I'll be honest, Chris, our guest speaker from the Street Outreach Services at Cedars on Tuesday, was quite intimidating to me, with his very loud voice and his tatoos and everything. I shouldn't stereotype but that's just honestly how I felt. I wasn't intimidated by his message, I could handle all the stuff about meth and picking and all that, although it was even more than I've seen on even CSI and NCIS (two of my favorite television shows). I thought it was awesome how Chris said he goes and eats lunch at the Matt Talbot Kitchen frequently and that's how he gets into contact with people so he can talk with them and get them help if they want it. I think he can definitly relate to them more than most of us because he said he's been there, done that (gotten in trouble with the law for drugs and/or alcohol and had run ins with the police, been to AA, etc.) It made me wonder if someone who hasn't been in similar situations could ever do a job like Chris's. I think it would be really hard to do his job, in general, but even harder if you hadn't had some of your own personal experiences in the area. I don't know if people would be as likely to listen to what he had to say and to open up to him about their problems. I just don't know.

Time to get this last blog in!

Well unfortunately I think that I have dropped the ball on this whole blog thing! Between work, family and school and to many distractions, I didn't get much out of blogging. I think I would have if I would have had more time and attention to put toward it. Maybe I will retry it this summer on a regular basis. Although my old roomate (who lives in Toyko) hooked me up on facebook. I vowed to stay off until the rest of the semester but have been contacted several times by old friends. Now what? Blog or Facebook?

Cedars Speaker

Today the man from Cedars came and spoke about the youth in this area. I knew a lot about this already because of where I am currently employed. My office works closely with Cedars but with a different branch than what we talked about. I think that the most interesting part of the whole discussion for me was when he showed the pictures of where some teens were living here in Lincoln. The girl that was living in a hole in the middle of winter with no coat! I can't imagine. I also think that it is important to think about what he was talking about because some people think that people choose to be poor. While this may be true for a FEW people in this world with the economy the way it is and seeing that these are teens with no shelter we need to think about what we can do to help them.

Adoption

The Steven Curtis Chapman music video that we watched in class really got me thinking. I have known for a long time that I want to adopt when the time is right. I want to adopt one child and have a few of my own. I think it will be a huge challenge in my life and my husband's life, but I know that it is what is right and what I want to do. I want to provide a loving and safe home for a child that would have no chance of a life like that. There are so many families in America that have the money and right family for adoption, but people think it is too hard. I think that is selfish almost to only have your own kids when there are millions of starving, homeless, neglected, abused kids in our world already.

Family Economy

Just looking through my notes the idea of Family Economy struck me. It is not about money but the resources one has and how they use them. I feel that my family has an incredible amount of resources and we are finally really going to start putting them to good use. The biggest thing I thought of was how my mom and I both know how to sew but usually the only time during the year we do any major sewing (other than all the mending) is to make like a dress or something to enter in the county fair. Both of us now really want to make a bunch of skirts and stuff to wear this summer. We will have to buy the fabric but overall it will be much cheaper to make than to buy. Our pantry is nearly always full, even during the "pancake and pasta" months of January and February as my mom calls them (because my dad works in construction and those are the really slow months where not a lot of income is coming in). We always have food (resources) we just need to be a little more creative in combining things to make meals and not be so picky. We also have a wood stove in our garage which we use to heat it in the winter - and since my dad works construction we don't have to go buy wood or chop down trees, my dad just brings home wood scraps from the jobsite. These are just a few examples of family economy for me. I really do have a ton of resources, I just need to think about what they all are and how I can use them to the fullest.

Abuse

One of the main reasons i llove working with children is because of a foster sister i had. Her story of abuse and neglect influenced my decision to become a children's psychologist. I have now changed my major to early childhood ed, but i still feel that i will be able to help kids that need it. That song concrete angel really makes you think...how can ppl ignore all the pain that is right in front of their faces. Its hard to imagine what kind of person could abuse their children, but i think it even harder to understand why ppl dont want to get involved in saving a child from abuse. I hope that i can make a difference in children's lives and if the occasion ever arises i have no doubt that i will do everything i can to stop a child from being abused.

Good Morning America Special

This week on Good Morning America they are doing lots of things revolved around the economy. Tuesday morning I was watching and they were showing a special on couples who have been affected by the downfall. One couple has been forced to live in seperate cities because of their situation. The husband got a new job in a new city and bought a house to live there while his wife stayed behind to sell their old house. She hasn't been able to sell the house or find a new job in her husband's city therefore the couple has been forced to live seperatly for 2 years now.
This reminded me of our discussion in class over how the economy has influenced each of us. I'm sorry if any of your familes have been affected in a negative way and I hope you can get through it.