Hero Quest Chapter 3 Part 5

Sunflowers and bright colors greeted guests all around the small cozy dining room.  Quietly, each woman poured herself a cup of coffee and carefully looked through the variety of cereal.  Some looked through the glass doors of the fridge at the fruit.  Others made toast or simply grabbed a donut and hurried out to the smoking area.  Most mornings were like this, little conversation; but peaceful security all around them.  Two women hurried through all dressed for the day.  They had appointments or jobs.  Most were still in pajamas.  They did not seem to feel the cold.  Someone shared a story and there was laughter. 

Darlene set out the mop bucket and the cleaning rags so that chores could begin on time.  She was a little behind due to the short dramatic conversations and prayer requests for court appearances, for boyfriends in jail and demands for better movies to be played on the in house video system.  Darlene quickly moved through the morning chores while it was quiet so that she would be able to give attention to whoever would want it later in the day.

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It usually took ten minutes to get to work, but this morning it seemed to take forever.  John stopped at each red light.  A big diesel truck in front of him was blowing fumes into his economic little car and made him choke just a bit.  All of the red lights on this road used to drive John nuts.  But now he used that time to read through his dream card.  Silently he read, “Run a marathon, be a defender of women, write a book, be a professional speaker, reflect Christ and celebrate 50 years of marriage.  John took every opportunity to remind himself of his dreams. 

Somewhere he had heard that if you look at your dreams at least twelve times a day that your odds of accomplishing them would go up.  He also took opportunity to read through some Scripture cards that he had on a small ring.  Again, these red lights were simply opportunities to refresh him, and remind him of where he was going.  While inside, John was still a little nervous about whatever Jesus had been warning him about. A smile spread unexpectedly on his face. 

The latest from the Shelter July 23-29 2012

Weekly highlights

Monday July 23:  One of the singles was in an uproar.  As we investigated it became apparent that the issues had more to do with the fact that most of the room were younger ladies with the exception of one senior citizen.  We made a couple of adjustments to room assignments and much of the drama went away.  One of our newer moms began exhibiting an extremely negative attitude and then began staff shopping.  Upon investigation this was the same thing that happened during her previous stay.  She was not open to conversation so was asked to leave on Tuesday.          

Tuesday July 24:      

Wednesday July 25:  We said farewell to staff member Jerry Bishop.  Our number of singles skyrocketed throughout the day so we opened another singles room.  It was an interesting day of excuses for why folks didn’t need to look for jobs, do modules, or do chores.  The day was very emotional as a couple of our guests happen to be around people that had died during the day in separate incidents.  

Thursday July 26:    We had lots of drama around laundry today.  It was very interesting how each of the ladies could only see things through their own eyes and were not able to see how their choices were putting others behind schedule or stopping them from doing laundry.

Friday July 27:  One of our moms through a tantrum about going to church.  She also has not done modules and keeps saying that nobody tells her anything.  These items were told to her at check-in, during orientation, in writing and verbally.         

Weekend:   There were an incredible number of check-ins and check-outs over the weekend.  One event of note.  Our guest assistants did a fabulous job working with a tense situation that included the police and Child Protective Services.    

General comments:  Transition of staff has gone very well.  We are still working through a few small bumps but these are all minor.      

    

Current Crisis Shelter Purpose Statement:

 The Crisis Shelter for Women and Children exists to increase the impact of our ministries of rescue, recovery and restoration by partnering with staff, volunteers and donors.  We will do this by meeting basic needs in a safe, clean, temporary shelter, with instruction and guidance for life transformation in a healing environment.