Emmaus week 7. - Baby Boo Kittens!

I am half way through my internship at Emmaus, and so far it has been a wonderful experience filled with challenges, fun, and an overall a great learning experience. It is a bittersweet feeling to be half way through. I feel excited for graduation to come and to be reunited with my social work buddies, but also sad because I don’t want to leave Emmaus. I have been considering staying at Emmaus for another year to join their Kaio internship program, and if not I still want to stay connected to Emmaus long-term through volunteering. I will have to be in prayer about this decision and for what God wants me to do after graduation.

This past week at Emmaus was a pretty good week, but tiring. Sometimes lack of sleep gets the best of me. I felt really tired in the MC on Tuesday. Tuesday’s are really long days due to staff meetings and outreach. I demonstrate self-care by going out for walks on the lakefront trail during my free time on Tuesday, but even after going to bed at 3am due to outreach that night I felt rejuvenated and awake the next morning. Wednesday was a busy but pleasant day in the MC. My co-worker was working in the clothing room so my responsibility was to make sure the guys were completing their chores, and for me to watch over the MC. The guys are not really allowed to use the phones at Emmaus without supervision, and multiple guys wanted to use the phones after lunch, and were asking me to help them out some things on the computer. During this time I felt a little stressed because multiple guys were coming up to me asking me for things or to do something for them. One of the guys got a little demanding with me, and I had to step out of my comfort zone and tell him “no” and that he had to wait for when I had some free time to help him out. Telling somebody “no” is not a strength of mine. I felt bad afterwards and told him that I understand the importance of what he wants done, but it has to wait because it is not an emergency at the moment. Even though I felt bad about it I understand the importance of being able to tell people “no” sometimes. Fear not! After everything calmed down I was able to help him out with phone calls and other needs.

One of the guys decorates hats and sells them. The name of his business is Baby Boo, and he has different kinds of hats that he sells. When he came into the MC that day he gave me one of the hats that he made, and told me that hat type is Baby Boo Kitten. I thought it was really sweet and kind that he would give me a Baby Boo Kitten hat. I also think it’s cool that he makes them, and uses his talent through making hats. This definitely made my day!

I say this in pretty much every blog, but I am really blessed to be here. I have had some really great conversations with some of the guys, some great relationships built, and the guys have touched my heart. I am not looking forward to leaving Emmaus in May, and still hope to stay connected in some way afterwards. The guys and people at Emmaus will always hold a special place in my heart!

Emmaus Week 5 & 6.

 It has been a while since I have blogged. I have had a busy, but very fun past couple of weeks here at Emmaus. We had a group from Steubenville, Ohio come in for a weeklong mission through their school.  This group prepares to come to Emmaus for a while by praying and raising funds, and they stay down in the ministry center for the entire week. They are known as The Steubs. The previous week before that was a normal work week including a couple MC shifts, and night of outreach and some office time. Christa and I created more of a schedule and due dates for my work in the office, which is great and a whole lot easier for me to get work done when I have a deadline. Outreach was warmer this last week, which was nice, but was still a slow night, which is good!

The Steubs came in last Sunday. They are an incredible group of people and so much fun. This was my first time getting to experience them, but they come every year around this time. They hang out in the MC with the guys, cook meals, and take us all out on field trips. It was super awesome to see this group interact with all the guys and just love on them. The first field trip that we took the guys to on Tuesday was Whirlyball, which is basically bumper cars and lacrosse combined. So much fun! It was so amazing to watch the guys have a fun time playing the game and to be able to experience it with them. I thought it was really nice to be able to hang out with the guys outside of the MC. I also thought how cool is it that I am playing Whirlyball for my internship?! There was no field trips planned for Wednesday, but I had a great time in the MC with The Steubs. They brought so much energy and it was just so much fun to be around them. Most of them were around my age and college students so I connected with them, and considering we are open for lunch and dinner on Wednesday I was basically friends with all of them by the end of the night. It was a day filled with great conversation, awesome food, and a lot of game playing. Unfortunately, I lost in an intense game of UNO between the guys, The Steubs, and Dr. Rose!  I was amazed that The Steubs were down there from morning until night hanging with the guys and the energy that they had throughout the whole day.

Thursday The Steubs took the guys and us to the Willis (Sears) Tower Sky Deck. This was my first time doing the sky deck along with most of our guys so I was really excited! To see the guys excited about going to the skydeck made me excited for them! We had so much fun on the 103^rd level of the tower. Some guys were nervous to step on the glass, but it was so cool to see them light up with excitement. Some of the guys and I gathered together to get a group picture in one of the skybox windows. It is seriously the coolest photo ever! Again I was thinking about how awesome it was to be doing this for my internship! When Friday came around I was really sad to say goodbye to The Steubs but was so grateful to have been able to spend time with them, and to have them come and treat our guys with such unconditional love. During their time here I feel like the guys had a blast, and by just hanging out and having fun I feel like I have gotten to know them better!

I am so blessed to be at a place like Emmaus and to have been able to experience The Steubs on their mission trip, and to witness them come in and serve the men. I love being here, and hanging out with the guys. They truly are amazing people and I am really enjoying my time here and feel like I am learning so much from the ministry and the guys.

Glad to hear from some of my Social Work buddies and that you all are doing well. See you all soon!

Emmaus Week 4

I have been at Emmaus for a month now already! I can’t believe how fast time is going. I had the same schedule this past week of doing a couple days in the MC, a night of outreach, and a couple office days that involved doing research for the future database website about men involved in prostitution.

Something that stood out to me this past week was that one of the guys who I helped a few weeks ago to get a signed notary for homeless status certification, to get a free state ID card came back to the ministry this past week really excited to show me that he got his new state ID. We sign many homeless status certifications at Emmaus so I didn’t think it was a really big deal at first when I signed it, but when he came back to the ministry excited and joyful because of his new ID that made me happy to be able to help him out.

Wednesday was a pretty busy day in the MC since we serve lunch and dinner that day. I had some really good conversations with some of the guys sharing their stories, and some guys talking about changes they needed to make in their lives. I really love being able to be down in the MC and talk to the guys, and eat dinner with them like a family. I never walk into or out of the MC without receiving hugs or handshakes from the guys.  I am so blessed to have this opportunity at Emmaus, and to walk alongside these men.