It's amazing to look back at the past month and a half and see everything God has taught me and brought me through. There have been so many breath taking little experiences throughout my time here at DaySpring, that it makes me feel like I have been serving here for a much longer period of time. I am back on the evening shift, which means I have more interaction with the ladies and children! As a matter of fact, I have been in childcare the past two nights and have loved every second of it :) I have a couple of funny stories to share with you about that later on.
We've been here long enough that the ladies are finally feeling more comfortable opening up to us and I am feeling more confident in God speaking and loving through me. I love each one of these ladies and their children and I know it is going to be very hard to say goodbye to them in a few weeks. I absolutely love being able to speak encouraging and empowering words into these ladies in the name of Jesus. When those moments occur I can feel the Holy Spirit filling me up in a way I have never experienced before!
I've figured out that Med Call is the best time for these Spirit filled moments because it is one of the few times I get to speak to the ladies individually without other guests around. Last week one of the ladies who has been struggling came to me and expressed that she felt like some of the other guests didn't think she was a good mother and simply made her feel inadequate. At that point God gave me the opportunity to share with her what a loving mother I had seen her be and that she is a strong woman in Christ! I tried to remind her that what the others had to say was unimportant because she had other goals and things to be focused on. Last night I spoke with one of our other ladies who explained how tired and worn out she was and how badly she was ready to move out. I told her that she was one of the hardest working people I knew and her smiling face always made my day. She started crying and reached over to hug me tight. I started praying for strength and peace for her and her grip got tighter and tighter as though she was holding on for dear life. It broke my heart, but served to further remind me why God has me here.
My time here makes me consider how much I complain about such small issues, while these women are battling huge struggles on a daily basis. God is renewing my point of view and helping me see the bright side, even during the trying times. A favorite childhood song of mine comes to mind from the movie Elmo in Grouchland:
"Everywhere you look a story can be told
And the tales they tell are worth their weight in gold
In a place that's filled with mountains made of trash
Rotting castaways and broken bits of glass
I dare you
Take a look around and tell me that you don't see
Just a worthless pile of garbage and debris
Cause I see a kingdom -- Shining bright
And if you try, then you can see it too
You'll see the beauty, if you look at something right
It's all about your point of view
And life it's all about your point of view"
Vanessa Williams - I See A Kingdom
It's amazing how much a positive change in perspective can completely turn your day upside down (in a great way)!
As mentioned above, I have a couple of funny stories from my time in childcare. Our first story begins with The Wiggles. Yes, The Wiggles. One of our kids was standing in his usual spot, approximately 3 feet from the TV and dancing to this show. I caught a wiff, looked at him, and asked him if he had pooped. Without taking his eyes off of the show, he replied with a no. I squatted down next to him and asked him again. He slowly turned towards me with a sly and shameful grin and shook his head yes. It was so adorable I immediately started laughing and so did he.
The next incident occurred during out 4th of July picnic. Myself and two other summer girls were seated in the street waiting for the fireworks to begin. One of the little boys passed by and at the same time we all asked if he had pooped. He quickly came back over to us, put his index finger over his lips and said "shhhhh". Naturally, we all fell over laughing. Lastly, just this past Monday we were playing Simon Says during childcare when I smelled something a little funky. So I said "Simon Says, who went poopy?" All of the kids stood still and out of nowhere one of the toddlers hands pops up with a huge grin on his face. The kids all looked at him and immediately began laughing, as did I.
The next incident occurred during out 4th of July picnic. Myself and two other summer girls were seated in the street waiting for the fireworks to begin. One of the little boys passed by and at the same time we all asked if he had pooped. He quickly came back over to us, put his index finger over his lips and said "shhhhh". Naturally, we all fell over laughing. Lastly, just this past Monday we were playing Simon Says during childcare when I smelled something a little funky. So I said "Simon Says, who went poopy?" All of the kids stood still and out of nowhere one of the toddlers hands pops up with a huge grin on his face. The kids all looked at him and immediately began laughing, as did I.
When they aren't pulling adorable pooping stunts, they are being extra adorable in various other ways. Last night I had two kids on my hip the entire hour we watched them. We danced, we road invisible horses, we drank pretend tea, and their smiling faces made my heart melt. Being with the kids definitely confirms God's calling for me to work with the Department of Family and Children Services! On that note... it is wonderfully amazing how much I have heard God speaking to me this summer!
Prayer Requests
Next Sunday I was asked to teach our ladies Sunday School class! Can you say nervous much? I had no idea what I was going to teach on so I started Googling topic ideas. Taming the tongue kept popping up and it made me think back to the short devotional I shared with our BCM Leadership before leaving for Oklahoma. It was out of Proverbs and a large part of it discussed the things that come out of our mouth. Later that evening I was talking with one of the house staff and asked her what she suggested and the first thing she said was taming the tongue! How awesome is that? Later on I wandered upon a video about taming that tongue that compared toilet training cats to how we tame our tongue. And the Lord knows how much of a cat lady I am and how I trained my cat to use the toilet last year. On top of that, one of the biggest tongue taming passages in scripture is in James 3. Two of our girls covered James 1 and 2 already and wanted to continue the book. Perfect? God sure is! Please be in prayer for me on this one, though. Speaking in front of a large group of people has never been enjoyable for me so I could use all the prayer I can get!
Please also continue to keep all of the ladies and children here in your prayers as well as the staff. It is such a blessing to serve here and I pray that everyone reading this will get an opportunity to experience an opportunity to serve like this one day.
"Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning."
James 1:17
Until next time,
Lindsay
4th of July Picnic Pictures!
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