After school, I explained the game to Aidan, and told him to pick a number between 1 and 28 (the number of comments as of the time I left the house to go get him), and to write it big on a sheet of paper. I should've guessed what he'd pick.
"I'll pick the BIGGEST number," he said.
Congratulations, Dawn!! :) Email me your address and I'll get the beans out Monday. :)
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In other news... we at Fortress are gearing up for our 10-year Anniversary & Homecoming in about 6 weeks. One of the things we wanted to accomplish before the big event is painting our building. Cara, Kristi and I picked out the colors a couple of months ago, and tomorrow, we have volunteers who are coming to help us paint! I swung by the building this afternoon to grab one last "before" picture, and caught Michael up on a lift taping off the windows in preparation for the paint.
Michael Thames is the Exectutive Director of Fortress Youth Development Center. You know, he doesn't HAVE to be up there. He could've easily passed the job off to one of the employees or volunteers. But he didn't. He spends as much time getting down and dirty at Fortress as he does doing Executive-Directory-type things. (Maybe more time.) He takes time to shuttle kids around, to counsel kids who want advice, to befriend kids who need a mentor, to attend funerals with kids who've lost cousins or uncles or grannies. Michael is passionate about inner city ministry and the kids we reach there. He meets with high-dollar-muckety mucks and powerful community volunteers and various boards. He speaks at City Council meetings and teaches Bible classes and participates in a men's accountabilty group. Most of that is done in slacks and a tie. But where Michael's most comfortable is here - in the trenches. Being a servant. Making a difference with his own two hands and with his heart for inner city kids. His passion and endurance is one of the reasons *I'm* at Fortress. He encourages me without even realizing it.
Michael is an inspiration to me. He lives it when so many people just talk it or throw money at it. I'm proud to call him my friend. Michael doesn't read blogs, but just in case Cara makes him read this one... I love you, Cuz-o! :)
3 comments:
Rats! I knew I should have posted earlier yesterday.
Thanks Aidan, for being a good boy and for picking my number! I can't wait to make Taco Soup! If I didn't win I was gonna have to put an ISO out on SS...
Thanks Stacy! CYE...
I learned many things at Fortress and one of them was witnessing the way Mike works. His willingness to get dirty and work hard was inspiring.
When I came to Fortress, I was just out of grad school and was still thinking too much. Mike could have scolded me on several occassions but always led by example. He just went to work.
I probably didn't appreciate Mike like I should have. Now I wish I had the opportunity to work with him again as I still have much to learn from him.
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