Here are a few pictures of my home and Henderson. I know a few of you were wondering where I live now and what it looks like so finally I have some pictures up!

To add to my week we had a bit of craziness going on. The health inspector came to check our paperwork and our houses...which meant a lot of scrambling and running around. One of the big thing is we are not allowed to have meat without a certain stamp on it...well we received quite a big donation of meat from people but it is stamped Not For Sale. which is still really good for you but it needs another stamp before we can use it, so we at our three cottages were scrambling to get it out of the cottages before the health inspector came. So we piled it all in our friend's car in a box since it was super cold outside that day we weren't too worried about it defrosting. So cleaning the cottages my friend Caitlain picked up the meat in our friend Hannah's car and parked it by our off duty house. Well as she was walking back to the cottage she noticed something in the road wrapped in white by the boy's cottage...as she got closer she saw it was a roast! So she picked it up and turned around to put it with the other meat but go figure the inspector was coming driving by in her car so she turned around and started walking to put the roast in the boy's car only to find it locked. Well it isn't normal to walk around with a frozen pot roast on the street that look super awkward walking past the inspector so she walked to our cottage. So here I am sitting in the living room working on paperwork and she walks in with this roast! And goes "I found dinner tonight!" All you can do is laugh but we figured we needed to do something with it until the inspector came to our cottage since it still wasn't approved by their standards so what else is there to do...we set the wrapped roast on our bathroom sink in the staff bedrooms to defrost! How many times can you say you have a frozen roast in your bathroom! When we told the girls later that night we found dinner on the road they were like "gross...that is so not true and we know it!".....you can choose to believe what you wish. :)

So I was sitting at work this past week and it has occurred to me that on Wednesday the 23rd I had been down here working for a month already! It is crazy how much time has flown by! There are some days that it seems like I have been here for years but then other days I seem like I am still in my first week of work. This week was also a bit harder since the second day I started work this week I got sick with bronchitis. As usual it took me a bit to admit that I was sick throwing my tough "I am not sick" face on but once that cough, sore throat and just plain exhaustion hit in and it was for sure the toughest week I have had to face yet. I not only suffered through the sickness but also faced some tough times with some of the girls. I am now working 3 days at Bader House with some girls and then 3 days at Girl's Cottage with the other girls. It is interesting learning how different each house has both different personalities but also different challenges and lifestyles.  Each cottage brings their own challenges and lessons at the same time.

My first three days at Bader House seemed to be fine. Up until the second night, one of the other staff members and I were just hanging out doing paperwork when one of our girls came out of the bathroom after taking a long time in the shower and went straight to her room. About 10 minutes later another girl was getting ready to shower and came to bring to our attention that the previous girls must have done something to her hair since there was about 5 inches of hair in the garbage. Turns out she had cut her hair in the shower with her razor! Needless to say things didn't go well for the next few days, she lost privileges of her razor for a week and we refused to fix her hair until her appointment the following week. It was a nice consequence for her to suffer through her terrible hair cut seeing as she couldn't be patient with us to wait until her appointment. I suppose life is never dull in a group home that is for sure! It gave me a glimpse into the challenges and unpredictable moments of my job and what I am up against.  But it also reminds me of the things I can do and why I am here. That moment however was not the only moment that made me really see how much these kids need.

I spent my last three days at girl's cottage and there is a new girl who has only been here for a little over two weeks. The first two weeks of a kid being placed they are required to be within arms length of a staff member at all times, so now that she is off that it has made this job a bit more of a challenge. She is pushing every boundary possible and taking out all her anger on one of my fellow staff members. And it obviously is normal for a kid who starts out but it also hurts to see her taking her anger out on my friend even when she is not there. She is hurting and that is what we are here for, to not make friends and to be the adults. So I experienced the first time having a kid truly angry at me for getting after her, especially for blowing up at my fellow staff member when it wasn't her fault. Obviously this is part of the job but when it happens it is definitely something you don't expect even when you know it is coming. So when someone gives you that "I hate you" look it is hard but you truly know it is for the best. It definitely will take time to get to know this challenge but I know I am meant to be here to help these kids and I know in the end they also are helping me grow in not only my relationship with my fellow staff but especially with God. This job is teaching me to rely 110% on God and I am loving all that He is showing me. I am excited to start this next week, especially feeling better than I was. I feel that God is going to use me in many wonderful ways this week and I can't wait to see what He has in store. :)

So this week has taken an interesting turn which isn't all together bad. I worked three days this week and now am on my three days off...typically we work six days a week then we get a three day break. So working only three days makes me feel super lazy haha. We shifted our schedules around to give one of our staff members an overdue extended break. She has been working as the only primary staff at one of the cottages since April so now that we have gotten new staff fully starting this week, it was decided she needed a few extra days off...whether she wanted to or not. Which I am completely fine with giving her that break because I truly believe she needed that rest, so I just get to take a break earlier than expected and after my past three days I am NOT complaining!

After my three days off I went back on duty at Bader on Thursday night at 9:30pm and those three days were just crazy. We found out the schedule change an hour before school got out and we had to pick up the girls so we just decided that since most of the girls would be gone all weekend with home visits, it would just be easier for us to have a slumber party at our cottage with both cottage girls. It was definitely a lot of planning on our part trying to figure out what we would do, how we would figure out details, sleeping arrangements, etc. But Hannah and I completed that task and let me tell you, if you think your first few weeks are rough and crazy...you throw the monkey wrench in the middle and it creates chaos! However, it turned out to be a great weekend with the girls...sure there were those difficult moments where girls were like "I don't want all of us to be together" and "why can't they go back to their cottage" the typical teenage drama. But it was a great bonding experience and it really made me grow in how to run things...but it also makes me realize that although I am finishing up my 3rd week as staff and I have learned a lot, I still have a TON to learn about this job and these kids. I find that each day I learn something new about these girls but also myself. When you ask that simple task and they mumble or storm off to their room, you have to remember" they don't need another friend but someone who takes charge" and that is definitely a challenge for me to pull out my authority, and I know it will take quite a bit of time before that fully happens...if completely but it is definitely starting to come out. Especially when you get tired that adult firm type comes out. My second night of working this past week I was super tired, since I never sleep well my first night over at the cottage after a break. So I was super excited to get some much needed sleep and have a great weekend with the girls....well that didn't happen. Bedtime at the absolute latest for the older girls on weekends is 10:30pm which means lights out and no talking. Well I woke up to someone walking around in the room above me at Midnight and talking...let me tell you when you are awaken from a dead sleep and are already tired...you are NOT happy. Of course I had to do my job and go up and get after them and gave them consequences the next night but when you are tired and you deal with those issues and they mouth off at that time of night...well you really question why you are in this job working with teenagers. But then you cool off and see their sweeter side and you know it pays off in the end...you just need reminders...and often.

I suppose that is why we have such an amazing team that keeps one another accountable and checks in to see how you are doing in all aspects especially spiritually and emotionally. I had the opportunity today to spend the entire day with Caitlain, one of my fellow staff members and it was great to really just spend time and get to know each other and just hang out. We went to York, NE which is the closest town to Henderson where we went thrifting downtown and got to explore the town more (for my sake) and to just enjoy time outside of Henderson. Then of course we had to take our usual trip to Starbucks...because you just can't leave York without Starbucks...duh! Then we just hung out at her off duty house watched a bit of tv, relaxed with pizza and coffee and simply just chilled. It was a GREAT first day off to this break.

Aside from the opportunities to get to know my fellow staff members, I am also seeing God truly work and provide for me. As some of you may know I have been struggling financially my first month here. Really just trying to get student loans figured out on my budget, getting money for a driver's license (which hasn't happened yet) so I can get out of my Tmobile Contract with no penalty, and my Medical Insurance. Well last week God provided in my federal loans being switched to income based so I don't owe anything until February of 2014! Which is amazing but He also provided today, I received my new medical insurance which covers 80% of my medication but it is a reimbursement plan so I have been concerned about paying for my prescriptions each month and waiting to get reimbursed...well I set up my insurance at Walmart and they told me that my prescription is now HALF of what I normally paid back home! I just saved over a hundred dollars! Praise be to God! He has really shown me these past few weeks that if you do His will and follow His path He provides for you and takes care of you. Each day is a gift and serving the Lord and His plan for me is how I plan to live my life, and knowing that He is taking care of me in all the ways I need Him to is refreshing and gives me the strength to keep going and doing what I love and what He loves seeing me do with my life. Even though it is challenging most days what keeps me going is knowing that He is providing for me and that I am doing God's will and it is also what I love!

What makes it even better is that we also just hired two new staff members and so we won't be so short handed and we can start getting back to the regular schedules so nobody will be working alone anymore, which for me makes me feel loads better! I know I won't be alone for awhile seeing that I am still new, but knowing that two people will always be on duty now is definitely enough to make me feel better. I am excited to rest up these next two days and get to know my fellow staff members more that are off duty but also see what God has in store for me these next few days and weeks. It is really hard to believe that I have already been working here for 3 weeks...that is almost a month already and it is just crazy to believe it! I feel like some days I should still be in week one! And other days I feel like I have been here for years. But a day at a time is how I take it and enjoy each moment I am doing this, whether good or bad a day I know that I am doing something I love and is also pleasing God. That in itself keeps me positive and strong.

I finished my second week of working here at Grace Children's Home, and let me tell you it has definitely been interesting....some days easier than others. I spent three days working at one of the girl's houses, the one I had been working at the previous week and the other three days I got the new experience of working with the boy's house. That in itself was an interesting change from working with the girls. I always knew that girls and guys were different, but then you go and work in a house of 6 teenage guys ranging from age 12-18 and man does your eyes get opened up to an entirely different atmosphere. It makes me kind of grateful that I was raised with two older brothers when I was younger, I am able to share in their interest in sports, video games and all those fun things that both myself and the guys house get into.

I think that it was a great experience to get to spend time with the boys, and really understand how different they are from the girls' cottages especially when it comes to authority. However, you also get to see the aggressive side of them when it comes to respecting authority and sports of course. :) I played one on one and man am I sore from all of that....lesson number one never wear boots when playing basketball haha. But it was a good bonding experience, then I spent an hour and a half watching the gang play an actual game...they wanted me to play but in my opinion me plus 7 guys in a full basketball game....NOT A CHANCE! :) I'd rather be a cheerleader to them and watch instead...it is a bit safer.I think sometimes it is better to cheer for those who need it than for you to compete with them. The time spent just getting to know the guys and listening to activities, music, sports they like is all it takes.

The three days prior to working at the boy's cottage I got to spend three days with the girls cottages. Only this time  I was some what in charge of one cottage, but seeing as school was still out we spent time with the other cottage so that I was with another staff member since I am still in training. It was rough at times, especially getting the girls to do what I asked of them, since I am the "new staff" but still they are starting to come around. Some days are better than others but that I think will be a continuous challenge with this job. But God has me here for a reason and I can't wait to see the entire plan that He has for me! :)

I just ask for prayers that God continues to guide me on this journey, that things will continue to work out the way He plans and I know He will provide for me but I just ask for strength as I continue to get this journey started. I love and miss you all and hope you continue to follow me along this journey that God has in store.