Rough Day... In need of prayers

Hello everybody!

Let me start off by apologizing for not updating until just now. Things at the Outpost have been really crazy lately, and I come home just about ready for bed!

Speaking of the Outpost, I definitely need a lot of prayers of patience sent my way. Today was definitely one of the toughest days that I have had…and it’s only 11:35am as I am writing this! But this all didn’t go down only today. It probably started at the beginning of the week.

Here’s what happened:
So starting either last week or the week before, the Outpost had a new boy come. His name was Caleb, is 9 years old and is a very sweet boy. He also has Downs Syndrome. Before I go any further, let me take this time to recognize all people who work with Special Needs children (or adults) Thank you for your love, patience, kind-heartedness, and straight up awesomeness. I cannot thank you enough. On the days that Caleb acts out, he is very difficult to deal with, and Tuesday was one of those days. He wanted to go outside and play, but he was not allowed to at that time, so he was kicking and scratching, screaming and spitting! Boy, did he give me a work out! He also tends to take off, so I got him to settle down, but not after a few battle wounds. I ended up drawing blood in a few different places, had a fat lip for a day, and a few bruises here and there. Needless to say, Caleb is strong willed! So since Tuesday I became very tired...


Every Thursday is game day because I like for the kids to have fun. (I mean, it is summer afterall!) Today my 9-11 yr old class was playing Fraction Hangman. This game is played just like any other game of hangman, except they have to guess the numbers instead of the letters. To spice things up, I added a bonus round where they actually solved the problem afterwards. Kids soon started complaining that this wasn’t fun, and they wanted to play regular hangman instead. Naturally, I became frustrated. I told them that fraction hangman was the only option, and if there was enough time at the end, we could play hangman. That didn't quite fly with the kids, so they boycotted the game by drawing on paper, talking to their friends, etc. The frustration kept building, and my tiredness from the week all collapsed into one giant ball. I was quickly becoming upset, so I needed someone to take over for a minute while I composed myself. I called in a fellow intern to watch the class. The kids knew I was upset from that moment.

If you could send prayers of patience my way, I would really appreciate it!

Thank you for your constant prayers and thoughts. I love you all from the bottom of my heart.