May - We presume the past is virtually behind us

Try to match the quote to the person:

1. "I got back on zoom all by myself without any help!"

2. "I don't go to church but I've been more interested in God since quarantine."

3. "I'm scared of the halfpipe but I'm going to be brave."

4. "Can you please leave?"

 

A.  A high school student who designed and helped paint our Nutritional Garden fence

B.  Max, my 4 year old

C.  One of our elderly participants in the As We Gather Program

D.  A middle school student in our BLOCK program.

Answers are at the bottom of this blog.

BLOCK Middle and High School Program - Looking back, the relationships that have been built for many years with our older students definitely took a hit when the pandemic forced things to be more virtual. What was brought evermore to light as the months passed on was that teens just want to be around each other in person. As I took over the already unraveling program in January, an overall goal I had was to be more fun and interactive in the virtual meetings, but also create a safe in person activity or event each month to get us back together and out of our isolation funk. And although the quantity of the program was less than ideal, I believe, looking back, that the quality of what we were given to work with made for an enriching and welcoming program for those who attended. The silver lining was that we got to know a few kids very well and give them more attention than they would've otherwise had with a big group. For an end of the year celebration, we brought 3 students to Adventure Landing in Jacksonville, FL. It reminded me like if Wisconsin Dells water parks had a little brother. We enjoyed the water park with a wave pool, lazy river, and some awesome water slides (one including a huge halfpipe), some go-karts, batting cages, and some much needed slushies and pizza on the hot day. Seeing these kids up close rather than behind the screens of their computers and phones was a welcome change to the day as well. Adventure Landing, a great exclamation point ending to a book I never want to pick up again.

Brayden attempting to hit 70mph fastballs

This summer, BLOCK will take a break from weekly formal meetings. Instead, the church will be back open. Fridays will commence with Open Court again. For two hours each Friday, anyone is welcome to play basketball, some cornhole (beanbags), or a variety of indoor games. Please pray that lots of people show up and enjoy a few hours of fun and competition in a safe space.

Other random snapshots from ministry and life last month - The As We Gather program, which is a virtual community of isolated elderly folks learning technology, socializing, and growing together has been a real hit. Although it has taken a lot of handholding to get participants comfortable with the process of logging in on zoom, from what I've been told, they are loving this program and what they are learning. I believe they do daily devotionals, daily exercise, and a daily activity, whether it's art, cooking, or having a guest speaker. Pray for continued growth and interest in this program. This is a need in our community on which we've just begun to take notice and action.

Summer Day Camp starts next week. We will be in person. It will be small, but I believe very impactful in the life of the students and ministry. I'm sure you have your own experiences recently where being in person with either friends or family has been a welcome breath of fresh air. I'm excited to reprise my role of leading Challenge Circle a couple times each week. I'm not sure if there's a way to word search "Challenge Circle" in my previous blogs, but if there is, I know I've expressed my love and excitement of the very existence of this outdoor camp activity.

One Saturday in May, a kid named Tyler came to the garden to help me help him execute his design for our garden fence. What started out as a fun "Design our garden fence" activity on a piece of paper to keep participants in our Garden Day from getting bored turned into a kid taking an idea and running with it. Interested in graphic design and just finishing his sophomore year in high school, Tyler sent me this in April:

In May, we painted this:

Not bad if I do say so myself. It's not completely finished yet, but every time I go to the garden, seeing the fence just makes the experience of the garden just a bit brighter and happier.

Speaking earlier of silver linings, I'll start off by saying it has been a stressful month health-wise. After traveling to North Carolina for a wedding weekend, Max came down with a fever. A routine Monday morning doctor's appointment eventually turned into a 6 night stay at the hospital. With strep and a blood infection, Max was not looking his best energetic, always happy, always goofy self. There were moments where it was unbearable to hear his raspy achy voice and lethargic demeanor. Missi stayed with him in the hospital and I stayed at home with my own leg infection, bad reactions to antibiotics, and painful attempts at walking. This picture of Max might be the most silverest of silvery linings, for this indicated the turning point in the hospital where he was able to stand, smile, and begin again to goof.

Thank you for taking the time to read this. If you'd like to help out the ministry in any way, here are some simple ways how:

-Pray, like actual pray to God for us.

-Donate for our Open Court (we could always use new basketballs, ball pumps, and new games)

-Follow 2nd Mile Ministries on facebook and instagram

-Follow block_brentwood on instagram to see my fumbled attempts at social media in real time for the BLOCK program.

-Give a donation at 2ndmilejax.com

-If you shop on amazon.com, shop at smile.amazon.com instead and choose 2nd Mile Ministries as your organization of choice. Amazon donates a percentage of your purchases to us.

Love y'all. Hope this will be a great summer for you! (Answers below)

Answers to the above quotes: 1C, 2A, 3D, 4B (he would say to the nurses if they stayed too long in his hospital room)