Camp Out to Stamp Out 2012

James 1:26-27 (The Message) Anyone who sets himself up as "religious" by talking a good game is self-deceived.  This kind of religion is hot air and only hot air.  Real religion, the kind that passes muster before God the Father, is this: Reach out to the homeless and loveless in their plight, and guard against corruption from the godless world.

Isaiah 58:7 (New Living Translation) Share your food with the hungry, and give shelter to the homeless.  Give clothes to those who need them, and do not hide from relatives who need your help.

Call it a mid-life crisis, call it inspired by Jen Hatmaker to DO something, call it moved to follow Jesus' example, or call it crazy. Friday night, we camped (sans Matt) downtown at Wheeler Mission's Camp out to Stamp out homelessness.

We arrived downtown at the American Legion Mall with all of our "stuff" (Clara kept saying "I feel like we brought too much stuff") and got to work setting up the tent.  We did a dry run at home Thursday night, so this went fairly smoothly.  No yelling or fighting...success! :o)

Working together

Finished, and ready to check out all the fun!!

They had all kinds of fun activities for the family...bounce houses, face painting, cornhole, etc.

Clara shows off her awesome face paint

Zane with the blue dragon and the girls with sparkly streamers...

...and Quinn with the fancy mustache!

Close-up of Zane's dragon

There were also lots of opportunities for prizes and contests.  Zane's name was pulled to compete in a Minute-to-Win-It contest!  

Getting ready to find out what he has to do...

He partner had to balance an egg on a pizza box and at the cone, get it from his box to his partner's...

He didn't win the contest, but DID win a yummy pizza for us to share!!!

Tents and activities on the mall.

There was even rock climbing for all!

After the concert by the Hunter Smith Band, there was popcorn and cookies and a movie.  I couldn't believe Zane stayed awake for the whole movie!  We headed back to our tent around 1:00 and slept until we heard the "Rise and Shine!" from Channel 13's Dave Calabro.  After a short time of worship and a brief message from Wheeler Mission's Rick Alvis, we picked up our Chick-Fil-A breakfast and finished packing up the stuff to head home.  At some point late Friday night, Zane said, "I was kind of nervous about coming to do this, but it's actually really fun!"  This event was in no way an attempt to simulate homelessness, but it was a very real way to bring awareness to the issue of homelessness in our city.  My hope is that my kids (and I) will be motivated by this event to DO SOMETHING more...and I'm certain that this weekend made more of an impact than just talking about helping people around our dinner table.  It was a bit of a step outside my comfort zone, but well worth it! (oh yeah, and we made the Indy Star so we were kind of mini-celebrities at church today.  Not the point, but exciting for the boys nonetheless!)

Coming to a close...

Another school year is coming to an end today.  Every year brings lots of learning, both for the kids and for their parents.  I have learned a few things this year (in no particular order):

1-Sometimes backing off yields greater results than pushing harder (translation: we did not fight over spelling this year...we just used spelling city.  My kids did not do that well in spelling.  But they did no worse (and maybe a little better) than they did last year with tears weekly.

2-There are days I will want to dis-own my teenager as a hopeless cause, and others when I am floored by a glimpse of maturity of thought and action. Don't give up.

3-I will always know more about Millie's day than anyone else's.

4-There is nothing quite as sweet as the hour or hour and a half I spend each week praying with other moms for our kids.  I don't know how I would have made it through the year without those ladies.

5-There are never guarantees that a decision will be the "right" one.  But Quinn and Clara went back to a traditional middle school...one with a not-so-great reputation and facing some serious academic issues.  But despite all the negatives we faced going into the year, we came out with so many positives!  I had the chance to spend a lot of time volunteering at the middle school...to see the many great teachers and staff who really do care about middle schoolers (hard to believe, I know).  They had a principal who isn't afraid to keep those kids accountable for their actions and their wardrobe choices.   Quinn and Clara both had great years--as much as they liked the freedom of our quasi-homeschooling years, they both like this year better.  Good can come out of something even when everyone around you thinks it's going to be nothing but bad.

6-Quinn can run...not fast, but he didn't give up...not ever...and he made great improvements this year.  I'm proud of him!!


I'm sure I learned more than that, but those are my thoughts this morning before I rush off to the last-day-of-school awards ceremonies and parties.  Thankful for a great year.

And now, for those who aren't on Facebook (dad), here is the link to the school year album I've been adding to all year.

"What have we created?"

That was the question Matt asked last night as he helped Clara with her latest cooking project.

One of our favorite weekend meals is calzones.  We stuff bread dough with our favorite pizza toppings and lots of cheese...delicious!!  These are a regular menu item here at the Brown house.  The other day Clara decided that she'd like to make some dessert calzones.  I was making my grocery list for the next day, so I told her that if she found a recipe she wanted to try to just add anything she needed to the list.  Wow... this was no Quick Cooking recipe that she decided to conquer. Rolling out the dough proved a little trickier than she anticipated, but she managed quite nicely.

 TWO items that went inside the calzones...a Nutella/cream mixture and a ricotta/mascarpone mixture

 Spreading on the filling(s)...

 Folding them up (also WAY trickier than anticipated)

 Ready for the oven

 Topped with a delicious strawberry sauce.  Nice work, Clara!!  Can't wait to sample her next creation.

Fun Friday night

Inspired by this picture I found on Pinterest:

Source: violetpaperwings.blogspot.com via Janette on Pinterest

And given the fact that we had a free Friday evening at home, we decided to do some crafting!

Sanding...

Painting...

And voila!  We are ready to hang them!!

India Part 4

Bicycles lined up at the high school

January 4, 2012
Another good day with the girls! We felt like there was a lot of down time in the morning. Around 11:00 we went to the high school (all girls).  The principal showed us around all of the different classrooms.  The schools all have uniforms and seem very orderly (none of the talking/goofing off that I see in our US middle and high schools!) Everyone was working diligently (except the Shelter girls who were trying to sneak a smile and a wave at us).  The building was very open--kind of like buildings in Florida or Hawaii--no doors to classrooms and the hallways were open to the back courtyard.  We also toured the primary school-the principal there was very nice and talked with us a bit more.  We all had a cold bottle of Pepsi in her office after our tour :o) I was kind of shocked at the number of absentees-only about 1/4 or the 430 students were in attendance.

Back of the high school that faces courtyard

The teachers' uniform at the Primary School

Attendance board

After our school tours, we saw the facilities of the printing press and recording studio that are both located on the Shelter property. 

After lunch we had an awesome afternoon with the girls.  We did more singing, read Matthew 6:25-34, and then made paper flowers. The girls seemed to love it, and got very creative with their flowers.

The crafts from the week

Then they spent a long time teaching us their circle games.  We just laughed and laughed.
Then tonight was the dedication of the sick room and dining hall--followed by a "feast." They presented us each with a garland of flowers and we had to talk a bit about why we had come to India.  Sierra had the privilege or cutting the ribbon during the sick room dedication.  After that was the feast...it was a rice and mutton dish (with saffron, cilantro, cashews and a curd sauce).  I think the name of it was biryani--we were told it was a traditional meal of the Mongols.  It was pretty good (except for the fatty pieces of meat which is something I've always struggled with).  The meal was topped off with a piece of candy made of some sort of almond paste.

January 5, 2012
We spent the morning at the guest house, playing games and talking with Asim.  He knows quite a few impressive card tricks! Just before lunch, he took us back to the Shelter compound.  He showed us the old sick room and the area behind the gate, which has become overgrown and littered.  He told us the government is putting some pressure on them to sell of that land.  They don't want to, but they lack the resources to either maintain the vegetation or build something there. We were also able to go up to the roof of The Shelter Public School to take pictures of Cuttack from a new view!



After lunch we went shopping and Neha was a HUGE help.  We each bought an Indian dress-although we were intrigued by all of the beautiful sarees, we opted for the more practical (for us, anyway) tunic and leggings style dress.  We found little girl dress and scarves at a shop in the mall (which was not AT ALL like an American mall).
We tried to go see the girls for a bit earlier in the day, but they were all either at school or working at their jobs, so we sat and talked to Putul and Mini for a while.  Again, I was touched by their enthusiasm.  Putul's love for God and the girls continues to make an impact on me.  She continues to talk about always thanking God for His blessings to her.  I think many people would look at the way the girls and house matrons live and wonder what they have to be thankful for.  What an awesome reminder that no matter what our circumstances are, we can always stop to give thanks.

After dinner we went over to the chapel for the girls' dance program.  They looked so beautiful in their new Christmas dresses.  Before the dances started, there was plenty of time for more circle games and laughter, and lots of picture-taking.  Asim told us that the girls have worked to incorporate some traditional Indian dances and set them to Christian music. The dancing was wonderful--it was fun to watch them all!

India Part 3

January 2, 2012
This morning Asim shared with us some history of The Shelter.  Then he took us to see the Shelter Public School.  There children there were so sweet and they all stood up when we entered each classroom.  Some of the classes only had 3 students!  We chatted for a bit with the principal, who was very nice.  We are learning more about Asim, too--he likes to tell stories! I'm discovering that even though many of the people we encounter speak English, they are still difficult to understand and it takes an incredible amount of concentration and energy to follow a conversation.


We came back to the guest house to work on our afternoon plans.  We had 2 hours to fill, and we thought we hd plenty of stuff to do, but it only took an hour, so we improvised some extra games.  We told the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego--and acted it out for them.  It was humorous and it's probably good that we didn't videotape it! :o)

We had dinner at the guest house and planned for tomorrow.  We had lots of laughs while trying to draw animals for a game tomorrow.

January 3, 2012

Today was the day that has affected me most thus far.  We had breakfast and then went to the Shelter Public School to hand out pencils.  The principal there is so nice and the children so sweet.  They all stood as we entered the classroom and each one said thank you.  After that we went over to the chapel for a couple of hours--we taught the girls HALLELUJAH/PRAISE YE THE LORD and they all loved it!  We made snowflakes and played games with them.  After lunch we went back and did more singing, finished crafts and played games.  They really liked hot potato!  Stephenie took pictures of each girl individually with her nametag on so that we can pray for them each by name once we get home.

The best part of the day was dinner.  Asim and Mamata were at a wedding and were not planning to come back for dinner.  We had asked if we could eat with the girls sometime, and so tonight was the night.  WOW--what an incredibly humbling experience.  They have a long dining hall and sit in four rows on the floor to eat.  In the traditional Indian way, they eat without utensils.  When we walked in they had a table set up for us, but we said that we'd like to sit WITH them.  We each found a place on the floor with the girls (and we didn't use silverware, either!)  It was all I could do to keep from crying the whole time.  It was touching to see how the older girls care for the younger ones, and I couldn't seem to get over the fact that we were all just sitting on the floor eating dinner--and they seemed happy about it! Of course there was plenty of laughing as the girls watched me try to make a ball out of the potatoes and rice on my plate. I never did get very good at that. Putul (house mother) showed us the kitchen after dinner.  It was amazing to me how they cook their meals (LOTS of rice) over a fire and in a stone oven.  Listening to Putul talk about her life and to hear her talk about praying to God for strength each morning (when she gets up at 4:30 to start breakfast) and thanking Him for all of her blessings was inspiring to me.

 We ended our day with chapel--a good time of singing, scripture, and prayer.  They all prayed aloud at the close.  The sound of all their voices lifted in prayer together gave me the chills.  What an awesome day...thankful for all God is showing and teaching me this week.

India Part 2

January 1, 2012

"We made it through the Delhi airport with no problems at all.  My favorite was the little girl in front of us as we were getting of the plane: 'Oh! It smells like India!' (I, surprisingly, didn't find the smell nearly as bad as I was prepared for).  The other highlight was while we were waiting on the plane for our final flight to Bhubaneswar.  There was music piped in and it sounded like some sort of tribal Indian kind of music, but was immediately followed by some sappy Muzak version of 'That's What Friends are For.' We were cracking up!  We arrived in Bhubaneswar at 7:00 pm local time (8:30 am in Indy).  26 1/2 hours of travel!!  Asim and Mamata met us at the airport.  They took us out to eat and we tried some new things.  Poppers were kind of like a tortilla chip, but were the size of our plate.  They were lighter in texture than a chip and had a strong (not salty) flavor.  It was pretty good.  It was served with chicken kabobs, fried prawns and garlic chicken with fried rice.  After dinner we started the drive to Cuttack.  Traffic in India is kind of insane.  They drive on the left...mostly.  Because really there are no lines and people just seem to drive as fast as they want and pass whenever they want and just keep honking at everyone.  I was sitting in the front seat and I was slightly scared for my life.  There are all kinds of vehicles on the road--trucks, cars, bicycles, motorcycles, and rickshaws (both motorized and bikes)  There just aren't words to describe the feeling of chaos on the streets. We arrived at The Shelter around 10:00 pm

"It is January 1!  It's weird to thing that we are up for breakfast and it's not even midnight back home.  Last night after we arrived at The Shelter, we attended a New Year's Eve service in the chapel with about 30 of the older girls.  Today we went to church in the morning.  The children all sat on the floor in the center of the room.  women and men sat in chairs around the sides and back--segregated from each other.  The service was about 1 1/2 hours long.  They introduced us and welcomed us each with a fresh bouquet of flowers.

"We came home from church and slept a little bit before going to Asim and Mamata's for lunch.  We tried to ask about what we would be doing and Asim kind of shut us off, so we waited until Mamata got back in the afternoon to talk about plans.  We started brainstorming ideas and good thing--because she was ready for us to lead a craft and game today!!  It was pretty stressful but we had a lot of fun with the girls.

"We were invited to a wedding feast this evening.  It was a great way to see some of the culture there.  The setting was beautiful--outdoors in a large courtyard-type place.  I thought it seemed like a LOT of people, but Mamata said it was small.  The couple was married several days ago.  In india there are 2 celebrations-the bride's party and the groom's party.  We were attending the groom's party (the bride was from Calcutta).  They were on a stage greeting guests and taking pictures with everyone.  Food stations were set up around the perimeter so we had some variety of foods.  Indian food is okay, but I can see myself getting tired of the spices pretty quickly.  We learned that December is the season of weddings--the temperatures are cooler and most families are together because of the holidays.

"Hoping for a good night's sleep... So far I feel kind of overwhelmed by my desire to "do" more and be with the girls more and how that conflicts with our desire to be and do what our hosts expect of us.  I hope tomorrow (the start of the week) will be a little different and that they can accept our help more and not feel like they are playing host/hostess so much. We knew it would be challenging, but I'm so grateful for this experience we are having."