Tears of Joy and Tears of Sadness

Last night was my last Night Out! at YEC. It was a wonderful evening. We had 25 kids, 7 of them were there for the first time last night. We were a bit low on volunteers, but I have fabulous volunteers, and we made it through with no problem.

 

I am so excited for our new adventure in Seattle and the possibilities of growing Mark 10:14 Ministries into it's own non-profit organization. However, the idea of leaving this program that I started 1 ½ years ago hurts my heart. I have gotten to know many of these families very well. All of them have a story to tell and I feel blessed to have been able to be a part of their lives.

 

For now, my roll in Mark 10:14 Ministries will be get the program up and running so that it can be taken into other churches. Through YEC, we have proved that; #1 there is a great need in our communities for respite to families with special needs children. #2 "regular church people" filled with God's love can make a huge difference in the lives of these families. We will be developing the curriculum for Night Out! , so that it is easy to follow and easy to improvise. I am so thankful that YEC wants to keep Night Out! going after I leave. I will be spending the next few weeks going over how I ran Night Out!, so they can take it, make it their own and run with it.

 

Getting All the Ducks in a Row

There is still a whole week left until June's "Night Out!" at YEC, and we already have 22 kids signed up! It is so exciting! One new family (with 2 kids), has already registered and I've heard that another family (with 2 kids) is interested and will be filling out the paperwork soon. The 22 children registered to come next Friday, represent 10 different families. That's 10 families in our community that will be blessed with a 3-hour respite. I am so thankful to all the volunteers (most of them had never worked with special needs kids/families before) who make this possible.

This month will be a bit different for me; I'm not going to be there! It feels rather strange to be planning and organizing an event that you love, but know you won't be able to attend. I know that it is going to be a wonderful blessing for everyone involved.

Adding to the Blessings…

    God is so good! It is so exciting to see how God is working through Mark 10:14 Ministries to be a blessing to people who have children with special needs. About two months ago, I received an email from a gentleman named Pat, who lives in New Hampshire. After reading my blog, he wanted more information on how we started the "Night Out!" at YEC. We have been emailing back and forth for the past few months and it looks like they will be starting "Night Out!" with their congregation soon. It has been so much fun praying for that ministry at Orchard Christian Fellowship in Londonderry NH.

Transitions

"For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope."

Jeremiah 29:11 ESV

 I keep going back to this verse, repeatedly. There are so many things in my life that are changing right now and all are basically out of my control. I haven't been blogging lately, mostly because I have been so unsure as to how to share everything in a way that made sense. Then it dawned on me… Besides the Mark 10:14 blog, I have a personal blog http://theworldaccordingtomamaberg.blogspot.com/ So… if you want to know what it happening on a more personal level, that would be the place to go.

Mark 10:14 Ministries will continue to grow and change. There are so many things that need to be done during this time of transition. The Night Out! Program at YEC is going strong. We have been working on finding someone to take this ministry over when we leave. I also have been in the process of writing a Night Out! Manual with all the "whys" and "how to's" of Night Out!

Back to Blogging

It's been a while since my last posting. Here's what's been going on: 

• "Night Out!" for March was rescheduled to the 3rd Friday because many of our volunteers went ot Dare2Share.
• March 19th we celebrated our 1 year anniversay for "Night Out!" Wow!! one year!
• March 31th I turned in my last assignment for classes.  I'm done with my first year of PESM.  No more classes until September.

Biggest Night So Far!

Total count... 60 people!!

 

What a night! It was our largest night so far.  We had 3 new kids.  We are just in the beginning stages of growing our "teen room".  Pastor Greg and Pete were in the youth room with 3 teens. It was an amazing evening!

I learned a few things...

• I learned that using the white board to list kids and buddy's really works well
• I learned that Alex does best in a quiet room with his buddy
• I learned that I need to remember to call Robin with the count... we had just enough food
• I learned that I need to have more faith... God always provides enough volunteers

19 and counting....

Wow!  The emails and phone calls have been coming in for next Friday's "Night Out!". Thank you Yakima Herlad for the wonderful article.

The count keeps going up! I'm thinking that I might have to cut off registrations soon.   We are now up to 19 kids!! yay!! I need to get on the ball and make sure we have enough volunteers.