Don't be fooled!

Why hello blog readers!!!

When you read this you are probably being deceived the date on this post. The fact of the matter is that this blog is being written early Monday morning at 12:19am Central Time. Hopefully the next few posts are similar to this or something. I will let you know!!

SOOO:

This is so cool!!! Today I am in Arkansas and we just finished our first day with participants on site. It was not a full day just yet in terms of participants being here all day, but it was by all means “full.” Today Leah and I went with Kyle (our wonderful Area Director) and James (the wonderful site director here in Marvell) to WalMart to make last minute purchases that we were unable to make at Sam’s Club on Saturday because of a) Sam’s Club did not have the things that we needed or b) the items were on the lovely bakery list that we neglected to bring to Sam’s Club. This was an interesting trip. Mainly because it was the second trip to WalMart buying the exact same things because the company credit card was flagged for fraud because of the large number of large purchases. This being said, we decided to purchase everything that we needed on receipts with a total right about 100 dollars. This made it possible to buy everything. For those of you who do not know, we are purchasing enough food to feed roughly 70 people for an entire week. Needless to say (probably, but just in case I will say it for you) we spent about $2500 between Sam’s and WalMart, buying such quantities as: 28 loaves of bread, 211 tortillas, 22 heads of lettuce, and 256 pieces of fruit. This was completely new for me, but fun at the same time. You may not be surprised, but we get asked many questions when we are out because we are all under the age of thirty (most of us under 25), and we are purchasing several flats of food.

Anyway, we went to a church service here in Marvell. It was very nice. The church was welcoming. By the way, this site only has one standard household sized refrigerator, and therefore Mrs. Barbee (I may have spelled that wrong) made an announcement at church for any refrigerators that are able to be donated or sold. We are still waiting a reply for that. Also we do not have an ice machine here, so a local church (I believe the same church that we attended) is allowing us to use their ice machine when needed (which really, is like several times a day). One of Marvell’s staff decided to leave today, it has been tough for me, and I cannot imagine how hard it is for those who he has been with for the past three weeks. His name is Brandon, and he just doesn’t feel that this is a good fit for him. It is sad that the choice was made before the real YouthWorks started, but it is all for a reason. Tuesday (which for me is technically tomorrow) we will be getting a replacement staff member.

Me and Ellen (Kids Club from Marvell) made dinner tonight and cleaned it up. It was hard not to be there greeting the churches, but at the same time it was nice to have a defined purpose, and an outlet to meet the kids that volunteered to help with clean up. We boil our water to wash dished because there is no hot water in the kitchen, but this has not been a problem yet.

It is hot here. There are lots of bugs. Sometimes stress is high among the others I am working with (I do not really feel it). There is a void without Brandon. However, most of this is not noticed because: The adult leaders are eager to help their kids. The kids want to volunteer and be involved. The groups are so friendly. Our staff is getting to know each other better. GOD IS PRESENT! You are praying. I thank you for your prayers and for everything. I am sad to say that this page long entry does not even begin to describe the amazing day that was Sunday (not to mention Saturday). I will be able to fill in the blanks if needed, assuming I have a portion of my memory that is not devoted to saving information for meals and Kids Club and shopping lists. I need some sleep; I will be up in less than six hours to get stuff ready for breakfast and lunch. God is good, and He is doing amazing things and making everything run more smoothly than humanly possible. We could not do anything without Him, and again, I thank you for your prayers.

Last thing: I miss my Carthage home, my Monroe home, and my Spring Arbor home and all of their youth groups. **Note: there is not specific order of importance here, they are simply alphabetical**

I would love to continue filling you in about the day, but I would love even more to sleep, and therefore that is what I am going to do.

Yea God (pronounced ‘yay God’) ~ “Hit it and Give it” <--- Feel free to ask :)

Mucho Amor,

Kayla