I hope & trust this post finds you all having a great day on this beautiful Friday morning!
This morning we have a very special guest blogger, Mrs. Megan Gormley Edwards. Megan is a truly remarkable young woman and, she is largely responsible for "What Will Your Influence Be...?" As I shared this crazy passion to pour into others lives - to encourage, empower & equip them to intentionally choose positive influence, both for & through their lives - Megan was one of MY biggest encouragers. As she shared the story of her trip to Cookson Hills it was quite clear she had lived a "Happy Friday." I asked her if she would share her story and, setting aside doubts & fears in an effort to make a difference in others lives, she wrote this absolutely beautiful message. I know y'all are gonna love it! :)
Megan - Wow...just Wow! I am so proud of you! Keep pursuing your greatness Friend...God is, and will continue to, use you in very powerful ways. Thank you so much for sharing your heart. I am very grateful for you & your friendship.
Please don't hesitate to contact me if there is ever anything I can do for any of you. I will always help you any way I can. You can reach me at kevin@whatwillyourinfluencebe.com.
Have a great day, a wonderful weekend and please cherish your precious families.
Kev
Halfway through my first mission trip, I received the famous ‘Kevin Haslam text message’. A positive, encouraging ray of sunshine that is always perfectly timed. While talking to Kevin afterward and describing my experience in Oklahoma, he challenged me to share my thoughts with all of you…
Last week, myself and five friends traveled from Louisville,
Kentucky to Kansas, Oklahoma where Cookson Hills is located. Cookson Hills is a community that helps
troubled kids find a stable environment, therapy to cope with their past, an
accepting school that helps get them caught up and eventually graduate, and a
Christian home. We were there to put on
a volleyball and basketball camp (two sports I have never played) and left with
much more than we came with. The
community is comprised of about 80 kids who get placed there, roughly 60
employees, and 50 buildings including a school, gym, dining hall, grocery
store, horse stables, and family homes.
Going into the week, I had no idea what to expect but felt
like I was pretty well prepared for a mission trip. I’ve been going to church, attending weekly
bible studies, reading Christian books, letting people merge into my lane
during rush hour traffic – essentially I thought I was doing everything I could
to be the person I was made to be. And
then I met the staff at Cookson Hills. Eight
different families sold their homes, moved to a very rural community in
Oklahoma, and are the house parents to 10 kids that do not legally belong to
them (whose ages range from 5-17). Some
of the kids will stay for a year or two and some will stay until they turn 18,
so the families are constantly adapting.
It was truly amazing seeing the dynamics of these homes and how
accepting and supportive they are of each other. I wish I could say my sisters and I were that
accepting of each other’s differences and flaws when we were growing up!
As we spoke with these parents, they all said this life is
something they were called to do and all eight families seem to be thriving
amongst the chaos. As someone who hits the snooze button six times in the
morning and likes to unwind after a stressful work day with yoga and wine, I
couldn’t wrap my head around living in this environment. Everyone had a different story, different way
of living, different daily routine, and these people quit their jobs and chose
to live in a house with 10 kids? They
are on duty 24 hours a day and get four days off a month. The selflessness was overwhelming and I started
questioning my cushy life and priorities.
I kept comparing my job to theirs – asking myself how many people am I
really impacting on a daily basis. And
since I don’t have current plans to tell my husband we are moving to Cookson
Hills, how can I live more like them in Louisville. Its made me question my daily actions and
really think about how I spend my time and money. It is so easy for me to get wrapped up in the
latest and greatest everything (clothes, electronics, cars, vacations) and
forget about what actually matters in life.
And on day one of our trip, it hit me dead in the face – people. People are what matter. And the people of Cookson Hills know this and
don’t seem to forget it.
We had a morning volleyball session with middle schoolers,
followed by some manual labor cleaning out storage spaces in their gym, a
volleyball session with high school girls, and a basketball session with high
school boys. Having never played either
sport except for gym class, I was nervous for what to expect and how I would be
judged. If someone came to my town, put
on a camp, and was terrible at the sport – I’d be seriously questioning
them. Thankfully the kids of Cookson
Hills are full of grace and I don’t think anyone even noticed the number of layups
I missed (6 in one game). By watching
them show up for a camp with six people they have never met and had no idea of
what to expect, I was inspired to stop living in so much fear. Fear of not knowing what to do, fear of not
being the best, fear of the embarrassment that will come with a mistake, fear
of what others will think. I can
guarantee you that I am the only one who remembered my missed shots. No one else cares – so I need to stop caring
too.
I haven’t been able to stop thinking about the positivity in
these kids and how the vast majority of the 80 kids on campus were so
appreciative to be there and thankful for everyone’s help. I’d like to think I would be able to overcome
tragedy and act the same, but I don’t know if I could recover with such poise
and confidence in God’s plan as the youth we met. The Cookson Hills staff who devote their life
to giving these kids the opportunity to learn and grow and be truly loved
(sometimes for the first time in their life) is something that I wish everyone
could see first hand. They are saving 80
lives at a time and giving them the keys to life.
In between camp sessions, we ate meals in the dining hall
with the families where we met the Executive Director, and found he was a kid at
Cookson Hills when he was young. Both
him and his twin brother spent their childhood in this community and while one
brother is now the Executive Director, the other is on the Board of
Directors. Numerous former Cookson Hills
kids have gone on to have successful careers and families and given back to
Cookson Hills, including the town doctor who spent years there in his youth and
moved back to open a practice in town.
To me, that says everything about what Cookson Hills has been able to
provide.
Traveling back to Louisville with our newly braided hair
from their expert stylist (14 year old), we were filled with hope and
challenged to really live out our truth like the people at Cookson Hills. What are we really doing every day that is
helping other people? I am not saying we
should all take in more kids than a mini van can hold. And I am not saying we should all move to
Oklahoma (no offense to Oklahoma). I
challenge everyone to increase our impact where we live. Maybe that means volunteering in something
you have been wanting to do but haven’t acted on. Or maybe you already have something you do
regularly - could you give another hour to your current commitment? My promise to you is I will choose a
different volunteer project every month to find what I am most passionate about
and then stick with it. And I know I
can’t back out of this because Kevin will hold me accountable. I need that, we all do.
If you have the chance to go on a mission trip, I hope you
take it. I procrastinated for years and
used every excuse for not going, but these few days in Oklahoma were some of
the best I have ever lived. And if your
travels take you to Cookson Hills, please call me and I’ll meet you there.
Megan Gormley Edwards
Here is more information on Cookson Hills
https://cooksonhills.org/
