Ankeny, IA
Friday, July 3...
Sorry for not having an entry on Thursday, but there was a good reason for it.
One of the things that comes with living in a group like this is that things don't always go as planned. The group gets tired and loses focus, leading to those moments when you have to step back and take stock of who we are as individuals and a team. We had one of those days on Thursday. We needed to step back and make a mid course correction. The result was an early night for the whole group and no time for blogging.
The group entered into this day better rested and with an improved focus, which was important on this, our last day in Des Moines.
To recap our activities:
Thursday --
Group 1 (those old enough to work with Habitat) spent another day with Habitat in the north central part of Des Moines. They were engaged in a landscaping project at a home that would be occupied by a family of Sudanese refugees. Group 2 (the younger folks) did a triple-header: work projects at Door of Faith (a men's recovery center) -- building a limestone stairway, washing windows, and clearing brush; serving lunch at the Hope Cafe in the Bethel Mission (a men's shelter), and finally hosting a group of children from the family shelter on a mini-golf adventure. The evening saw the Grace group and the Ankeny Pres folks playing Capture the Flag in the back yard of the church. Whew!
Today -- Group 1 finished two landscaping projects at Habitat in the morning, and in the afternoon, they completed the garden project at Freedom for Youth. Group 2 started the day working a the Central United Men's Shelter in Des Moines, before doing the lun
ch shift and assorted cleanup projects at Hope Cafe. Tonight was "Clean Out the Fridge Night" followed by some fellowship and reflection time, as well as saying goodbye to our Ankeny friends, the Kohldorf's and the Rodman's.
Tomorrow we begin the two day trek home. I don't know if we will have internet, so this may be our last blog until we do a wrap up after return to Texas.
A group entry from Alec, Ainsley, Sarah, Eric and Leanna:
A mere ten days ago we were a loosely knit group of diverse individuals. After what now seems like a confusing blur of a journey, we have emerged as a family.
Friday, July 3...
Sorry for not having an entry on Thursday, but there was a good reason for it.One of the things that comes with living in a group like this is that things don't always go as planned. The group gets tired and loses focus, leading to those moments when you have to step back and take stock of who we are as individuals and a team. We had one of those days on Thursday. We needed to step back and make a mid course correction. The result was an early night for the whole group and no time for blogging.
The group entered into this day better rested and with an improved focus, which was important on this, our last day in Des Moines.
To recap our activities:
Thursday --
Group 1 (those old enough to work with Habitat) spent another day with Habitat in the north central part of Des Moines. They were engaged in a landscaping project at a home that would be occupied by a family of Sudanese refugees. Group 2 (the younger folks) did a triple-header: work projects at Door of Faith (a men's recovery center) -- building a limestone stairway, washing windows, and clearing brush; serving lunch at the Hope Cafe in the Bethel Mission (a men's shelter), and finally hosting a group of children from the family shelter on a mini-golf adventure. The evening saw the Grace group and the Ankeny Pres folks playing Capture the Flag in the back yard of the church. Whew!Today -- Group 1 finished two landscaping projects at Habitat in the morning, and in the afternoon, they completed the garden project at Freedom for Youth. Group 2 started the day working a the Central United Men's Shelter in Des Moines, before doing the lun
ch shift and assorted cleanup projects at Hope Cafe. Tonight was "Clean Out the Fridge Night" followed by some fellowship and reflection time, as well as saying goodbye to our Ankeny friends, the Kohldorf's and the Rodman's.Tomorrow we begin the two day trek home. I don't know if we will have internet, so this may be our last blog until we do a wrap up after return to Texas.
A group entry from Alec, Ainsley, Sarah, Eric and Leanna:
A mere ten days ago we were a loosely knit group of diverse individuals. After what now seems like a confusing blur of a journey, we have emerged as a family.
This is not to say that the past ten days have been free of petty drama. In fact quite the opposite is true. There certainly was a fair amount of bickering – standard teen fare. A small rift divided the “West Virginia” gang and the “Colorado” group. Immature alliances formed, feelings were hurt, and names were called. But notice how this is all in past tense.
On this last night in Iowa, we remain imperfect and flawed, but touched and transformed by Christ’s love. Pranks and gossip are things of the past. The profound wo
rk that we have done over the past days has allowed us to focus our attention to the things tha
t matter: love and kindness, humility and grace, and (as our trip scripture reminds us) hope and encouragement. We cannot claim perfection. But we can claim profound and sincere friendship. The cement that we mixed will crack, the closets we cleaned will clutter, the trees that we planted will wither with age, but the bonds we have formed will remain.
On this last night in Iowa, we remain imperfect and flawed, but touched and transformed by Christ’s love. Pranks and gossip are things of the past. The profound wo
rk that we have done over the past days has allowed us to focus our attention to the things tha
t matter: love and kindness, humility and grace, and (as our trip scripture reminds us) hope and encouragement. We cannot claim perfection. But we can claim profound and sincere friendship. The cement that we mixed will crack, the closets we cleaned will clutter, the trees that we planted will wither with age, but the bonds we have formed will remain. Hopefully you have been vicariously touched by our experiences. Thank you for reading about our travels.
I have thoroughly enjoyed the blogs and posts - and so grateful that the youth and adults of Grace Presbytery have had such an awesome opportunity to serve in Christ's name!!
ReplyDelete