Fall Fundraising Drive-Last Chance!

Just so you know, there are only a few days left to donate for our fall fundraising drive! Any money donated to By The Hand will be matched dollar for dollar through December 31. If you would like to donate, you can write a check made out to By The Hand Club for Kids and then put CG-Green Team on the memo line. You can also donate online on our website at www.bythehand.org. Just make sure you indicate "CG-Green Team" somewhere on the online form. Thanks so much for your prayer and support!

A long overdue update...

We have had a LOT going on the last couple weeks at By The Hand. I will be posting more updates and pictures later on, but I just wanted to update you in the meantime.

We had our Christmas Tree Giveaway event a few weeks ago, which was great. Families from all over the community picked up live Christmas trees that were donated, drank hot chocolate, and listened to our choir sing Christmas carols. After the Christmas Tree Giveaway, I found out that a mattress, box spring, and frame were being donated and we decided to give it to one of my families. The grandmother was so appreciative and gave me a huge hug after we set it up for her! (Now, if I didn't stick out in the community already, I stuck out even more carrying a bed frame up 6 flights of stairs in a high-rise apartment building. It's too bad I don't have pictures of that.)

We took our kids to "Christmas in the City". This was a blast! Yes, believe it or not, we take 125 inner-city kids downtown on the same day to shop, eat food, walk around, and experience Christmas in Chicago. Parents and volunteers joined us and we were able to split into smaller groups and take the kids around. Each child received a $25 Old Navy gift card and a $5 gift card. It was really fun helping my boys pick out some new outfits. It was also a blessing to see them give what was left on their McDonald's gift cards to a homeless woman on the street.

We had our Christmas Gathering on Thursday. This was the last day of programming before the Christmas break. We invited the kids' families to join us for a chapel service. We had the bucket drummers play, the choir sing, the praise dancers dance, and one of our staff, Franklin, present the truth about Christmas. It was a great night (despite frustrating technical difficulties).

Last night, we had our staff Christmas party. This was soooo much fun! We went to Maggianos and enjoyed some great Italian food. Then, we played some fun games (at one point, I actually got "accidentally" tackled in a musical chairs sort of game.) During another game, there was a tie between 3 staff members that ended in a dance-off. Not your typical office Christmas party...and believe it or not, we started out of Moody Church. :)

Anyway, it's been a very fun, very eventful few weeks. And, just to add to the excitement, I got engaged last weekend. :) Yay! Colson and I are very excited and are looking forward to our wedding on May 9, 2010. More importantly, however, we are looking forward to our marriage. :)

Please pray for our kids over the Christmas break! When they don't have the structure of school or our program, they can more easily get in trouble. Pray that they make the right decisions over break and draw closer to God, not turn from him.

God bless and Merry Christmas!

-Sarah

P.S. One last note, if you are still interested in donating toward our fall fundraising drive, please do so before December 31. You can mail checks or donate online. Please write CG-Green Team somewhere on the check or on the online form. Anything postmarked by December 31 will be matched dollar for dollar.

Today...

1. I walked from train to work in -12 degree temperatures.

2. The pipes burst in the kitchen at work.

3. Because the pipes burst, part of the gym (next to the kitchen) flooded

4. Because part of the gym flooded, dinner had to be moved to the other part of the gym

5. Because dinner had to be moved, things were not quite ready and dinner was not set up for the kids when they came down to eat.

6. Because dinner was not set up, the kids were stuck having to wait.

7. Having about 125 kids waiting in one place does not make for a good, orderly situation. Rather, 125 kids in one room with time to kill means disaster.

8. We finally made it through dinner.

9. One team leader had to stand with his 1st grade kid and hold him back from running around the building and terrorizing everyone.

10. Our director had to do an errand downtown last minute with the high school kids, so she had to leave in the midst of chaos.

11. A parent called me and asked me to walk her daughter home, since that girl's brother was not here today.

12. I walked her home in sub-zero temperatures.

13. I returned back to the gym and was immediately greeted by a crying 6 year old with puke on her face.

14. I cleaned up throw up.

15. I washed my hands...thoroughly.

16. The same kid listed under number 9 in this list refused to go home. He spent about 10 minutes kicking our front door.

17. Myself and our director began to walk to his apartment to get someone to get him, since last week we literally had to carry this kid up several flights of stairs to his apartment because he refused to go home.

18. He finally went home, or at least went inside his building.

19. I walked to the train in sub-zero temperatures.

20. I gained feeling back in my hands.

21. I talked to my boyfriend who loves Christ and loves me.

22. I went home to warm apartment with wonderful roommates.

23. I went out to dinner and was able to eat until I was more than full.

24. I will not freeze.

25. I have an awesome winter coat.

26. I have gloves.

27. I have hot apple cider to drink.

28. I realized that I enjoy going home. I do not go home kicking and screaming. Home is a place of rest and rejuvenation for me, not a place of dysfunction, abuse, and pain.

29. I work in a community that is desperately in need. But I get to go home every night to a life that is so different than those with whom I work. They don't get to just hop on a train and leave difficult circumstances.

30. I am very thankful that I get to walk to work in a warm coat. I am very blessed to be able to minister to a 6 year old girl by helping her clean herself up after throwing up. I am very thankful for my boyfriend, family, and friends, who love me and are a source of joy, comfort, and encouragement. I am very thankful that I can pay my gas and electric bills. I am very thankful I have Trader Joe's spiced cider to heat up. I love my job. I love my friends and family. I am very blessed.

All things considered, it was a great day today. Psalm 116:7 says, "Be at rest once more, O my soul, for the LORD has been good to you."

The LORD has indeed been good to me.

ABC Party

After every report card comes out, we have a party for all the kids who received all As, Bs, and Cs. We played games, did face painting, ate pizza, and had a great time celebrating good grades.

Face painting with Ms. Anna

Line dancing with Mr. George

Makiya and Dominique (Green team)

Daizhana and Daniel (Gold team-1st grade)

Garbage bag races

Reggie (from my team)

An update on my Q scrabble tile...

One of my kids I've nicknamed "Q" (the scrabble tile that's nearly impossible to use, but once you do, it's worth a lot!) just got all As, Bs, and Cs on his report card! I couldn't believe it! Thanks for praying!

The other student is still on the verge of being disenrolled. Please continue to pray for him.

"When I came to By The Hand and heard about Jesus...

...it was the best thing..."

-One of my boys said this to me today.

Some more info on "Christmas in the City"

Christmas In the City

On December 8^th-10^th we will be taking all our kids (a different site on each day – see below) downtown to Old Navy on State St, giving them a $25 gift card to shop as well as $5 for dinner at McDonald’s. This is a really unique experience for the kids, especially because everything is decorated for Christmas. The window displays at Macy’s are always a big hit! We are looking for people to donate gift cards for both Old Navy and McDonald’s.

Tuesday, December 8^th – Cabrini

Wednesday, December 9^th – Austin

Thursday, December 10^th – Altgeld and Englewood

CBK (to Water Tower)

If you would like to volunteer, please let me know! I definitely could use the help for this day! You need to be an approved volunteer to help out, but I can get you a volunteer application or you can apply on our website. If you don't want to volunteer weekly and only want to do special events like Christmas in the City, please just mark that on your application. Then you can just join us for events when it works in your schedule (ahem...siblings--can I get anyone any applications? :) )

This Week at By The Hand

There are only two days left until Thanksgiving! I can't believe it! Here are a few things to be praying about this week:

This Wednesday night: We provide an opportunity for the kids to symbolically nail their sins to the cross like Christ was nailed. Chapel will touch on holiness, closing our TORCH series (we've been doing a series called TORCH that stands for: Tell, Obey and Pray, Read the Bible, Church, Holy Life). In chapel, we will give the kids a minute to think of some things they have done that is not pleasing to God. Then during homework time they will write those things down on small pieces of paper. We will tell the kids not to put their names on the paper so no one knows who wrote it. But we will tell the kids that later on as we take the sins off the cross, we do read them so we can pray for them even though we don’t know who goes with what paper. These sins also gives us a better idea of what kinds of issues our kids are dealing with and what topics we can be teaching on the rest of the year using our other Bible study curriculum.

We will have a lesson about Christ, sin, and grace on Wednesday night. The kids will have an opportunity to nail their sins to the cross while we play part of the Jesus film.

This is definitely a powerful night, and a night that Satan has definitely attacked in the past. Please pray for this "Nail Your Sins to the Cross" lesson, which begins at 5:30pm on Wednesday night.

Recap from Boxes of Love: This past Saturday, some staff and volunteers delivered boxes of Thanksgiving food to families in our community. It went really really well, and I was really excited to have my brother, sister-in-law, their kids, my boyfriend, and a friend from church come and help out. They got to meet some of my kids and their families, which was really fun for me. There will be pictures coming soon!

Other prayer requests: Please just pray for this week with the kids (Tuesday and Wednesday). It's always crazy with the kids right before they go on a break for school. Satan also really attacks at times like this when we're going to do a lesson like the nail your sins to the cross lesson.

Also, please just be praying that I can get all my tasks done that I need to get done. We have quite a few things due by Wednesday, including write-ups on each of the students. I'm a bit overwhelmed by all that I have to do and I would really really appreciate your prayers.

As always, thanks for your prayer and support!

Love,

Sarah

Fall Fundraising Drive Update

Thanks so much to those of you who have generously donated to the Fall Fundraising Drive! Because of your generosity, the Green Team at Cabrini (my team) is in the lead for raising the most money! Our kids are working hard to earn money. For example, an anonymous donor said they will give $1 for every kid who finishes homework while at By The Hand. This can potentially add up to $2000! Students on my team can also earn 25 cents for every journal entry they write. Some students take the money that they have and may spend on the store or elsewhere and decide to donate it.

In case you don't know about the Fall Fundraising Drive, here's some info about it:

Vision:

To help kids in critical need have abundant and eternal life.

Goal:

Our goal for the Fall Fundraising Drive is two-fold: to teach our children about stewardship and God's faithfulness and to raise a total of $1,000,000 for By The Hand by the end of the year. Every dollar given will be matched by an anonymous, generous donor up to $500,000, bringing our total raised to $1 Million. The goal for the children's coin drive is to raise

$50,000 and each individual team goal is $2,000.

What is the Fall Fundraising Drive?

The Fall Fundraising Drive is a collective effort of our kids, staff, volunteers and donors to raise a total of $1 Million in scholarship money for our children to attend By The Hand. Every $1 given will be matched.

When does the Fall Fundraising Drive begin and end?

The Fall Fundraising Drive was launched at Take a Child By The Hand on Saturday, Sept. 19.

The drive runs for fourteen weeks, ending on December 31.

Where will the Coin Drive be held?

Each team has a jug to collect donations. Teams can be creative in placing jugs at local businesses (Starbucks, Chiropractor, etc.), dorm room floors, Sunday Schools, volunteer's homes, etc. Donations can also be made through check or cash. Just designate which team the money should go towards (my team: CG-Green Team).

Will there be a team competition?

Yes, five team competitions will be held: By The Hand C-G, A-G, AU, EW and
CBK. The team which raises the most money in each competition will win a field trip to the movies. We will report team standings every week in Chapel.

How will we teach our kids about stewardship and monitor our progress?

In chapel, Meg will give several lessons on why God calls us to be good stewards. Team leaders will discuss these teachings with their kids.

Every week each team's standings will be displayed. To encourage the kids, the team which raises the most money (every other week) will receive a small prize. When we reach our final goal of $50,000, we will have a party to celebrate the success (most likely in January).

Culture Elective

Every Tuesday and Thursday, I teach a culture elective for a few of the kids at By The Hand. We learn about different people and places around the world. A couple weeks ago, we had my friend Emily from Wheaton, who also now volunteers at By The Hand, teach an elective on Zambia. She taught elementary school in Zambia for several months last year.

Here are a few pictures of the kids wearing Zambian clothes and learning a Zambian dance:

Update

A few people have asked for updates on one kid on my team, J. He was suspended last week, and technically after the fourth suspension, he is supposed to be disenrolled from the program. My boss and I discussed the issue and decided that he will not be disenrolled. Other kids who have been disenrolled after four suspensions have demonstrated that they are a danger to the other kids and their involvement in the program is detrimental to the other students. We felt like this particular student is not a danger and he desperately needs to be in the program.

Please continue to pray for him, for his mom, and for my boss and I as we try to understand how to help him best. Also, pray for the high school student I have assigned to work one on one with J. Pray that this older male student can be a good influence academically and spiritually.

As always, thanks for your prayers and support!

Hallelujah Fall Festival

On Friday, Park Community Church put on a Hallelujah Fall Festival for the Cabrini By The Hand kids. It went really well and the kids had a blast! It was great to hang out with the kids outside of regular programming. And I won a huge jar of gummy bears because I guessed how many were in the jar! :)

George, first grade (Gold) team leader, working with Ladayza

More group games

Iris--Purple team

More group games

Sack races! (Far left--Gregory and Edward from my team)

Edwin (L) and Jumar (R) from my team doing a football toss game

Cedrick (from my team) bobbing for apples

Bobbing for apples

Dominique after bobbing for apples (she's on my team)

Hunting for candy in the hay

Magic show

Jariel--First grade (Gold) team

Prayer Requests for this week

So things have been getting better, little by little. Sometimes I feel like our class takes 1 step forward and two steps back. Last week on Wednesday, our class had a much better Bible study than we've had in the past. However, when the kids were cleaning up after Bible study and getting ready to go to dinner, two boys got in a fight. It was very frustrating, especially because we talked about fighting during Bible study.

Please pray for Bible study this week. Pray that I will speak the words God wants me to speak. Pray that the kids get excited about learning about God. Also, please pray that the kids are able to focus and listen during this time. Every Wednesday night at 5:30, the devil seems to attack. It's usually the most difficult hour of our programming time.

Please pray for one of m kids, J. He's suspended (again) from By The Hand for fighting. My boss and I actually need to talk about whether or not we're going to allow him to continue, because according to our regular procedures, he should be disenrolled after 4 suspensions (and this was his 4th). However, we really really do not want to disenroll him so we're just trying to understand what would be best to do, especially considering he has been doing a little better in the past few weeks, despite the most recent fight.

Please pray for the Hallelujah Fall Festival this Friday at Park Community Church. The church is hosting a big day of games and stuff for the kids. Pray that that goes well, the kids have fun, behavior is good, and the kids experience God's love more.

On a personal note, pray that I can keep on top of all the tasks I need to do for work. Pray that I am able to meet with some teachers this week to discuss a few kids. I have been talking to teachers a lot through email and some on the phone, but I really need to spend more time talking in person and being in the classroom during the school day. Pray that I'm able to do that in the next couple weeks

I think that God is helping me have some endurance and strength. I'm not quite as exhausted at the end of the day as I used to be, which is great. However, I'm still a bit drained. Sometimes I just find it difficult to spend as much time in prayer and Scripture as I need to because there are so many tasks to accomplish. Pray that I will spend more time in prayer and Scripture, and also pray that I will have the energy to work hard and not be lazy in any of my tasks. Now that we're in the routine of things, I don't want to slack off at all. I want to work hard and do the best that I can; pray that I don't get too comfortable to where I become complacent.

As always, thanks for your prayers!

Prayer for By The Hand Kids

Aelred of Rievaulx, 12^th century:

"Teach my your servant, therefore, Lord, teach me, I pray you, by your Holy Spirit, how to devote myself to them and how to spend myself on their behalf. Give me, by your unutterable grace, the power to bear with their shortcomings patiently, to share their griefs in loving sympathy, and to afford them help according to their needs. Taught by your Spirit may I learn to comfort the sorrowful, confirm the weak and raise the fallen; to be myself one with them in their weakness, one with them when they burn at causes of offence, one in all things with them, all things to all of them, that I may gain them all. Give me the power to speak the truth straightforwardly, and yet acceptably; so that they all may be built up in faith and hope and love, in chastity and lowliness, in patience and obedience, in spiritual fervor and submissiveness of mind. And, since you have appointed this blind guide to lead them, this untaught (woman) to teach, this ignorant one to rule them, for their sakes, O Lord, if not for mine, teach (her) whom you have made to be their teacher; lead (her) whom you have bidden to lead them, rule (her) who is their ruler. Teach me, therefore, sweet Lord, how to restrain the restless, comfort the discouraged, and support the weak. Teach me to suit myself to everyone according to his power of understanding or his lack of it, as time and place require, in each case, as you would have me to do."

Taken from Modern Psychopathologies, p. 36-37

Another week at By The Hand

I apologize for not writing for a few weeks. Things have been pretty busy lately. However, you'll be happy to know that this week went pretty well. I think that the kids are starting to get the hang of how I do things. I'm gaining their respect (at least most of them) which is great. We've even been able to do a few games and fun activities, which we haven't been able to do because of behavior problems.

I think that I'm also simply getting used to the kids and I'm able to be much more calm in frustrating situations (I'm not great at it yet, but I'm getting there). Yesterday, for example, quite a few of my kids were not listening when we were supposed to line up. With God's help, I was able to deal with the situation calmly, without causing further frustration for myself and the kids.

On a different note, school progress reports came out this week. We got a chance to see the kids' grades before the actual report cards come out. There are only a few weeks until report cards, and at least half of my kids have at least one F (mostly in Reading). Several kids have 2-3 Fs and/or other Ds. Please pray that these kids can bring these grades up before report cards come out in a couple weeks. Pray that I'll know how to best help them in the program. It was a bit discouraging to see quite a few of the kids I thought were doing well actually having Fs on their progress report.

On the upside, a number of kids I thought were doing very poorly were actually getting all As, Bs, and Cs!

Thanks again for your prayers and support. Here are a few upcoming events for which you can be praying.

Tonight, Oct. 16—Junior high party

Saturday, Oct .17—Pumpkin carving day at Park Community Church put on by the volunteers of my class and the 1^st grade class

Friday, Oct. 30—Hallelujah Carnival at Park Community Church for all of the Cabrini-Green By The Hand kids.

Please pray that we are able to build deeper relationships for the kids. Pray for logistics and safety, and pray that at these events, we will be able to share God's love with these kids.

Bears Game with By The Hand Kids!

One of the Bears players, Adewale Ogunleye (defensive end), donated 29 season ticket seats to our organization. We split up the games between all the sites, so yesterday, kids from Cabrini went. We took the kids to McDonalds beforehand and then took a bus to the game. It was so much fun! One of Lions players even gave one of our kids a football.

The three kids from my class that went: Janiece, Gregory, and Bettiejimae

U2 Concert

Back in September, Colson and I went to a U2 concert. We had general admission seats, which meant we got great seats (20 ft. from Bono) but we also had to stand in line, and then stand at the concert (totaling about 7 hours of standing).

Another Day

I'm not going to write much because I really want to get home earlier for a change. J Today went okay. On a scale of 1 to 10 it was about a 6.5. One boy who was suspended last week for two days was the best kid in my class the entire day. I was really excited because I know he's a good kid. I just think he was maybe trying to show off to others a bit.

It was a bit frustrating during homework time today…I felt a bit unorganized and so many of the kids were struggling to pay attention, sit quietly, and work. Please pray that homework time tomorrow goes better. They're supposed to have 30 minutes of quiet work time and it's just not happening.

Thanks so much for your prayers. Considering I've had days that were a 1 or a 2 on a scale of 1 to 10, today was pretty good.

Sunday we go to the BEARS game with our kids! I'm really excited because this will give me the chance to hang out in a more fun environment with three of my kids.

Thursday

So praise the LORD! Thursday was the best day I've had in my class so far. For some reason, the kids were listening and behavior was not as much of an issue. I felt like I was able to actually have a little fun in my class, which was great. One of my kids even said, "This is how every day should be!" I'm glad that they got a glimpse of the fact that I'm not actually a crazy mean lady. :) Thanks so much for your prayers. Thursday was a huge encouragement, especially because now I know for sure that my kids are capable of doing well in my class.

More to come next week...please pray!

P.S. If my kids do well next week, I'm going to try to take some pictures in class so I can post those online. Also, October 4th, we're taking 20 kids to a Bears game. One of the Bears players donated 29 front row, end-zone season tickets to our organization. Pray that that is a great time with the kids!

My kids are like Scrabble tiles...

So here's a little analogy we came up with at work...

My kids are like Scrabble tiles. Right now, I feel like I'm looking at all the tiles and I can't do anything with them...so I just want to trade them all in and get new ones.

However, sometimes we actually can do something. We just need to rearrange the tiles to try to make it work...so I need to learn some new "vocabulary".

Sometimes, we're stuck with that Q or that Z. It's really frustrating because you end up holding those letters for the longest time, afraid you'll lose points. You just don't know what in the world you're supposed to do with the Q and the Z. But when you finally get that Q and the Z to fit in, you end up scoring a whole lot more points and maybe even winning the game with the Q and the Z.

I feel like I have a bunch of tiles and I just don't know how to make them work. I feel like I have a Q and a Z that I'm stuck with and I can't do anything with. Please pray that God teaches me how to make these "tiles" work. Pray that these two kids (Q and Z) will fit in and end up being very successful in this program.

I know it's a cheesy analogy, but it works. :)

And I do love my "tiles". I just can't figure out what to do with them.

EZine Newsletter

If you know anyone who would want to receive By The Hand's EZine Newletter (Email newletter) let me know. Immediate family and spouses, I've already signed you up for it. :) You can unsubsribe if you don't want to receive it. Because you love me and are related to me, you are stuck being on mailing lists for my job. :) Hehe. Sorry. :)

Fall Fundraising Drive

Dear Friends and Family,

Please join By The Hand and double the impact of your giving through our Fall Fundraising Drive. Any gifts made before December 31, 2009 will be matched dollar for dollar up to $500,000. Our goal is to raise $1 million in scholarship money so that our children can attend By The Hand Club this school year.

Even the children are getting involved in the Fall Fundraising Drive and are giving sacrificially through a coin drive. Terin, who is on the Yellow team in Austin, said “I like the jug because we raise money to do lots of fun things.” She’s right. Without the Fall Fundraising Coin Drive, we wouldn’t be able to do nearly the amount of fun things we are able to do with the kids.

Each By The Hand team has been given a goal to raise $2,000. That means we're asking our teams across all the sites to raise $50,000. It’s a big goal and can only be met when people like you come alongside our kids. Please consider sponsoring one of our teams at any of our four sites – Cabrini-Green, Altgeld-Gardens, Austin, or Englewood. With 726 children to serve this year, your support is greatly needed and appreciated.

By The Hand can only serve as many children as the generosity of others allows. That’s why I’m helping The Club raise scholarship money this year for its children to attend. It costs $5,700 for each child to attend By The Hand, but thanks to the generosity of a donor, money given between now and December 31 will be matched dollar-for-dollar up to $500,000. That means for every $2,850 given, a child can attend By The Hand for a full year.

Will you help us sponsor a team at By The Hand? Every gift, no matter how small or large, will make a difference. Just make your check payable to By The Hand and mail it to me at P.O. Box 10043, Chicago, IL 60610.

If it’s easier, you can give online by going to www.bythehand.org and click on giving. Please remember to put the team color and location that you want to give to in the notes section. If it doesn’t matter which team your gift goes to, please indicate it is for the Fall Fundraising Coin Drive. (My team is the Green Team at the Cabrini site).

Thank you for helping us touch lives and change worlds for eternity.

Sincerely,

Sarah Andersen-Green Team, Cabrini

P.S. For more information, you can contact Meg at 312-636-4904 or email her at meg.robinson@bythehand.org. You can also check out our website at bythehand.org.

By The Hand needs your help!

Today begins our fall fundraising drive! From now through the middle of December, all the sites will be aiming to raise $50,000. Each team has a huge jug in their classroom where kids, leaders, volunteers, etc. can put their coins. We also try to get churches, businesses, friends, and others involved in the process. Even though the goal is $50,000 for all four sites combined, our site (Cabrini) is aiming to raise $50,000 itself (the Austin site is setting the same goal). It is also a contest between teams, so whichever team at each site raises the most money, that team gets a prize. Sooooo, my team, the GREEN team, really really really wants to win! (I'm VERY competitive).

For those in the Chicago area, I can give you a coin jug thing to take to your places of work/houses. There is a note that explains what the money goes towards and how our fundraising drive works. For those who are not in the area, you are more than welcome to donate as well! We have emails, letters, fliers, etc. that explain everything. I will be posting this information and emailing it in the near future--I just don't have all the materials and details yet.

During this time, we also teach our kids about the importance of stewardship. Staff teach our kids the value of money according to the Bible and what it means to be a good steward of what God has given us.

Feel free to let me know if you want to get involved in creative ways--for example: You can say that you will donate $1 each day for every kid that does their homework on my team. You can do something like matching whatever the kids on my team are able to raise. You can say that for every day there are no suspensions, you will donate a certain amount of money (I have a lot of kids who get suspended, so this might be a huge incentive!) You can say that if the Green team raises more money than all the other sites, you will buy them a prize or put in even more money towards the fundraising. You get the point...I think it's really exciting that we're trying to get our kids involved. Since we're in a lower-income community, not all the kids have change to give, but all of them can help raise money by doing their homework, behaving, etc., so get creative!

Stay posted for more information on how to get involved!

Oh yeah, and if you're thinking a jug for coins is just too much of a hassle, feel free to simply use an envelope for checks instead. :) Hehe....

Go GREEN TEAM!

It can only get better from here...I hope...

So, today was rough in my class. It seemed like everyone in the class forgot all the procedures and rules that we learned last week. Everything went out the window. I had one kid walk in late (which he's not supposed to do--he just showed up himself) and then about 10 minutes later, him and another kid in my class got in a fight. They had each other in a head lock and were throwing punches at each other. I had no idea how strong fourth grade boys were. I had to attempt to pull them off of each other, and it was not going well. A high school guy who is helping out with the younger kids ran in my class and grabbed the one kid while I held the other kid. During this whole process, I somehow got bit a little on my hand and had teeth mark indentations from one of the kids.

After all of this, I had to leave the room with these two kids for a while, which didn't exactly help the rest of the kids stay on task.

I need divine help, that's for sure. Please pray for J. and J.--the two boys who got in a fight. Pray that they'll be able to focus and that they will not be so angry all the time.

Today was rough, so I'm hoping it can only get better from here.

Bears Game this Sunday at 4:15 ET

Be sure to watch the Bears game this Sunday at 4:15 ET (or at least watch the beginning). One of our kids from By The Hand (Englewood site) will be an honorary captain during the coin toss at the beginning.

Prayer requests for this week

A couple things to be praying for regarding this coming week at work:

Chapel: We're starting teaching the attributes of God. This week's lesson is "God is Sovereign". I'm teaching chapel on Wednesday. My coworker (George) and another coworker (Anna) teach Tuesday and Thursday, respectively. Please pray for the three of us as we are all new staff this year and this is our first time teaching the chapel lesson with these kids.

Bible Study: The kids have Bible study with their team leaders every Wednesday night. They are learning the Kids Evangelism Explosion curriculum right now, so this week's lesson is "Heaven". I'm a little concerned because Bible study this past week did not happen as planned, so I'm a little behind. Please pray that we're able to catch up and that the kids grasp the lesson. It seems that Satan wants to do everything possible to distract from Bible study.

Other: There is a fundraiser this coming Saturday; please pray for God's provision financially.

Also, pray for one kid in my class, K. He's the only one who's a little new to the program in my class, and I think he's having a little difficulty grasping all that's going on and how he's supposed to do things. Continue to pray for J. and his family, who I mentioned in a previous blog entry. There are some major family issues there. Hopefully I'll get to talk to his Mom this week and get an update.

Day 3

Thank you so much for your prayers. Today went SOOOOO much better (minus the fight at the end of the night (where a staff member had to tackle a kid) that led us to keep a bunch of kids late afterwards, suspend some kids from the program, etc.) So, not counting the end of the night, things went pretty well. The homework time in my class went so much better. I was more prepared for those kids who finished homework early. I was able to keep kids seated better. I had a great volunteer who was able to take a kid out in the hall and work with him for a while. He had been having trouble focusing on homework, but worked really well when he was away from the rest of the class. I talked to that same kid after he went into the hall and was able to encourage him a bit. I told him that he did a great job, but sometimes he just gets a little overexcited and has trouble focusing on work. He loves to be involved in the activities of the program, but has trouble doing things like raising his hand—he just gets too excited. Anyway, I told him he did a great job today but needed to work on staying focused and raising his hand. And he said, "Yeah, I know. Ms. Jen (his team leader last year) said that same thing." He had a great attitude about it and I'm really excited to working with him a bit more.

I had two girls who got in a little fight and are now suspended for the next day of kids club, but it was not a huge fight. Please just pray for them, especially S., who has a major attitude problem.

My elective class that I'm teaching, which is on world cultures, went okay. It was the first day, so I wasn't sure who was going to be in my group (kids pick which elective they want to go to, and then attend that elective for 6 weeks). Some of the kids had trouble listening today, but hopefully when I am able to make the class more interactive, they'll enjoy it much more.

Thanks again for your prayers. Please keep praying…especially for those kids who were in the fight today, as well as for my boss who had to deal with the kids in the fight.

Second Day

Today went a little better...I'm going to bed.

First Day with the Kids

Well, I'm still alive…with God's help and the help of much caffeine. Yesterday went relatively well--at least that's what the veteran staff said. I had the whole afternoon planned out and didn't really do any of what I planned. We were supposed to go over the rules and procedures yesterday, which I did a little bit. I was attempting to go over how the discipline procedure works, but I found myself having to give up teaching them how discipline works and just had to go ahead and discipline kids. I definitely learned I need to be a lot more firm with the kids, and I probably should have disciplined them a lot more.

We did have a few hitches in the logistics of the day (i.e. transitioning to dinner time, bathroom breaks, water breaks, etc.) but I think a lot of that will get worked out much more easily today and tomorrow. The kids were lined up in the hall before dinner for much too long, so naturally, they start messing with each other and misbehaving (or calling each other very very bad swear words). Anyway, hopefully most of that will be worked out a bit better today.

Please pray for one of the families of one of my kids J. (I'm just going to use initials on my blog). The mom called today with a bit of an emergency in the family, so we're trying to help her as best we can.

Thanks for your prayers for yesterday. If you can be praying for J. and his family, as well as for logistical issues during our programming time, that'd be great. To be really specific, PLEASE PRAY THAT MY KIDS SIT IN THE SEATS THAT THEY ARE SUPPOSED TO SIT IN AND STAY SEATED, ESPECIALLY WHILE I'M TALKING! I feel like if I can get them to just sit down, I'll have won a huge battle. It's difficult because they've been in school all day, they're testing me as a new person, and our organization takes on the most challenging kids, behaviorally and academically, and puts 22 of them in a classroom with a 23 year old white girl who doesn't know what she's doing. Ugh. But I love my job…

 

 

Movie in the Park

Every Tuesday night in July and August, the city shows a movie in Grant Park. We've gone a couple times so here are some pictures from the last time we went. Aniela and a few other people put together a whole big picnic and everything for us. It was so much fun!

First Day of Work!

So today I had my first day at my first true full-time job. :) Thanks for thinking of me and praying for me. It went really well. This whole week is just training with all the staff, both returning staff and new staff. Today was basically about meeting the other staff and gaining an overview of the organization and how it functions. Towards the end, we got into some more specifics regarding some administrative tasks we have to do throughout the year to keep up with our kids.

It was awesome meeting all the staff today. They were all incredibly welcoming and encouraging. It was also nice to recognize a few people I met while I was volunteering last semester.

Anyway, I'm going to go take a nap...and it's nice to not have homework tonight!

New Life Community-Lakeview

So myself and all of roommates are currently attending New Life Community Church-Lakeview. We're really excited about getting involved in the church here. New Life is a church with about 14 different locations throughout the city of Chicago. Each church is a smaller church with its own campus pastor and ministries, but works with the other churches throughout the city. The churches are connected under the umbrella of New Life and are in unity as one church body, yet each campus has a different feel, a different demographic of people, and exists in a different neighborhood in Chicago. We simply chose the Lakeview Campus because it is the closest campus to our apartment.

To check out more about New Life, visit http://www.newlifechicago.mobi/

Dallas

Last weekend, Colson and I flew down to Dallas to visit Beth and Jake. It was so fun! Unfortunately, the only pictures I have on my computer are of us at Chik-fil-A because the rest of the pictures with Beth and Jake are on Colson's computer. Beth has posted a bunch on Facebook, though, so you can go on facebook and just look at pictures that have me tagged in them.

On Friday, we went to the Hurricane Harbor water park and had an awesome time. Later that night, we drove across the street to the Rangers game and watched the Rangers lose to the Twins. Afterwards, they had fireworks in the ballpark that were really good and synced to some great music.

Later that night, I proceeded to be like a little kid and had a stomach-ache because I ate too much junk food. You think I'd learn by age 23.

Saturday, we went to Chik-fil-A (a great chicken fast-food place for all you northerners who have never experienced it) and then Beth and I went to this AMAZING and cheap jewelry/purse/etc. store. We also experienced "Yogurtland"--this frozen yogurt place that was so good. And finally, to top off the day of eating, we made fondue at Beth and Jake's apartment and watched a movie. Good times...

The weekend was made even better by the fact that we got to hang out with Kellen and Kristina on Sunday. Kellen was Colson's roommate of 4 years at Wheaton who has now moved with his wife, Kristina, to the Dallas area. That weekend was their first weekend of being in Dallas, so we got to hang out with them a bit and all feel like outsiders in Texas. Here's a pic of the guys trying to fit it with Texas culture...




Chik-Fil-A







Oh and on one last note...the weather while we were there was AWESOME! It had been about 108 degrees the week before we were there, but the entire weekend in Dallas, it didn't get over 95. At night, it got down to about 86, which was perfect weather for the Rangers game.