Ok, so that title has little to do with what I want to say, but as a side note, it's totally true! These girls would challenge ANY man in their eating skills!
All kidding aside, I've come to see that God has put me here to teach me more about myself and who He is than helping and teaching these girls. Honestly, I've realized that I don't know enough about what I'm doing this summer to do anything for the girls in 3 months. All I can do is show them God's love, which is really all God has asked me to do, but even that is hard sometimes. There is one girl here who is a chronic manipulator and liar. She is completely irresponsible and going to deliver in a week or so. There have been times where I just want to kick her and make her wake up to the fact that she is about to be a mom and she has absolutely no idea what she is going to do. Other things she's said make you realize that she DOES NOT understand this fact. But all I can do is continue to love her. I'm at the point that God is going to have to be in control of her and her baby and there is nothing I can do or say that will change her. So it's really hard to see people deal with stuff like that.
I think one of the hardest things is dealing with the girls' emotionalness. I know what you're thinking, "Duh...they're PREGNANT and GIRLS!!!" But seriously, these girls cry at the drop of a hat; if they don't get their way, they want to do something different than what is on the schedule, if they THINK you MIGHT start raising your voice at them; I mean, the list goes on and on, so I walk on pins and needles when I'm around them AHHHHH!!! Then, like 2 minutes later, they are really happy again! I have no clue how to handle this. But it's more about learning how to love... God's way... without conditions.
God is also challenging me this summer with making my faith my own. Growing up in a Christian home, I was spoon-fed the Bible and just blindly believed what I was told without really checking it out for myself and seeing what the Bible, itself, says. One of the staff members is 7th Day Adventist. She has invited me and the other summer missionaries to a Bible study at one of her friends' house on Wednesdays. So I've gone with her the last 2 weeks and I've really enjoyed it. Tonight though, I started learning about some of the doctrinal differences between Seventh Day Adventists and Baptists. So, now, I'm determined to learn about the subjects of death and hell directly from the Bible. I may or may not change what I believe, but I want to know why I believe it and be able to back it up with Scripture... ***Also, for those of you who have studied Spiritual Warfare, feel free to pass on any scripture that would aid in my study of the subject. Seriously! You can leave a comment or facebook/email me or call me! I'd love to hear from people from home!***
OK... So, I think that's it for now. I'm really excited, my parents are coming down to visit me for my birthday! I can't wait to see them. I really do miss familiar faces so if you get a chance to take a trip why not choose Savannah and come see me!!!!
Prayer things :)
1. We now have 7 girls and they ALL need prayer. One girl is supposed to give birth in the next week or so and she has no plan. I'm afraid DFCS is going to step in and do something because of this situation. One girl is extremely depressed because of different legal and family situations and it's hard to see someone hurt so much and be able to do nothing for her, except pray. Finally, the newest girl is REALLY young and she doesn't know anything about pregnancy and is really nervous about a new place where she basically just got dropped off, new emotions, and not really knowing what's going on.
2. I've still got decisions I have to make about staying here or not for the semester. While I'm leaning toward staying here, I haven't been given the OK from God. So, I'm learning patience.
Oh, I totally forgot! One of the reasons I love being here is that, even though I haven't gotten to actually share the gospel with the girls, I have been able to share my faith with them and just have really good conversations about who God is and what He can do with them. I love this job!
Alright! That's it for real! Thanks for praying!
Mel
1 Peter 1:7
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Friday, June 11, 2010
WHEW!!!! What a week!
Ok, so my life has become absolutely CRAZY as I have begun to learn the ropes of working at The Vine. The Vine has 4 thrift stores called Blessingdales (fondly known as B1, B2, B3 & B4) that is the basic income for The Vine. It's really cool because when you get to see an organization like this in action, you realize what all it takes for it to run for just one day!!!! It's absolutely incredible.
Monday, I had off so I could get organized and stuff before I actually started working. Tuesday and Wednesday I worked all day in the thrift stores, B2 and B4 respectively. It makes for a really long day, but when I think that my work is going to support girls who are learning to be responsible moms by the time they deliver, it really humbles me and know that I'm not working just for the sake of working (which is really fulfilling in itself). Today I had my first real house shift. Today it included making sure the girls went to their exercise class, sewing class, and parenting class; help them make dinner; go with them to a spiritual growth class; and pray with them before they go to bed.
I really wish I had time and space to share everything that has happened this week already, but alas! But basically, there are 6 pregnant girls that live at the Vine. There were 4 when I got here on Sunday and we were supposed to get 3 more on Monday and Tuesday, but one of the girls' water broke on Tuesday, so we only got 2. But the other girl was 21 weeks along when her water broke. Thankfully, they stopped the labor but she is on bedrest, I think she may be coming in a couple weeks, but I'm not entirely sure. I have heard rumors from the people in charge though, that they expect a full house (12 girls) by July. So that will definitely be interesting!
I do want to share my favorite thing that I've seen since being here. Being in a non-profit organization, you get to really see the Body of Christ functioning like it ought to. While The Vine does have an income, they don't make much and we heavily depend on donations for everything. Not including working at the thrift stores, there hasn't been a weekday that I've been here that we haven't received some sort of donation for the house. You should really see the amount of pizza from Pizza Hut that is in our freezer!!! But that's how it is supposed to be! Also, yesterday, working at B4, a couple came in and they purchased a few pairs of pants and some good shirts for a homeless man that they had just met and they even mentioned that they were helping two really good causes, which is true, and totally awesome!!! I love seeing people serving other people so selflessly.
I'm going to go ahead and wrap it all up for tonight, but here are some prayer requests (especially now that I know more about what I'm doing):
1. Pray for the 6 girls. They've all gone through so much and they're finally in a place that they know is safe, but in just a few short months, they will be heading back into the world they came from and they need to really absorb what they've learned at The Vine if they are going to survive with a baby
2. There is a girl, I'm going to call her 'D', she is due in less than 4 weeks and she's trying to figure out what she's going to do once she has her baby. She's trying really hard to get on the right track, but being an unwed mother with only her GED and other circumstances makes it hard to do that.
3. For me, my biggest goal for this summer is to learn to pray, and especially for others. I look at these girls and realize how much they need prayer and how unfaithful I am in that.
Thanks for all your love and support!!!
Melody
1 Peter 1:7
Monday, I had off so I could get organized and stuff before I actually started working. Tuesday and Wednesday I worked all day in the thrift stores, B2 and B4 respectively. It makes for a really long day, but when I think that my work is going to support girls who are learning to be responsible moms by the time they deliver, it really humbles me and know that I'm not working just for the sake of working (which is really fulfilling in itself). Today I had my first real house shift. Today it included making sure the girls went to their exercise class, sewing class, and parenting class; help them make dinner; go with them to a spiritual growth class; and pray with them before they go to bed.
I really wish I had time and space to share everything that has happened this week already, but alas! But basically, there are 6 pregnant girls that live at the Vine. There were 4 when I got here on Sunday and we were supposed to get 3 more on Monday and Tuesday, but one of the girls' water broke on Tuesday, so we only got 2. But the other girl was 21 weeks along when her water broke. Thankfully, they stopped the labor but she is on bedrest, I think she may be coming in a couple weeks, but I'm not entirely sure. I have heard rumors from the people in charge though, that they expect a full house (12 girls) by July. So that will definitely be interesting!
I do want to share my favorite thing that I've seen since being here. Being in a non-profit organization, you get to really see the Body of Christ functioning like it ought to. While The Vine does have an income, they don't make much and we heavily depend on donations for everything. Not including working at the thrift stores, there hasn't been a weekday that I've been here that we haven't received some sort of donation for the house. You should really see the amount of pizza from Pizza Hut that is in our freezer!!! But that's how it is supposed to be! Also, yesterday, working at B4, a couple came in and they purchased a few pairs of pants and some good shirts for a homeless man that they had just met and they even mentioned that they were helping two really good causes, which is true, and totally awesome!!! I love seeing people serving other people so selflessly.
I'm going to go ahead and wrap it all up for tonight, but here are some prayer requests (especially now that I know more about what I'm doing):
1. Pray for the 6 girls. They've all gone through so much and they're finally in a place that they know is safe, but in just a few short months, they will be heading back into the world they came from and they need to really absorb what they've learned at The Vine if they are going to survive with a baby
2. There is a girl, I'm going to call her 'D', she is due in less than 4 weeks and she's trying to figure out what she's going to do once she has her baby. She's trying really hard to get on the right track, but being an unwed mother with only her GED and other circumstances makes it hard to do that.
3. For me, my biggest goal for this summer is to learn to pray, and especially for others. I look at these girls and realize how much they need prayer and how unfaithful I am in that.
Thanks for all your love and support!!!
Melody
1 Peter 1:7
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