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!