Christmas is Coming!

So yesterday, we (Breakthrough Staff) went shopping for the kids' Christmas presents. We each got a pile of the kids' wishlists and then were sent to different sections of the stores (Wal-Mart, Target, and Toys R Us). It was so fun. I got the 3-5th grade boys lists so pretty much all of them were all the WWE wrestling toys. Almost every boy wanted a John Cena figurine or the Great Khali figurine. It was crazy sorting through tons of different fighters that all looked the same trying to find specific guys. I had good luck, though, and was able to get most of all of their 1,2, or 3rd choices. We could spend up to $30 on them, so some of them got all 3 choices while others only got 1 of their choices. So, yeah, at Walmart the total for all the toys ended up being over 1,000 dollars. Then at Target, it was around 300 dollars and then they dropped another almost 400 dollars at Toys R Us. It was insane! But it was also awesome because it's so great knowing that for some of our kids, it maybe the only present they get. The Christmas party is on Wednesday, so i'm excited to see their faces when they get their presents.

On a whole different note, unfortuantely 2 of our kids got kicked out of the program on Thursday. They (one of them was 15 the other 13) got in a fist fight and it was really bad. On of our staff guys ended up having to pretty much take the 13 year old down to the floor and just hold him down while one of our other staff guys and I took the 15 year old out...it was bad enough that their mom (yes, they are brothers) ended up bringing the police with her, just in case. Unfortunately for them, they are gone. The sad part is, the 15 year old is one of our mayors (leaders in the program) and I can't imagine him not being there anymore. He is one of my favorite older kids and I am sad that He has to go. I do know, though, that it has to happen because the incident was so bad. We've had fights before, but nothing like this. Let's just say, i'm the first to usually jump in and stop the fight and this time...I let the men handle it. I knew I wasn't going to be strong enough by myself to break it up. Anyways, of course, all the kids saw it and it sucks because all of them really look up to the 15 year old because he is such a good kid and he is a growing Christian young man. But, everyone makes mistakes, and I guess he just has to learn to control his temper more. I hate the thought of not seeing him anymore. It just makes me want to cry cuz honestly, I know he probably sounds like a horrible person but he isn't at all. He is so strong in his faith to be in the enviornment that he lives in. He comes and brings his brothers to church every Sunday and I just can't imagine what he'll do now since he can't be in the program anymore. It hurts to make decisions like this. Please pray for him and his brother (the 13 yr old). The 13 year old has had a lot of behavior issues and is probably being sent to a group home for troubled youth after Christmas. He (the 13 yr old) is a good kid he just has a lot of issues right now that he has to work out. He has even had a problem going home, half the time, he at 13 years old is out and no one knows where he is and doesn't come home at night. I know there was a time a few weeks ago where he didn't stay the night at his house for like 5 days and no one knew where he was. Anyways, please pray for these two boys. One who is really trying and just messed up and the other who really needs Christ in his life and messes up regularly. Neither are bad kids, both are just kids in need of love and someone to believe in them.

God bless you all. Have a great weekend!!!