The kids I work with

For obvious reasons, I can't post a picture of the students I work with, but if I described them and their behavior to you, you probably wouldn't believe me. In about two hours I will be wrapping up my autism group at the high school I have been interning at and then I will be ramping up my efforts to reach out to kids whose attendance has been really bad. I found out yesterday that one of them was raped recently and that she is refusing to talk about it and has not received any care since. No wonder she is having difficulty with her attendance, yet it is such an important part of her learning English and building a good life for herself.

Yesterday at the elementary school I intern at, I found myself praying through one of the worst groups I have had yet with some of my kids. I don't know how the teachers manage with some of the kids I have because I only have them 45 minutes once a week but they have them everyday. I thank God for giving teachers the talent to work with such students even when they show no sign of improvement and test you in every way. I should mention that this elementary school is in one of the worst parts of Rt 1, an area known to be plagued by poverty, substance use, and abuse of all kinds among other challenges. 85% of the kids are on the free and reduced lunches program and we suspect that number would be higher if the illegal immigrants knew it was safe to apply. We are so blessed and working with them and seeing the struggles they have has given me a better understanding of the greater challenges to the war on poverty in this nation. These kids are seen as not having a chance from the start and many of their parents simply do not have the parenting skills needed to teach them basic personal and social skills that will help them rise out of their situation. This task is left to the teachers and staff and boy, these kids don't make it easy. Yet even when they are difficult beyond measure, you can't help but fall in love with them.

In any case, here is to praying I can do what I need to do to meet the needs of the students today and here is to praising God that it is Friday. I am so excited about the weekend! Ry's best friend in the units girlfriend (did you follow that?) is coming over for a puppy playdate tomorrow and then we'll all get ready for the holiday party together. Turns out Ry will not be serving as Mr. Vice since the person who asked him to do it wasn't supposed to pass that task along so here is to praying all goes well for that Lt tomorrow night and that it still entertaining for us. At least Ry will be able to sit with me now. Then on Sunday after church, my friend Laura is coming over to start working on her wedding invitations. It will be a nice weekend of fun before school starts up again on Monday (at least it is my last semester).

Welcome

I enjoyed blogging when it was part of my job as the Assistant Pastor at Saint James, but I dropped it when life got a little crazy. So here is to a fresh start and to recounting the many wonderful memories that we make every day. I hope to be fairly regular about posting and that you enjoy hearing about our many adventures.

If you are wondering why we picked the address that we did, its because my husband is in the Army and one of the Army's slogans is Army Strong. We have called ourselves Team Deem for a while as a reminder that we are stronger together and its only fitting that we add a little Army to the mix since it plays a pretty big role in our lives.

We are off to church soon but here is our Christmas card/letter from this year in case you didn't get one in the mail:



December 1, 2009

Dear Family and Friends,

This year has been another interesting one for us. For highlights from this past year you can check out our picture website: photos.teamdeem.org. The year started with Ryan’s commissioning ceremonies, where after 6 years in the Army, Ryan entered the officer corps as a 2nd Lieutenant. This spring was full of celebrations and good times. We visited a friend in LA and we were thrilled to have the youthgroup from Richmond come up for a mission trip in DC (the third annual). We were overjoyed at the birth of our second nephew in April, and that Ryan was able to be meet baby Carter before heading out to his 5 month long training two days later.

I was very fortunate to be hired on as a Youth Employment Counselor for the City of Alexandria for the summer and I loved every minute of serving the youth and working with an incredible team. Aside from the job, this summer presented a series of challenges while Ryan was away, but God provided through an unexpected move due to apartment flooding, my injury, dog surgery, and another move while I was still recovering from my injury. I don’t think I realized how strong I was going into this summer, but I think I have a better idea now. Shortly after we moved in to the new place in September, Ryan came home and Samson and I could not be happier. We spent the Fall packing in good times with family and friends and each other and we feel like we have continued to live by our rule of not taking a single day for granted.

I am finally in my last year of school! It has been quite the journey having officially been in grad school longer than college. In addition to my four classes, I spend three days a week serving as a School Social Work intern at Edison High School and leading a few groups at Mt. Vernon Woods Elementary School. I love it and it will be hard to leave in May, but I am confident God has a plan for a job for me after graduation. You can expect a big hooplah in May when I finally get both my Master of Social Work and Master of Divinity degrees.

Ryan is happy to be back home, having graduated with honors from training. He still loves his job as an Engineer for the Army Evaluation Center and is part of a wonderful team—not only are they all brilliant and hard working, but they have so much fun together. Ryan is also enjoying the new leadership aspect of his role in his unit. His unit is preparing for a deployment this coming spring and he will be responsible for 45 soldiers from the support platoon while gone for approximately fourteen months. We know that this will be a challenge, but we have been preparing for this for many years and we know that we are very blessed to have been given so much time before it actually happened. Your prayers are greatly appreciated until they all come home.

Here is to praying that this letter finds all of you well. Here is to praying for hope in a new year. Here is to praying that we all remember the reason for the season—that God loved us so much that He sent his only son to live among us and eventually give his life for us. May our lives be a reflection of that love now and always.

Love,

Ryan, Erika, and Samson Deem