SITC - Week One, St. Nicholas

Sunday:
I drove up early to meet with Deacons Pam and Diana about the week, stopping on the way to get a GRE study book. Thomas and Rachel met me for a picnic in the park, where some lady said she was hungry and asked for our food. So we gave it to her. I gave Thomas and Rachel a quick tour of the Cathedral, and then they left and I went to my meeting. While in said meeting, I was informed there was no air conditioning on the third floor where we were staying because it had been blown out by the storm a few days prior. Uh oh. So we got all our ministries together, and then me and Kristen (the other intern) went shopping for food at Fiesta (our grocery store) for the week. As we were heading back we met the lady who asked for our food at lunch, and she said she had seen Jesus in us, and she hadn't seen that in a while. She also wanted $4 for the boarding house down the street. So after getting all of our stuff in and settled, the group from St. Nicholas arrived. 14 kids and 2 adults. We moved in, and went to this amazing bilingual Eucharist they have at the Cathedral called Unidos. The songs are in Spanish, and the Eucharist is in English. LOVE it. We even sang a rendition of the Lord's Prayer in Spanish set to the music of Sound of Silence. Really wonderful service. Then we had some dinner, and after that, proceded to have a tour of the Cathedral, do rules and covenants, say Compline and then move all of the kids mattresses down 2 flights of stairs to sleep in the great hall, which was air conditioned. Me and Kristen slept on lawn chairs. Woo!

Monday: We woke up early to move everything back up those two flights of stairs, said some morning prayer, ate breakfast, and went to work with Bishop's Camp. We set up the library, read with some of the groups, and had art, P.E., board games, math, and all sorts of fun, they ate lunch with the kids, and spent all afternoon with them. Well, that afternoon we were supposed to go to a ministry. However, the person who planned all our ministries was called away suddenly, and left us without contact information. We tried calling the group, but no one answered, and when someone drove over there, no one was there. They were also supposed to provide us dinner. So, impromptu, Kristen and I went shopping for dinner, made it ourselves (with the help of our wonderful Cathedral friend Lucy, who's a chef), and pulled a ministry out of thin air. I had brought craft supplies with me, so we made place mats for the Kairos prison ministry, and wrote letters to soldiers. It went really well. That night they worked on their skit, and then we said Compline and went to bed.

Tuesday: We woke up, said morning prayer, ate breakfast, and preformed the skit at Bishop's Camp. Then we went at worked at the community gardens at Our Savior Episcopal Church in Dallas. We harvested 63 pounds of food! It was so cool. And then we took the food to Buckner Crisis Center to donate. After that we came back to Bishop's Camp, ate with the kids and spent the afternoon with them. We had some "Turtle Time" (Nap Time), bible study, evening prayer, dinner (by the Cathedral Choir, who preformed as well!), and working on skits again, Compline, and bed.

Wednesday: Same morning routine, skit, and we spend all day at Bishop's Camp today. Afterward, we had bible study, some Pizza for dinner, and then went to serve dinner at Austin Street Centre (a homeless shelter). The kids did great, and there was this amazing 4 year old little girl who worked with us who wanted to help becuase these people "didn't have any toys". She worked so hard too. And the kids were awesome. Then we came back home, worked on skits, Compline, and bed.

Thursday: Morning routine, skit, and - Surprise! - meet the Bishop! I was able to set this up on Wednesday (so scared), and the Bishop gave the kids a tour of the Diocesean Offices, and let them ask him questions about being a bishop. It was wonderful. After that, we went to Manegait Theraputic Equestrian Center, and cleaned tack, washed mats, and pulled grass! It was hot and sweaty work. Then the kids got to learn how to groom a horse, and fed them carrots. We then returned home for stone soup night, where the kids learn about a minimum wage family's budget, and then have to cook a meal on that. So the 14 kids got $14 to make a meal for all of us (18 people) + plus guests. (there turned out to be three guests, we always invite people, so Matt invited his wife and two small children.) They did a great job. Then skits again, bible study, Compline, and bed.

Friday: We woke up, cleaned, did a skit, went to Eucharist (with the Bishop!), and then packed up and left! When I got home, I ate, and slept for most of the rest of the day. Working 8am to 10pm is tiring.

And also Saturday: Saturday I woke up, worked a little around the house, went to Medieval Times with the family for Fathers Day, and went to see the Proposal with Rachel, Thomas, Kristen, and Kristen's sister Bethany.




Memorable Quotes: "Kool, and the gang." "Don't confuse soup love with real love." "Focus: Even if it's shiney."