Sunday, March 22, 2009

The Season Has Begun!













Greetings To All:
Break out the raincoats and life rafts: it's springtime in Oregon! So, what is new with you? We have been busy with our training and leading the first groups of the season throuh the Ropes Challenge Course.
The most challenging part of the training for me (Carson) is learning how to help the participants apply what they experience to their various aspects of their lives. We don't sit down and talk with them one-on-one, but after each element or game they play we have debriefing time. We try not to have it last more than five minutes, but if they are receiving good insight into their lives, we won't cut them off. The main goal of the elements are: teamwork, trust, communication, balance, focus, goal-setting, and perspective. We, as facilitators, help the participants to put describe, observe, and apply their experiences to their lives during debriefing. Our hope, and the purpose of the course, is that when they leave here they have new tools with which to face obstacles in their lives.
So far we have had a variety of groups on the course. The very first one was a group of 13 college students, which included one 53 yr. old, from Montana. The older lady came to our house after they were done on the course to talk to us about her experience. She said that she had trouble knowing if God was going to show up for her when He was guiding her into new areas of her life. Throughout the day with us on the course we could see breakthrough in her levels of confidence and overcoming fear. And she reitterated that for us during her visit.
Another group we had was 43 eighth graders. They were broke up into five smaller groups. Within those groups they interacted with each other in ways they normally didn't. Cliques were broken down. They learned to rely on people who weren't their "best" friends. New leaders emerged as they found new ways to use their voices to help others. It was incredible to witness that happen; it was even more special to help bring that out in them. We are blessed with the opportunity to speak directly into their lives while they are with us.
Our work week is Tuesday through Saturday, with Sunday and Monday off (unless special circumstances arise.) This next week will be busier than last week. Training for us "newbies" is ongoing, but more of it will be done "on the job". We learn "hard" skills - technical, physical skills along with "soft" skills - the way to debrief an element. Kathy and I complement each other in that the "hard" skills come easier for me, and the "soft" skills come easier for her. We learn from each other. As we train with the other facilitators we see each of their different leadership styles and are able to develop our own. They don't expect us to all be cookie-cutter style leaders. Each individual on the team is valued for their contribution to the participating group and to our team. That in itself is a valuable thing to learn and take with us into our entire lives.
Finally we have pictures of the outside of our house. There would be some pictures of some flowers, I think they are daffodils, that I transplanted, but they haven't bloomed yet. They should be very pretty as they add some color to our brown corner of the base. Also, there is a picture of our team. Another picture is of Petra and Dakota. Petra is basically our sister. Kathy often jokes that Petra and I must have been separated at birth because of our very similar personalities. Dakota got to go down the zip line attached to Petra during one of our training days. She loved it! We have a little thrill seeker on our hands. (I wonder who she gets that from. Hmmm?)
As always, thank you for reading this blog. And I apologize for the long time span between this and the last entry. Please send us an email and let us know what is going on with you.
God's Blessings To You,
Carson, Kathy, Dakota