Day 5.
More than 1/2 way done.
Sad in a way.
Today is a day of routine for everyone.
We woke up at 8 am again.
It's getting harder and harder to get out of bed, but that's a usual thing about this time. : )
These are the finished bird houses from the craft of the night before. They look awesome.
Our great kitchen crew hard at work long before I get up.
Today's breakfast included bacon!!!!! : )
Annette is also up before me.
She prays for everyone in the group before we get up.
She also talks to any early riser participants.
Here's Kyle and Annette having a good talk.
Steve seems wide awake and so does Summer.
Ah, the picture of the blog picture. Taken a bit early this morning.
Morning Devotions from Annette.
And then it was time for Bacon and Eggs.
Hey Adam you look excited for breakfast.
Another great blog picture.
Joy has taken lots of great pictures this week.
I'm saying good morning to Jordana.
She was very kind to me this morning. : )
Fellowship around the tables.
It's not as noisy in the morning when it comes to fellowshipping.
I'm having breakfast with some of the group.
After breakfast we were off to worksites again.
This group went to Starwood extendicare and spend time with the residence.
They moved tables
and got thing ready for lunch.
Ryan is doing an awesome job of helping.
Lisa and Margaret taking a resident either to or from his/her room. I'm not sure.
Niesje and Phil had a great time at Extendicare.
My group went to the Ottawa Food Bank Growing Crops Field. It's located just outside of Barrhaven in a pretty large field.
We picked Kale for the morning.
Shawn helped carry the cut Kale to the truck.
Shawn is helping Ben as well.
Ben spent a great deal of time cutting Kale.
We would take the cut kale and bundle them and then dip them in water and then box them on the truck.
It was very hot, but we did good work.
Another group went once again to the Bible's for Mission store and helped out. Alex and Nicolette...are you going shopping or going to work? : )
Stephanie and Lucy sorting things.
Sarah and Lisa sorting through bin after bin of donated items.
Maddie sorting through the many cards for sale.
Lots to sort through.
Sarah and Sara working well together.
They are getting along really well.
Another group went to Carlington Community Chaplaincy again.
Here's the group playing a game.
Coffee time at the chaplaincy.
This group helped serve lunch at The Mission.
Jordana and Becca ready to serve coffee.
Deshawn and Rachael ready to serve lunch.
It's neat what The Mission does in serving so many homeless people.
This group went to 220 viewmount.
They visited the residence in the back garden.
Jonathan and Joy have been travelling to the different work sites to get pictures and videos. A quick shot with Jessica and Tyler while there.
Time to sit in the garden and chat it up with the residents.
We arrived back for lunch.
Here's Melanie taking some time to ponder and reflect.
Melanie has been enjoying her time here at SERVE, and she has been an amazing mentor to Lisa.
Amy and Summer doing something...but I'm not sure what.
Dan came to visit us again this year.
He also helped me get the BBQ's for tonight's supper, so I was thankful for his appearance. :)
Hey, Joy in another picture. This time with Steven.
Shawn liked being in this picture.
Time for lunch once again.
Ryan and Caralynn getting juice.
Lunch was potato salad and buns and banana's.
The potato salad was the best I've every had.
Annet told me the recipe, but I'll have to get it from her later, as I've already forgotten it. : )
Perky Becca!
I love having her here as a mentor.
She does an amazing job...as do all our mentors.
Hey Janika.
She broke her foot a couple of weeks ago, but has managed to be at SERVE every day, using either crutches or a wheel chair. Another spunky and perky mentor.
Hmmmm, I can see why Alex and Nicolette get along so well together. Both have a talent for facial expressions.
After lunch it was small group time.
I was gone getting the BBQ's, so don't know what happened, but the pictures are self explanatory.
Megan and Mitchell.
Wake up Megan.
We do get quite tired as the week progresses.
Summer smiling away, as is Zach.
Seems like Joy is getting good at getting those special photo's of people doing interesting things. : ) Nice shot Esther.
Hey Shawn.
He didn't like my driving this morning.
Apparently I weave on the road too much (did it for fun), but Zach just loved it...go figure.
More small group time.
Melanie and Lisa taking it all in.
Hard at work.
Rachael, group leader I think?
I selected them, but honestly can't remember at the moment who they were. : )
The final group. Alex...always the comedian. Do you know he's doing that Nicolette?
The Tuesday picture of the room situation.
Not as bad this year, actually.
Some order in the girls room. Definitely neater than the boys picture above.
After group time, it was off for the most favourite activity of our week, next to motorcycle rides.
Glow in the dark bowling.
Here are Amy and Amy getting ready to bowl....
Nice form Braidaon.
Esther did very well as well.
Steven got a strike or two.
Lucy and Shawn bowling simultaneously.
Is that my Sarah bowling?
Great bowling form as well Carraugh.
Carolyn decided that fouling out every time was the way to go. She just liked crossing that line. : )
Mark did quite well this year.
He didn't do as well last year, so was determined to have a better score. It sure was fun watching everyone hit strikes and spares, or even just a pin, and see the excitement roll out of them.
After Bowling, it was shower time, and then supper.
Tuesday is hamburger and hotdog day, and the tradition is that Harold and I cook it on the BBQ's outside.
Lots of smoke, and a bit of rain, which was refreshing actually. A good thing we didn't eat about 1 hour later because it just poured here. Flooded part of the church basement actually. Thankfully no mattresses or cloths were affected.
Aw, Ella in a shot with her big brother, Ben.
Ella and my daughter Katrina, and Gillian have been helping out at SERVE with the short games, and just coming for the worship times because they are so much fun. : )
Dinner is ready...almost.
What's with all the red shirts today.
Jordana ready to eat.
Phil....not so ready to eat. :)
Oh, I see why....Niesje isn't ready to eat either. : )
Time for some praise team practice.
Must have been a good joke, eh Lucy and Nicolette?
I love the worship time.
Tonight's was especially lively and Holy Spirit filled.
Whether you were up front with a tambourine, or in the pew, the worship was awesome.
Lots of actions for the songs. Mark's in the thick of it.
An then it was time for the drama.
Tonight's prop....a row boat.
I got to fall asleep in the boat and be the uncooperative person again. I fell asleep in the boat, but was rudely awoken and threw my honey nut cheerios in the water...and there was no more food on the boat.
But do not fear because Carolyn saved the day.
She grabbed the cereal box and threw it back into the boat.
I fell asleep again, and awoke again to throw the box on the OTHER side of the boat, but Carolyn will not be outfoxed.
She simply found the box, and this time hit me with it. : )
Apparently I'm not allowed to throw food.... : )
We got a tonne of laughs out of each skit, each day, and Carolyn has helped make them that much more fun and special. I can hardly wait till tomorrow...something with bikes.
Oh, and there were two trees in the skit as well.
Great job Niesje and Megan.
Mark talked about good and bad fruit tonight, and how my actions were bad fruit, but the actions of forgiveness for my actions were good fruit.
Then Mark handed out thank you certificates to each Mentor, signed by their participant. Each Participant got a chance to say a work of thanks to their Mentor(s). Lots of tears in the building, let me assure you. : )
Steve saying words of thanks to Chris.
Alex giving Nicolette a good bear hug.
John hamming it up with Alexa and Janika.
Maddie (not seen) thanking Olivia and Lisa.
Kyle thanking Braidon.
Another cool thing that Mark did tonight.
Time for craft.
Time to finish up the previous day's craft.
And to a new one.
Nice work Adam and Tyler.
The towels set out to dry.
A staple of this SERVE.
Amy and Maddie working hard at getting their crafts completed.
Nice job Kyle.
And awesome craft ideas Bea and Grace.
And thanks for helping out Shirley and Joanna (different than our planning team Joanna) .
After the rain, a rainbow.
Wonderful.
And then it was time for some fun.
Shawn had his halloween costume along with him of a police officer.
He proceeded to arrest most of us for various reasons. : )
Aw, a great picture of Joy, Lucy, Joanna and Niesje.
A final selfie, using my camera...not so easy to do. Is that Alex in the picture too....where did he come from...he's supposed to be going to bed.... : )
Lots of great memories today.
We spent some time in our Mentor's meeting laughing like crazy about the things we saw, heard, and experienced today. Our participants are such gifts to us, and we know that this week is a gift to many of their families. We gladly take up the challenge that presents itself in a week like this and thank God for the privilege and opportunity.
It's almost 1 am, and I'm not going to proof read the entry, so bear with any spelling or grammar issues.
Sarah (my daughter) will read it tomorrow and tell me what to correct. : )
So, in closing, I asked a couple of Mentors to comment on how their week has been going. Read them below to get a sense of SERVE from their perspective.
From Adam:
This week has been so amazing it is hard to put into words.
I came with a lot of nervousness at the prospect of this daunting task; but God’s
grace has been awesome. On Friday we were given a run- down of our buddies and
Tyler and I were matched up. I was told he tries to be the mentor and
likes to be treated as an adult, because he is. I am a very social person with
a child’s heart. In other words I am over enthusiastic, hyper, and very
excitable. Tyler, I was told many times, is not that kind of person. He is very
independent. On Saturday, when he arrived, he seemed to not want to hang out
with me. I attempted to not take it personally. Slowly as the days went by our
relationship developed. I attempted to hold in the exuberant side of my
personality and show him that I care for him and want to listen. That did it.
Through God’s grace I found out that he just wanted someone to listen to him. I
became that person. Now he has said I am his best friend and we have had many
awesome moments, both fun, and serious. He has gotten more used to my exuberant
side and very much loosened up around me. I am not saying this to boost myself
and say I am so good; in fact it is the exact opposite. I am nervous every
moment thinking I am going to mess up, but God is holding me. He is in control
of this relationship. If there is one unexpected thing that happened this week,
it is that I have learned much much much much much much more than Tyler has. God
has shown me some of my gifts but more importantly how important it is to serve
others and focus on sharing him by letting him use me.
From Niesje:
Wow… where do I start? Ok, so serve
is awesome. This is my third year at Serve and I just can’t get enough of the
experience! Hanging out with all the really amazing participants and working
together with all the encouraging and uplifting mentors makes me a kind of
happy that I find so difficult to put into words. This year my participant is
Philippe. And while I find him to be somewhat of a challenge, I am having a
blast. His laugh is a contagious one and so when he laughs, I can’t help but
laugh along with him. The work places have gone well as we worked together
picking up garbage, and helping the residents of Extendicare play balloon volleyball
and view the garden and he has also really enjoyed watching the motorcycles,
touching the reptiles, and bowling. I really hope that he is learning from me,
like I am learning from him. The encouragement and support that we receive from
the other leaders and the number of laughs that the participants bless us with
throughout the week is truly amazing. What I would do without this experience during
my summer, I really have no idea. Serve is definitely an amazing experience and
I encourage anyone thinking about becoming a mentor to do it. It is truly a
rewarding experience and one you will not regret taking.
From Alexa and Carraugh and maybe Lisa : )
SERVE so far has
been fantastic! We have learned so much and it has been an eye opener. It is our first time being mentors at SERVE,
and we are thoroughly enjoying ourselves.
The participants are really excited to be here and we are happy to be
here with them and glad to serve them.
Everyone at SERVE has a prayer partner who prays for them and writes
them notes and sometimes sends them little gifts. Receiving letters from prayer partners and other
little notes from other people (called warm fuzzies) are highlights of our
days. Our theme this year is “Journey in
the Kingdom.” There are maps everywhere as decorations for our theme. The participants are exceptional. They make us laugh, cry, and continually
smile. Worship is tremendous, everybody is
really into it. Almost all of the
participants go up on stage; they dance, sing and play instruments. SERVE has
been a positive experience and we look forward to next year.
This marvellous work of art was diligently
written by yours truly (Alexa) with an ounce of help from Lisa and lots of love
from Carraugh!
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