My personal progres June 3-9, 2012

	Target	Actually Done
Leadership Bible	Be on page 805 (5 pg a day)	On page 808
Faith in Action Bible	Be on page 966 (6 pg a day)	On page 922
Message Read Through	7 Days youversion program	On track
Running	25 miles a week	5
Running 2012 Overall	1212 miles by 12/12/12	350.5
Crunches	1000 a week	0
Floss	7 times a week	7 Days
Face Cleaning/Lotions	7 times a week	6
I Like Book	7 times a week	7
Modules	2 a week	2
Social Events	3 a quarter	6
Guy Time	10 X a quarter	4
Self Exam	3 a week	0
Book Reading	1 Book a week	1
Evening Prayer Meeting	26 times a year	11
Paid Speaking	3 a quarter	1
Date with Cara	3 a quarter	2
Date with Rachel	1 a quarter	0

     This week was not much better than last week as you can see from the numbers.  I am simply worn down and seem to be falling apart.  On at least one occasion this week I seriously considered going to the mental health respite and checking myself in for a few days.  I figured that they would most likely just medicate me and then charge me too much.  While I did some heroic things this week, I feel the least heroic that I have ever felt.  I blew it on multiple occasions.  I lost my temper and I feel terrible about that. 
     I realize the importance respect plays in my heart.  I thrive on respect and on several occasions I was totally disrespected.  I do my best everyday and sometimes it seems that no one notices how I am constantly serving everyone.  This has been a totally frustrating week.  I am hopeful that the weeks ahead will get better with a better work schedule and a little more rest it should be awesome.  I hope so since right now I can feel that I am losing my passion for the work that God has given me.

Hero Quest Chapter 2 part 5

 John stood up and introduced himself. “My name is John Hero, and I work here.  Unfortunately, because many of our women are here in hiding from abusive situations I can’t confirm or deny that anyone is a guest here.  But you can feel free to leave a message and if she is one of our guests she will get the message.” 

“I know she is here.  How about you go get her?” the man replied evenly.  John stepped back a little bit and sized up the man.  He took up the entire doorway and even had to duck just a little bit to make it through without bonking his head.  Maggie stepped into John’s office, ready to call 911, but John motioned for her to hold tight. 

“You should know that forty percent of the ladies who stay here are coming from an abusive relationship so it offers a level of security for all of the ladies…” 

Sunlight came through a bit as the man moved out of the doorway. “I get it.”  John moved to shake the man’s hand but was dismissed. 

“Listen, she is not abused but she is mentally ill.  She needs her family.  I thought that this was some sort of Christian place.  I support this place with my donations and you won’t tell me if my daughter is here?”  The man argued.

John gave a slight smile; he had heard this sort of thing before.  “Imagine that your daughter is here and she was coming from an abusive relationship.  Wouldn’t you want that sort of policy to be in effect to help her out?”  The hulk of a man just glared at him.  “Look, I can see that you love your daughter.  If I were in your shoes I would want to know where she was too. But the best that I can offer is that if you can write her a note; I will get it to her.”  John maintained steady eye contact with him.

After a few moments of weighing his options, the man accepted a piece of paper and wrote a quick note.  “Here, now go take it to her.” 

Real Life at the Crisis Shelter May 28-June 3, 2012

Weekly highlights

Many have told me that I should write a book about what happens at the Crisis Shelter.  Well, I have and it is now published you may now order your copy of Hero Quest from the publisher at http://www.publishamerica.net/product47821.html  put in coupon code Discount20 for a 20% discount.  ¼ of all royalties go to UGMM.

Monday May 28:  Many of our guests went to a Memorial Day Celebration and reported being triggered by many different addictions.  They all made it back without having given in and were rejoicing that they did have a choice.                

Tuesday May 29:   Starting late afternoon staff member, Jackie, started checking people in and ended up bringing in 18 new guests in a short period of time.  With police permission we were able to house an underage young lady and her child.       

Wednesday May 30:   Many more check ins throughout Wednesday morning.  One of our ladies with a therapy animal lunged at one of our other guests.  We did not witness this but did talk with her when the information became known.  The guest denies it so we continue to monitor the situation.

Thursday May 31:  One of our singles with a therapy dog, refused to follow the guidelines around therapy animals at the shelter that state that the dog must be with their owner at all times.  After repeated conversations with this guest she was told that the dog would need to go, she chose to leave as well.   One of our guests attempted to hide out during small group and then decided that she was going to leave.        

Friday June 1:    We accepted a Top Secret Mission from God.  It has created an adjustment in how we do business but so far it has gone well.  There are a few lessons learned. 

Weekend:   Overall quiet weekend despite some of the interruptions.  Lots of challenges with another lady with a therapy animal.  She gets very angry when we direct her where she can take her dog to relieve himself.  She has been staff shopping to get different answers. 

General comments:   Our Top Secret Mission from God has resulted in much Spiritual attack.  Two of my kids now have broken arms (happened within 2 hours of the decision to accept the mission), my fridge shut down for several hours, one of my kids got sick and almost stopped my wife from going to an event that she had been planning for months, everything seemed to come against us in getting to church on Sunday.  Staff member, Anne, hit a guy with her car Saturday night (he was drunk and apparently playing dodge car), on the same day the mission was accepted two guests with occult pasts checked in, Keep us in prayer!

    

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.

My personal progres May 28-June 2, 2012

Now purchase the whole book at http://www.publishamerica.net/product47821.html  Remember that 1/4 of all profits go to help the homeless!

	Target	Actually Done
Leadership Bible	Be on page 770 (5 pg a day)	On page 770
Faith in Action Bible	Be on page 922 (6 pg a day)	On page 922
Message Read Through	7 Days youversion program	On track
Running	25 miles a week	6
Running 2012 Overall	1212 miles by 12/12/12	345.5
Crunches	1000 a week	0
Floss	7 times a week	7 Days
Face Cleaning/Lotions	7 times a week	7
I Like Book	7 times a week	7
Modules	2 a week	1
Social Events	3 a quarter	6
Guy Time	10 X a quarter	4
Self Exam	3 a week	3
Book Reading	1 Book a week	0
Evening Prayer Meeting	26 times a year	11
Paid Speaking	3 a quarter	1
Date with Cara	3 a quarter	2
Date with Rachel	1 a quarter	0

As you can see from the tracker I look to be a bit of a slacker this week.  I ended up working over 50 hours so that was a factor so I wn't be too hard on myself.  By the end of the week I was exhausted and could not think straight.  I also accepted a secret mission from God and this has led to a fairly intense Spiritual attack.  Within a couple of hours of accepting the mission 2 of my kids had broken arms, the fridge quit working (I was able to fix this fairly simply, though), and all of our plans on Saturday nearly fell apart. 

I thank God thought that through it all God has blessed me with an ability to stay calm in the midst of crisis.  Even though I am tired and not well nourished I can see things through and make solid and God honoring decisions.  I praise Jesus for all that He has done for me.

This week my book came out Hero Quest.  This was a shocker.  Early estimates from the publisher were for October or November at best.  Now it is out and for sale.  My dream of being a published author has now come true.  Also I have a dream of being a public speaker and this week I had a paid speaking gig to nearly 200 people.  That was awesome!  I love my life and where it is going.  I must stay focused on Christ in the midst of these ups and downs and get some rest and then get back in shape.  Semper fi!