A Barefoot Thanksgiving

I'm not using Barefoot to describe Thanksgiving in Appalachia. No, no. I got to celebrate Thanksgiving at home. It's great being back in Hallsboro, NC for the first time in over 3 months. I hope you all had wonderful Thanksgivings!


So what is a Barefoot Thanksgiving? My mom's side of the family are Barefoots. We spend every Thanksgiving with the Barefoots, and I don't just mean my mom's parents and brother. I mean close to 200 descendents of my great-great grandparents, Napoleon Bonaparte Barefoot (Poli) and Fredricka Augusta Blake (Freddie). A Barefoot Thanksgiving is truly a Barefoot Reunion and it's been happening for probably over 65 years.


Poli and Freddie had twelve children, three of which died during early childhood. Every year on Thanksgiving Poli and Freddie's sons and sons-in-laws would gather back at the homeplace to go bird hunting. After the men had made their kills, the women and young children (my papa and his cousins) would join the men in the woods and bring with them a black pot full of rice. There, gathered around a spring of water in the woods of Columbus County, they would have their Thanksgiving dinner: bird and rice.

As the family continued to grow, Thanksgiving moved out of the woods and to the grounds of the old Homeplace. After Freddie and Poli passed away, my great-grandparents, Bud and Myrtle Barefoot, kept the family farm and the tradition of Thanksgiving running. Every year family continued to gather in Hallsboro. Somewhere along the line, the bird and rice converted to chicken and rice - or chicken bog as we like to call it. However, one thing didn't change about it: it was still prepared outside in a big black washpot over a fire.

Thanksgiving was held at the Homplace until 1988. By that time Nannie and Poppie had passed away, and my Papa and Aunt Iris (and their families) had taken on the duties of hosting. At that time, some of the "cousins" began to offer their hunting camps as a venue for the big event. For a couple of years we gathered at Cousin John Jay Burney's hunting camp. When it became apparent that our family had outgrown that site, we moved the party over to Cousin Billy Corbett's hunting camp on Long Creek in Pender County (the county where Freddie Augusta was originally from). We've been at Billy's camp for over 15 years now.

So yesterday we once again loaded up and headed down to Pender County. Upon arriving we added our contributions to the seven-table long line of food. Our end of the family can always be counted on (or expected to bring) Grandmama's ham biscuits, butterbeans and corn, deviled eggs, pecan pie, and pumpkin delight. We mix it up a little each year - but if Grandmama's ham and biscuits aren't on the table, someone's in trouble. After making myself a name tag I went and spoke to Uncle Bryant who was standing guard by the washpot of chicken and rice. He's been the man in charge of the most important dish of the day for years now. He now has several understudies who help him stir the pot with a large wooden paddle. They had been out preparing the chicken bog since 8 am. It seemed their friend Jack Daniels had been up that early as well. Next, I headed over to look at the family tree posted on the side of the house to see if any names had been added. Cousin John Jay called us together for the blessing around 1:00. We paused to remember all that we are thankful for and to especially remember the cousins who had passed away since the Thanksgiving before. Then, it was finally time to eat and to continue in the Barefoot Thanksgiving tradition.

My first love in history is the history of my family. Thanks for letting me share a bit of it with you.

Why I Never Write Blogs

Hey friends. I know, I know - it's been a while. To all of my devoted readers out there, thanks for being patient with me and for nudging me to write more. I won't try to give you any lame excuses, instead I'll explain what I have (and haven't) been doing instead of updating Heaven and Hollers on a more regular basis.

When I haven't been writing blogs I've been...

1. Reading. All of a sudden I'm excited to read! I always thought this idea of liking to read once you got out of school was a myth. But no, I have discovered it to be quite true. At least in my case. It's wonderful having the time and freedom to read what I want to read - and at whatever pace I want to read it! I'm making it through most of my books right now at a pretty slow pace. I suppose that's due to me reading 3 or 4 at a time. Here's what I'm flipping through now:
Bedtime Reading - Knowing God by J.I. Packer. Christianity Today said that this was one of the top five most significant works of Christian literature in recent years. I'm not sold on that quite yet, but it's still early.
Chapter a Week Reading - Irresistable Revolution by Shane Claiborne. This is the book I'm reading through with the house. The author discusses living an authentic faith and being obedient to what the Bible really says about loving and being with the poor. It is definitely making me think and challenging me to reconsider my love for the status quo!
Doctor's Offices and Exercise Bike Reading - The American Home Front 1941-1942 by Alistair Cooke. Those of you who know what my thesis was about will understand why I am LOVING this book. Alistair Cooke was a foreign correspondent for the BBC during WW2. His beat was life on the American Home Front - and he traveled through every region of the country noting how the war was affecting (or not affecting) the people. 60 years after he wrote up his travelogue, the long hidden manuscript was finally published. I bore you non-history majors with the details. But if you have any interest in American social history or WW2 -put down the blogging and pick it up!
Y'alls Blogs - Several of you already had or now have blogs of your own. By the time I get through reading all of the blogs I have bookmarked it's time to move on to something else!! ;-) Keep writing though! I'm enjoying them all!

2. Sleeping. I'm going to be honest. There were evenings last week that I could have made the time to blog, but I was simply too exhausted. My busy weekends over the past month finally caught up with me last week. Three weekends ago I hit Cumberland Falls, Corbin (birthplace of KFC) McKee, Berea, Louisville, Lexington, and Richmond, Kentucky in a span of 72 hours. Two weekends ago I made the 6 1/2 hour trip (each way) to Chapel Hill. Both weekends were fabulous - and totally worth it. But, needless to say, I was in bed by 9:30 or 10 every night last week. Sleep took priority over everything, including blogging!

3. Spending time with my Housemates. So I pretty much love my house. They're really fun and I don't like missing out on the fun. I've had to remind myself that I do need to take time for myself now and again. We don't really have a coffee house to hang out at within an 80 mile radius, so on Monday night us girls made Bob Evans our coffee house. We took some playing cards, knitting needles (not me), and books to Bobby's for some coffee (sweet tea in my case, of course) and pie. We're probably going to make it a ritual. I hope so!!

4. Working on Grad School Applications. I'm applying to Wake Forest's and Carolina's MAT in Social Studies (master of arts in teaching) programs. I really feel like this is where the Lord is leading me. I have a sincere excitement for history/social studies and a sincere excitement for serving and encouraging people. Teaching allows me to use both of those passions. It's been in the back of my mind for so long now. If I don't try it, I'll always wonder what if?. Lord willing I'll find out sometime early spring and start one of the programs in June. I'm leaving my options open. As I said, I'm really feel like I'm being led to this - but I'm giving myself and the Lord wiggle room. It's something I'm going to continue praying about through the year.

5. Taking time to pray/think/reflect. I haven't had an active prayer life for a good chunk of 2007. I love being in scripture. But when it comes to prayer I've lost almost all enthusiasm for it. And that's pretty dumb. I mean why am I choosing to miss out on something that is so freely given and what can be so simple yet life enhancing? Hopefully, I'm on my way out of the rut. I'm encouraged daily by my participants, co-workers, or housemates about how prayer works. Anyways, I'm beginning to journal my prayers again. It helps me focus and will also be good to look back on to see where and how God has moved. Along with that, I've been thinking deeply about issues relating to Christian living. Just a few things I've been chewing on:
Proper Stewardship - of my time, money, and talents.
Alcohol
Why I experience God in different ways than some other Christians around me
Relying on the Lord to provide
Baptism
Which is worse? The sinful thought or sinful action?
Perhaps I'll get around to writing a blog about these issues. If I don't get around to it - just ask me for my thoughts on the issue at a later date.


When I haven't been writing blogs I HAVE NOT been...

1. Building tee-pees. The weekend I was in Chapel Hill my housemates built a MASSIVE tee-pee behind our house using duct tape, vinyl sheets, slender trees, and rope. They built a fire in it and camped out in it and everything. Folks - this is the kind of innovation and creativity that comes from having nothing better to do in eastern Kentucky on a Saturday afternoon.

2. Training for a half-marathon. Jenny and I have retired from training until the spring. We were originally going to run one in Virginia this past Sunday, but a little over a month ago decided it would be fun to go somewhere like Memphis to run one. The Memphis half is on December 1st. That would of course have given us more time to train. But what that actually looked like was us slacking off. Then we were out of town for 3 weekends straight, then I was exhausted, then it rained, then it got cold, then it started getting dark at 5, then we realized that the drive to Memphis was really long, and then we said we'd run one in the spring! ;-)

3. Learning how to play the guitar. My grandmother graciously purchased a guitar for me recently. I have played it some - after all, I've learned 3 chords. But recently it has been sitting in the corner staring at me. I've always wanted to learn to play the guitar - and I'm going to, it just isn't a priority right now. Don't worry grandmama - I'll get back to it!

4. Learning how to knit. This is another one grandmama may be a bit disappointed with. Three or four of my housemates are constantly knitting or crocheting. I know I ought to take advantage of the opportunity to learn a new skill. I can crochet a bit, but have never finished anything. I imagine that as we continue to settle into the colder months that keep us inside I'll eventually pick up some needles and get in on the fun.

5. Becoming a UK Basketball fan. UNC vs. UK basketball tickets went on-sale to the public today. They play December 1st in Rupp Arena. They were sold out before I had a chance to get any :-(. This makes me SUPER SAD! However, the fact that UK lost to Gardner-Webb makes me chuckle a bit.



Well, that's all for now.

Y'all come back now, ya hear?

A Home for Hermie

(The following are excerpts from letters I have written to a member of my church back home - Whiteville United Methodist Church. They are hoping to help one of my participants get into her new home. I really want to share about this ongoing project with you all too. Forgive my lazy cutting an pasting. But I think you'll still get a good picture of what I've been up to the past couple of weeks.)

10-11-07 Letter

Thank you so much for your letter! It is wonderful to know I have the support of my home church while I am here in Kentucky. Fall is finally upon us here in Kentucky, and after 85 and 90 degree temperatures in the first weeks of October, I am ready for it. The leaves are changing colors, but due to the drought, not quite as vibrantly as I would expect.

Visiting my participants keeps me busy but I have also joined the CAP Wellness Team. We met for the first time yesterday and are working towards improving the health (spiritual, physical, emotional) of CAP employees and volunteers. I’m excited to be involved in a project like this.

Life in the Johnson Volunteer House is as entertaining as ever! Last weekend we all went to the Paintsville Apple Festival and enjoyed fried apple pie, riding rides, and talking to local Kentucky artisans. Crystal Gayle (Loretta Lynn’s sister) gave a free performance the last night of the festival. I’m kicking myself for not going because at the end of her show Loretta Lynn joined her on stage. I’m so disappointed I missed that! All of the volunteers are going on a retreat this weekend to a camp owned by CAP. It will be nice to get away for a few days. I am co-teaching the middle school Sunday school class at my church with one of the other girls in my house. The same girl and I are training to run a half-marathon together. I have not been as faithful with updating my blog lately, but I think now I have brought you up to date.

It is so encouraging that people in the church, particularly the exercise group are interested in supporting my work here. There are several different ways that you all can contribute or get involved, but I want to share with you what I think is the most pressing need among my participants.

Ms. Hermie may be my sweetest and most social participant. When I take her to town or to the doctor’s office, she speaks to everyone whether she knows them or not. At the age of seventy-seven, she is the mother of seven children and several grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Hermie has not had an easy life, but because of her cheerful disposition, you would never know that from talking to her. Since I have known her, I do not think I’ve heard her complain the slightest bit. However, seeing her home tells the stories of her difficulties. Inside is very dark and dirty. Only a small lamp and the light from one window lights Hermie’s living room which she also uses as her bedroom. The walls, ceiling, and floors are caked with dust and soot from the broken coal stove. This in the only room in Hermie’s home I have seen. She keeps the other two or three rooms closed off (with sheets, not doors) while I am there visiting. Her youngest son still lives with her and is not able to work. But, something very exciting is about to happen for Hermie and her son.

CAP’s Housing Program has been working towards doing something about Hermie’s living conditions. There is simply too much to be done in terms of repairs or improving upon her current house. Therefore, CAP has found Hermie a trailer that we are refurbishing. We are in the process of helping Hermie pack up her few items and getting them into storage. In order to make room for the trailer on her property we are going to have to tear down her home. We have a group coming in the week of October 22^nd to do that. Hopefully we’ll have Hermie and her son settled in their new home by mid-November.

Some members of my home church are chipping in and are sending a gift card for Hermie to use to go shopping for her new home! My response...

10-29-07 Letter
Thank you so much for your response and for sharing about CAP and Hermie with others at home. I'll update you on the progress that is being made with Hermie's new house. Last week a mission team from Christ Community Church in St. Charles, Illinois (just outside Chicago) came down to our part of Appalachia. The church is quite large and is able to send work teams of 15-30 to CAP (among other places around the world) two to three times a year. About 12 ladies and men were assigned to demolishing Hermie's home. I happily joined in on the demolition one day last week. My co-volunteers who work in housing were amused at my eagerness to get my "overhauls" dirty. In two days the volunteers had the house completely down and piled up to burn. Due to the drought there has been a burn ban in this area - but thankfully the Lord sent rain and so burning the remnants of Hermie's house was not a problem.

Hermie, who is staying at her daughter's house just down the road, came and sat out at the work site everyday. She enjoyed getting to know the workers, and it didn't bother her a bit to see her home of 57 years be torn apart piece by piece. At the end of the week I took Hermie up to the camp where the volunteers had been staying for dinner and fellowship. It was a perfect way to end a week of work. Both the volunteers and Hermie were so blessed by each other's company. After a dinner of BBQ sandwiches and sweet potato casserole we sang hymns together. I had a hard time pulling Hermie away from the group when it came time to leave. She must have hugged everyone in the room at least twice if not three times! As we were leaving camp Hermie told me she knew that was the best time she had had in a "right long while".

Seeing the group from Christ Community Church so invested in caring for Hermie was such a blessing. I'm so grateful for what they did for Hermie and what you all are going to be able to do for her!

The trailer is being moved on to Hermie's property this Wednesday! As soon as the crew leader can get it underpinned and get the electricity and water hooked up Hermie and James can move back in. That may be as early as this Friday or next Monday!! The housing crew will continue to make improvements to the trailer once Hermie and James are settled.

Please pray the this process will continue to go smoothly. Also, Hermie has a check-up from her cataract surgery on Thursday. Pray that all is well with that despite how active Hermie has been since the surgery (which I understand is a somewhat of a no-no after cataract surgery).


Thanks so much!

Love and prayers,
Jennie

Jason Ray

Jason Ray was a friend of mine through Intervarsity. His life came to a sudden end this past spring when he wast struck by a car while in New Jersey the afternoon that he was to be performing as Rameses (carolina's mascot) at the NCAA sweet sixteen game.

But because Jason died and had decided a few years earlier to be an organ donor, four people received a new chance at life. ESPN has put together a wonderful piece on Jason's story and the stories of the people who carry Jason on with them. Please check this out and if you can tune in to ESPN tomorrow night at 7pm. It will bless you.

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/eticket/story?page=rayofhope

Playing Catch-Up

Not only does the "other" Jenny keep me accountable for my spiritual growth and 1/2 marathon training (at times ;-)), but she is also keeping me accountable for blogging! She left me a facebook message saying she was disappointed that I had only one entry for the month of October. Not only that, but Andy from over in the Jackson House has put a link to my blog in his blog. So I guess I better get back on top of things.

But where oh where to start?! Is October really already half over? Have I really almost been here almost two months? I'm gonna do my best to bring y'all up to speed in the next few days on what I've been up to - but hang in there.

Tuesday Nights:
Ever since I was a little girl Tuesday evenings have been special. For years, my dance lessons at Mrs. Wanda's fell on Tuesday afternoons. For all of my Columbus County readers, y'all know where you could always find the Biser family on Tuesday nights. Yup - Pizza Village for buffet night - the best pizza, salad "cart", sweet tea, and super bubble gum in town! When I got to high school Tuesday nights meant winning tennis matches and marching band practice with breaks to the Etna for a sun-drop in my friends' cars.

Then Carolina came and with that Craigers for Life. Craigers for Life was the name of my Intervarsity women's small group that I was involved with for all four years. This was my first experience in being in a Bible study or having a group of women to talk openly with about and grow with in my faith. My Craigers blessed me so much. I know I wouldn't be where I am in my walk with the Lord without them. Seeing as how three of my best friends are Craigers, my time at Carolina would have looked ENTIRELY different without these women. We met on Tuesday nights.

So not only did graduating from Carolina mean I was leaving Chapel Hill, but it also meant I was leaving my Craigers - my community of believers, my girls to pray with, ask questions with, confess to, study God's word with and eat lots and lots and lots and lots of pokey sticks with. What would I do without them? Where would I find my community? What would I do on Tuesday nights?!?!

But God is good!

Three weeks ago the women of the Johnson House began meeting together on TUESDAY evenings. We are reading and discussing Irresistable Revolution by Shane Claiborne. It's all about his journey to live a more authentic and biblical faith. For instance, when Jesus says give all you have to the poor - he actually does it. Anyways - we are a quite a diverse bunch: protestant, catholic, conservative, liberal, loud, quiet, northern, southern, catholic school backgrounds, public school backgrounds, secular universities, Christian universities. We have had such different upbringings and life experiences. I have felt challenged every night we've met- it's QUITE fabulous! Because even though we experience him and express our feelings for Him in slightly different ways, we all LOVE the Lord. We have a ton of questions about and for Him. We have questions for ourselves and what it means to follow Him. Heck - we even have questions for Shane Claiborne, who makes it seem too easy to do things like call up Mother Teresa and go spend the summer with her or say no to all the material temptations in the world.


I just feel so blessed that God has provided me with this community of women. It's made my transition out of Craigers for Life a bit more bearable. If you've never experienced a "small-group" type community - please find one! I know a lot of churches, including my home church don't have small-group ministries - and that's really unfortunate. But start one on your own. Read a book, read the Bible, just talk with some girls (or guys) over coffee. You could meet on Tuesdays...

Lost Keys

Yesterday was my first bad day at CAP. But there was definitely a lesson learned, thus making it blog-worthy, so here goes:

Yesterday morning got off to a great start! The local domestic violence shelter planted a tree at our house as a sign of appreciation to CAP. Before the tree-planting ceremony and reception our volunteer manager came over to the house and made pancakes for everyone! The morning's activities meant we didn't have to be at work until later and could sleep in a bit. Pancakes, trees, extra sleep. Sounds like the start to a good day, right? Well...

Somewhere in between moving my CAP van to make room for the tree-planting ceremony and coming back in my room to make a phone call I misplaced the keys to Whit Ventura. After retracing my steps and looking in every possible place in the house I looked at the clock. It was 9:35. I needed to have Hermie (45 min. away) in Hazard (additional 20-25 min) by 11. I had a problem. I told Harold, our volunteer manager who we lovingly refer to as Big Poppa, about my predicament. He rushed me down to Charlie, our head mechanic who reluctantly gave me the spare key.

The drive to Hindman had never seemed so long. When I finally made it to Hermie's it was 10:35. If she was right ready to leave, we could make it by 11, or at least close enough to it so she could keep her appointment. As I approached her house, I noticed the big door was closed behind the screen door...not a good sign. After knocking, calling her name several times, and finding the door locked tight, I realized she wasn't there. Deflated, I returned to Whit Ventura, unlocked her with my spare key instead of the usual keyless entry, and headed back to the office to spend the rest of the day doing paperwork. YAY! - or not. This all really bummed me out.

The search for the keys continued into the night. The longer I went without them, the more bummed out I got, dreading having to confess to Charlie that I had lost the key. My housemates helped me look and told me their own lost key stories. Christian even told me I could blame it on her - and that she was actually going to flat out tell them it was her fault if I didn't. My catholic roommates offered to pray to Saint Anthony, Patron of Lost Things, for me. Nothing seemed to work. I didn't get it. I had used them that morning!!!

Last night at 11:30 I opened my underwear drawer to retrieve the types of things you go into underwear drawers for and there peeking out under some of the drawers contents was nothing other than the keys to Whit Ventura.

I couldn't help to laugh about it. Not just finding my keys in my underwear drawer (as obvious as it may seem) but thinking about how I had my panties in a wad* over something so small. God definitely has a sense of humor. I think I'll lighten up.


*"Panties in a Wad" - being upset, uptight, bothered about something. Not an Appalachian phrase, but a Hallsboro phrase.

Top Eight

Shout-out to Andy over at the Jackson house. His last blog entry inspired this one (in other words, i'm copying him).

Things I LOVE about CAP/Kentucky:
1. THE Johnson House.
2. Staff Prayer every morning.
3. Seeing Christians be the hand and feet of Christ.
4. The bounty of OPERATION SHARING. (We recently recieved a shipment in from Old Navy, Gap, and Banana Republic - I'm not mad).
5. Sundays, for the first time in a long, long time do not mean studying and meetings.
6. My participants who want to adopt me as their daughter or granddaughter.
7. My Church, Mountain Community Fellowship.
8. Hearing live bluegrass played most every weekend.

Things I MISS about Chapel Hill:
1. MY GIRLS!!!!
2. Chic Fil-A and the bottom left hand side of lenoir.
3. Intervarsity and all that goes with it (ie - Craigers for Life, C-Team, Jen, AK and the interns ;-), my brother- Walker French)!
4. Walking to Kenan Stadium on Saturday mornings.
5. Alpine Bagel and the Great Hall lobby.
6. Worship at Chapel Hill Bible Church.
7. Runnning on campus.
8. My craige friends

As I've written these lists, I've realized that they could both go on for quite a while. That my friends is a good feeling...a really good feeling. To miss and think so dearly of a place, yet at the same time be just as content and and excited about the place you are right now. I'll even go a step further and say that I actually feel a peace and steadiness about what's to come, though I don't know exactly what it looks like. Yup, life is good.

Appalachian Vocabulary

I've been here a little over a month now. Slowly, but surely I am beginning to pick up on the meanings of some Appalachian phrases. Study up on these so you'll understand the locals when you come to visit me.

You'ins - trans. y'all, you guys, you and others, etc. This one I was familiar with. I hear it a lot in the NC mountains.

Waspers - trans. wasps. "Jennie, make sure you shut the door so you don't let the waspers in."

Catchin' - trans. contagious. "I didn't want to go visit my sister because her cough was catchin'."

Sugar - diabetes. "Me and all of my children have sugar."

Dope - drugs.

Pop - trans. soda, coke, soft-drink. I thought only mid-westerners called it pop.

Branch - creekbed.

Holler - narrow stretch of flat land between mountains, a valley.
**I had to ask the difference between a Branch and a Holler. I think they can be used interchangeably.

Fellars - trans. you ladies. "How are you fellars doing?" I was surprised when myself and another woman were addressed as "fellars". If she meant fellows, I thought that was generally used for men.

I don't care too - trans. Sure let's go!, I don't mind if we do. "Hermie would you like to go out for lunch?" Hermie replies, "I don't care too." (meaning yes!)

There will be a quiz...study hard!

Ms. Cheerfulness

Today was my first full day back at work after our new-volunteer orientation. Orientation was fun and informative. Ask me anything you want about CAP. I should be able to give you some sort of answer. On the other hand, don't ask me anything about CPR/First Aid. CAP outsourced the class to a well-meaning instructor, bless his heart, but - well...nevermind. The week was capped off with a very nice commissioning service for us new volunteers and a cook-out at Buckhorn Lake State Park. As much as I enjoyed last week (and some of you know how much I LOVE anything having to do with camps, retreats, nametags, and icebreakers, and teambuilding), I was really ready to get back to the Johnson House and get back into the routine of visiting my participants. I know I'm lucky to have a job I feel this way about. I know not everyone can say that.

But when you have days like the one I had today, you can see why I love my job so much. I spent all day with Ms. Cheerful. That's not her actual name, but Cheerfulness is her middle name - seriously. She usually only gets out once a month to cash her SSI check and buy groceries. She has to pay a neighbor $20 to even do that. I picked "Ms. Cheerful" up early this morning to take her to her doctor's appointment in Hazard. This morning was only my third time visiting her, but as soon as I arrived she handed me a quilt and pillow that she had made and wanted me to have. I graciously accepted, as she wouldn't have had it any other way. Anyways, after her doctor's appointment we went to lunch, did some shopping at a yard sale**, and went to the grocery store and pharmacy. While we were going through the grocery store aisle "Ms. Cheerful " spoke to two people she knew. I heard them address her by something other than her real name. When we got back in the car I asked her about it. She said that they were calling her Cheerful. It's what everyone calls her - because of her middle name, but mostly because of her personality. And boy do I see why...

This woman has been married four times. All of "her men" (as she calls them) were drunks and are now dead. From what it sounds like most all of her children are on drugs and don't treat her very well. But she doesn't seem to hold a grudge against any of them. I think she may be making one too many excuses for the people who have treated her so poorly in her life - or maybe letting them walk over her. She explained to me that she forgives them, loves them, and doesn't treat them any differently just because they treat her poorly because she is a Christian and that is the Christian thing to do. After all, that is the Gospel isn't it? Jesus looks at us like Ms. Cheerful looks at her children and former husbands. She has been through so much - and is facing possibly being diagnosed with cancer. And yet, Ms. Cheerful remains true to her name.


**A side note: yard sales and flea markets are big time in eastern kentucky. today was my first of what i'm sure will be many visits. i bought a wooden beaded purse and two billy blanks work-out DVDs for $3. I'm excited!

Johnson House Weekend

The weekend isn't even over and it's already been a great one. A participant's birthday, raul's birthday, dancing in the street at the gingerbread festival, and hiking in red river gorge. We've definitely stayed busy at the Johnson House.

Yesterday was my first time meeting Faye, one of my participants. When I saw in my file that it was her 66th birthday, I called her to see if she wanted to go out for lunch. She did, so I picked her up and treated her to McDonalds. I'm sure that doesn't sound to exciting to y'all, but considering that our other options were Dairy Queen and Long John Silvers, and that the only time Faye gets out during the week is for dialysis, it was pretty big time for her. Anyways - after lunch I gave Faye a gift bag full of avon products from op. sharing. Faye doesn't have any children. She never married, but rather spent most of her life taking care of her parents and grandparents. I've noticed this is sort of a pattern for women in Appalachia who don't marry. Faye's mother and grandmother passed away three years ago. If she lives as long as the women in her family seem to do, Faye may very well live another 20 or 30 years. Most of those years will be in solitude. Yep - an outing to McDonalds and a bag of avon is big time for Faye.

So the birthday celebrations continued last night as we took Raul out to the Mexican restaurant in Prestonsburg for his 22nd birthday. We all enjoyed ourselves and Raul was especially excited about his stuffed hippopotamus and pink precious moments bible (courtesy of op. sharing). I'm sure nothing would have made Raul happier than to go out salsa dancing after dinner, but as it turns out salsa dancing isn't so popular in eastern Kentucky. But clogging in the streets to bluegrass is!!! After dinner we headed out to Knott County to hear the bluegrass concert at the Gingerbread Festival. We listened and joined the locals in the street dancing to the pickin'. Several men had on clogs (tap shoes). It was no Frame 52 or Senor Frogs, but a good time nevertheless.

This morning we drove about an hour and a half to Red River Gorge to meet up with some volunteers from the Jackson House to do a bit of hiking. Quite a bit actually. We had some issues with figuring out the trail - but we made it in the end. Great views, Great people, Great Gatorade waiting for us in the van after a 4+ hour hike (thanks jackson house!) - what more can you ask for?

Oh, I know!!! How about a week of new volunteer orientation at Camp AJ? Done. We'll be heading out tomorrow afternoon and won't be back until Thursday night. So until then...love and prayers!

Coal Country

I'm reading Icy Sparks, a novel by Gwyn Hyman Rubio about a young girl growing up in eastern Kentucky during the 1950s. It's neat reading about a place as you experience that place. Anyways as I was reading today I came across a passage where the author describes the sometimes not so picturesque scenery of Appalachia. It's about the best description I can offer about some of the areas I drive through in Knott County. She puts it better that I could...

"We rounded the curve and I caught a whiff of Ginseng. It was the smell of coal dust hanging in the air. You could taste it on your tongue. Along the road in someone's front yard, ugly car engines lay on their backs like turtles dozing in the sun. Car seats were sprawling on their stomachs, their spines arched high. Remnants of coal company housing rotted, gray and yellow, beside the road. Every so often, I spotted brand-new black seams of coal in the sides of mountains wehre roadwork had been done. Occasionally, a tipple, like a hugh black mangled grasshopper, dotted the side of the road, and a stitch of railroad tracks was etched into the ground beyond it. Ten-ton trucks, filled with coal from the new strip min, growned as they passed us."

BINGO! and other news

Today at from 11am to 2pm the Paintsville Rec. Center was the place to be. Elderly participants from Floyd, Martin, and Knott Counties got together for a Bingo Lunch. Knott County was rolling deep - and racked up. I brought five of my participants and they all won Bingo at least once. Keith won four times!!

Like I had mentioned in an earlier blog, I was a little nervous about today. Especially about transporting multiple participants at once. But I found everyone's home, got everyone loaded safely, and made it to Bingo on time (despite me having to stop twice and ask how to get to the rec. center). My participants are so sweet. Flora and Hermie have said they are going to treat me like their own grandaughters and that I can go to them whenever I feel like I need a grandmother. Keith wants me to meet his 22 year old neighbor Ryan, who he describes as a good boy. Keith has cerebral palsy. He's difficult to understand and is in a wheelchair. I've never had to interact with someone with these kinds of disabilities. It was and I'm sure will continue to be a little challenging for me. Nevertheless, we made it through today just fine!

In other news...another new volunteer moved in yesterday. Her name is Jenny. And our names are only the beginning of the list of things we have in common. It is FREAKY how much we have in common: 1. Youngest of 3 children, 2. Ran a half marathon jr. year and haven't done much since, 3. Thinking about teaching school, 4. Don't like peanut butter, 5. Played the tenor sax in high school. 6. Have supported a child through Compassion International. And that's what we've come up with after only 2 days of knowing each other. I'm looking forward to getting to know her. She seems really cool! Obviously! ;-)

These Scriptures are Stalking Me!!!

I've been here just over two weeks now and in these two short weeks I have been here it seems like I have heard two passages of scripture over and over again! Whether I have been in conversations with other people, in staff prayer, evening devotion, meeting with my participants, watching the sound of music, or church, these verses just keep showing up. So they're going in the blog:

Proverbs 3:5-6
Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.

Psalm 121
I lift up my eyes to the mountains - where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth. He will not let your foot slip - he who watches over you will not slumber; indeed he who watches over Israel will neither slumber no sleep. The Lord watches over you - the Lord is your shade at your right hand; the sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night. The Lord will keep you from all harm - he will watch over your life; the Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore.

I realize that these are two of the more commonly cited passages of scripture, but I've been a bit overwhelmed at how often I have come across them recently. Now that I think about it the two passages complement each other really well. The passage from proverbs (the passage I came across first) tells us what to do - to trust the Lord. And how do we know we can trust the Lord? Psalm 121 reassures us that He is watching over us and will keep me us from harm.
How are our paths made straight, how are we kept from harm? Trusting in Him.

Whit Ventura

Today officially ended my training with Marcie, the volunteer whose place I am taking. She's been great to ride along with and observe. I'm a little nervous about going out on my own starting Tuesday (we have Labor Day off) but I think I'm pretty well prepared. My time today was spent setting up my desk at my office, writing notes to introduce myself to the few participants I haven't met yet, cleaning out the van I will be driving, and reading over notes previous caseworkers have written in my participants charts. As some of you know, I name my cars - and to continue with the color - model name combo I have going (Greeniechiva - Green Achieva, Silvetta - Silver Jetta) I have decided to name my work van Whit Ventura (White Venture). I'll post a picture of her later. Someone has taken her out for the evening.

Anyways - next Wednesday, Whit and I will be escorting several of my participants to a Bingo Lunch that CAP is having for elderly participants in three of our counties. It's definitely going to be a fun day - but I'm a little nervous about loading up four to five of my participants and driving them an hour+ back here to Paintsville to play their cards. They're going to have a ball though, so that's all that matters. I'll be sure to post some pictures!

So it's another weekend - and a long weekend at that. I think the guys are outside at the moment building a bonfire. Tomorrow we're going to a cook-out at one of our managers homes. He and his wife have eight children - all between the ages of 4 and 12ish. Two are theirs, three are adopted, and the youngest are their foster children - all which have some sort of developmental disability due to previous abuse or neglect. I'm in awe of what little I've seen of this family. So much love! Volunteers living in houses in our other region are coming tomorrow for the weekend. It will be fun to meet more people.

Just got back in from the bonfire. Raul, Heather, and I had a little freestyle - worship jam session. She just strummed on the guitar while Raul and I sang whatever was on our hearts. Good stuff. A lot on my heart. So much suffering, corruption, and injustice all around. But I have hope - in Psalm 11:7.

"For the Lord is righteous, he loves justice; upright men will see his face."

Good stuff.

Big Girl Panties

Something about myself that I've recognized before, but that has been made even more obvious to me over this past week is that I like to be in the middle of things. It's not a need to be the center of attention really, but a need to be (a) in the know and (b) to feel a part of a group. I think that's a large part of why I enjoy taking on leadership roles so much. Being a leader pretty much implies that you are leading a group of something - so that meets requirement b. And if the leaders don't know what's going on - then who does, thus meeting requirement a.

Late last week five of the people living in the house took off to Ohio to do disaster relief work in the areas that have experienced heavy flooding. It was really last minute - and as much as I wanted to go, I realized I had to stay here and continue training. Needless to say I was really bummed about being left behind and missing out on the opportunity to serve in disaster relief. I almost had myself a little pity-party. However, as I like to say, I put my big girl panties on and had an attitude check. The others were needed there and I needed to stay here. I have nine more months of being part of the group - it would be okay!! And it's not like I was left completely behind either...there have been 4-6 other people here the whole time. Not only that, but I had the chance over the weekend to really help a local family in need.

Saturday morning five of us helped a man in the community finish building a wheelchair ramp for a mother and her two children. Her son is 11 years old has been recently diagnosed again with leukemia. Not only that, but he has some other developmental disabilities. At one point the thirteen year old daughter tried to commit suicide due to the emotional stress in the family. The wheel chair ramp is for the son who is able to go to school twice a week, but is unable to negotiate the stairs from his trailer in his wheelchair.

That morning, between learning how to use an electric drill, screwdriver, and table saw, I was grateful that I had stayed behind and wasn't in the middle of the big operation in Ohio, but in the middle of the small, but so necessary task here.

A Day in the Life of a CAP Volunteer

Typical Weekday:
6:30 (ish) - Rise and Shine
7:55 - Walk to work
8:15 - Staff devotion and morning prayer. Good way to start the day!
8:30ish - 9:30ish - Fill out paperwork for the previous days' visits, write notes to my
participants call my participants to schedule visits, plunder through the
warehouse getting supplies and treats to take to my participants.

One of CAP's biggest programs is Operation Sharing in which over 125 corporations
(including the owners of brands like, Banana Republic, Avon, Listerine, Ocean Spray, Tropicana etc.) donate their defect or surplus products to CAP. Last year CAP received donated materials valued at over 55 millions dollars. As volunteers we get to take these products and distribute them to our participants. But there is no way that CAP alone could distribute all of these materials, so it partners with 1300 other smaller organizations, churches, and non-profits in order to get the items distributed. In other words, a girl scout troop in some other part of appalachia can come to one of our Operation Sharing warehouses and get supplies to distribute to people they are serving. Such an awesome program! And the volunteers get dibs on the donated materials too. Too bad I just missed the banana republic shipment!
9:30-10:30ish - Drive to Knott County. I think I will eventually come to really appreciate this time I have alone to myself. Living with 14 other people doesn't give you much alone time.
10:30 - 3:30ish - Visit my participants. I will probably visit with an avg. of 3 participants a day. This will vary on the days that I have to take participants to their doctor's appointments or to run other errands. I have 25 participants in my county.
3:30-4:30ish - Drive back to Hagerhill
6:00 - Community Dinner and Devotion. Monday through Thursday nights the house eats together as a community. Different people are responsible for cooking each night. Whoever cooks is also responsible for devotion. I'm cooking for the first time tomorrow night. I'm making BBQ Meatballs - one of my favorite recipes from my summer at bear trap. I hope it goes well!
7:00 - Some sort of physical activity. 95% of my day at work will be spent sitting. I'll either be sitting at a desk, sitting in a car, sitting in a doctor's office, or sitting on a participant's couch. Exercising will be a must, although I'll have to get creative. There are a couple of parks nearby - but not any good running trails. I've managed to make-up some of my own.
8:00-10:00 - Hangout with people in the house. We mostly hang-out together on the front porch or watch TV.
10:00-11:00 - Blog, read, relax.
11:00 - Goodnight!

Goodnight!

Being the New Girl

I've been here almost a full week now. I arrived last Saturday afternoon. Hagerhill is only 3 1/2 hours from my grandparents mountain house (near Banner Elk, NC) - so whenever I need to get a dose of NC or some TLC from the family (or friends for that matter), it's nice to know i don't have that far to go.

I'm living at the Johnson House, with what will eventually be fourteen other volunteers. It's located right behind CAP headquarters, so I walk to work every morning. The house is going through a bit of a transition right now. Lots of people moving out and moving in over the next couple of weeks. I'm very happy with the set-up here. I have my own room - and it's not tiny either. Maybe even bigger than my room in my apartment. Most of the volunteers are under 30 and are from all over. Wisconsin, Michigan, Texas, Florida, Pennsylvania, New York, Ohio, Kansas, West Virgina. I'm one of the first new volunteers in a wave of newbies to get to the house. It's been only as awkward as one would expect living with new people would be. I think the volunteers who have been here a while are really missing the volunteers who recently left - and aren't quite sure how they feel about developing a new community. I know I would feel the same way though, so I'm just hanging out and patiently awaiting the time when my new car smell fades, I break in the soles of my shoes, and I really feel like a part of the group.

But not only am I a replacement (of sorts) at the Johnson House, but at work too. I'm an elderly services caseworker with CAP responsible for participants living in Knott County. I have been shadowing the volunteer who I will be replacing this past week. Every day this week she had the difficult task of letting our participants know that she will be moving back to Ohio and will no longer be coming to visit with them. It was hard watching both Marcie and the participant tear up during each conversation. I had to remind myself that I wasn't the bad guy. But then after Marcie explained that I will be taking her place, each participant looked at me and smiled and said things like, "Well, I'll get along with her just fine", "I'd be proud to have you come and visit me", or "I know I'm going to love you too."

Talking about Marcie, Mickie, one of my participants, said, "We'll never be able to replace you. There's not another Marcie." Marcie replied, "No, but you can add." Mickie smiled and energetically agreed.

Change is tough. It can be awkward, frightening, and make us tear up. It takes time to get adjusted to and comfortable with. But we have to remember that change isn't always the bad guy. It's the opportunity to add experiences, not replace our old ones. That means that every time we face change we are given the chance to grow more, give more, receive more, learn more, love more, and be loved more.

I hope to have a lifetime of adding.

A New Habit

It has taken me a week to finally get the internet working on my computer. Turns out I was entering the wrong network password. But I'm good to go now!

Since I'm embarking on this new chapter in my life, I'm attempting to pick up a few new habits, including making my bed every morning and spending time with the Lord every morning. So far, I'm five for five. I'm wondering which will be the most difficult to keep up. Something else I'm giving a go of is keeping up a blog.

This blog is your window into the poverty and beauty of the region and people of Eastern Kentucky. It's also your window into my life here in Appalachia. Those of you reading this, I'm missing not being able to see you or talk to you as regularly as I'd like. So stop by here every once in a while - and after you leave, send me an e-mail or leave me a message updating me on your life. But I guess this blog is largely for myself too. If this first week is any indication of what this year is to be like then I know I'm going to hear countless stories and learn precious lessons that I am going to want to remember for my own growth and benefit. If I can get something from them, then perhaps, so can you.

Love and Prayers