Week 18
Week in Review
Monday August 13, 2018
We used to have Toastmasters class every Monday, but now that we are done with Toastmasters, we have been finishing all of the prerequisites for our graduation next month. Thankfully, we have already finished Art History, which is a pretty long lecture. We are now finishing our U.S. History lectures, which are very interesting as well as informative. We learned about slavery, the Civil War, Cotton Gins, the Pioneers of the Great Frontier and the building of the first major railroad connecting Boston, Massachusetts to Sacramento, California. We found out that land in the Great Plains was practically given away, but many of the habitants did not stay due to tornadoes and other weather conditions that were not conducive to growing farm crops.
Today in class, many of the PEP brothers finished their Coats of Arms and finished decorating teddy bear T-shirts for our kids who are coming to graduation. We had a brother get up in front of the class and present us a pitch regarding financial assistance for his family to attend graduation. It’s always nice to know that PEP cares so much for us. After class we headed back to the pods to present our business plan pitches. We gathered together with graduates in the pod so that they could be our judging panel and give us feedback. After pitch panels, we still had to recite our pitches six more times, as we do every day. At the end of the night, we had our evening prayer and went to our rooms to prepare for the next day.
Tony E. (a.k.a. “Little Caesars”)
Tuesday August 14, 2018,
Today we went to the PEP room at 7 a.m. We prayed in and read the word of the day. After that we watched a Robert Lewis video on the topic “What is a Man?” Immediately after the video, we broke into our small groups and talked about the topic and how it has influenced us. We had the pleasure to facilitate both groups today, and we all said man is tough and strong but after seeing the video, we all had a new definition of what a real man is: a provider for his family, a leader, a hard worker, and an honest person. We all had the same input – it was amazing.
Then the facilitator did a presentation on having an action plan for when we are released. After that we had another presentation on fun. Then the fun began! We had both groups do the Chicken Dance. It was fun seeing grown men doing the Chicken Dance! That wasn’t all the fun we had though; we also had a few guys lip sync along with a dance-off. We have some very talented brothers. The thing is, as grown men, we never get to appreciate this type of fun, and it was a blessing to experience this with all of our PEP brothers. So after all the fun and games, we did what we always do by praying out and giving God all the glory, thanking Him for allowing us to be a part of something special.
Pedro G. (a.k.a. “Chupacabra”)
Wednesday August 15, 2018
We gathered in class this morning for another day of education and team building. It’s always a joy to be surrounded by men who are striving toward the same goal: to improve oneself and become a great man, son, brother, friend, and father for our loved ones. One of the benefits of being a member of PEP is that you become part of a big family. That is what we see whenever we look around the classroom: brothers that lock in arms, helping each other achieve our full potential, pushing one another to do our best in everything we do. As we settled in today, we started class the usual way, with our daily prayer and the reading of the daily devotional. There’s no better way to start your day than by giving thanks to our Heavenly Father for another beautiful day. We then continued with the daily agenda, which consisted of watching American History videos. These videos always bring great encouragement, because we get to see the struggles that our ancestors went through and the outcome of their actions. Regardless of their hardships, they overcame them and became great women and men. It goes to show that no matter how bad things might get or seem, we can also become a success if we stay focused on God and family.
After American History, we proceeded with the agenda and passed out merit stickers. The merit stickers are used to acknowledge those brothers who were caught executing one or more of the 10 Driving Values we live by in PEP. One thing PEP does that is special and unique is to celebrate the brothers’ birthdays. I say “unique” because we call our fellow brothers to the front of the class ask each one his name and how old he is, and then we sing “Happy Birthday.” It’s always an honor to be able to give a fellow brother some joy and happiness on his special day. Afterwards, we continued with class, received some updates and asked a fellow brother to pray us out. This marked the end of the class.
Alberto E. (a.k.a. “Winnie the Pooh”)
Thursday August 16, 2018
Class today was awesome. It is interesting facilitating and helping out the new class. As usual for the new Phase One class, we began watching a Robert Lewis video. The “Authentic Manhood” portion of the program is insightful. It really helps us align our values and develop a clear and definite idea of what a man is and does. The video talked about rejecting passivity and accepting our responsibilities and roles as men in our families and society as well.
After the video we all got into small groups to discuss what we got out of it. We also talked about the book Who Moved My Cheese? This book is great. The Phase One class is currently reading it. Then two of our PEP brothers did a presentation on “fun,” one of PEP’s 10 Driving Values. We also watched a few videos about that. The videos were very funny. They brought back memories of when our class went through Phase One. One of the men in Phase One got his sweet name today too. We had a great class. The brothers are really growing and enjoying the program. It is a great pleasure to be able to give back to PEP. Everyone is doing their part. The program is a benefit and a blessing to all parties involved. It really helps us to grow mentally and spiritually. We all strive to be better people and to give back. That’s what life is about, and that’s what makes this world and our communities a better place.
Oscar F. (a.k.a. “Sweet Tootsie Pop”)
Expressions
“When I was a child, I spoke as a child I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.”
~ Apostle Paul
I am always reminded of this quote from the Apostle Paul when I catch myself being drawn back to my old ways. When I first read this quote I didn’t understand it, but now it is as clear as day to me. As I meditated on this quote, it made me look back on my life and all the things I did and the way I acted, as well as the people I surrounded myself with, and I realized that the whole time I thought I was acting like a man was just a lie. I was deceiving myself: I was living and acting like a child. In reality, I had no idea of what being a man was. Now that I am sober and separated from all the things I was involved in, God has revealed to me what a real man is. I do not count it as a coincidence either, that I was able to come and be a part of PEP and go through the character assessment process to learn more about being a man and where I was still lacking. The Quest for Authentic Manhood really helped me to understand a lot of things I was struggling with and how to overcome them. One of the ways was by using this quote, which has inspired me to continue to change and keep pushing forward to becoming the man that God intends for me to be. I thank God for this time and all my accomplishments, and I thank PEP for the hand up and drive it has given me also to succeed.
Adam F. (a.k.a. “Minion”)