Hero Quest Chapter 1 Part 3

“Have I not commanded you?  Do not be terrified.  Do not be discouraged.  For the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.  Father, let me stand like Joshua.  Maybe he felt like I do before I go to work.  We’re not told much except that the people followed his commands.  But surely there were nay sayers in the bunch, those that would discourage him.  Maybe his command was as much for himself as it was for the people.”  Hero wrote out his thoughts.  He wanted to believe that he would remember such a profound lesson but experience had taught him that was not to be true.  For quite awhile Hero conversed casually with the Father about situations, concerns, hopes and dreams.  When he heard footsteps and the shower going he knew that his oldest daughter was up and getting ready for the day.  Turning his wrist slightly he gazed at his watch.  Just 15 more minutes before the rest of the family would need to get started.  The time had gone quickly.  Hero pulled out his planner and showed it to the Father.

“You see my plan here.  I can be pretty rigid and unmovable with this planning stuff but I offer this day to you.  Father, take this day and use it, despite my plans.  If anything needs to change to please you, then so be it.”  The Father simply nodded and smiled.  Hero looked over the schedule for the day.  There were a couple of touchy meetings in the mix.  Silently he rehearsed the opening to these meetings.  “Start with small talk then ask them their thoughts on these situations.  Absolutely!   That is the way to do this. “Make sure that they know that they have been heard.  Even if they completely lie they will have their opportunity.  Ask clarifying questions, look for opportunities to share the Father’s story with them and then listen for the Spirit to guide you to the right answers”    

Real Life at the Crisis Shelter January 23-29, 2012

Monday January 23:   We received a reminder of God’s protection.  A guest who had moved out in the morning had gone to Spokane Mental Health.  They called to ask a few questions and shared that her mental illness made her very dangerous and they would be keeping her.  She has been at the shelter a couple of times and had some scary behaviors  but nothing that felt threatening.

Tuesday January 24:    Drama in room 9.  Three of the singles were in verbal conflict and staff came in to try to bring peace.  It mostly seems to be personality conflicts (cold room vs hot room, loud vs quiet, young vs old, etc)  One of our guests was keeping others from being able to apply for jobs by taking up the computers for game play.  She was banned from the computer room.

Wednesday January 25:  One of our good workers was caught going through past guest belongings and taking other items.  She was asked to leave.  The drama from room 9 replayed and staff have now figured out the source.  She was given an ultimatum to get along with her room mates.  Later in the day she started another conflict and was asked to leave.  Bed bug sniffing dog came through the shelter and gave us a clean bill.  No bed bugs at the Crisis Shelter!  Everyone rejoiced!

Thursday January 26:  Drama in room 5.  Ladies were in conflict with one another over one being loud, obnoxious and using bad language.  The guest was talked with and things seem to calm down.            

Friday January 27:   Three of our ladies got job at the new Marshalls Store coming to Northtown mall.  They were singing a song about it in the check-in line.  We had a few issues because one of our guests are a diabetic and one other guest feels that allowing her to use her needles makes her a trigger.  She needs to keep the needles close by due to her illness and her own feeling of comfort.  One of our ladies reported a date rape that occurred last weekend.  We encouraged her to talk with another local agency and to press charges.  It took awhile to help her overcome her fear of the police; but she finally made the decision to make the report.

Weekend:     We had an intake who showed up very worked up and angry.  It did not take long for her to become unsafe for the rest of the shelter and never even made it a night before we had to have her leave.  A car repeatedly pulled into the parking lot of the shelter, peeled out and raced into the parking lot across the street.  Police were called.  Many ladies report being blessed at church this morning from assorted churches in our community.       

General comments:  I saw many current and former guests at the Spokane Homeless Connect.  Many great services and gifts were given to the ladies that attended.

Progress on my goals January 22-28, 2012

	Target	Actually Done
Leadership Bible	Be on page 168 (5 pg a day)	On page 169
Faith in Action Bible	Be on page 140 (6 pg a day)	On page 140
Message Read Through	7 Days youversion program	On track
Running	15 miles a week	15 miles
Crunches	1000 a week	1200
Floss	7 times a week	7 Days
Face Cleaning/Lotions	7 times a week	7 Times
I Like Book	7 times a week	7
Modules	2 a week	2
Guy Time	1 a week	1
Self Exam	7 a week	3
Book Reading	1 Book a week	0
Evening Prayer Meeting	26 times a year	3
Date with Cara	1 a month	1
Date with Rachel	1 a quarter	0

This was a very busy week!  I was able to pull off most of my targets but did fall short on self exams.  I don't want this to become a check the box event but an honest examination of my character and a look at how I can be more like Christ.  I am thinking that I will move my target to 4 times weekly to keep it honest; but I have not decided yet.  I also did not complete a book this week though I am nearly done with a John Bevere book that I will talk about next week.  I am hopeful this week to up my fitness training and read two books. One of the things that I am beginning to get excited about this week is the Time Bank concept.  There are many challanges to making this happen but I see great benefit for my community if we can make this happen.  I also see that while it will take great effort to get it going, eventually it will take off like a rocket.  I continue to be excited for 2012 as a year of true heroics.