I went to Jail

Well, this has been an interesting week. Just when I was saying I didn't feel like much was happening at work...I feel like I was hit by a brick wall of craziness.  But, I got through and I love my job even more. 

After last week's craziness, I was hoping that this week would be a bit more calm. However, it was full of answered prayers. Client #2 (from last week's post) called on Monday and he found a place to live.  I did a mad dash and got some paperwork completed and sent in requesting for rental assistance. Tuesday, the last day he was eligible, he got excepted. Today, the check came in, he signed the lease and is moving out of his apartment, just in time. :)  We talked today and I think he realizes what a miracle all of this was. 

Anyway, to my main story.  
I got in to work on Wednesday to news that two of my DJJ/ parolee clients and one other client had been caught sneaking out late at night, and had been stealing from cars.  I walked in on the parole officer arresting one of  the two clients. I've never seen anyone arrested before and it was kind of a shock.  My other client also was arrested.   I switched between anger and annoyance at the boys for being so stupid, feeling glad that they got the consequence they deserved,  and feeling sad.  I liked those kids. One was doing really pretty well in the program and he was going to college.  I was angry at him for messing it up and sad that he did. 

Today, the therapist and I went to  visit the second client in jail.  We got ushered in behind many locked doors slamming behind us.  When he walked in to the visiting room, his head hung low.  I don't think I can remember ever seeing someone so broken in my life.   As we talked, he cried.  We asked him how he was feeling. He said it was the worst feeling in the world.  I prayed and God answered. He opened the door to a beautiful conversation.  
The therapist asked if he could explain the feeling.
 "Disappointed, scared, angry, sad... lost." He stared at the table and sobbed. 
I was so thankful for the therapist at that moment. She asked him if he had religion, if he prayed. He told us he believed in God and Jesus, and that he had prayed all night.  He kept saying that he needed to change. So, together we encouraged him to pray and to cry out to God. I told him that Christ would be his comforter, and that in Christ he could change.  The therapist left him names of songs to listen to, and we encouraged him to go to church in prison. 

As I left and the doors clicked behind me, I thought that I may never see him again. He'll be shipped out to prison come Sunday, and from there, who knows.  I hope and pray that in his broken state he can seek Christ. 

In Christ
~Michelle

Working Woman/Client Stories

This month I hit my one year anniversary at the Children's Home.   So,  I've decided that officially makes me a working woman. 

I don't post about work much.  After the first few months I quickly fell into some sort of a rhythm and couldn't distinguish what would be an interesting "story" from my normal every day to day work.    Not because it has gotten dull, but because it never is. :) I've gotten used to a lot of the crazy things that my clients do or say, and somethings are hard to say without breaking confidentiality.

The Crazy:  
 I had a few quiet weeks recently.  Since most of my client's  DCFS cycles fall on the same month, I get some down time on the off months. Work has been relatively slow. And, by relatively slow, I mean I've been bored out of my mind. (I don't ask for more work because then when I'd hit the 'on' months, I'd be going crazy more than I already do) I've gotten a lot of time to read interesting Wikipedia articles, read Sherlock Holmes and other free internet classics, indulge in my name-nerd searching, and play countless games of sudoku. :)

 Anyway, my down time ended last Thursday with a screeching halt.  A former client came in to the office. She was a mess.  She has a 3-week old baby, her boyfriend just beat her up so bad she had to go to the ER, he has an arrest warrant,  her landlord is evicting her, she's been denied by a shelter, and she lost her job so she has no money.  I spent a portion of my afternoon looking up rental assistance programs and shelters in the area.  I think the saddest part is that she has named her son after her boyfriend. Saying his name makes her sick, so she calls him "it". 

On Friday afternoon, I received a call from a client who will be turning 21 next Wednesday (emancipating and loosing DCFS services). His landlord found someone for his apartment and since Children's Home won't be paying his rent anymore, they are kicking him out. In a week.  He has no where to go, and soon won't have any support to help him find a place, move, or pay for extra costs. 
Not a great way to end my Friday, but I think I was able to get him emotionally stable and able to think about his situation rationally, and found him a few possible apartments.  It will be a mad dash to get him in to something by the end of the week, but that's the best case scenario, so I hope for the mad dash. 

Thoughts:

Recently I've had a few clients emancipate and a few we are preparing to emancipate. Some of the things they say can nearly break your heart.

When I asked my client (above) who she had as a support other then caseworkers or DCFS she told me the only person she has is her abusive boyfriend.

When I asked another client who he could go to for help in an emergency, he responded: "no one, I don't have anyone."

A third client of mine, when asked where he would like to move to, stated that he plans to move to his mom's. The very person that abused him as a child.

No matter how hard we try, the System (the government, DCFS etc) cannot fix the problem. As, hard as we try to set these kids up to succeed- to get them jobs, get them through school, and provide them affordable housing- we will, the System will, always fail.  Because,  unless the System provides them with loving families to support them and most importantly Christ to sustain them, they will find themselves alone, or back in the same terrible situations as before.  It makes my job a whole lot harder. I cannot allow myself to be just the System.

I think I find the more I work, the less I see the thing I deal with as just stories. I struggle with telling their stories, because what good does it do?  So in light of the stories I have told, please, please pray. 
Pray for me. Pray for my clients. Pray for the system. Pray for foster parents, for adoptive parents, and pray, please pray for parents- the biological parents, that they would find Christ before the cycle even begins. 

In Christ
~Michelle

Baby Shower

Last Thursday, I hosted Kendra's church baby shower.  I didn't know if I would be able to fit everyone in my house, but we did it.

I didn't actually need to do much to prepare because the other ladies on the shower committee did most of the food and decorations.  I just had to clean the house thoroughly and set up chairs. 

My mom brought over mums to make things look pretty.

Decor provided by Marcia and Susie. 

A few others on the committee preparing the pies.

A full house.

Kendra opening gifts. 

Cecily enjoyed her spot. She made comments on each gift as they were opened. :)

The evening went really well. I'm excited that I can host that many people in my house! :) 

In Christ

~Michelle

Turkey Run

This past weekend, Nathan and I, and Matt and Lena met up with Kacie at Turkey Run.  

It was a long time coming after a failed attempt earlier this year.  We spent the night at a camp ground Friday night and then spent the day Saturday in the park.  It was a bit chilly, "perfect camping weather," but absolutely beautiful.  

the girls took a tent and the guys took the second tent. I slept pretty well since I tend to sleep better in the cold. 

Here's the weekend in pictures:

our beautiful campsite

Nathan cooking up some sausage for breakfast

Matt demonstrating the breakfast plate...

\nothing better than breakfast when camping. 

nearly perfect marshmallow

Nathan and Kacie were pros with the tent.

Turkey Run bridge

Views from the trails:

Lena had some fun with a knife.

Anyway, as usual, it was a good weekend. I can't wait until winter is over and camping season begins again. 


In Christ
~Michelle

Names Names Names

So, I have decided I am a name-nerd. I love names. I spend my free time at work looking up names from all around the world.  Most recently I've been intrigued by very old British names.  I also like compiling awful names. A while back, I posted a list, and was reminded recently about it.  So, here is a second list.

For your amusement*:
(I'm not sure why this formatted this way, but It would take to long to fix)

Males:

Dieuseul  (pronounced diesel)

Jeomarius

Chemare

Jawain

Jaquan Elijahwaun (that's a mouthful)

Deauante

DeQuanta 

DeQarius (so we add "De" in front of an already odd sounding name...?)

Tabren

Delbert (Ok, I know this one is actually that weird. But, it's still a terrible name.)

Kourdey

Tiko

Orlando

Shondre

Timeretireawn (Try to say this five times fast. Try to say it once!)

Donile

Kinyater

Pizzaro (someone liked their pizza)

CursanteSieDamonte 

Jramail

Females:

Trinetta

Shaleaka  Latay

Essence

Johnetra (another case of the "oh shoot, we thought she was going to be a boy")

Naquesha

Saprella

Lakenya

Syltrina

Lerra

Latayvia

Letitia (I thought this was a made up name until, through my research, I found it actually was very popular in 19th century Britain, who new!)

Cleanna (Sister to Cloryne?)

Shameika

Dershonda 

Tyquosha

Urapreciseangel (You think your doughter is a precise angel? maybe they meant precious. eithere way, still weird.)

Yaisha

Shaleaka

Fatoumata (Actually, I think this is a very common name in West Africa. But, when seen on the arrest records, you just feel sorry for them. )

Semaj

Mijke

Lucretta

   

Bad last name:

Higginbottom (this one makes me giggle every time I see it.)

Slaughter (and this makes me cringe. how far can you go in life with a last name that sounds like homicide?)

I hope you enjoyed :)

Maybe you found your inspiration for your next child's name. 

In Christ

~Michelle

A sigh of relief and Praise to God

I have to go back a ways to explain this one.

For a few months now Nathan's job was getting harder and harder for him. Long hours, stressful homeowners, and crazy circumstances.  We felt that God was closing that door, which is kind of a scary feeling when you've just bought a house.  

It seemed to just get worse from there. However scared I was to begin with, I think both of us were just hoping for a light at the end of the tunnel.  Well the light did come and the door to that job officially closed a couple weeks ago. Honestly, it was a relief.  It was such a relief  in fact, that I barely had much time to worry about what was next. 

So, Nathan started sending out resumes and we continued to pray.  He got two interviews and two job offers.  :)  Nathan officially got his offer letter today, he'll start his new job in a couple of weeks. 

Its crazy how what seems like bad news can really be some of the best news.  It's an amazing reminder that God will provide and that He knows what is best.   Nathan has had some much needed time to catch up on stuff here at home and relax, I've gotten a little break from laundry, grocery shopping, and dishes, and I've gotten my real, stress free, Nathan back. :)

For those of you who knew little or nothing, we purposely kept things quiet, I'm sorry if you wish you would have known. To those of you who knew, thank you so much for your prayers. 

Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall: But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint. ~Isaiah 40:30-31

Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all they ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. ~Proverbs 3:5-6

In Christ
~Michelle

what I came home to

:)
That is Tristan putting the final touches on our new table! 

side view

long ways

Long story short- I wanted a new table. Tristan likes to build awesome things. :)
It's pretty. I'm really impressed since he had to go off of descriptions, pinterest pictures, and ideas Nathan and I texted to him.  Tristan has a facebook page here if you are interested in seeing more of his work. :) 

I can now say farewell to the very outdated formica table that I got back in college. 

It served it's purpose, but I will not be sad to see it go. 

I also came home to a package with this in it:

 

Eee :) 

Ok, so Andrew Peterson has an amazing book series called the Wingfeather Saga.  They are great  kid and adult friendly books full of adventure and humor.  This is the fourth book which won World Magazine's book of the year award.  I've read the first three and I'm super excited to finally be able to read the end. 

Happy day. :)

In Christ

~Michelle