Accents, Saltines, Walking Sticks, & Midkiffs

Well, so far this summer with YouthWorks has started with a few bumps and bruises but through all of it, I have been blessed. On Monday May 25th, Mom and Dad dropped me off at my "RAMP" training in Philadelphia. At that point I had been feeling sick since Wednesday. So before we headed to the church, we stopped at Urgent Care. They told us to play the waiting game and that I would be better soon. Training was great, except for my eating habits. My stomach just couldn't handle anything so I lived off 8 saltines and deluted Gatorade/Powerade for 2 days. Like my mom always says.... "It was just a 'lose weight' opportunity."

Training was fun because I was met a lot of people and just got a chance to learn about the summer to come. One of my friends I made, Stockton, was SO sweet. She's from North Carolina so her accent was the cutest thing EVER! I was practicing all week and basically stopped everything to listen when she was talking. She's going to be in Niagara Falls this summer so I think it will be awesome for the teens when they come and hear her. It was just awesome because even though I wasn't feeling well, we were able to have fun, laugh a lot, and I was blessed by her amazing heart.

Finally on Friday, I was still sick. Saltines and applesauce weren't cutting it SO I headed to the ER. After 2 IV's, watching the Lakers make it into the NBA finals, and having a little alone time for the first time all week, they sent me back to play the waiting again. I had been dehydrated though so I was feeling a lot better to just get some fluid in me again. So Saturday morning at 1:00 I left the hospital and by 8:00 the next day my team and I were driving down to where I'm currently at. Hamlin, West Virginia.

Although I wasn't feeling too well let me tell you.... IT IS BEAUTIFUL DOWN HERE! I never knew I was such a country girl but I am just LOVING it! :D

Well on Saturday night we pulled in to our new home, the Hamlin Fire Hall. It is the old elementary school and we came in on BINGO night. Every Thursday and Saturday night they fill the cafeteria for BINGO so it was fun to see community members right from the start. We met Joe who is a fire fighter really taking care of us, and he showed us all around. When we arrived there was a Tornado Warning (I know Mom~ "low levels of rotation") and Joe mentioned that the roof needed a little repair. We headed into the "girls sleeping room" and saw that water was coming out of the light and all down one wall. WOW! At first I was really overwhelmed by our site but now that we have attacked it with bleach water and scrubbed like its nobody's business, things are looking better. We have been really working on drying it all out and killing the mold but thankfully we have the rest of this week to prep, and then an additional week right before the teens come.

Sunday started with us heading out to the Trinity United Methodist Church. There are 2 Methodist Churches here in the small town of Hamlin. Population is 1100 but down the road there's Central Methodist and Trinity United. The Pastor is the same for both and when we met her she said that she drives from her house to Central, then directly to Trinity and then home and her odometer doesn't even read 1/2 mile. :) I loved it. Down here everyone is familiar with YouthWorks so we are automatically accepted. It was so fun because it seemed like immediately I had gained a whole slew of Grandparents. It was May 31st that day, the last Sunday of the month which is apparently when they celebrate the May birthdays. So on the 1st Sunday being in West Virginia, I ended up getting sung Happy Birthday to in the front of the Church. SO... they know how to win me over I guess. :D

Monday was GREAT too! I was feeling a lot better and it was time to get rolling with our massive checklist. Well I called my first community contacts Duane and Michael Midkiff. They are AMAZING! I don't have time to talk all about it but Michael is a "Clogger" and he will be leading our Monday night activity with the youth. We headed to see one of his practices and he taught us a routine. Yeah... that's right. I am now an official WV Clogger. :)

After clogging practice we headed to the Midkiff Hollow and met Duane and the boys Mother. This woman truly has a heart of gold. We had pizza around the bon fire and got to hear about how Duane like carving walking sticks. Who knew it but pretty soon Duane came out of his house with handcarved walking sticks for each of us. I was blown away. They are BEAUTIFUL! I took a picture so I'll try to get it up soon. It is awesome! I told him my Dad would be jealous but I'd hold onto it really tight. :D

Well It's time to get back to the checklist. We have to work really hard right now and then we will be heading to Logan, WV for a practice week with teens. I hope you are all doing well and enjoying the summer. If I've been learning anything down here so far, it is to enjoy life's little blessings.

OHH!!! And John set up our address to receive mail. And if you know me, you KNOW how much I love snail mail. At school I'm pretty sure I check my mail 2-3 times a day... Just in case. :)

So here it is~ You can just put

Haley Church in care of YouthWorks
P.O. Box 612
Hamlin, WV 25523

In my devotions I read these verses and although they have been some of my favorite, I remembered just how much I love them:

Lamentations 3:24-25

"I say to myself, "The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him." The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him;"

God Bless