Serving Our Neighborhood as a Community

      By neighborhood, I really mean the city of Atlanta. Yesterday, my housemates came to the Metro-Atlanta Furniture Bank to volunteer for a few hours. This is something we planned about a month ago. I wanted my housemates come visit my job and give them a taste of what I do at the Furniture Bank. They agreed to come this Saturday. The day turned out great besides a few mishaps. As a group we moved furniture, sorted mattresses, and built tables. It was hard manual labor. Something I believe we were missing in our community. We have spiritual direction, bible study, logistics, but what about service? This year is suppose to be about serving our neighborhood either that be our street or the entire city of Atlanta. I think working together in a more dynamic and engaging environment allows to form stronger bonds as community. We are living and serving together.
        As dwellers I think we to expand beyond our placements for serving others. We can always learn new things from volunteering at a different organization. We gain a new perspective on other ways of helping others. For example, some members of group work directly with the Homeless at the Outreach Center at First Presbyterian. They help people getting birth certificates, IDs, or food stamps. Our work day on Saturday gave them the opportunity to try to something different.

Greg, Sean, Ed, and Leslie building tables for clients.

Emily sweeping the floor in the warehouse.

This chair is part of a the fundraising auction the Furniture Bank is holding in March called Charish.

     

Working With Children

Even though I had experience working with kids before this year, I forgot how challenging it can be. As a club leader/tutor you have to establish boundaries early and be consistent. My first experience leading a club this year ending on a sour note. I didn't set rules early on and my kids took advantage of it. Throughout the club they constantly push my buttons. I should use more discipline. It's hard to discipline a child because you want to be the cool guy, the friend. In reality in order for my students to have good time, they needed rules. They needed a teacher not a friend. In my new club I'm trying to practice being a teacher,.  I decided to let them create the rules (with guidance from me) and have them sign it. Also, I'm a lot more firm in keeping the peace during club time. So far this club has gone a lot better than the previous one. I feel personally, they are getting more out of it.

Rest

These past few weeks, my life has gotten exceedingly busier. I've been working longer days and even some Saturdays. Outside work, I had spiritual direction, a community logistic meeting, and dinner with DOOR staff. In the last two weeks, it felt like I had no time for myself. Eventually it started to take a toll on my mind. I started to have anxiety. I became more frustrated with housemates and work. I started doubt the benefits of living in community. If these negative emotions were left unchecked, they could start to affect my relationship with others and my performance at work.

I needed a break. I was stuck in a rut and there hasn't been time to reflect. This weekend, I decided to take it easy. On Saturday I slept in until 11am. Afterwards, I went for a long walk in the city. Sunday, I went to the cemetery to draw. By the end of  today, I felt renewed. I'm not nearly as frustrated or anxious as I was earlier this week. I was surprised how good I felt. In two days my negatives emotions  that have been building up inside me melted away. I think this is probably one of the most important lessons I learned this year. You cannot be at your best if you don't take the time to relax.

This week,  I remembered to get a picture of  Kindezi. The building was originally Turner Middle School, but closed. The building is now home to Kindezi and KIPP Atlanta. KIPP is another school that works with middle and high school students.  I believe this is Kindezi's last year using the Turner building. Next year they are relocating, I am not sure where though.