Monday, June 20, 2011

Celebration & Settling In

July 5, 2011

Today is a day to celebrate because my second nephew, Calvin James, has entered the world. I am waiting for his older brother to wake up so that we can go in and see the new baby. Jack has been lots of fun to hang out with over the last few months that I have been back in Lancaster. Whether it is pushing him in a stroller for 3 miles while I jogged up in the mountains, splashing each other with water, watering the garden, or just receiving hugs, I love being a part of his life. It is nice to be an aunt who is close by.

In other areas of life, I have been settling in to more of a routine here in Lancaster. I am enjoying life in the city and the 1.2 mile walk to and from work most days. This week I actually have off because Mom's House closes twice over the summer months so I guess I will have to look for some other exercise on the days when I do not play basketball (of course hanging out with Jack might suffice depending what we do). I have been at Mom's House for one month now and for the most part things have gone well. I have begun to do interviews with potential parents to help fill some of the open positions in the children's rooms. The other week I was able to do an interview in Spanish which was quite fun. I hope to use Spanish on a more regular basis at work. I still have lots of orientation videos to watch and files to go through but little by little I am finding my way through the various facets of my job. Next week I begin a Food Safety Course to give me more preparation for being in charge of the kitchen.

I have continued to meet the moms who are in the program and try to begin getting to know them. I have been impressed with the dedication of many and the desire they have to move forward. Sometimes I have a pre-conceived idea of who they are or where they have come from but justlast week the Lord reminded me that I cannot judge. I do not know the stories and even if and when I do, God is the judge and I am not. I am called to love the people who I come in contact with and point them to Jesus. More often than not, my pre-conceived ideas are wrong and the stories that I encounter hold pain and tears. Thankfully God is in the business of mending hearts and lives!

Another Reason to Be Thankful

June 18, 2011

While driving here in the mountains with my family, I was reminded of a sight from a week or two ago in Lancaster. I was sitting at a stop light by Lancaster Shopping Center and I noticed the two people in the car behind me communicating with each other through sign language. I pondered the situation because I realized that once they started driving again, it would be very hard to communicate. The driver would not have her hands free to sign nor could she always be looking over at her passenger’s signs. I suddenly realized how blessed I am to be able to both speak and hear, thereby making conversation possible while driving. I take it for granted but really should not.

Friday, June 10, 2011

I Stand Corrected

June 10, 2011

I thought that I should correct a statement I made in the previous blog. I said that there are no current volunteers at Mom's House and that is not true. I have not met many but there are apparently a few that come fairly regularly. Today I was surprised to learn that two volunteers were at Mom's House looking for a job to do. Since there were only 2 children in, there was not a big lunch to prepare but thankfully the volunteers were willing to clean. I quickly realized that I need to familiarize myself with all of the jobs around Mom's House so that when someone shows up unexpectedly, I know what to tell them to do and where the needed supplies are. This morning was a juggling act because I was also helping one of the moms figure out her new cleaning job and trying to get some things done in the office. I have fifteen hours of training videos to watch too so I probably should start on them soon.

This evening I attended an International Fundraising meal for a friend who will be heading to the Czech Republic later this year. The wide array of ethnic foods was great but also the fellowship. I realized how important networking is as I shared with some others what I am doing. One girl works as a Prison Chaplin and so she daily encounters women who may need help moving ahead and even getting back to school. We live in a small world but a world that can be made even smaller as we work together with others to share the love of Christ and proclaim His as Lord.

Wednesday, June 08, 2011

New Beginnings

June 8, 2011

Life has a way of ticking by and my blog entries go unwritten. I have decided that tonight I will write though because I promised that I would keep my blog up to date. One week ago today I began my job at Mom’s House of Lancaster. For those who do not know, Mom’s House is a pro-life ministry that provides free childcare for single parents who are still in school be that high school, college, nursing programs, or a vo-tech school. The motto is: “Choosing life should not mean choosing poverty.” I realized my first day there that I do have a lot to learn but thus far it has not been overwhelming. I am overseeing the daycare and staff, the volunteers (none at this point), the parents involvement (including their service hours and parent group), and the kitchen. One of my first tasks was to come up with the menu for June.

Because I have been going through files and trying to figure out the capacity of the daycare and how many more children we should bring on for the summer, I have not gotten to spend lots of time down with the children. There will be times when I fill in and cover one of the three rooms: Pre-K, Toddlers, or Infants. I did make it out to the play and garden area my first day on the job and rejoiced with the children in walking through the sprinkler. That was the same day that I covered down in the infant room for a few minutes and had time to read a book entitled, Snow. I loved the conclusion of the book which was, “I like snow!” The children helped their teachers and some volunteers plant a garden in one area of the little “yard”. I will be excited when we can harvest the fresh vegetables to serve to them for lunch.

On Friday when I met the Administrative Assistant she felt like she knew me from somewhere. We eventually figured out that I had led Mom’s House staff in teambuilding activities at Black Rock Retreat five and six years ago. It is a small world! There seems to be a great staff in place which is always a good thing for any organization. I know that I have a lot to learn from each one of them. As September approaches I will be preparing for the parent groups with all of the parents of Mom’s House. Every Tuesday we will meet for an hour and I will bring in resource people as well as lead at times the group time. Little by little I have been meeting some of the parents but many are on break over the summer so their children are not back in until August.

Last weekend I moved into the city with Kendra and so I am getting use to that. I still have not heard Spanish outside on the street in front of my window which has been disappointing. On Tuesday I walked the mile to work and I plan to try to do that regularly. Tomorrow might be a little miserable come afternoon if it is as sweltering as today but since it is street cleaning day on Queen St. where Mom’s House is, parking is hard to come by without walking anyway. I notice much more when I am walking such as places to rent, a Spanish Christian bookstore, and tucked in gardens. My goal is to walk as much as possible and leave my car sitting.

I am very thankful for both my job and current place to live. They are both a blessing. I know the housing is just for a season but it will be a good season.

On The Receiving End

May 26, 2011

Yesterday I had a blog post brewing in my head but till I got home to record it, it was too late to do anything. The day was a very good day with quite a few unexpected joys. These past few weeks I have been visiting with different friends across the State and yesterday I ended up visiting my former neighbors at Black Rock Retreat who are now in a nursing home. I did much more listening than talking but it was a good time. On Tuesday I met with a friend, Kendra Denlinger to explore the option of renting from her for a few months there in Lancaster. After a good conversation, I decided to walk to the Lancaster County Library Book Sale which was happening on F & M College Campus, not too far away. I set out with only my purse. The sale ended up being on the other side of campus and further than I had expected. I arrived there and was delighted to find some books that I figured I would have to buy new or on Amazon. Since this was the half price on all books day, I felt like I had found a goldmine. The problem is that when it comes to books, I love to read and have them on hand or even have some to give away. And so when I left the sale I had a large box of books with me and a ¾ mile walk ahead of me. I ended up walking through the college campus so that I could stop frequently and put the box down. There is nothing comfortable about carrying a large box for a long distance.

When I finally left the campus and started down the sidewalk, a uniformed young man on a bicycle stopped to ask me if I needed a hand. I really hate accepting help, especially when it was my fault that I had the heavy box, but I decided that if he wanted to help, I would not say “no”. And so he left his bike and carried the box the next 5 blocks for me. Apparently there are neighborhood security patrols in that area of town who ride around looking for ways to help people out whether that be aiding a stranded motorist or a young woman who bought too many books for 50 cents. I was thankful for the help and returning to my car, I headed off to pick up some free furniture. A woman who use to live in the area and do foster care was getting rid of furniture and was glad to pass it on to me for my future home with foster children. I rounded up some help to go and pick it up and of course it took longer than I had planned. Just before returning my dad’s work van to his house, it stopped working in that it had no power steering and though it turned on, there was no power to move anywhere. I had to leave it at my brother-in-law’s apartments and of course the next day when my dad checked it out, it was fine. I am not sure why I frequently encounter such “problems” with cars.Overall it was a day of unexpected help which was a blessing.