Day 22

Have you ever made someone so angry that she cried for 2 hours? Today, that is exactly what I did. I didn't mean to make her mad. It was all because of a cell phone at school. I couldn't leave the van full of students to go get her phone from the principal--that's when the crying started. The crying ended two hours later after 45 minutes of drawing pictures of a cell phone on a marker board and writing the word phone a few hundred times. I kept thinking, "Yes, I know you are upset and I know you are mad at me, but is that really helping at all?"

When I sat down at the end of the day to think about what I would write about in my Surprise Me blog, this was brought back to my mind. There are times when things are not going my way and I want things to go the way I want them. It's usually the little things that bring on this frustration. There is crying involved and writing in journals. I never say that I am mad at God, but I am sometimes. Now, I just get this image in my head of God saying, "Yes, I know you are upset and I know you are mad at me, but is that really helping at all?" The thing about God is that even when I am being stubborn and angry, he is there waiting for me stop and realize he has this amazing plan that probably won't go my way...but it will go the right way.

Day 18

At home team on Tuesday, some of us were talking about how we would like to be able to pray, "Surprise Me God, but not with __________" (you get to fill in the blank) If that were the case and I prayed "but not with ..." this is how that prayer would go.
"Surprise Me God, but not with an allergic reaction to the new soap I used. And please don't surprise me with an eye that swells shut in a matter of minutes either. But, if you should choose to surprise me in this way, please let there be an opening to see the doctor at 8:30 as soon as the office opens. Also, if you could arrange for some sort of shot that will stop the allergic reaction while making me extra hyper--that would be nice too." And I think God said, "Surprise!"

Day...something

Today at Achieve Kristi taught the kids how to play a traditional Vietnamese New Year's game. To my surprise, one of my student's parents came to observe. I don't mind the parents coming to observe, it is probably a good idea for some of them. This particular parent came because her son has been having problems with being able to follow rules like, "Don't talk while one of the leaders is talking." "Do not play with your cell phone during the program." (when did it suddenly become necessary for a 13 year old to own a cell phone anyway?) "Sit in a chair, not on a table." The list could go on, but I will stop there. This parent acknowledges that this child acts the same way at home. The parent questioned everything at the program from the number of tables in the room to the size of the small groups for the game. I understand that she is concerned that we are picking on her son, but the reality is that he receives more chances than any other student in the program. For the 12 minutes the parent observed the program, her son was relatively well behaved...meaning he didn't throw the beans on the floor or at other students like he did on Monday. My worry is that she will think he acts this way the other hour and forty-five minutes of each program day.
I would like to say that I do not do the same thing each day. But I am afraid that I am only on my best behavior when I remember that God is present and constantly watching. It's easy to do a quiet time and pray when I am reminded that it is important to do those things. It is easier to be sweet and not come back with a rude remark or a snide comment when one of the volunteers in the missions office is around and it is not just "family" present. God uses frustrating circumstances to teach me lessons every day. Maybe I should be a better student.

12, 13, 14

Friday, Saturday, and Sunday were all kind of a blur. A very cold blur.
At Achieve on Friday, the kids did an Amazing race game through "Russia" a.k.a. Immanuel Baptist Church. The kids had a great time. My first surprise came in the form of ants in rice. One of the stations in the game was supposed to be for the kids to find a hidden bean in rice and then eat the rice. Well...the rice had bugs in it so we had to change the plan. I also had to hurry to find an extra van driver when I found out one of the drivers had pink eye and was at the doctor. It was still a great day at the program.
Friday night, I was able to see one of my very good friends from college. I had not seen her in over 2 years. She stayed with me all weekend and we had a great time.
I spent all morning and a lot of the afternoon on Saturday preparing for a chicken fried steak lunch at church. We are raising money for a mission trip to New York City. I was a little more than surprised when we started talking about the fact that we leave in 3 weeks. Three weeks is such a small amount of time to prepare.
Saturday night, I went to Mr. Gatti's to hang out with some friends from church. I absolutely LOVE ski ball! It's okay to spend $6 just on ski ball right? It was a fun time.
I realized on the way home that God blesses us with amazing people to surround us. I was thinking about all of the different friends I have had in my life. They all play a special role in who I am. Some of them have been friends for years and some have only been around for a few months. It never ceases to surprise me that God knows exactly who I need and when. He provides those people at just the right time. Thank you, God for blessing me with friends.

Day 11

umm....no day 10.
Day 11 was a long day. I have definitely decided that 14 hour workdays are not for me. The missions office helped to organize a senior adult conference called "Live Long and Love It!" We got to the Civic Center at 7:00 a.m. and left at 9:00 p.m. My surprise today came in the form of an 80 year old woman. It seems I have met my sarcastic match. We were teamed up for registration duties at the front tables. She also knew pretty much every person that walked in the door. There was a lot of laughing and I can't even count the times I heard, "Yes, you need a name tag. It's in case you forget your name today so we can help you remember." Yep, that was my partner. I had a lot more fun than I thought I would hanging out with 900+ senior adults from the Abilene area. One lady told us she heard about the conference from a brochure sent to her husband that died about 10 years ago. While laughing, she told us that he couldn't make it so she came in his place. I hope I am able to keep my sense of humor as well as many of the people I met yesterday have. It was a long, surprisingly fun day.

Day 9

Today held lots of small surprises. The first, I knew about so it wasn't really a surprise. One of my friends from church brought me flowers to my office. It was a nice addition to the office and brightened my day. I spent the evening eating homemade chicken enchildas, guacamole, and eclair cake with a group of friends. It was a great time to enjoy the company of others.

Day 8

I went to see a documentary at Logsdon tonight. It was called "Invisible Children." The documentary followed some of the children affected by the civil war in Uganda. Much of the footage and the story it told was shocking. There was one moment in the documentary that I found interesting. The children that face the fear of being abducted each night and travel to a central location to sleep like sardines in a room were singing praises to God because they made it to the location safely. I realized that I take many things for granted here in my Abilene, TX world. Too many times I let wonderful things go by without even thinking about thanking God for it, much less sing praises to him. One thing I have noticed since beginning the "Surprise Me God" experiment 8 days ago is that I have become much more aware of the blessings in my life. I hope that after the 30 days are up, I will still notice the many blessings around me every day.

Day 7

Sunday was just a good day. It was a good time to spend with friends in church discussing surprises from our week. The day ended the same way I spend every Sunday evening hanging out with a group of girls from church. Come to think of it, maybe it was a great day.

Day 6

Today I "talked" to my mom online for a while. It reminds me how blessed I am to come from a home where I knew I was loved. Unlike a lot of people, I never went through that rebellious stage where I yelled at my parents or did things just to irritate them. (or at least, I don't remember doing anything like that) In high school, I lived 45 miles away from the town where I attended school. Every morning my mom, 2 of my brothers, and I would all pile in to our mini van and make the 45 minute drive to school. Some days were spent finishing homework, trying to memorize parts of Canterbury Tales in Old English, or sleeping. Others were spent "scream singing" with my youngest brother or ...sleeping. There were a few days that I remember when my brothers were sleeping and my mom and I just talked on the way to school. There was also a time when one of my friends needed a ride to school for about 8 weeks after her mom was in a car accident and had to have back surgery. So, my mom agreed to pick her up from her brother's house in a town 15 miles from our house and take her with us the rest of the way to Hereford. My mom blesses people wherever she goes. She told me once that she is surprised that any of us kids turned out okay. I am surprised that she doesn't realize that it is because of her that we turned out okay. My mom taught me how to give to others through helping them with their needs. She knows how to love without judging and I hope that I am able to that too.
Maybe today wouldn't be labeled a surprise by most, but more of a blessing. Either way, I am thankful.

Day 5

Today's surprise came in a short prayer.
I was walking through Wal-Mart and thinking about how crazy Monday and Wednesday were at Achieve. As stressful as it is for me when the students seem out of control, I think it might be just as stressful for the students. So, in the middle of Wal-Mart I prayed, "Lord, please help me to be a blessing to the students in the program." I finished my shopping at Wal-Mart and headed back to the office to get ready for a staff meeting. At the end of the staff meeting one of my interns asked to lead us in a prayer. During his prayer he said, "...and God, help us to be a blessing to the kids." It was so great to hear my earlier prayer echoed by my program staff.
The day at Achieve went wonderfully. I couldn't have asked for a better day.

Day 4

Most of my day was spent in an over the counter drug induced haze. I vaguely remember being at work and actually getting things accomplished. I also had Upward cheerleading practice tonight. I've decided that 4 and 5 year-old cheerleaders are pretty much the cutest and most entertaining thing to witness a practice for. It still amazes me to this day that by the end of the season the girls I coach will know the words and motions to 10 cheers and a large number of chants.
I went home after practice and fell asleep on the couch and woke up at 10:00. I was wide awake and, for the first time today, I was able to breath. So, I watched the Sacramento Kings play on TV and then my roommate and I stayed up entirely too late watching other nonsensical shows. It was, in my opinion, time well spent. Even if it was now 1:00 a.m. Sleep is good, but time spent with others is better.
I was thinking before I went to bed that I find myself thinking throughout the day, "okay, God, surprise me." I thought more about that and decided that before I can actually be surprised by God, I have to pay attention to what he's doing in my life. I sometimes get caught up in what I am doing and forget that everything I do is done only with God's help. Sometimes, the surprise comes in the reminding me of things I have known for years. The hard part is putting them into practice.

Day 3

Yes, I know there are no posts for day 1 or 2....I'm kind of behind in the blogging part of this. Honestly, it is actually day four--but only half-way through so I will do 1, 2, and 3 together and do a day 4 once day 4 is over.

So, day 1 was a pretty normal day. I went to work at my office and then went to the Achieve site. Then it was on to my house.

Day 2
I started off my day with 5 hours of taking care of 3 yr old twins that were at home sick. Their mom works in my office and had a huge project due by noon on Tuesday. So, the kids couldn't go to daycare sick and I took care of them while she went to the office to work. At home team that night, we talked about how well we handle interuptions to our normal schedule. I started thinking about how I don't really have a "normal routine" The only thing I know for sure is that I will be at Achieve from 3-6 on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. The rest of the time, I don't know if I will be at the office working on the program, helping to collect items for disaster relief, or on rare occasions taking care of twins so everything in our office will run smoothly. I think most of all, today God suprised me with a gift of "I know you need some rest. How about a few hours of sitting in a lazy boy watching a movie with two tired 3 yr olds?"

Day 3
Today, I am sick. Hmmmm....could've been the twins. At Achieve today, two parents came to talk to me about their students in the program. One parent decided his son was being picked on during the program by the staff. We talked about how his son is probably the most intellligent 8th grade student I have worked with but that he focuses that intelligence on how to break the rules instead of in a more productive way. His dad said he does the same thing at home and he was wondering what I was going to do in my program about it because he was hoping that they could figure out how to fix it at home too. I was a little shocked because I was ready to have to defend everything I was doing in my program and his dad just needed someone to talk to about how to help his son. It puts my job into perspective for me. The kids in my program are not there just to get help with homework and to hang out for a couple of hours 3 days a week. Somehow, my staff and I have become a part of their lives. They trust us and it causes their parents to trust us. We are invited to choir concerts, basketball games, plays, band concerts and many other things the students spend their time doing while not with us. I think that today, my surprise was in being reminded that I am not just a director of a program but that I am a part of the lives of 24 middle schoolers. They have their ups and downs and I have been invited to go along for the ride.