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.
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Thursday, September 20, 2007
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!
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!
Monday, September 17, 2007
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!
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!
Saturday, September 8, 2007
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!
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!
Wednesday, September 5, 2007
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."
"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! ;-)
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! ;-)
Monday, September 3, 2007
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.
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.
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