Random News from the Wood

At the midway point through October, Shelterwood is trucking along.  Yesterday, one of my big brothers point out the date which read:  10 11 12.   In the busyness of life I sometimes miss those random moments.  I tend to look for significant events to center by blog entries around and nothing epic  came to mind so I figured I would catch you up on some random news from the Wood.

Last weekend we hosted our Girls Family Weekend.  We had another great time providing support for the parents and coaching families as they spent four days on campus with their teens.

Tis the season for the flu and it has ravashed the guys house.  It is now mostly passed but not without a trace.  I believe all but five of our thirty residents caught a piece of it including many of our big brothers.  At one point in the week, 9 boys stayed home from school.  As of today, though, everyone is  healthy!

We have recently hired a Recreational Therapist.  This is a new position and our rec therapist, KaraLee, will be developing therapuetic activities and sessions with our residents on a weekly basis.  I have already been involved in some staff team building and I was impressed.  KaraLee brings a  wealth of experience and the recreation program increases the quality of Shelterwood.

Today we celebrated the graduation of one of our residents, Seth.  Seth actually graduated earlier in the year from Shelterwood High School and was able to complete the final stage of our program at home while attending college.  He returned today for a ceremony and reports from his parents indicate that he is doing quite well back at home.

Next week is our semi-annual Beyond Shelterwood Week.  Two of the five weekdays we will be venturing out into the community into several groups to serve other organizations.  The residents will be in school for two days and one day is reserved for "fun."  KaraLee and her team will be organizing campus wide activities.

Jim Subers is several weeks into a weekly Bible study he leading for the entire guys house.  Jim has a real heart for evangelism and he is taking the boys through the Beautiful Outlaw video series based on the book by John Eldridge.  The boys are really enjoying the experience and it doesn't hurt that some sort of grilled meat is included every week.  

If you have few moments while reading this blog, please say a quick prayer for our big brothers and sisters.  They do incredible work and can always use some extra support from our vast Shelterwood family.