"For my thoughts are not your thoughts," declares the Lord. "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts." -Isaiah 55:8-9
A new school year. A new after school program director. A new normal. Going into mid August, we knew that our after school program director was going to be new, as was the case the previous two years. We hired someone. School was starting in two weeks and things were looking up. She had lots of good ideas, but seemed a little distant, like something was off, like she had one foot in the door and one foot out. She had been contemplating moving back to Georgia. Long story short, she resigned, the after school program was beginning in like 5 days, and we had no new good leads. No former applicants that really fit the position. It's moments of surrender like these where God has been teaching us to rely on him when we can't see five feet in front of us.
In steps hope. I mean, in literally stepped Hope, a now early 20-something who had a couple siblings in our after school program years ago, even volunteered at the program herself for a bit, has lived in Brentwood almost her whole life, literally grew up next door to 2nd Mile, and on top of that, couple her sons in our Summer Day Camp this past summer. And, oh yeah, her dream job is to do something in community development. She inquired about the job after we had already hired the previous director so no application was made by her at the time. We put the job opening back out into the world and I don't know if an application, interview, and hiring has ever happened so quickly in my time at 2nd Mile, not just because we were in a time crunch, but because there was something almost divine in that whole process. We seemed to come out ahead of where we had been before.
two:fiftytwo After School Program - So the school year began, we have 14 amazing students, 9 of whom were either at camp or in the program last year. They all go to the same school. Nine of them have a sibling or uncle in the program. Hope is doing a great job planning lessons, activities, and getting used to the kids. We hope to focus on social and emotional learning, Biblical learning, academic excellence, as well as having fun. Luke 2:52 says, "And Jesus grew in wisdom, and in stature, and in favor with God and men." We pray these students would grow in so many ways. The girl in the picture below is Aminata. She is our first ever bilingual student and is much stronger in French than English currently. Her family doesn't speech English well so it's been very cool seeing her act as a translator for us. Here she started a water color of a sunset which would later show a mosaic of water and a boat. Cool kid.
BLOCK Middle and High School Program - Since the pandemic began in 2020, we've lost a lot of momentum with this particular age group, and in many ways, has seemed like a restart period in the history of 2nd Mile. We tried a virtual program which had its challenges, we went back in person in 2021 while socially distancing ourselves. Already a month into the school year, I'm excited to see veteran students building on what they've learned as well as five new students who got to know us at summer day camp. It can be difficult for a completely new student to stay committed to coming to these programs that are voluntary. I've been encouraged that these students have the shared experience of camp that made the transition to BLOCK so seamless. My plan with these students is to teach them about Christ, how that applies to their lives, learn life skills that they don't get taught in school, and teach them how to be leaders. Please pray that they would be excited to come each week, that their attendance stays consistent and that I'd be sensitive to what God has for this program. Below are the five new students helping lead Open Court by playing/learning/teaching cornhole. Cool kids.
So if you ever think of us, think about a growing family. Think about a neighborhood making deeper connections with itself. Think about roots growing deeper and wider. Think about God infiltrating these open hearts and minds and creating something beautiful now and in the future. Think about God's perfect timing, God's perfect plan, and God's generosity with his love and grace.
