Summer Camp!!!

Camp is only 7 days away! I'M SO EXCITED!!! (for the two of you who will truly appreciate that...)

Anyhow, Denine, Suzanne & I went and scoped out Charleston this past weekend, and had quite an adventure. But, amidst nearly losing Denine's clutch, almost running over a cross-dresser, and battling the palmetto bugs (thanks Neen!), we also saw God move. We prayed over Denine's car, and it made the 5 hour trip back without even the slightest hiccup. While we were concerned about the tightness of the KOA we're staying at (it's not anything close to what a campground should be), we were assured by the staff that our cabins would be together. Also, being the friendly (read: high maintenance) girls that we are, we became close friends with a few of the ladies in the camp store, and are hoping to see them again when we take the kids. (Maybe high maintenance isn't the right word...but we were up there a lot!)

The pieces are all falling in place - our cabins are set, we have the routes mapped out to perfection (so long as I don't lose my memory before then!), and the kids are getting pumped up.

Now the only thing left is prayer...I know that we're already covered - but you can never pray enough! A few things off the top of my head - protection on the road, calm spirits in the kids, willingness to learn (both kids & counselors), good weather, sanity for the counselors, and NO PALMETTO BUGS!!!!! There are many, many things you can pray with us about - if you'd like, you can let us know, be it on the blog, via phone or email, or if you see one of us. It's always encouraging when you know for a fact that people are praying!

In Control

I've been thinking a lot about a young girl in our neighborhood, K, lately. I came to a really profound conclusion (at least in my own mind...) regarding this situation about a week ago while I was trying to go to sleep. I didn't write it down, and so when I lost consciousness that night, so I lost the conclusion. But here goes #2.

K is 14, and comes from one of our more popular families here in Glenwood. I found out recently that she has become very promiscuous and has been experimenting with some drug use. She is also bouncing around between places to live. All of these factors bother me, especially that she doesn't have a firm place to call "home" at the tender age of 14, but I think the thing that breaks my heart the most is the promiscuity.

K, like most of the kids in our neighborhood, does not have a father. Knowing some of her family situation, which I won't go into here, there is one thing that K is lacking in her life - GUIDANCE. When a child comes up with hurt in their life, including the kind of hurt that comes from their father leaving them, the child will often become obsessive with being able to control their life, or at least a few aspects. Couple that with never having a man in her family speak life and love into her.

K is now a young woman. She knows that she can use her body to manipulate men (thank you, media). She wants to control aspects of her life. Enter sex. She can choose when to give herself away - maybe in her mind she isn't even giving anything away...perhaps she views herself as the taker.

While I don't know the degree of the situation K is in, her sister made it seem pretty serious...so now, a call to prayer to break the chains of sexual addiction and emotional oppression.

Link to another post from Marsh

Check out a neighborhood post on my blog: http://joyinthemargins.blogspot.com

Shutting Down

There was another shooting last night, about a block away from my house. I've heard there was one Friday night, too, but am not sure about that. Either way, that's 2, maybe 3 within one month. I was deeply affected by the first one. I've talked about this with a few other Glenwood folk; it really surprised me how hard it hit me. I realized that I really feel the pulse of the community. It didn't hurt so much for the particular person who got shot, but for the general oppression that blankets our neighborhood.

I found out about this one walking home from church this morning. N is a really sweet guy, he talks slow and has some sort of mental deficiency, although I'm not sure if it's drug induced or not. He said he wanted to make sure that I knew, he knows that we are trying to "change the neighborhood." He was really upset by the whole deal - which is a very good thing.

I have found myself consciously shutting down today. I just don't have time to process it right now...too much to do. Knowing how much it affected me before, I decided to wait and deal with/pray through this when I'm home alone this evening...after I get "all the important stuff" done. I keep going back to N though... He talked about how terrible this was for the neighborhood, how much he hated it. How things hadn't seemed so bad lately. All day today I've heard his voice saying the things I feel in my heart.

I wonder if this is what most people in Glenwood do. They just pick themselves up and move on. They pretend it didn't happen...they just keep working harder to try to make life better. In talking to a few people about the last shooting, they were all very matter of fact, as if it was something that happened on the other side of the world. While N surprised me in his vulnerability, it was refreshing.

I hope in the future I can be as brave as N, and just let it take hold.