It has been a summer of insight. I was able to catch a glance of how God is using every mountain and valley in my life to build me into the person I am now, and the person I am becoming, because I am ever growing. I don’t ever want to become stagnant. The major responsibilities I had at home parenting my little brothers and sister, helped me significantly in interacting with the kids.

It means hello. This week Third Presbyterian hosted a VBS, "Kingdom of the Son". We were learning the Lord’s Prayer through an African safari theme. I was helper to the 6th grade, the oldest group of kids there. A couple of the CHAT kids were in my class. My little sister was there as will, she was visiting me from out of town. Man, they made some awesome crafts that I wouldn’t mind attempting myself. Truthfully on the last day the teacher put out some gemp for making lanyards and I couldn’t resist. I grabbed some and began making one, it was like 6th grade all over again.

and another wave wipes us out. We went to the beach the week. Will made a special appearance; he drove the Durango. His internship is technically over. The way down was pretty hype, the kids were brimming with anticipation. Now, I'm from Norfolk, about 15-20 minutes from the ocean front, and in my life I've been to the beach quite a few times, and by far we had the weirdest weather, and the roughest waves I've ever witnessed. We reached the beach and we were like the only people there, we had the beach to ourselves almost.

Clarissa, Imani and a few of my brothers and sisters from my home church here in Richmond, went on some paddle boats at Byrd Park. Clarissa and Joy, my big sister, paddled as Imani and I sat on the back feasting on cup cakes. CHAT’s first annual dive and drive was a success. We had a day of fun at the pool and on go carts, thanks to Matthew, an intern at Third Presbyterian, the church we attend. It was great how we split it up, the boys swimming first and the girls on the go karts. We switched after lunch, which kept things in great control.

This week we were at VBS, “Step into the Full Armor of God”. Growing up, I had always attended Vacation Bible School, but I was never a Shepard, a counselor. I felt the urge to participate in the activities, and arts and crafts, and I often did, doing relays and coloring. This didn’t help the fact that people often mistake me for one of the kids. They often look over me and go straight to Will with questions or concerns. Which I can understand, it doesn’t bother me, since I do look relatively young and I am black, so I do kind of blend.

Has finally graced us with his presence. We were all on the edges of our seats, especially Percy, the proud new Papa. With the new baby, things changed slightly, in that I really didn’t have set directions, because evidently Percy was, and still is basking in the glow of he and Angie’s new bundle of joy. This set the stage for an important lesson. Honestly, I let the ball drop on a couple of things this week because I wasn’t sure how to go about them, so I didn’t even take initiative. But I’ve come to the realization that I do have the authority to make things happen.

were the words that fell from the mouths of my charges before we pursued to conquer each roller coaster we picked on Monday, our trip to kings Dominion. The day started our fairly early; we left Percy's around 9 a.m and arrived at the park in less than 30 minutes. We were there before the park even opened, something I’ve never done in my whole life. As soon as we were free to roam the park, Clarrisa, Monique, and I rode three roller coasters, Drop Zone, the Rebel Yell, and Hyper Sonic XL, in about 45 minutes. We then journeyed to the water Park at around 12.

This week has been my most active week in a while, physically I mean. Monday I went running with Carolyn and Will. The trek was about 30 blocks, by the end I realized why I don’t really care for just running. I would much rather be chasing some body or something. That same day we took the kids to Dorey Park. They seemed to get a kick out of it. Dorey is nothing like the play parks I remember growing up. They have crazy equipment. Especially this once piece that’s a mix between a merry go round and a blender, with out the blades of course, if that makes any sense.

We ran Sunday school for the first time; it was defiantly a learning experience. To say the least, we have some kinks to work out; “it’s all in the details”, as Percy says. This Monday was one in a continuing series of meeting with one my kids, Clarissa. We first started out watching a movie that we both soon became disinterested in. I cut the movie off and me and Clarissa just enjoyed each others company. She let me borrow her word puzzle book, and I taught her some origami, the little bit I could remember from my middle school days.

The end of my first week... great, all that I expected actually. I’m not surprised in any way about anything except for how wide the bus is. It’s scary!