Just me and my cereal bowl....

I love mornings like this, when I can sit with a yummy bowl of HoneyNut Cheerios and consider all the happenings of the past week that I have yet to share. However, the yumminess of my cereal is making it increasingly difficult to type with both hands.

It has been a pretty great week. The half-way mark of the summer has officially come and gone. I was quite excited to know that I was half-way to my plane ride home, half-way to moving into the new apartment, half-way to seeing my handsome boyfriend, and half-way to be HOME with my amazing fam. As the half-way point has now passed, I still feel excited about all those things, but also sad to know that the days of sharing a room with my new friend are quickly passing, the days of staff lounge laughter and ministry to broken but oh so funny and enjoyable women.

Yesterday I taught Sunday School to the women and it was quite a joy! I had been pondering what to teach if I had Bible study one weeknight. I had a lesson plan, sort of, for something about the attributes of God and then had been studying one of David Platt's messages from the LifeBlood series. Last week, the Sunday School teacher asked me to teach and the lesson from the quarterly was on God the Father. It was so amazing how that fit with the attributes of God lesson that I had already prepared. The lesson was 3 parts (of course, I'm baptist, right?).
1) How can we know God?
2) What is God like?
3) What does God desire from us?
I have been struck lately by the variety of false beliefs about God that permeate our world, our church, and even my own thinking.
For instance, many people seem to believe that God changed between the OT and the NT. One lady commented that God was mean in the OT. He is the SAME God. If God changed, then He must have gotten better or worse. If He got better, then at one point He was not complete and therefore not God. If He got worse then He could be better and would not be God. SO God did not change! (Make sense?) This is just one of the false beliefs that I myself have pondered. Noticed any others?

The lesson included many scripture passages in which we discovered and discussed characteristics of God. One of these verses was Romans 6:25-26
Now to Him who is able to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery which has been kept secret for long ages past, but now is manifested, and by the Scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the eternal God, has been made known to all the nations, leading to obedience of faith.

Christ is the one who is able to establish us. He can ground us in His word and we will not be moved! On our own we are bound to backslide, but with Him we can stay firmly grounded...just one of the characteristics of God that we learned yesterday.

God reveals Himself to us THROUGHOUT the Word...check it out!

Saturday, the 4th, was quite an exciting day around here. We had spent the week cleaning coolers, packing, slicing tomatoes and tearing lettuce...busy, busy, busy. We woke up Saturday morning to RAIN! ahhh! We had planned to load up all the stuff at 9:30a and get it to the park b/f the streets closed at 11a. We continued with that plan, despite the rain and spent the morning praying that the rain would cease. At 2p (one hour b/f we planned to take the ladies to the picnic) the rain let up and the clouds parted to reveal beautiful blue skies! Nine ladies and approximately 13 children went to the picnic at the park. They had sprinklers and inflatables for the kids. Volleyball and frisbees for the young at heart and food for everyone! After dinner we packed up and moved our things to the street to watch the fireworks...beautiful! Another storm was coming in so we called it a night as soon as the fireworks were done and headed back to the shelter. After unpacking I was EXHAUSTED and happy to take a Sunday afternoon nap!

Here are just a few pics of the 4th festivities.

LaCasey (NAMB Missionary) and I waiting patiently for the fireworks

Surprise!

This week, as I was going on-shift and praying with the morning shift, Emily prayed that God would fill my afternoon with little surprises. I found the request a little peculiar, but was excited to see just how He would answer this prayer. I wanted to share just a few ways that God has answered that prayer this week--with little surprises!

--MAIL! I do love mail and this week Mom sent me a sweet note.
--Unexpected compliments: One of the guests told me this morning that I was beautiful and she could see Jesus in me (It was fairly early in the morning, no shower, etc. so you KNOW that was Jesus and not me!)
--The words of a child: I was doing childcare the other night, something that is not always my favorite. I was sitting on the floor when a little girl came up to give me a hug. Being silly as I am, I began rocking her like a baby and singing "Rock-a-bye baby." I thought that she would just laugh, but she sat up and said "Sing it again." I repeated the song at least four times, becoming a little wary and not knowing all the words. At last she hugged me tighter and said "I love you!" Now, those are words that you don't hear too often around here and they filled my heart. A surprise I love you is the best kind of surprise!
--The boldness to pray: This week Christ has given me the opportunity to do the paperwork for two intakes. This is the paperwork that must be done as soon as the women arrive at the shelter. It is much less involved than the expanded intake which must be done within 24 hours. ANYWAYS! As we are alone in the intake room, asking all these questions and reviewing all these rules, God has led me to pray with and for two women. Through this He has taught me the impact of a simple prayer and reminded me that He will give me the Words.
--Humor: In the midst of difficult situations, it is often hard to laugh, but God has gifted the staff at DaySpring with the ability to find humor in many situations and to laugh heartily in the midst of trial.

There were many other surprises as well, including a raccoon in the dumpster, but I will not bore you with all the stories.

Have a wonderful Sunday and continue to pray for the summer missionaries, the staff, and especailly the guests! Thanks a trillion.

Growing-up is hard to do...

This week I have had to be a grown-up or at least pretend to be one, and at times that task is quite difficult. Yesterday I worked the 3-11 pm shift by myself for the first time. I had been working it all week long (except for Tuesday) but yesterday was the first time that no one else was on the schedule at that time. I must say that I was a bit frightened.

The beginning of the shift was fairly easy. Danielle was with me until 9. We cooked dinner (which went over fairly well), cleaned up after dinner, did some charting, Danielle did an intake interview, answered the phone, etc. Overall nothing too strenuous. Most of the ladies left DaySpring to go to Celebrate Recovery, so it was a pretty slow night at the shelter. They returned after children's bed time, so it turned out to be a fight to get everyone in the bed at a decent time. It is so funny to have 55-year old women come and ask you if they can go to bed later since it is Friday night. They reminded me of myself at home, finding every excuse and reason to stay up just 30 minutes later. In the end, the ladies got to stay up until 11 pm, but even then they were pushing the limit.

That is the most difficult part of this job, I do believe, learning to say no in a loving way, learning not to budge even when women who are older and sometimes much more confident (and cunning) than you are telling you that right is left and left is right.

By the time I got off last night, I was quite exhausted, mentally and feeling a little worn down spiritually as well. This morning as I was rereading 2 Corinthians 4, I stopped at the first verse: "Therefore, since we have this ministry as we received mercy, we do not lose heart." The portion that stopped me was the "we do not lose heart." I can't allow one semi-difficult night on the job to get me down. Luke 18:1 tells us to "pray and not lose heart." The Bible tells us that the Christian life will be difficult, but in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary (Gal 6:9).

These were great words of encouragement to me! Through His word and prayer, God is prepping me for another 3-11 shift this afternoon (although I will not be alone this time!).

I am so grateful for the privilege of being challenged beyond myself, so that I MUST turn to Christ..."for when I am weak, then I am strong" (2 Cor 12:10).

In all my growing up this week, I did have a chance to act like a kid again on Wednesday, and it was SO much fun! A family from a local church offered to take us to BigSplash (local water park) for Waves of Worship. It was a really cool deal. The park was open from 7-10 pm for only $5 dollars admission. Christian music was playing the entire time and there were more modestly clad people that I have seen at the water park in a while! The Millers have 6 children, five of which came along for the water park trip. The first slide we decided to brave is one that I will respectfully call--"The Wedgie Maker." Because that is just what it did (hehe). Luckily, we all prepared by wearing shorts! There were other fun slides as well, a rock-climbing wall on which 6-year old climbed higher than me, a wave pool, and diving platform. BigSplash turned out to be a Big Splash indeed!

Pre-water slidePost-water slide

Thank you all so very much for your prayers this week. Continue to pray for the women at DaySpring Villa and for the other summer missionaries and I. We saw two women leave this week to live with friends, pray that they made and will continue to make wise choices. We also have three new women, one of which has four children with her and three other children who are older and not here. I believe that she has been overwhelmed by the kindness shown to her and the safety provided here at DaySpring. Pray that the kindness will point her only to Christ and His glory.

Please pray for opportunities to speak of the glory of God and to share what God is doing in my life with the women here.

Muchas gracias!

Thoughts from Tozer

"Science observes how the power of God operates, discovers a regular pattern somewhere and fixes it as a "law." The uniformity of God's activities in His creation enables the scientist to predict the course of natural phenomena. The trustworthiness of God's behavior in His world is the foundation of all scientific truth. Upon it the scientist rests his faith and from there he goes on to achieve great and useful things in such fields as those of navigation, chemistry, agriculture, and the medical arts."
--A.W. Tozer in The Knowledge of the Holy

I was reading this book this morning and found this to be a very interesting perspective on science. Science is actually evidence of God and His trustworthiness, yet it has become a stumbling to many on their way to knowledge of and a relationship with the Creator, Christ Jesus.

I pray that as I continue to study science and perhaps someday teach it to others that I will not be as concerned with "the footprints of God along the paths of creation, but with the One who treads those paths."

Snail Mail

PO Box 1588
Sand Springs, OK 74063

Beginning to feel at home...

If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I surrender my body to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing.
1 Cor 13:1-3

This is what I must remind myself as I go on each shift, serve each meal, hand out each med basket, check each chore, and even as I write this blog. If I do these things without love, what profit is there?

This week I have work an 8-hour shift each day--Monday-Saturday. I worked the 3-11 shift twice, the middle 1-9 shift twice, and the morning 7-3 shift twice. The most difficult shift is DEFINITELY the early morning one. I almost did not make it there on time this morning. I am pretty sure that God woke me up because my alarm went off at 6:15a and somehow I fell back asleep and then heard a knock or something at 7:03 and decided I should HURRY. I changed and made it to the office by 7:05 and no one was the wiser :-) impressive huh?

My first week on the schedule has been tiring, especially for someone who has NEVER worked a REAL 8-hour job; however the Lord has given me the energy to get through each one...and I survived the entire week!

My favorite part of the daily routine is either dinner or med call. I like dinner because I enjoy eating (of course) BUT I also enjoy helping to prepare the meals and I like the interaction that we get with each of the ladies as they come through the line. Each meal is a creative challenge as one must take what is in the fridge and/or freezer and create a meal for 40 or meal in the time given. Yesterday that meant lots of left-overs, today tuna salad and other fruit salads along with sweet potatoes (a very interesting combo!). The cooks must also be mindful of food allergies and ensuring that the guests get the proper nutrients...it's a bit of a challenge!

I have dinner duty for real next week, so I am thinking of making taco soup, cornbread, and salads. Any other suggestions?

I also enjoy med call. This is the time when the ladies come to get their meds. They come to the med desk one at a time so this is a good chance for us to talk to them one-on-one. I also like to go sit with them while they are waiting on their turn at the med desk. They sit outside the room and are often cutting up with each other--it's lots of fun!

My least favorite part of the daily routine are the dead spots. I am sure that I will soon be grateful for these times, but not this week. I was shadowing this week, so I just had to watch most of the time. That meant if the house staff I was following was charting or answering the phone, I was just sitting there...twiddling my thumbs. I was supposed to be taking notes and such, but? Next week, I will be able to chart and answer the phone and the door and so perhaps there will be less dead time.

I am getting to know the guests more and I feel that they are beginning to open up to all of us summer girls. Many of them come to us with questions about the Bible and God has given me the opportunity to share with one guests about something that I was learning in my own Bible study that could perhaps provide some encouragement to her. Mostly, I believe that God is teaching me to truly love these women and that through that love I can earn their respect the opportunity to share with them more.

Love is a choice, a decision, and even a discipline at times. There is only one source of LOVE. Pray that God will pour His love onto these ladies, and that I may be a vessel.

Thank you so much for your prayers thus far. There have been times of sorrow, as guests have departed or disappointed but also times of sweet smiles as guests have shown great gratitude, worked hard on goals, or demonstrated a peeked interest in the Word of God. Please continue to pray for myself and all the staff this week as many of the staff are traveling leaving the team a few players short and struggling to cover all the bases!

Shelter Life

Let all that you do be done in love. 1 Cor 16:14

What it is like living at DaySpring Villa you may ask? Well, after one full week here, I can tell you just a bit! However, no matter how long I stay here, I will never be able to feel what these women feel as they walk the halls of DaySpring, eat the yummy food (well, the food that is sometimes yummy), do their chores, or sleep in safety.

DaySpring Villa is a 3,000 sq ft facility with three wings. The East Wing contains various rooms such as the donations room, conference room, Curves room (which I have been frequenting often), and a few offices. The Guest Wing is of course where the guests stay. There are single rooms, dorm-like rooms with 4 guests, and family rooms that house 2 families each. The bathroom is communal and there is also a Rec Room, a Parlor, and a small kitchenette on this hall. The Staff Wing is where the live-in staff stay, including myself and the other summer missionaries. Currently 8 staff live on this hall.

My roommate Danielle and I share a room with two twin beds, two dressers, a closet and a very powerful ceiling fan that we don't know how to turn off (it's always FREEZING in here!). I am not sure that we brought enough socks :-) We share a bathroom with the other summer missionary, Emily.


Our room

All of the meals are eaten in the dining room. Breakfast is a fend-for-yourself kind of meal with a wide variety of cereals, breads, and sometimes fruit and boiled eggs. Lunch and dinner are prepared AND served by either staff or volunteers. We will go to get our food handlers permit on Tuesday so that we too can begin preparing meals, although we are already learning our way around the kitchen.

The food is SO much better than I could have anticipated. Let me tell you of just a few of the meals that we had this week.
Thursday: Battered chicken with gravy, mashed potatoes, green beans, corn, homemade biscuits, cake, and salad
Friday: Baked potatoes, spinach salad, sandwiches, fruit



Have to keep Molly away from the sweets!

Panera brings us a delivery each week, so for breakfast we can have Panera bagels or Cinnamon Raisin bread. This morning at breakfast I asked one of the guests how she was doing..."GREAT!" She answered, "I have been craving one of these cheesy bagels from Panera and I come to a shelter and they have them...crazy!" I just smiled. How good is God that we are able to provide something so good for these women who so deserve it?

This past week we worked on training: watching various domestic violence videos, going over the staff manual, reading charts, etc. This week we will begin shadowing staff and then actually begin working as House Staff the following week (or perhaps two weeks of shadowing?). This week I am on the schedule to shadow 3-11 pm on Monday and Tuesday, 1-9 pm on Wednesday and Thursday, and 7am-3pm on Friday and Saturday.

After this week, I will be able to explain much more about what it is like to work as house staff. Currently I know that it means either preparing meals or making sure that they are prepared, answering the phone that is constantly ringing, performing intakes for new guests, doing med calls, answering the door, taking donations, signing in and out cell phones and valuables...the list goes on and on :-)

I will include some pictures that perhaps will help you to better understand what goes on around here.


This is the "shop" where the women come to do a little Saturday shopping. If they have worked on their goals and completed their chores, they are allowed to shop for 20 minutes on Saturday evenings and select up to three complete outfits.

Please continue to pray for myself and the staff. The Villa is currently under-staffed and many of the staff, especially those who live here are finding themselves over-worked and a little burnt out....Summer GIRLS to the rescue!

I have been so encouraged by the Word this week and would like to share with you just a few of the verses that have been lifting me up.

Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord.
1 Cor 15:58 (from a former summer girl)

And He said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness." Most gladly therefore I will rather boast about my weaknesses that the power of Christ may dwell in me.
2 Cor 12:9