Wisconsin's very own Whitecap Mountain graciously gifts Rawhide with 4 days of lodging, food and ski rental every year. We stayed in the Davos Chalet, which is the one right above our heads in the picture. This was our 2nd year going and we had a wonderful time. Most of the guys have never skied until coming to Rawhide, and it's an amazing opportunity for them. Most of them leave so excited that they now know how to ski! Of course their favorite stories are the wipe outs.
Here is visible proof that I was on the slopes ...for less than 2 hours. Icy conditions and an out-of-shape body = wipe out #1 where my brain couldn't seem to connect with my legs to tell them which muscle to use to pull myself back up. I landed on my cheekbone which I just knew had to be bleeding ...but it wasn't. Then not soon after came wipe out #2. I was in between our RI (Resident Instructor) Chad and Marv waiting to be picked up by a 4 man chair lift when Chad lost his balance and fell, Marv had enough strength and speed (of course he did) to back up, and I was plummeted to the ground by the chair lift ramming into my right hip and throwing me onto my left one. Almost 2 weeks later I still have a huge bruise on my left arm, left thigh (which took a few days to find its way to the surface) and a bruised or cracked rib - which still hurts when I breathe. So, I concluded that knitting was my best option for the rest of our time there!
One may think from this blog that working at Rawhide is like one long youth group trip. While we do have the opportunity to do fun things with the guys, none of it comes easy. These young men are hurting, at risk youth that don't see much hope for their future. Their "normal" is drugs, jail, theft, abuse of all kinds, fear, abandonment, hopelessness, pain, anger and bitterness. We just took in a new guy this week who was in 12 different placements before he was 6 years old. Anyone who has worked at Rawhide for over 5 years will tell you the guys we get in now are much harder to work with. More and more come with uncontrollable behaviors. They refuse to come under authority. They refuse to be compliant to any rules. We had to release 2 last month for that very reason. They just stormed around the house in such rebellion that we had to call for staff from other homes to help. Rog has been a house father for 16 years, and was one of the staff who came. He said he heard more abusive language/swearing in 15 minutes than he has in his entire 16 year career.
This is the most stressful job we've ever had. We have never been so tired in our lives. We work an average of 16 hours/day, 7 days straight. People ask us "how long can you do this? do we regret our decision? what were we thinking? And our answer is our lives are in God's hands. We believe that he called us, and he will continue to equip us.
"May the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to Him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen."
Hebrews 13: 20, 21
