He is Risen!

"He is not here; He is risen, just as He said." Matthew 28:6

He is Risen indeed! Happy Easter!

A Prayer Request for Healing

Please pray for healing for Michael this week. Michael has been experiencing some low back pain and hot "flushes" on the top of one of his feet. We both think it is due to the new demands on his body: lifting heavy things and standing on tile floors in his boots for a majority of the day. There is a camper who is a doctor on his dorm floor and he recommended some gel orthopedic inserts and to get his back checked out on a "sick call" on Monday. Isn't it great how God puts the right people at the right time in your path? Michael reports it is anxiety provoking to be ill or have a medical issue at the FPC as you are regarded as trying to get out of work/duties. Please pray that these things are not serious and that he will be treated well. He is also starting to workout with another camper who know about strength training which will help combat the soreness as well. Thank you for lifting our whole family up in prayer this week! Madison and I are traveling to Florida to visit family for Easter. We are excited about our first road trip. Only one snafu so far! I was trying to get all the laundry done so that when we return it is to a clean house. On the last load of towels in the dryer, the dryer decided to stop drying. Funny how things work! So we will be calling back the repair people who fixed the washer for a dryer checkup when we get back. It made me wish for a clothesline - instead the towels are draped over drying racks! And they will be dry and ready to use when we return! God is good! Heidi

Happy New Week!

This has been a great week for the Shaw family! Michael is enjoying his job as a baker and says it is really fulfilling to make some one's day through simple baked goods. He gets to serve what they have made and has had other campers come up later and thank him, telling him they really enjoyed their cakes/cookies/brownies. As he puts it, "It is nice to do something special like this because nothing great happens here." I am glad he is trying to be a light and provide joy. Michael has also been able to make some of his own meals (breakfast and lunch) in the kitchen when they are busy. Another good thing is that the kitchen is air conditioned. This has been especially valuable since the air conditioning in the dorms has been out all week and they were told today it may not be fixed until the end of next week. Michael said they have had the windows open but it still gets pretty hot in the dorms. Last week Michael was asked to "emcee" the church service he attends. He now qualifies as a "regular" and they needed someone to do the welcome, announcements and introduce the clergy person. He said he really enjoyed doing it and thought he did a pretty good job. Yesterday he was able to visit with his mentor through the L2L group, Max, and was happy to spend time with him catching up. L2L is an Atlanta-based Christian community focusing on mentoring one- on-one or "life-to-life" in small group settings (www.l2l.org). It is a phenomenal group and should be a national organization if it is not already. If you are looking for something like this - find out more about them and find a group. It will make a difference in your life and those you interact with. Michael and I both wish he had found them sooner. Through the L2L network, Michael was introduced to another man, Robbie Ball who lives outside of Pensacola. This man also visited Michael this weekend which was a nice treat too. I am learning just how much visits mean to Michael and how they help him stay connected to the "real" world. Thank you for checking in with us! Madison and I have enjoyed the warm weather and have tried to play outside as much as possible! We are loving the warm weather a little more than Michael - that is until the air conditioning at the dorms are fixed! Madison has discovered the joys of running barefooted through our grass and she reminds me to stop and just enjoy. We hope you enjoy your week! Heidi

The Right Place at the Right Time

Today was Michael's first "official" work day at his new placement! He dutifully showed up at 6am but no one was there in the vegetable prep area to direct him, in fact no one was there at all. So he offered help to the man assigned to prepare eggs for omelets. While he was helping, the baker came over and asked him if he could bake. The baker told Michael he had a new assignment starting now and he was now the second-in-charge for the bakery. Michael made cookies and biscuits today and said the baker is looking to try out new recipes and make more things from scratch. Not bad to get a promotion from veggie cutter to baker on your first day! This just goes to show you that if your heart is right and you are doing the right things, God will reward you! Michael's new work schedule will be Sunday through Thursday from 5am - noon on Sunday and 4am to noon on Monday through Thursday. The nice thing about being on campus for your job, is that when your work is complete your time is your own until you need to be certain places for count. Happy days! This Saturday morning Madison and I were blessed by 5 men from a community group at our church Vinings Lake. (If you are looking for a church, come check it out! It's awesome! You would be hard pressed to find a nicer group of spirit-filled people who make you accept you for who you are.) These men mowed, edged and put down new mulch for us. The yard looks amazing and the house feels as if it is brand new! Madison and I have been one Publix bag full of weeds in the evenings when the weather was nice to try to keep up our lawn. What a difference 5 people make! They were especially sweet to Madison and that made me so happy. One of them preached today and Madison did not even get out her activities from her quiet bag, she just sat and watched him. He is the children's pastor at the church and I am happy that when she is old enough (his program starts at age 5), she will be comfortable learning in that environment! Thank you so much for spending your Saturday morning with us - it meant so much! Heidi

Happy 1st month anniversary!

When we were newly married up until we had Madison, we used to celebrate the 21st of each month (our wedding day) and do a little something special for each other. Most (married!) people were cynical about it and told us doing things like that would not last long. Well it lasted until the birth of our first child 5 years later and then transformed into something new. Madison was born on the 21st - the ultimate gift that month! - and we included celebrating her growth every month. On her website I would post a picture of her each month on that day and the accomplishments she had. What a great day the 21st is for us each month. Now we get a new special day to add to our celebrations - the first! Today is the anniversary of the first month for Michael's incarceration. We got to celebrate on the phone this morning which was so wonderful as we had not been able to talk to him in a few days. God has again answered prayers and today he has been reassigned to the Food Service Department! On Wednesday he learned how to drive a commercial hand-controlled mower (he said it was not as easy as you think especially since they were being judged on how straight they could drive it and one of his left tires was low pulling the machine to the left!) and on Thursday he was a flagman directing traffic for another camper who was blowing leaves and yard waste. He had spoken with the director of Food Service on Tuesday who told him he was supposed to be assigned to the kitchen but the lady he needed to talk to was not in until Thursday. On Thursday the bus was late returning to the camp from the Navy Yard and he had to wait for an inspection of the Navy Yard campers for contraband before he could sprint to her office. But after dinner on his Work Assignment Sheet, he was posted to the kitchen for today! What a great first month anniversary present! So today he gets fitted for his white pants and shirt and then fills out paperwork! Terrific! Thank you for your prayers for this - God always has everything under control! And Michael feels like he will definitely never lose appreciation for being in the Food Service Department after his first week at the Navy Yard. He said most guys there were just happy to sit but it was difficult for him to not have anything to do. He is still learning the unfortunate FPC mindset of doing things slow, slower, and slower! Thank you for celebrating our first month anniversary! Next week Michael will be able to try to get tennis shoes again to! We are praying that they stocked a lot of size 10's! Have a great weekend! Heidi