what you've come to expect

For those of you who still keep up with my blog you have come to expect this short of thing. You expect me to blog "every-so-often", which is open to interpretation, mainly my interpretation, as to how often that really is. I don't set a date anymore or a time that I absolutely must blog, but rather I let the blogs come to me, I don't come to the blogs.

For those of you who don't keep up with my blog anymore......I can't blame you. I can understand and relate with those of you who check multiple blogs a day or a week expecting to read what they have to share and when you find nothing on the blog, day after day after day, you quit checking. But hopefully, somehow, whether you have subscribed to my blog and you get an email reporting that I finally wrote something or you just get that inner blog-feeling that lets you know that one of your blogging buddies blogged, I hope you find what I have to share worth your time.

It should go without saying, but, as always, a lot has happened since the last time I blogged. Amongst other things, here are a few events/happenings that have occurred recently with our youth......gone to the dollar theatre, been invited to see a "sneak-preview" of the upcoming movie, "Miss HIV", had a "slip-n-slide Bible study" (as Ron likes to call it), gone to Bricktown to eat at Earls BBQ, watched several movies at Rock Island, gone to Camp Shiloh, as well as, eaten thousands of calories worth of pizza, tacos and other nutritious foods. All of these events/happenings are things we enjoy doing as a group. These kids enjoy them for the same reasons that other people would enjoy doing them for. They are fun, they entertain, they build memories and times that we can talk about later. This is what we want for them. We want the kids in this area, in this neighborhood, the kids that we can reach to have an opportunity to do things and experience things they might not be given a chance to do if we weren't the ones giving them that opportunity. Most, if not all, of the things we have done this summer with and for our kids at Rock Island are things and experiences that we, Ron, Chandy, myself, Larita and Arlesha have tried to organize and make available to our kids because we believe we have been called to do so. A lot of the things we do with these kids...they aren't familiar with...they are new to...they have never experienced before...they don't know.

On the flip side of fun/positive things we have done this summer, things we have experienced, happenings that have occurred with our kids, here is a list of not so great things. This list goes like this...had some of our not so familar youth break in to Rock Island, been in the middle of a evening hangout meanwhile a prostitute stands on the corner of our lawn working the streets, witnessed two grown men confront each other in the middle of the street one with a tree branch and the other with a steel pipe as they screamed back and forth at each other, just hoping they wouldn't go to blows as they were threatening to do, had video games stolen, been lied to, had girls not want to come hangouts or Bible studies anymore because certain other girls were present, had drugs brought into Rock Island, had kids not come anymore because we told them they had to pass a drug test if they wanted to come in anymore, had parents come to Rock Island to discuss the most unheard of family issues, ect.

After reading over the list of things I just wrote and trying to imagine what I would be thinking if I were a person reading this I think it sounds like I am hating my job or complaining. Which I'm not. But I decided not to alter my list to make it sound any better, because it is what it is. And just for the record, I love my job. My desire when listing these "negative" things that have happened recently was to give some insight as to what these kids experience, do, are around and witness on a day to day basis.....even while we are there. I can't imagine (sometimes I really wish I couldn't) the things our kids have seen in theiri lifetime, but I have a pretty good idea based on some previous talks with individual kids

Again, after reading over my blog I was thinking I might list the "negative experiences" first and the "positive happenings" second, so I could end my blog on a happy, fuzzy feeling, but I decided against it. My desire isn't to make you feel good or bad after reading this specific blog. Really I just wanted this to be more of an informative blog to let you know what is and has been going on recently, which I think I did. The only difference is this time I decided to give you the good and the bad, because they are both present.

Another update I want to give you has to do with the spiritual or Biblical interest that a few of our kids have been showing recently. I believe Chandy and Ron both mentioned it in their recent blogs, but in case you didn't read, we have had a couple instances when individuals have come to us asking, seeking, questioning God and what He is all about. That's pretty awesome. Recently one of the girls came forward and was seeking some guidance relating to spiritual matters so Ron and Chandy did what they could to give her advice, as well as, pray with and for her. Also, during our first, "unofficial/official", Bible study we started our reading about the birth of Christ, which lead to several questions. Some pretty basic questions, along with several questions that Ron, Larita and I initially responded with, "Wow, that's a really good question". Meanwhile I was thinking to myself, "Wow, that's a really good question and I hope that Ron or Larita can answer it because I sure as heck can't". And, they couldn't either, so we just left the kids hanging and told them to go home.....just kidding. Between the three of us, along with some Holy Spirit guidance, we were able to answer all their questions and left them with a little anticipation of next weeks study of the "teenage life of Christ".

That's all for now. I don't want to tell you everything about the Bible study. I will leave myself something to write about in the not so distant future....which could be, 3-4 days or 3-4 weeks/months.