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!