay here. And they make bricks. Millions of them. We saw them sitting on the pallets, there were stacks of brick. There is a lot of local places here, as anyone can expect with a small town. The only chain places are Dollar General, Sonic, and Pizza Hut. It's going to be an interesting summer. On our tour of the mighty town of Mangum, we saw wild cacti! Which is something totally new to me. Yeah, we don't have cacti in Missouri. Only the ones in pots.

Today, we went to Walmart. A twenty minute drive. We saw some awesome beautiful mountains. It's definitely beautiful here. I killed a wasp. Now I'm the official bug killer. That's how my life is going.

We have arrived in Mangum! We got in yesterday. We might have stopped to take cheesy pictures when we pulled into town, it happened its fine. We met our site coordinator and the pastor of our site church. We have moved into our house for the summer, it’s pretty great.

Today we are going to explore. After we meet with the pastor for a tour of the church.