Catchinig up

I haven't spent much time here lately, although I really love reading all of your stories. My life has been a huge whirlwind of late.  The highest of high points was my time in Trinidad with 43 of my closest friends! OK, we're close now even if we weren't when we left home!  I got to share a room with my soul-sister Sharon.  It's a good thing that she loves me as much as she does because kids -- we even had to share a bed! We had no clue that there was only 1 bed until we opened the door! We had been discussing attitudes and flexibility with the kids, so when our key opened the door to that room, we both had to giggle!  We just took one look at each other and decided to set the example.  As soon as we were through laughing at the situation, we just climbed in, said "Nighty Night" and went to sleep.

Check out my facebook or read JayneMaris Xanga for loads of pictures and other information.  You can't imagine the depth and breadth of blessings we received.

I have also managed to get Kim and my nieces graduated since I last blogged here.  Three girls at the same High School and they were all Honor Grads!  Kim is National Honor Society, Mu Alpha Theta (Math Honors), Tri-M (Music Honors), Presidential Scholar, Arkansas Scholar and maybe a couple of others.  We are incredibly proud!

I also have a family member fighting a terrible cancer.  She has been working on this for about 3 years now.  She often gets serious infections and she is currently in the hospital trying to kick one.  I have been advised not to go visit her due to my trip out of the country.  It seems that SARs is prevalent in Trinidad, so I need to stay away for a few more days.

I also returned home to a nice surprise package from my Xanga-friend Bonnie.  I collect post cards, and she sent me a large envelope full!  Thanks dear!  I appreciate them! Especially since I did not get any in Trinidad!  I never even saw any.  That's just another thing that is a little "different" than the way we do it.

I need to slow my life down now for a while.  I have another training trip to plan sometime before August. I hope I can find someplace interesting!

Forgiveness

My personal devotions lately have been on the topic of "Forgiveness."  Devotions is kind of a loose word for me.  I will see something that sparks my interest and then I will research it to no end.  I have always been interested in the concept of "Forgive and forget."  I know that I have been forgiven and I don't struggle with that. But forgiving others.  Sometimes that is just tough isn't it?

Quick -- someone tell me where to find "Forgive and Forget" in the Scripture! Answer, it isn't there......Yes, we are certainly expected to forgive things and put them behind us.  But only God is able to throw our sins into the "sea of forgetfulness."  Our human minds can't quite wrap itself around the concept of forgetting.  But, yet I can't quite get over the fact that "Forgive" and "Forget" are uniquely intertwined in a way that only our Spiritual minds can understand.  There is such peace available to you when you can forgive someone and then lay that thing down and leave it behind. 

Am I confusing or what?

In my Devo-research, I came across an interesting concept.  The Aramaic word for "Forgive" means to "untie." I am working on a Sunday School lesson for my teens called 'Fit to be tied.' Too many of our kids (and me.....) hold onto this stuff, keep grudges, and let it eat them inside.  But if we can just work through a few things or untie a few knots, we would be so  much better.

So after I have done all of this research-otion I had my big V-8 moment. You know where you finally get the big point and smack your head like the V-8 commercial? What is more useless than a knotted up rope? Finally, it occurred to me that the best way to keep a rope from getting tied up in knots is to tie it firmly, and properly, to something sturdy. Can you see my big object lesson here?

So that's my big wisdom for today -- Forgive in Aramaic means "untie."  Anyone got some knots you need to work out?  I sure do!

I heard a great message recently....

The message was from Capt. Gilliam at Youth Councils this year, and it was the story of second chances. I think most of you who read this were probably there and remember it.  The first one he delivered was about the things we learn about one another's lives from this type of site, or more likely from FaceBook or MySpace.  There are some pretty terrible things there.  Thank God, most of the kids I read either have it all together, or they are not involved in the horribleness of it all. However, I remember well that I may have helped a teenager avoid suicide because I paid attention to the written words.  Keep up with your kids.

The other message wasn't a sermon, but a story about an accident on the lake at Camp Keystone. A few minutes of showing off and not paying attention resulted in an accident that was almost tragic.  And if you recall the story, the really neat thing was the fact that the Mom of the injured kid did something extraordinarily nice for Captain Gilliam the next day.

My mind immediately went to one of my own young people -- Taco.  He was a troubled kid at camp, stole many golf carts, and really caused problems.  He even hit a female DHQ Officer once. Thank God that he was given a second chance, because he is now a married father of two.  He is an excellent provider for his sweet family. He has delivered a couple of powerful messages at our Corps .  A lot of us had worked with him day in and day out at home, and that's where his foundation is. But he will tell you that this big 2nd chance was what helped him take advantage of those lessons.  He is now serving his 2nd tour of duty in Iraq.  Any story without action to back it up is just that -- a good story. Taco would never have learned anything if he had just been told about a boating accident and an act of kindness.  But because he was shown such a powerful example, he is a changed man.

I think that all of us who work with kids need to seriously evaluate how we treat them -- where are their safety nets and where are their 2nd chances? (or 3rd, or 4th?).  And if a kid messes up once, can we all agree to take the pressure off of them?  In my Sunday School class, one of the things they discuss most is "stress."  Much of it is self-inflicted and much of it is imposed by us -- their leaders and mentors.  We need more of our leaders to be the 2nd-chance givers, and less who are like vultures watching them and waiting for them to fall.

A wise friend gave me some advice and I found the need to pass it along to another Mom this week. Sometimes you see your child falling apart and you can help -- put on a Mom Band-Aid and fix it up.  But sometimes you just have to step back a bit and be sure you do not add anything that helps them fall apart.  Because then you can be there to pick up the pieces. Otherwise, you lose that chance.

So do you have any reflections on those messages? 

What an incredible story

I am in Dallas this week for training.  The local news and the national news are filled with 2 stories:  hundreds of airplanes being grounded and hundreds of children being removed from the polygamist sect in West Texas. The story about the children is breaking my heart! Bus after bus is taking more than 400 children and their mothers away from this compound. 

This morning, I woke up very early so I clicked on the news.  There have been questions about where the children were going.  Today, they said that they are going to a "church camp" in Midlothian, TX and that all their weekend activities have been cancelled.  Then they did a tour of our very own Camp Hoblitzelle. A quick check of the youthdownsouth website shows that the "cancelled weekend activity" is their Youth Councils.  Now, I am sure that most of you reading my site probably already know that through a Lotus Note or the ever-popular southern territory grapevine.

We sing a Praise song called "Eagles Wings" with a lyric that says "bring me to my knees....."  Let me tell you that this tired lady who just experienced our wonderful Youth Councils last weekend had a "bring me to my knees" moment right there in my p.j.s with the remote control.  Not only is my heart broken for the children who will be cared for at the camp, but my heart is also really broken for our kids who are sacrificing this event in their lives. I also know that these kids and their leaders will be honored for this decision.  Yes, I'm sure that we will be compensated for camp, food, etc. But can you imagine how that decision must have occurred?  Maybe we do deserve the motto "doing the most good" after all.

Just keep praying for the children who have been removed.  They are almost all girls.  An "untold" portion of this story is that the old men of this group only wanted young girls. There are dozens upon dozens of young men and boys who are simply missing. They were turned out from the compound some time ago and no one really knows where they are.

I have to keep checking this story to be sure that this is really America we're discussing!

Fabulous weekend

 I'm not sure if I have had a flashback experience where I relived my Prom, or if I am seeing my future because I am definitely too old and too tired for some of this! Here are a few quick highlights and a copule of fantastic photos.

It's good to spend time with friends, even friends who are hurting.

This weekend is the first time in months that I didn't think about work once (thank you, God!).

It is absolutely impossible that ANY other couple at Jenks Prom looked as good as this beautiful young couple!

It is such a blessing to be parent of children you don't really have to worry about.  Even when they get in trouble or act up, we're just blessed with good kids! (I got to see a lot of other good kids this weekend -- so count your blessings, too!).

There's nothing quite like your own bed to sleep in.

BEFORE

AFTER

That's one prom down and one to go!  Graduation, here we come!