Time…

Wow… did time slip away from me.  Actually, it ran full-speed ahead.  I blinked and it’s Sunday.

My apologies youth parents for the lack of information.  Suffice it to say, we had a great time and were pretty busy from morning til night.  I did have the keys in my hand to go to the van and get the netbook out and reconnect to the wireless to make an entry… but if you got tired just reading that, imagine doing that around 11pm after a full day of fun and worship.

So, today’s lesson… time.  Our speaker challenged us with this question:

What is more important, what time is it OR what you do with the time you have.  As Jonathan would say, “meditate on this thoroughly”.

Funny story from DNOW… ask Alex about meowing the barracks to sleep.  I am still laugh hearing this bass voice from above me rasping, “ME-OWWW” in the dark.  Real mature, Alex.  :)

Once my ears stop ringing, I’ll post more!

Postgame report

We’re back!!!  Safe and sound.  We were all ready to see North Carolina again and I’m hankering for some sweet tea!

Thank you so much for you support, prayers and comments!  I am surprised at the number of hits we receive each day and I’m glad this is a useful way of sharing our experience with the church and our families.

The trip home was uneventful except that boulder that hit the van.  Ok, it was probably just a small rock, but it sure sounded like a boulder.  Marty did graciously concede to my Starbucks addiction and let me stop.  I’m not sure what the fascination is with Dunkin Doughnuts up north, but they have a stranglehold on the coffee market.  I was thrilled to see the SB logo on a highway exit sign and the let me stop there to shut me up.

I forgot it was Cow Appreciation day at Chick Fil A.  I know my wife would have sent me a cow costume to get a free sandwich if she would have suspected we’d stop in Spotsville, Va on the way home.  And of course, no trip is complete without a visit to Dairy Queen.  Oops… I don’t think I was supposed to mention that.

We all enjoyed the kids singing and the Alex re-mix!  Between them and Tesha, I laughed a great majority of the ride home which really helps move the miles along.

Many thanks to our patient, calm and unflappable driver.  Without him, we would be lost.  (Don’t comment, Marty, please!  I’m laughing even as I type this!)

We have a teaser video to show this Sunday.  It was created by Youth On Mission.  It’s just a small part of what we did all week and I think you’ll enjoy it.  We’ll show it again next week PLUS our own remix with more photos and stories from Darby, PA!  Don’t miss it!

As for this blog… this chapter may be done, but it’s not over.  We’ll rearrange a bit and get Robbie involved so that we can continue this conversation.

Until then… signing off…. Kevin

Walk-off home run!

I realize now I should have gone with a baseball theme considering our location and our trip to the Phillies game.  (Boy those guys are sad about the Braves whupping on them twice!)

For those not familiar with the term, a walk-off homer is when the home team hits a home run in the last half of the inning giving them a win.  It’s all the rage with baseball fans and commentators.

So today, we hit our walk-off home run.  We had our fourth day of mission work at the Salvation Army.  Lots of just plain play-time.  At least it was cooler and Marty was able to conduct a baseball clinic outside and Jonathan gave a taekwondo lesson to some eager students in the parking lot.  (I’m sure the neighbors are wondering about that yelling they kept hearing!)

Kudos to Jessica, Hayley, Noah, Anne and especially Alex for sticking with the upstairs today.  It’s quite warm up there, the window unit a/c units (that’s right… window units… much of the facility does NOT have a/c.. it’s “Africa-hot” in places!).  Anyway, it’s hot and there were a ton of kids today and they were wide-open!

Where did that scooter come from any way?
How many piggy-back rides can you give?
Why are we all zombies?

These are the questions of the day for our upstairs workers.

Donna played endless games of scrabble and scategories.  Also, Donna organized another storage closet (does the tv show “hoarders” come to mind?) and did the registration.  As I shared during our group time, I am grateful for her service because that paperwork was frustrating to me as a parent and dealing with it for 40 kids is a daunting task.

Tesha bounced from location to location always pitching in (sometimes literally as she helped Marty with baseball).  Always fun and joyful, she lifts all of us up and makes things fun!  But before you think she’s a softie, she can bring down the big hammer and served as our disciplinarinan as well.  Excuse me!?!

Marty continued to amaze  the kids with his abilities.  He umpired and pitched outside and made a new BFF.   Also, Marty put up with our endless whining about how long it was taking to get to dinner while we dealt with challenging traffic and contradictory directions.  Incredibly patient and so low-key about things.  He was awesome!

Me, well, as usual, you can find me on the “couch” napping (let’s just say they are big into recycling and resuse.  I mean, that car didn’t need a back seat anyway and it makes a comfy courch).  And when not napping, I managed to get in a little hoops with the big boys.  All in a day’s work.

We had a great sharing time and devotion with the YOM folks.  We affirmed the gifts and talents we saw in each other.  More on this later.  I can’t wait to hear the kids share their experiences with you next week.

I don’t want to say too much about the work your kids did.  They were tremendous witnesses and showed endless patience with these children.  You’ll just have to come hear them in person next week!

Pray for us as we venture home tomorrow.  The kids have set an early starting time and are anxious to be home.

Game over!  Home team wins!

-Kevin

Last Day

Today was the last day of our camp with more sports, games and just playtime. We had another closet to organize and gave the rooms a good cleaning before we left. We have built relationships with the Salvation Army staff and the children. Several kids brought gifts in to some of our group which really touched us. We are sad to leave but will be ready to head home in the morning.

The Sweet Sound ……

Another busy day at the Salvation Army. We sat in on the senior Bible study and served the seniors lunch. The sound of laughter tells us that the kids at our camp and having fun and becoming very comfortable with us. Anne has a little friend she calls Jimmy (his name is Lavier) who follows her around everywhere she goes. Destiny is smitten with Alex and serves him play coffee and cake. Ralph loves Jonathan and Hayley. Anaya is everybody’s buddy and wants us to stay all summer. Jessica has been busy coloring with the younger kids and helping with air hockey and foosball. Noah is real trooper playing basketball.  We are making an impact on the kids and they are making an impact on us as well. The highlight of today’s camp was Kevin and Jonathan’s Tae Kwon Do demonstration. The kids were amazed and enjoyed trying their hand at some movements. Eastern State Penetentiary was fascinating. Al Capone’s cell was one of the many things on our tour. The prison is supposedly haunted. We saw no apparitions but did learn that not all prisoners are human. Pep the dog was sentenced to live in prison at the penetentiary by the Governor of Pennsylvania for killing his wife’s cat. Sorry Yarboroughs, Noah will not be returning with us to North Carolina. We took him into the prison and they would not let him leave. Alex continues to entertain us with his remix of 80′s music and he is now accompanied by Hayley with her “meow” mix. One bit of trivia – there is only one place in the country where trolley tracks cross railroad tracks – and that is in Darby, PA right around the corner from the Salvation Army. We are a little sad that we have only one day left.

Donna

Kids, kids, everywhere kids…

A much more manageable number today, but we also had a chance to fellowship and study the Bible with some of the young-at-heart seniors who visit the Salvation Army on Wednesdays.

Donna has found a passion for blogging, so I look forward to her thoughts on today.

I continue to be amazed by the CRBC youth as they minister to the kids of Darby.  Most are not even aware of the impact they are making.  We’ve had several offers to stay on for the summer, but we’re all looking forward to returning home on Friday.

I remain overwhelmed by the needs of this community and spend way too much energy on my part trying to “fix” the Salvation Army and the surrounding community instead of just letting God work through me one interaction at a time.  There’s nothing broken here, just people in circumstances that make things very difficult for them and their children.

Thank you CRBC for sending us here to share God’s love with these folks.

-Kevin

P.S.  I’m too lazy to unload the camera tonight.  Hopefully Donna has a few gems she will share.

Lock em’ up!

Hey CRBC!

Another exciting day on tap.  Expecting 102 degree weather and over 40 kids at our sports camp.  Evening fun is a trip to Eastern State Prison.

The CRBC kids have been awesome and work so hard to reach out to each and every child and minister to them in a special way.  Often we’ re reaching out past our comfort zones and often with great rewards from these children.

The CRBC kids do everything that is asked without complaining and volunteer when we need them to.  As parents and the church family, you should really be proud of these young people!

Time to get busy… sunscreen and hats are the order of the day.

Yours in Christ,

-Kevin

And The Heat Wave Continues

We knew it was going to be another hot one when it hit 95 degrees at 9:30 am. But it didn’t stop our mission work at the salvation army. In the morning, we painted the basement floor, organized a storage closet, stocked food in the pantry and prepared bag lunches for the homeless. Our sports camp grew tremendously as the Lord blessed us with 43 kids in attendance. Noah did the devotion and Alex led the music with his guitar. We kept the kids indoors today due to the heat wave. They enjoyed basketball, jump rope and board games. The kids just want a little love and attention and a place to go and we are providing that for them. The Philadelphia Phillies played the Atlanta Braves tonight and that is where we decided we wanted to be along with a sold out crowd of around 45,000 people. Our seats were behind home place close to heaven and we had a great view of the game. As most of our groups are Braves fans, we were pleased that the Braves won 6-3 in the 11th inning. Alex has kept us entertained with his remix of 80′s pop. We have learned that the people here don’t look like us or talk like us. But we are the ones who are different. And the Lord loves us all the same.

Game on!

Wow!  and Whew! 

The day started with painting and organizing and sandwich making.   Donna found her niche and reorganized a supply closet.  Marty and crew made short work of painting the basement floor (dusty doesn’t do this place justice) and Noah and Anne prepared meals for the homeless.

After a great pizza lunch we ended up with 43 kids today.  Let me say that again.  Forty-three kids!   Oh, my….   Inside, outside, upstairs, in the gym… everywhere!

Already the kids have asked us to stay the entire summer and one invited Marty to go to the Poconos with the family!

After a quick bite at Subway, we went the Braves-Phillies game.  (Braves 6-3 in 11 innings!)  Notice the scoreboard shot I’m uploading! 

For Patrick, of course all roads lead to Starbucks.  Here’s a pic from across the street from Betsy Ross’ house.  Imagine how many flags she could have sewn hyped up on a venti mocha latte!

Tomorrow will be.. interesting.  We have a Bible study to work around and the same number of kids expected.  And it’s really, really hot…

Thanks for your prayers.

-Kevin

Its “only” Monday

I thought that sentiment from Donna summed things up pretty well.  On one hand, we can’t believe how time flies and we feel like we’ve been here two weeks, but it’s “only” Monday.

On the other, it was such a tiring day, the heat really saps your energy, that the prospect of facing the heat three more days makes me wince and say “it’s only Monday”.

I’m thankful for Donna updating the blog with pictures.  I’m entirely too lazy to unload my camera.  As I update this, Marty has claimed “first shower” as we prepare for another exciting day in Darby!

Go Braves!  See you all after the ballgame!