The Crisis Center

This is Beccy.


Me and Beccy met in a random way last year through a friend, and soon after that she joined our bible study group.

It was truly the hand of God that brought us all together.

I love those moments....ya know, the moments that you don't know are moments at the time, and then you look back and just stand in awe of how God arranged it all.

That's what this was.

Well, back in April Beccy asked me to accompany her to a United Way volunteer luncheon downtown. Beccy was being honored for her work as a volunteer at the Crisis Center. Out of all the volunteers in the Omaha area Beccy received the second highest honor. A.mazing.
(Did you know? Nebraska ranks #2 in the country for volunteers! Because we totally do!)

Sitting in the hotel, listening to the stories of the other volunteers being honored for their work was truly humbling, to say the least. Stories of teenagers spending their spare time every week in nursing homes praying with the elderly, a 'cowboy' single handily raising thousands of dollars, getting sponsors, and trucks worth of toys to donate to our local Native American reservations. Big HUGE stories of people, young and old, doing BIG things. As we sat, listening, and applauding each volunteer....Beccy quietly whispers to me, "what.I.am.doing.here?" ( Feeling small in comparison to what others around her had done.) I turn around and the look on her face was complete.humility. Humbleness to the core. And it was in that comment that my heart said, "that's why. that right there."

And it's that that God is seeking. A humble heart. With pure, selfless motives.

Only one other gentleman received a higher honor than Beccy that day. A middle school teacher, for his 'ordinary' 'non-huge' 'everyday' work in the lives of his students.

Ya see, every week, Beccy goes downtown, and spends time with kids at the Crisis Center.
(The Crisis Center is a temporary emergency shelter for kids who can't go home -either due to abuse, neglect, trouble making, crisis, ect. and have yet to be assigned by a judge to a foster house or group living home (like Boys Town)). These kids are in need. They are literally stuck. Stuck in the system. Stuck living in the confines of a locked down building, no place to call home except the room where they sleep. No parents to love on them, encourage them, and tell them how cherished they are.

So Beccy brings projects to do, makes snacks to eat, arranges outings, talks to them about nothin' at all, or talks to them about meaty stuff when they let her. She just goes. With an open heart. To be used by God in their lives. Whether in a big way or a small way. She shows up to show them they are not forgotten, and they are cherished.

Before the volunteer luncheon two months ago Beccy approached me and asked if I could do some senior portraits for one of the kids who has been there for over a year, graduated, and about to age out of the system. After we started planning the specifics of it all, there turned out to be two other kids who were also seniors and wanted portraits done as well.

So, rather than just show up, take pictures, and go home, I thought it would be a fun idea to throw a little 'Graduation Party' at the center for the seniors. After a lot of planning and prep, (we had to get special permission to even be there and photograph the kids since most of them are wards of the state.) We brought a load of snacks and drinks for all the kids in the unit to munch on, complete with gift cards to Target for all the seniors. We didn't want to just show up and take pictures, we wanted to show up and celebrate those kids.

And then.... we arrive..... to find that none of the seniors are even there! (they are out on day pass, and the one senior who is there decided she did not want to be photographed)

ughhh, what now?!

Some critical information fell through the cracks at the last minute. So we sit there. And wait. Not sure whether to leave and reschedule or stick around and hope for a little miracle.

Glad thing we stuck around, because God pulled through a little miracle.

As we sat in the common room, waiting and watching, a young man sitting at the counter asks what we were all doing there. We tell him we're there to do senior pictures. Turns out he is going to be a senior this coming school year (and this is typically when senior have their portraits taken, the spring and summer of). I tell him, and a staff member we'd be happy to photograph him (though we didn't have permission) so he hops in the shower, and starts to get ready.

For a moment....I quickly asked myself, "do I set everything up to only photograph one kid?"
I heard a quick response say, "yes. set it all up just for him, you never know what will happen."

So, I set up. And in the middle of photographing the young man, Beccy comes in and says that one of the seniors was back early and getting ready, and the other gal who was already there but changed her mind, changed it again and decided to have her picture taken after all. There were also two other younger gals who requested to be photographed as well. And then the senior who originally requested photos at the very beginning came back too.

So glad we stayed. :)

I'm not sure how to adequately describe my time there.
It was hard,
and eye opening.

I feel that with each Portrait Project I do, God is steering me towards a world I'm unfamiliar with.
Showing me a different,
hard,
bitter,
very real reality.
A reality that is desperate for Him.
Desperate for Love and Mercy and Grace.

The moments that stick out to me the most from this day.....

as I photographed one of the gals (she started out wearing a big baggy sweat shirt, pony tail, jagged bangs covering her face) she "uncharacteristically" mentioned that she liked the country song that was playing on my ipod. After admitting she liked it, she quickly cautioned me not to tell anyone, because she didn't want the other kids there to know she liked country music. A few songs later a Toby Mac song played, and she again mentioned that she liked Toby Mac. And again cautioned me not to tell anyone. As I watched, and listened, I couldn't help but be grieved that in her world, she doesn't even feel safe and free to be her. Safe from ridicule and scorn. Free from contempt and mockery. Her hard core identity is not her identity. It's her mask.
But gradually, as we talked and laughed, she eventually took out her pony tail,
took off her baggy sweater to reveal a cute t-shirt,
swept the bangs away from her face,

...stripping away the mask....

and stood before me confident and free.

"Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there.is.freedom." 2Cor 3:17

After I finished photographing the gal above another girl came in. Baggy jeans and tucked in button up shirt. Wearing the slightest hint of make-up.

Liz and Beccy strolled in behind her with a little grin curling up on both their faces.

This girl has never been known to wear make-up, because that would go against the image she's painstakingly labored to portray. An image that requires her to wear baggy masculine clothes she frequently borrows from the boys in the unit. As she was getting dressed down the hall Beccy asked if she wanted any make-up for her pictures. An uproar of mockery and disapproval quickly started bouncing off the walls from the other kids and staff members. Obviously, the girl declined given the response of such a request.

Well, not five minutes later, Liz gently and casually asked her again if she would like a little bit of make-up on. And this time....
she said yes.
Yes.

When God sets out on a mission to show His love and He uses us to do it, there is nothing that can stand in the way. Not fear of scorn. Or ridicule. Or mockery. Liz gently asked her again knowing she had already said no, and got a totally different response. And the girl that I later photographed was not the same one who got ready down the hall.

She was unashamed.
And she was free.

"Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there.is.freedom." 2Cor. 3:17

We showed up to do three senior shoots, then thought we were gonna get to do zero, and ended up doing six sessions after all was said and done. We brought junk food and gift cards. Took pictures. Did make-up. Talked danced and laughed. But everything that we did and brought to those kids ranks low in comparison to what God did that day....
He broke through walls,
restored confidence,
offered hope ,
and helped reestablish their identities in Him.




But God didn't stop here....from this project, and Beccy's involvement with the Crisis Center and constant talk of need for male volunteers...God sparked an interest in Isaak, he then boldly rounded up four guys from his work, and they all went through the training together to become mentors and volunteers at the Center. Five more guys than they had last month. Five more men God is going to use to show these kids they are not forgotten. And they are cherished.

Our God is simply.amazing.



the team (Liz, Brooke (another simply amazing friend who came along and photographed the kids outside, Beccy, and myself.)