rewards

yesterday was a good day, a rewarding day - and it may take a while to explain why it was that way, but i will try to be brief.
first: i spoke for a while with a young lady in the chapel. she was having a bit of a rough day and just wanted to talk. she was really frustrated with a lot of the other kids in the shelter, how some of them don't appreciate the staff or the services that the program offers. She said "i can tell you guys care, and i love you all for that". She meant it. This poor girl hasn't encountered much love in her life, and she truly appreciated people that showed her just a little bit of compassion. It was so good for me to hear that.
number two: later in the evening there was a motivational speaker coming in - while we were waiting for people to show up, a couple of the guys were talking. one of them has been at the shelter for a few weeks, and he's been in the chapel just about every time i had it open. during our time together, he has done most of the talking - he is a really great kid, has been through a lot, and has learned a lot from where he has been. I really don't feel like I have done much for him. But as the three of us were talking last night, this kid recommended me to his friend. He described me as a cool dude, who is real and who has a lot of wisdom. I'm not sure what my face looked like but my mind was running, trying to remember even one thing that I had said or done that would make him think that - I couldn't think of one. Somehow, though, I had made an impact. That....was rewarding.
last of all: i was on my way out from work and i stopped at a pizza place on the corner because they have slices of pizza for a dollar. as i stood in line, a young man (roughly my own age) finally worked up the courage to ask me the line he had probably going over in his head for the last few minutes: "excuse me sir, do you have a dollar so I can have a piece of pizza?" At that moment I froze - this has always been a dilemma for me, especially now that I encounter beggars more often in the city. obviously, yes, i could spare a dollar - but i can't reasonably give every time someone asks me if i do. so sometimes i do, others i don. then the bible says that if someone asks you for something, and its in your power to give it, then you should. this is my dilemma. so there i am, frozen with this young man looking at me. after a few seconds of silence (although it seems longer) he says "if you can't than just say so". As he said this my mind though a million things at once: how many people had refused to help him out, how many had ignored him, how many had dismissed him as lazy, or given him some other stereotype. As all these things went through my head, I answered him honestly - I said "yeah, I can do that". He said thank you, but showed no emotion - (how many times had he been forced to degrade himself, swallow his pride and beg just to feed himself). Then I tried something that neither of us expected, I asked "do you want a soda, too?" You should have seen the smile that came across his face. He said "are you serious" and I just smiled back. He must have said thank you 50 times in the next two minutes that we were standing in line. That was honestly the most rewarding moment of my day, maybe since I've been here. If only you could have seen his smile. Peace.

fun saturday

Yesterday I slept in. When I woke up I really didn't have much on the agenda, so I grabbed my guitar and headed to central park. Once there I found myself a spot on a bench and started playing and singing. I really only know christian songs, so those are the ones I played. I guess it went well, I mean no one crossed on the other side of the sidewalk or had grimaced faces or made mean gestures, so I count it as a success. Many people smiled, a few nodded, one man played his air guitar as he walked by. Good times.

Once my fingers were sore and I had played just about every song that I have memorized I decided to take a nap. So I found a nice spot under the shade of a tall tree. I rested my arm on top of my guitar in hopes that I would be aroused if anyone attempted to steal it during my slumber. I woke about an hour later with guitar still beside me - another success.

I went home to grab something to eat and drop off the guitar. I then went to a Johnny Cash tribute concert. It was a lot of local bands playing Johnny Cash songs in their own style - some I liked, some I didn't. My favorite were "The Persuasions" (pictured above) which were a 60's a capella group and a Cash impersonator (also pictured above). The last picture is of the view over the Hudson river from the Irish Hunger Memorial (one of my new favorite places in town).

Today I went to the Catholic Church that is connected to our convent. It was interesting, because I don't recall ever attending a Catholic mass before (although it was similar to the Lutheran services I have attended). It was neat to see how Catholics 'do their thing'. Peace!

busy week - surprise surprise

Lets see....Wednesday night (community night) my housemates and I went to watch a movie in a park on a big screen, about half way through the movie lightening was too close so they had to shut down - it was a good experience though. Last night I went to see Wicked on Broadway, it was really good. It had a lot of important underlying themes that I didn't really expect - but to put it simply, it showed why it is such a bad idea to judge people because, for the most part, we don't know their backgrounds or experiences that have made them the way they are. There were also many other important ideas woven into the script, but too much to think about at 1:30 in the morning. Tonight I (along with Father Placid) took a group of the kids to Times Square Church for a youth service - it was a really good service and I feel like it dealt with a lot of the issues that our kids are facing daily. We took 12 kids and many of them commented on how much they liked it and asking when we could go again - whenever people are anxious about going to church its a plus in my book. I'm looking forward to a relaxing weekend - I don't have one thing on the agenda, so we'll see what ends up happening. Peace.

what a weekend

My family came to see me this weekend, and what a weekend it was. Here's some of the things we did: visited the world trade center site, walked through battery park, ate in little italy, saw mama mia (on broadway, not the movie), went to the bronx zoo, ate pizza in central park, watched a movie, went to church at the brooklyn tabernacle (a church of nearly 10,000 according to their website, and i believe it), and went swimming in the atlantic ocean at coney island. Amidst all this fun, there were a couple of mishaps: at the theatre friday night, i was pick-pocketed, but luckily they just took the cash and threw my wallet down, so when i went to look for it all of my credit cards, insurance cards, ID, etc were still there - a blessing in a very weird disguise i guess - i was so relieved about it that i really didn't feel that bad about the whole situation. then on sunday we were driving to the beach when a woman decided to stop in the middle of the road and back into our car - an unfortunate occurrence, yes - even more so when the cops came and the woman told them that we ran into her. so since it was their word against ours, nothing could really be resolved. not the best way to end my family's visit - but i think the weekend as a whole was positive just because we got to see each other (although i don't know if dad will feel that way when he gets the bill for the car). they are now home safely and i am back to work. Exciting things coming up this week: I'm seeing Wicked (a broadway show about the wizard of oz's witches growing up, and why one of them turned good and one turned evil - should be a good time) and on friday I'm taking some of the kids to a service at times square church specifically for youth - another good time. Peace.

birthday

Yesterday was my birthday - and it was a good one. I started off with a productive day at the shelter, I got a lot of good stuff done. I got off work at 5, then met the rest of the people I lived with at 7. It was community night the night's objective was service, so we decided to make and serve dinner at another shelter in the city. The shelter was called Sylvia's Place. It was much smaller than ours and the facilities were not as good, or very clean. The residents there basically come in at night and find a place on the floor to sleep. They keep their belongings in plastic bins, but they could upgrade to a shelf if they lived there long enough. They were very happy to have a nice meal - we had prepared lasagna, salad, some type of apple dessert, and cookies. They were also very appreciative. It was a good time.
When we got home, my housemates had prepared a cake and brownies and icecream for us to enjoy - and we did. Then we proceeded to play a pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey game except it involved paper ducks substituting for the tail and a painting of saint francis substituting for the donkey. It was fun.
Today will be a long day. I'm on my lunch break now, and I get off work at five. At that time I will be going with one of my housemates to "rumble on the river", an amateur boxing event in southeast Manhattan. Then we will hang out in the city until 11, when we are meeting some of our other housemates to get in line with our tickets for good seats to the 12:01 showing of Batman. I'm pumped. Peace!

hiking

Today, I helped lead some of our kids on a hike in New Jersey. We took 19 kids, almost twice as many as have ever volunteered to go before. I must say, it was very interesting to see these "tough" kids outside of their element. When encountering different aspects of nature almost all of them were uncomfortable and a few were scared, even terrified. At the end of the day, though, the trip was a huge success. Each of the kids conquered the mountain, and each will have stories to tell their friends. A great experience for both them and myself. Peace!

a good week

These are a few pictures I took at the Metropolitan Museum of art yesterday - pretty cool place all in all.

As always, I've been staying busy. Wednesday was our "community night" - all of my housemates get together Wednesday night for either business, social activities, etc. This week happened to be a social-type night. We walked the Brooklyn bridge which gave us a great view of the city at night. Then we stopped in at city hall park where we had our prayer/reflection time in the middle of a sidewalk - and where Clint, a housemate, decided to take a dip in the public fountain (for which he was verbally reprimanded by a security guard. Then we went downtown to have pastries/deserts - it was wonderful.

Thursday night I went to a comedy play called Boeing Boeing. It was very funny, and I stuck around afterwards to get autographs so that was cool.

Friday at the crisis center we had a youth group from Katy (outside of Houston) Texas come in to share. They had about 10-15 kids, and 10-15 of our kids showed up as well so it was a pretty good turnout. We basically just opened up for people to share their story. A girl from Texas told her story first, and another girl from Texas finished up. In the hour between those two, our Covenant House kids shared. It was very moving, and powerful as they they told us about abusive, drug-addicted parents, about addictions and gangs, and about their faith journeys. A Texas girl summed it up well when she said "its amazing that you guys have been through so much, and you still believe".

Its been a good week. I'm looking forward to another good one -hopefully a hiking trip with some of the kids will be a part of it. Also, my family is coming to see me next weekend - so I can show off how well I know the city to them! Peace.

im selfish

I was at the Covenant House Crisis Center and I had opened the chapel for use by the kids. As I explored a bit I found a prayer book - in this book the kids can write prayers or prayer requests for Father Placid (or whoever else) to pray over. As I flipped through the book, here are some things that I read from various writers:
- I want to make it in life
- Please help me get my kids back
- Please help me. I'm lost and would like to be found
- Please pray for my family, we are in need of a home
- I'm lost and scared. I can't find myself. I don't know who I am any more. Everything is lies. Help me find myself please.
- Please Lord help me. I cry to you for help because I need help. Please hear my cries please.

As I read about the things these kids are going through and the types of things they were prayin for, I could only think one thing....I'm selfish.

other recent things

I keep remembering other things that have happened in the last couple of days that I haven't mentioned. First is 4th of July and fireworks. We watched the fireworks from our roof and it was awesome. There were at least 10 sets of fireworks going off at any given time around us. The Macy's fireworks (64,000 pounds worth) were huge, but lacked much of a grand finale. Most of the shows were a long ways off except for the guys that were setting off their own right down our street (illegally, of course). I've decided that I like being close-up at fireworks show, like at home in Ohio - I believe the Orrville fireworks are my running favorites. I like "feeling" the booms.
Today I went to church at the Times Square Church. It was a very large church, and I was kinda sceptical at first with the music and such - the whole thing was very TV-like. I was wondering how authentic the service would be. Then came the message - and it was a great one. The minister preached about "Knowing the Mind of Christ". The first part of the sermon was about how to go about finding God's will for your life and the types of things people do that keep themselves from hearing God's voice in their life. The second part of the sermon focused on using God's calling and sharing it with others. I think that I shouldn't judge churches on their size, or denomination, or anything else for that matter. I think that's where I, along with a lot of other people, get into trouble I think. At any rate its something to think about.
Also, today I saw a man on the sidewalk. This man was walking with his cat standing/sitting on his head. The cat seemed to enjoy it, because it was wagging its tail. I was impressed, but wasn't close enough to get a picture. Sorry. Peace!

great couple of days

At the time of my last entry I was a bit discouraged - but its amazing how God seems to always have everything figured out. On Friday I spoke with Father Placid about what my opportunities would be with pastoral ministry. He left me that night with the keys to the chapel and told me I could open it whenever I wanted. So after he left for the night, I opened the chapel and went around to a couple of the floors to let the kids know that its open and I would be there for a couple hours. I was happy when my first two guys walked in. The one had a very strong faith background and was not afraid to challenge me about what I believed, and I loved it! Others came just to see what the chapel looked like, and to see what pamphlets and things they could get for free. A group of girls came at one point and decided that we would read stories about Jesus together out of a children's book. I took these opportunities to introduce myself to the kids and say a short prayer with some of them. It was a great start - just what I needed. These kids know a lot more about the Bible and what it has to say than I thought they would - I was impressed, to be honest.
Outside of work, I've had a great couple of days. I discovered this thing known as "standing tickets" for Broadway shows. When the shows are sold out, they sell a certain number of these standing tickets to people who don't mind standing in the back of the first floor of seating to watch the show. Its great for a person on a budget (like me) because a regular seat to a show can be anywhere from $50-$150 (sometimes less, many times more) but you can get these standing tickets for $20-$25. So Thursday I got home from work and I went to see if I could get standing tickets for Phantom of the Opera but they were sold out - but very close to that theatre is was showing Spamalot - related to the movie Monty Python and the Holy Grail. I got standing tickets for this show and it was pretty funny, a nice way to spend an evening. Today a few of us tried to enter a drawing to win some front row tickets to another show called Wicked, but failed - so we went and got standing tickets for Phantom and it was wonderful! (The picture above is me in front of the theatre) We may try to win tickets to Wicked again tomorrow - if we do, its a front row seat for $25 - that's hard to beat!
To finish off, I must thank my friends Dr. and Mrs. Metz for their assistance in helping me enjoy Broadway! Peace.

lunch break

I'm on my lunch break at work right now. I got to meet briefly with my supervisor yesterday to get a better feel for my schedule. I will be working with Father Placid in pastoral ministry on Monday and Friday evenings. I will be working for the recreation department Tuesday thru Thursday on afternoons.
So far I haven't had a whole lot of interaction directly with the kids, which was getting a little frustrating. Last night I realized that I came into this summer wanting to "help". During my interviews I told them I wanted to do whatever I could to "help". A lot of my recreation job is going to be trying to get free tickets to events, games, theme parks, etc for the kids to have fun with while they're here. I've realized is really important even though I don't get direct interaction with them that way. I guess it will make me enjoy and take advantage of the times I do get to spend with them either with the pastoral ministry or while doing on-site things for recreation.
During our training, one of the teachers asked us why we thought we were here - why we thought God led us here and what he was going to teach us through this experience. We all gave our answers, then he told us that we were all wrong. He said that we wouldn't know why God brought us here or what he wanted to teach us until the end of the experience.
I think God is testing me a little bit with humility and patience, helping me understand the importance of behind-the-scenes work. I've decided to try to make the best of it, and put as much effort into that part of my job as I do when I'm spending time with the kids.
So I feel good about being here and doing what I can to "help". Peace.

good morning

Today marks day three of work. So far its been.....interesting. My main supervisor has been gone for the two days I've been there, so I haven't been doing what I would usually do. Monday I started on the older females floor (18-21 year olds) where I read some case files and basically observed what happens on the floor. I was in the floor's office most of the day, but boredom got to me so I went and hung out with some of the girls in the lobby. Then I wandered upstairs to the older males floor and talked to some of them. All in all it was a good day - I met a lot of people and got a chance to hang with some of the kids so I can't complain about that.
Yesterday I decided that I wasn't going to just sit and observe. I needed to make myself useful - I don't really care what I'm doing as long as I'm doing something. So I started in the clothing room. People can donate clothing to covenant house for our kids. There is one lady in charge of the clothing room she does everything from sorting (because some people send stuff that an 18 year old kid would never wear) to cleaning the clothes. So I helped her out for a few hours until lunch. Then I went to the older males floor and cleaned out their AWOL closet. If a kid doesn't come back to Covenant House and leaves his belongings, they keep them in a big room for a certain amount of time before throwing them out. After this I went to the females floor and monitored the computer room for a while.
At 5 Father Placid (my supervisor for the pastoral ministry part of my job) took me to the mother/child covenant house building a couple blocks away to hold a prayer/discussion before their dinner. This was the first glimpse of something I will actually be doing, so I was happy to join him with that.
That's all for now, I need to be at work soon. Peace.