So after staying in bed (well on Karina’s futon) literally all day being sick with this cold and sinuses stuff, I think I am now ready to write a blog- because it has been a while.
I believe I will start with Week 3 of camp. For the most part it went really well for me. My girls have had some issues with getting along with each other; however, we had a very long discussion on Thursday and I am hoping that it has solved some of the issues. I now have about 8 girls that come regularly to my group. They each have their own very distinct personalities and some are much stronger than others. Getting back into our routine after having the youth group from FBC Pasadena was difficult at first, but by the end of the week we were back on track. We taught the girls a dance to Shackles and I love it so much- they seemed to enjoy it. Then we had our field trip on Friday to the skating rink and the girls absolutely loved it. I think every one of them at least put on skates and a majority of them did skate. I put on skates which I haven’t done in years and surprised myself. Little girls from another group that were about 5 latched on to me and some of our other leaders who were skating around so they wouldn’t fall, and they didn’t even notice us. It was so sweet.
This past week we also got to celebrate Julie’s birthday, she is one of the summer missionaries serving with me. Her birthday was Wednesday and we had cake with all our girls at the camp, and it was designed amazingly by our cook, Megan. Then Thursday, we went to eat seafood and it was delicious. I actually had an amazing salad but I did eat a little bit of shrimp from Kay’s plate. I’m not sure which was better. After eating we went to Preservation Hall, which is where a lot of musicians got their start like Louis Armstrong. It was just a small room with a few benches and some standing room and we got to listen to a brass band. It was really interesting and fun, but I think it is just a onetime deal for me. Then of course on our way back we stopped at Café du Monde and had a wonderful Café au lait and I loved it!
Saturday we drove about 2.5 hours down to Grand Isle, LA to see some of the effects of the oil spill. I had no idea what to expect, I didn’t know what an oil spill would look like or how bad it was going to be. It was so amazing to see all the bridges that we drove over through the marsh land. There was literally no land in some of the places we were driving, just bridges. Once we got to Grand Isle, it was eerie it was so quiet and dead. It is summer time and we were at a beach and hardly anyone was out. We drove over to this state park area which happened to be a clean-up site, so we got to experience that part of the spill as well. We did see some of the black clumps of oil sand piles, but for the most part what we saw was the shiny residue in the water and along the shore as well as maybe some of the chemicals mixed in with it. My heart just broke for all the people living there because fishing and the ocean was pretty much their life and now they are stuck.
Sunday, I got to experience Popeye’s chicken and red beans with rice. It was delicious. I don’t feel like I enjoyed as much as I would have liked to because I wasn’t feeling to great, but another trip there will happen.
Today I was able to have a very humbling experience. We have a lady who pretty regularly comes to the Friendship House. I met her for the first time about 2 weeks ago. She hasn't had the easiest life and hasn't chosen the best routes, but I truly believe that she is trying to make a difference and get her life back on track. So last week when she came in with bruises after being beaten by her "John" I told her that the next time I saw her I would do her nails for her. When I woke up today she was here, and she remembered the nail stuff. So we let her soak her feet in some antiseptic water to try and clean them some- they are in terrible condition from improper shoes and tons of walking, but as soon as I got that bright pink nail polish on her fingers and toes, she was a completely different woman. It is possibly one of the most humbling experiences I have ever had. She walked out of our building today with her head up. It really is the simple things in life.
So I am finally beginning to feel better after sleeping a lot of the day yesterday, last night, and all day today. I think God was trying to tell me something- ya think??? I am ready for tomorrow- I missed being with all my girls today- so pray for a much better tomorrow!!!
<3 Kendall
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