Thursday, April 17, 2008
Alumni
Starting at the beginning of this year Caroline and I switched from working in our 60 day Emergency Care program to Residential Care. Now instead of only having a short time to impact the kids we work with... we have the same kids for a longer period of time. God had been putting it on our heart for a long time, and everything opened up so that we could go right when we felt it was time. Some goals that we really hope to bring to Alumni is to teach our boys how to be strong men that are unified. Alumni hasn't had the best reputation and it is our hope that we can change that by giving them team focus and by building up their esteem. We also feel it is important to instill in our young men the importance of being strong leaders and encourage the warrior spirit in them. Many of our boys have really come a long ways in the short time we have worked there... and some seem to stay on the outside still, however we love them all and trust that God is planting seeds in their hearts and working through us to give them what He would have accomplished. Please pray for our boys as we all enter this journey together...
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Shipping Up To Boston
Okay okay... first of all yes once again it has been a long time since I posted. Much has happened and changed in the meantime and I am going to try and get into this again. So let me start getting back into the swing of things by updating everyone to what is going on with me as of late...
This morning Caroline and I just got back from a trip to Rhode Island. "What in the world was we doing in Rhode Island?" you ask... well actually I never thought I would be there myself. Our friends Dan and Molly that we worked with in Thomasville, left Baptist Children's Home and moved up there to be closer to their family. Last week on Thursday night they gave us a call and said that they had two extra tickets to the Redsox vs. Yankees game on Saturday, and they really wanted us to come. With only about two hundred dollars left to last us for the whole month and bills to pay we seriously did not think it was possible, but Dan and Molly were gracious enough to not just take us to the game, but to pay for our hotel room the entire time, food and our gas. Talk about an awesome blessing! So basically we packed up everything within an hour and set out for New England at 9:30 pm on Thursday night. We arrived the next morning driving straight through at around 10:30 am.
Although the drive up there was very tiring, there were several things that made it very exciting. The first thing is of course the excitement of getting to see our friends. Secondly I had never went up the eastern seaboard, as I am from Michigan... so as we headed northeast up I - 95, we went through Washington D.C. As we were approaching the big city, there was this express lane off to the left for cars only. I was intrigued to say the least and after missing a couple of lane changes to get into it, finally I made it over. Yes! It was awesome, until at some point I realized we were not on I-95 anymore. We somehow had gotten on I-295, which led us to a dead end forced exit onto Pennsylvania Avenue... the street that the White House is on. Well I didn't actually go down it to see the White House, but I did get to see the Washington monument and the Lincoln Memorial in the distance thanks to our detour. I am thankful for our mix up, because as it turns out, regular I-95 doesn't get that close which means I never would have seen it otherwise.
Seeing several other large cities also was a very cool experience. Like Richmond VA, Philladelphia PA, Trenton NJ, and a couple of others. The best of them all was New York City however! Seeing the city in the movies is entirely different. During our trip up we passed it during the morning hours, and I have to admit seeing it off to the right in the distance... it didn't look as big as I thought it would. I wasn't as impressed as I thought I would be until we drove over the George Washington Bridge and went through part of it. The traffic of NYC will certainly keep you alert if you are feeling tired! On the way back home, we passed through NYC around 11 pm however and the entire city was lit up, giving depth and life to what seemed like a small city from the distance. It was on the way home that I was truly able to appreciate it's massive size, having not went "through" it and seeing it as an outsider.
While we were in Rhode Island, our hosts spent two days giving us a guided tour through where they grew up, and to the highlights of the area's around them. We went to the "Witch" city Salem and ate at a breakfast place named "Reds" that was awesome... and which also was located on a cobblestone street. Standing on one end of the street looking down the cobblestone road, seeing shops on both sides and a few people walking along was one of my favorite sights of the trip. I can't explain it, but I just got the picture of standing in an old timey village of long ago and it was beautiful.
We also went to Gloucester, MA... the city made most famous from the movie "The Perfect Storm" about the hard life of fishermen, and met a real fisherman from the city that has known several people from there that have died at sea.
Along our adventures we stopped and saw two large castles... "Castle on the Hill" in Ipswitch, MA and "Hammonds Castle" in MA as well. Beautiful to say the least. But I still would like to know, what was up with the big cow engraved into the wall of the Hammond castle lol. By the way "Ipswitch" is a well known city as well but the recent movie "The Covenant" was filmed there. That area is all well known for it's historical witch community. There was a shop called Angelica of the Angels, a psychic in Salem, and I really wanted to ask Angelica several questions about her experiences in heaven and such... but alas we didn't have a "divine" appointment lol.
The biggest and best experience of our trip however was none other than going to Boston. We visited several famous places, I seen real genuine street performers for the first time ever, rode my first subway, and of course got to watch the Redsox STOMP the Yankees! Getting to see the game was awesome, but it was even better after we stuck out a two hour rain delay in which most people left expecting the game to be called and end. However it didn't, and we was able to watch the last two innings from right behind home plate! Thousand dollar season ticket holder seats were ours for the taking ... muwahahahah! We were so close Caroline could almost reach out and touch her player Jason Verithigh... err Veritek. She loves that man's thighs... lol. Getting to see my favorite player Jonathan Papelbon's "death stare" as he pitched from that close was the coolest thing ever! It was by far the highlight of the whole trip, and was too good to put into words. It was also cool to get to hear "Sweet Caroline" as the whole crowd sang it, along with "Dirty Water" and "Tessi" after sealing the win.
Other highlights were getting to go on a cliff walk and look at several mansions along the coast, seeing Bill Gate's mansion, eating a whole boiled lobster for the first time... which was an experience all in itself, especially for Caroline more than anyone else... eating real New England clam chowder, and an All American style pizza that is very similar to a "Big Mac" on a pizza crust and many many more things. To say the least... we were blessed beyond words! It was a very much needed breath of fresh air, especially after some bad news with Caroline's eyes and a new medicine treatment she is on that leaves her feeling rough. Thank you so much Dan and Molly... you have no idea how much this trip meant to us. We love you...
So if anyone is looking for a totally new "fresh" experience... let me reccomend a trip to Boston, and if you need some really good tour guides, we know two people that will give you a time that you will never forget :)
Rich
This morning Caroline and I just got back from a trip to Rhode Island. "What in the world was we doing in Rhode Island?" you ask... well actually I never thought I would be there myself. Our friends Dan and Molly that we worked with in Thomasville, left Baptist Children's Home and moved up there to be closer to their family. Last week on Thursday night they gave us a call and said that they had two extra tickets to the Redsox vs. Yankees game on Saturday, and they really wanted us to come. With only about two hundred dollars left to last us for the whole month and bills to pay we seriously did not think it was possible, but Dan and Molly were gracious enough to not just take us to the game, but to pay for our hotel room the entire time, food and our gas. Talk about an awesome blessing! So basically we packed up everything within an hour and set out for New England at 9:30 pm on Thursday night. We arrived the next morning driving straight through at around 10:30 am.
Although the drive up there was very tiring, there were several things that made it very exciting. The first thing is of course the excitement of getting to see our friends. Secondly I had never went up the eastern seaboard, as I am from Michigan... so as we headed northeast up I - 95, we went through Washington D.C. As we were approaching the big city, there was this express lane off to the left for cars only. I was intrigued to say the least and after missing a couple of lane changes to get into it, finally I made it over. Yes! It was awesome, until at some point I realized we were not on I-95 anymore. We somehow had gotten on I-295, which led us to a dead end forced exit onto Pennsylvania Avenue... the street that the White House is on. Well I didn't actually go down it to see the White House, but I did get to see the Washington monument and the Lincoln Memorial in the distance thanks to our detour. I am thankful for our mix up, because as it turns out, regular I-95 doesn't get that close which means I never would have seen it otherwise.
Seeing several other large cities also was a very cool experience. Like Richmond VA, Philladelphia PA, Trenton NJ, and a couple of others. The best of them all was New York City however! Seeing the city in the movies is entirely different. During our trip up we passed it during the morning hours, and I have to admit seeing it off to the right in the distance... it didn't look as big as I thought it would. I wasn't as impressed as I thought I would be until we drove over the George Washington Bridge and went through part of it. The traffic of NYC will certainly keep you alert if you are feeling tired! On the way back home, we passed through NYC around 11 pm however and the entire city was lit up, giving depth and life to what seemed like a small city from the distance. It was on the way home that I was truly able to appreciate it's massive size, having not went "through" it and seeing it as an outsider.
While we were in Rhode Island, our hosts spent two days giving us a guided tour through where they grew up, and to the highlights of the area's around them. We went to the "Witch" city Salem and ate at a breakfast place named "Reds" that was awesome... and which also was located on a cobblestone street. Standing on one end of the street looking down the cobblestone road, seeing shops on both sides and a few people walking along was one of my favorite sights of the trip. I can't explain it, but I just got the picture of standing in an old timey village of long ago and it was beautiful.
We also went to Gloucester, MA... the city made most famous from the movie "The Perfect Storm" about the hard life of fishermen, and met a real fisherman from the city that has known several people from there that have died at sea.
Along our adventures we stopped and saw two large castles... "Castle on the Hill" in Ipswitch, MA and "Hammonds Castle" in MA as well. Beautiful to say the least. But I still would like to know, what was up with the big cow engraved into the wall of the Hammond castle lol. By the way "Ipswitch" is a well known city as well but the recent movie "The Covenant" was filmed there. That area is all well known for it's historical witch community. There was a shop called Angelica of the Angels, a psychic in Salem, and I really wanted to ask Angelica several questions about her experiences in heaven and such... but alas we didn't have a "divine" appointment lol.
The biggest and best experience of our trip however was none other than going to Boston. We visited several famous places, I seen real genuine street performers for the first time ever, rode my first subway, and of course got to watch the Redsox STOMP the Yankees! Getting to see the game was awesome, but it was even better after we stuck out a two hour rain delay in which most people left expecting the game to be called and end. However it didn't, and we was able to watch the last two innings from right behind home plate! Thousand dollar season ticket holder seats were ours for the taking ... muwahahahah! We were so close Caroline could almost reach out and touch her player Jason Verithigh... err Veritek. She loves that man's thighs... lol. Getting to see my favorite player Jonathan Papelbon's "death stare" as he pitched from that close was the coolest thing ever! It was by far the highlight of the whole trip, and was too good to put into words. It was also cool to get to hear "Sweet Caroline" as the whole crowd sang it, along with "Dirty Water" and "Tessi" after sealing the win.
Other highlights were getting to go on a cliff walk and look at several mansions along the coast, seeing Bill Gate's mansion, eating a whole boiled lobster for the first time... which was an experience all in itself, especially for Caroline more than anyone else... eating real New England clam chowder, and an All American style pizza that is very similar to a "Big Mac" on a pizza crust and many many more things. To say the least... we were blessed beyond words! It was a very much needed breath of fresh air, especially after some bad news with Caroline's eyes and a new medicine treatment she is on that leaves her feeling rough. Thank you so much Dan and Molly... you have no idea how much this trip meant to us. We love you...
So if anyone is looking for a totally new "fresh" experience... let me reccomend a trip to Boston, and if you need some really good tour guides, we know two people that will give you a time that you will never forget :)
Rich
Friday, September 14, 2007
Changes and Hard Work
Well again it has been awhile since I have posted. This has been due to several changes at work. Caroline and I were told that a boys residential cottage was closing and our friends Dan and Scott were moving to work in Emergency Care with us. Dan had already moved and had his whole bedroom set up when they changed things again. We now are in York Cottage, the residential cottage and I have spent two weeks moving heavy furniture and doing A LOT of work. York is now becoming boys emergency care, while Craver is closing for renovations and for who knows how long. This has been a challenge because for two weeks we have had residential and emergency care boys in a mixed cottage and it has led to many challenges. Everyone is stressed out, working hard to get this done expiditiously and it's just got me plain worn out. This morning I awoke to find that I can barely move. My back is hurting worse than I have ever felt before and I can barely get dressed... let alone do much. This is discouraging since I feel like there is so much to do and I don't want everyone to feel like I am the "weak link" not doing my share. Please pray for healing with my back and for the energy to keep going. I worked last week with Caroline, I'm working this week with Dan, and next week with Scott. Then I will work another week with Caroline again and we maybe doing two week on / two week off shifts by then. So basically I have the potential to be working 4 weeks straight or maybe five, and I am on week two. I have a long ways to go and NEED your prayers desperately.
I feel so out of touch with people when I am at work, because when I am at work I just cannot deal with the outside world much. Kids asking for something every five minutes, things constantly needing to get done and dealing with behaviors with kids just takes so much out of me, that I cannot really focus on things happening outside of work. I am discouraged that I wont be able to go to our new church because I will be at work, and I am really looking forward to being off so that I can go again.
Anyways, that is about all that is going on with me. I haven't even really had much chance to check my blog, myspace or whatever, which is why comments are not getting posted right away, but please leave them. When I finally get a chance to sit down, I enjoy knowing that you guys have been thinking of me and hearing what you have to say. I appreciate your wisdom John and Helen and look forward to hearing from you soon!
I feel so out of touch with people when I am at work, because when I am at work I just cannot deal with the outside world much. Kids asking for something every five minutes, things constantly needing to get done and dealing with behaviors with kids just takes so much out of me, that I cannot really focus on things happening outside of work. I am discouraged that I wont be able to go to our new church because I will be at work, and I am really looking forward to being off so that I can go again.
Anyways, that is about all that is going on with me. I haven't even really had much chance to check my blog, myspace or whatever, which is why comments are not getting posted right away, but please leave them. When I finally get a chance to sit down, I enjoy knowing that you guys have been thinking of me and hearing what you have to say. I appreciate your wisdom John and Helen and look forward to hearing from you soon!
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