Just like us and ANTS!

Last week I had the pleasure of traveling with 26 middle school students and 4 other adults to Clinton, SC to work at Thornwell Home for Children for two days.  As is often the case we went planning to give and received much in return. We wiped down rooms and trimmed bushes to prepare a house that was re-opening and mulched planters at an apartment complex during the mornings.  However, the evenings were our highlight.  Both Monday & Tuesday evening we got to spend time with some of the children that live at Thornwell.  The cottage in which we stayed was next door to the elementary boys cottage.  So in the evening when our group came out to play football the boys would come join in.  All I heard about on day 2 was how great an athlete one particular resident was!

One evening we also had an ice cream social with many of the houses.  A part of our group got to spend time with several of the high school girls that live at Thornwell.  It was so neat to watch our groups bond. The girls took turns, Faith and Thornwell alike, doing gymnastics and tumbling.  Then we sat around and talked about life (a.k.a. boys). It was such a neat experience,  my favorite part was when a student looked at me on the walk back to our cottage and said, "Those girls are just like us!"

After a few days at Thornwell we traveled to Maryville, TN to participate in the Montreat Middle School Conference.  We learned what it meant to roll away stones in our relationship with God and then in the lives of others to allow them to have their needs met. It was a great learning experience for our group.

High/low from the trip: My high would be talking with Matt & Stacy two of the family teachers for the Berkele Cottage (high school girls house).  To hear the story of how they decided to move to Thornwell and become family teachers was so inspiring and I just loved getting to chat with them.  The low point came from the dorm at Maryville College.  One of the boys tried to tell me his room had an ant problem.  I looked and it seemed minor.  So I told him to shake his stuff off and wipe it down.  Then I called the RA and didn't think about it again.  That night we realized the problem was major.  The bed was covered in ants!  I felt so bad that I had not taken it more seriously... and that we had to stay up past 12:30!

What do you call it?

A practice I adopted from my campus minister, and still use to this day, is a feedback concept called "High/Low" where members of a group share the high and low points of their day/week.

While chaperoning the middle school trip this past week, we did daily check-ins.  However, I learned a few new names for this activity.  The other DCE from Faith calls it Pow Wow, which is neat because of the "having a pow wow" concept as well as a pow being negative and a wow being a positive.  The volunteer coordinator we worked with a Thornwell called it Brownies and Frownies, because in her house they loved brownies!

Do you have a different name for this activity?  Does your family do something like this around the dinner table to check in?  How about your youth/children's ministry when on trips?

Missing High/Low

I must admit, I am loving my new position as Director of Christian Education for Children in Tallahassee.  Last week during mid-week activities I got to spend time with the elementary aged group, getting to know them.  They were so energetic and excited to begin bonding. This week, during mid-week activities, I spend time with our 3-5 year olds.  We learned about Joseph's coat, that God was with him and is with us still.  I enjoyed getting to know each little person and their quirks and am excited to watch them grow in relationship with God and just plain grow up!

However, the past two Wednesday nights, I've been missing something from my Cola life.  I've been missing high/low.  My campus minister introduced high/low in my life when I was in college (I'm pretty sure she got it from a movie).  Ever since then I have carried it in my bag of tricks.  One of my highlights as Minister of Student at SABC was getting to touch base as a group with each student present on Wednesday night.  We would take turns, going around the circle sharing the best and worst thing about our week.

I miss that... A LOT!

So, my low for this week was not getting to share high/low with anyone.  My high for this week is continuing to connect with new friends here at Faith.

What's your high/low?