"Hitting the wall" ... When was the last time you saw your wall up close?

We all have that moment in life, while traveling, or in your job where you just hit your wall and you feel done.
Happens on a youth trip too only it feels more extreme and you don't have the ability to curl up in the fetal position with your favorite blankie in the corner and chant comforts to yourself over and over until it all goes away.... So... You do what needs to be done (refer back to yesterday's blog entry in case you need a refresher!)
There are different approaches to the "hitting the wall" scenario... First, you have the "hit hard and fall to the ground" which usually plays out with sarcasm and passive aggressiveness towards others. Then you have the "hit the wall and stick to it" kind, where the reaction is more of the retreat from everything and everyone tactic. There is the "hit the wall with your head five times, pass out and then realize you hit the wall" - the results are a dazed and confused kind of reaction. You also have the one where you are in denial that your wall even exists, even though everyone else can see you've hit it you can't acknowledge it and get angry about its existence. My personal favorite is when you hit the wall hard, followed by a long, slow slide down the wall which results in uncontrollable fits of silliness breaking out in singing group songs all together on the L, in the van or other public places, weird jokes that no one else will ever get and laughter.......lots of laughter. It's especially great when numerous people hit this kind of wall at the same time and in public! When this one hits beware, you will probably end up with stomach muscles hurting from laughing so hard, need tissues as a result of crying from laughing and if someone snort laughs in the middle of it all... Any and all hope for recovery or sanity is lost in the midst of the group breakdown. This one is my favorite because it involves a sense of community healing of everyone and no ones feelings get hurt in the process. Besides a good group laugh directed at nothing in particular or rational ever hurt anyone.

There are a few cures to hitting the wall. One is the obvious solution of SLEEP and lots of it! If that is not a realistic resource then the laughing really helps. Ice cream! Such an amazing way to help cure a bad case of wall hitting, as is an opportunity to regroup by gathering together to play frisbee, a big game of Ninja, a picnic and an evening of worship led by an amazing speaker named Amy who calls herself a "Hope Dealer" to put things in perspective.

Thursday is a big one for hitting the wall. It's just past the middle of the trip but not over yet. We have spent the week playing with and helping to lead 100+ kids ages 6-12 at all sorts of activities and many other thought provoking and sometimes emotional situations. We have met so many people, covered a lot of ground in this city, had fun, played at Navy Pier, worked hard and the week is not over yet even though it is coming to an end as we get closer to Saturday when we head home.

Today we spent our morning at the Jackson Park Rec Center again and went to a skating rink to roller skate with the kids. Wow! talk about sensory overload! Next time you see one of our students who was present this week in Chicago to describe this experience! The kids had a great time roller skating and working off some energy for sure.
As a special treat we stopped at a local ice cream shop on the way back to our housing site.
It was truly amazing and made the high of the day shout out for several students for today.

This evening we were able to get together with all the other groups serving with CSM this week here in Chicago, play some games and eat dinner together. We can proudly say that our very own Owen  Honeycutt was the big winner and the last man standing in the big group game "Ninja." Way to go Owen.....snaps to you!
Following that we were able to get in some group worship, sing songs and hear Amy Williams who is a minister that lives in the heart of the Latin Kings gang neighborhoods and ministers to them, lives with them and has dedicated her life to be a light of support and love for them. She is an amazing woman and inspirational speaker who really put things perspective for us.

If you haven't done anything in service to others lately that has resulted in you getting an up close and personal look at your "wall" I highly recommend it!