It's pretty quiet here tonight. Been hangin out alone. we had a Christmas party today so Jessi and I drove together, no point to drive separately. We got back and kinda split up and did our own thing. I was hangin out in the office listening to Pandora and Julia decided to stop by for the night. I noticed it was about 6:30 so i shut things down for a little while and grabbed some spaghetti from last night. Just kinda hustled in and out. don't feel like i need to bother Jessi right now. Then I went back to the RV and hung out for a little while. read two articles in the paper and tried my hand at a sudoku, got nowhere so tried my hand at another word game, quit after about 15 minutes, read proverbs 11 and came upon verse 22 and 24,25. so i thought about things for a minute and just kinda sat. then i decided to write up or type up a short entry about the night...i got distracted by family guy so of course the entry isn't coming out like i had hoped. feels like an important entry..or could be. and an important night..or could be. just an important time to be where i am....or it could be.. i'm just kinda hangin out...i found a note to Jeremy from his mom. Jeremy is the guy who was here before Jessi and I and he's the guy who kindof got me this gig. Jeremy is a good guy. I read the card and there's a lot of love in it. I almost started to cry.. told myself to call mom just to tell her I love her, you know..but havent done that yet. ok. I'm back. now that that's taken care of. This is hard. but i'm so proud to be doing what I'm doing. it feels like I'm doing something right. I remember I was having a hard time leaving and I went in to say goodbye to Marissa and i was cryin a little and Marissa looks at me and says "be happy-You're going to do good." and starts to cry a little. I'm so proud to be here. Nothing has ever felt so right. I love it here. It seems so pure. I'm scared to go back home after my time is up in March because something won't be right about it. I'll have to find some job that I don't want to be at. I got an email from another man who was here. He's about 25, married with 4 kids. He was telling me how much it meant for him to be down here serving God in this way. and he was only here a week. he said it really seemed to open his eyes. and he thanked Jessi and I for being here to serve in this way. That email meant a lot to me. it really affirmed the reason I'm here. sometimes it's hard because I see a woman (let's call her Jane) walking down the street higher than a kite. and i see a woman (how about..Joan) try to pull into her driveway and miss and end up in a ditch. I ask if she's ok and she says "I drove into a ditch.." and i can't help but wonder what is in her system... but then you meet the strong men. this guy (I think he's Jim) grew up in new orleans. in the city. and he's been into so many drugs. but he's clean now. he lives with his sister helping her raise her daughters and grandchildren but still battling depression. and you meet the other man (we'll go with John) who works at a detention center and volunteers at an elementary school after classes are finished, just to try to help the kids stay straight. He does it in order to make sure they don't end up like Jane and Joan and Jim. I don't agree with his personal life or his political views or his theology. But to see how much he cares about the future of these children is such a beautiful thing. It's like he's a staple trying to hold this community together, along with others who care. And I pray that he never stops caring for these kids. and he won't. he deals with tough kids at his job at the detention center, but he tells me it's totally worth it. and I talk with my boss. and I hear how passionate she is about the work she does down here. (again..don't entirely agree with her processes and all that other stuff) but she feels like she needs to be down here. she refuses to leave until the work is done. it's so cool to listen to how much this means to her. but at the same time it pisses me off that she picks and chooses what she's going to fix and what she's going to fight for and also what she'll put up with. I don't think she always chooses the right battles..but when she fights she gets things done. God, this has been a great..two..months. Thank you for this opportunity to serve you. God, help me glorify and honor you with this position. Forgive me where I've judged. Please give me wisdom in order to serve you better and to help these people better. let the following term be even more dedicated to you. I thank you for this chance to serve you and I thank you for the beautiful and strong people in this world. In your holy name,
Amen. ...and amen. Goodnight. Mike | 
