Sending Off Our Teens

Anna holding Anna Mei's hand in China just after Gotcha Day.

 One of our dearest teens is headed off to work in the Chicago public schools for the next five weeks as part of a scholarship program that she is participating in .  This is her first time away from home for so long as she just graduated, but she will be headed off to Greenville College in the fall.  We are so excited to see how God will use this young lady because she has an amazing faith though we will miss her dearly.  She traveled to China with me to get my sweet Anna Mei so she is very special to my girls and to me.  She babysits Jillian on a regular basis, has fallen in love with adoption and caring for the orphan, led the Bible Study at the high school this year, was awarded an amazing teaching scholarship, is going to be a special ed teacher..I could go on and on about her.  She is even a big part of the reason that Daddy chose Anna Mei's name because her name is also Anna. We love her to bits...

So we wanted to send a piece of us with her as she goes out to change the world for Him!

This was Anna Mei's first time painting and she was happy to be doing it.

 Jillian went first as I knew it would stress her out greatly to participate because of her tactile sensitivities.  Anna watched while Jillian dutifully obeyed momma and uncomfortably left her two hand prints on our project.  Then it was her turn to leave her own and she did so many times.  She really enjoyed it.

 It turned out great and I hope Anna feels the prayers these little folded hands will be sending up for her over the next five weeks.  We will truly miss her so very much!

 While Jillian wasn't so happy about the painting part of this project, the clean up made her one happy girl.  She was thrilled that the water in her water table and the bubbles from the soap were tinted a deep red color because of the paint.  She was very excited to be splashing her sister and loved watching the colored water fall over her.

 We played in the colored water the rest of the morning together.  I even brought out some ice cubes which were fun to add to the red water.  She really enjoyed herself.

 Mei Mei was pretty happy too though the mess on her hands does bother her a bit after a while.  She is beginning to relax some where that is concerned, but will still often say "towel" many times during our play when she gets a bit wet or messy as she feels the need to wipe off.

I am thankful we were able to enjoy making this special project and that my newest little peanut likes painting.  We have many more teens leaving over the next few weeks.  Truthfully, this is the most difficult part of youth ministry..saying goodbye to teens you have grown to love so much, but we trust each is in God's will and He will challenge and protect them as they go out on their own.

We May Have Some Trouble

We were blessed to be able to spend our free afternoon (thank you President's Day) with two sweet sheep in our college flock. Love em.

Yummy noodles with Chopsticks!! Too fun!

More Chopstick Cheer!!

Don't leave us out! We're in on the chopstick thing!

We may have some trouble though because at lunch we ate at a noodle joint that offered us chopsticks (as you can see). So. Much. Fun. BUT Daddy refused to even give them a try! So.. I'm thinking he is gonna have some trouble eating in China. Jill may have to be feeding her daddy. LOL :)

What About James?

My dear husband had the chance to share from the pulpit on Sunday. His sermon was titled..What About James? He gave us just a glimpse into Jesus earthly family and we dug into scripture to see what we could learn about James (Jesus earthly half brother). Check it out HERE.

So very lucky to have such a Godly man leading our family.

Should Have Known Better

What an incredible day on Sunday we had spending some precious time with our ministry students. To say that I love, love, love them would be a gross understatement. They make me cry, laugh, inspire me, give the best hugs, and they are just so much fun. We had a super sub fundraiser at the church in the AM to help support our children's outreach ministry in the public housing this summer...... way to go..working oh so hard!

When we finished, we needed to get the extra supplies back to our house next door to our church. So..the high school boys (and one precious girl) volunteer to carry the stuff home for us. So sweet, so helpful, so like Jesus..Right? My husband gives them the go ahead and they head off to our house while we stay and continue cleaning up the kitchen in the church basement. What great kids.. So sacrificial to offer their weary muscles up to us...to serve us..

Then...we come home to find this...

soda cans hidden all around the house like Easter eggs. The soda cans were among the supplies they had so kindly carried over from the church. We have been in youth ministry for almost ten years now and my dh should have known better than to let the high school boys in the house alone. LOL.. Seriously though.. these kids are so much stinkin' fun. They leave me in stitches so much and so much creativity. They are truly the best kids in the world! So blessed to have them in my life. Especially thankful that the girl with them had enough sense to tell them not to put any in the stove. I probably would have preheated without looking inside and blown up a soda can..YUCK!

Praying that my house is always overflowing with teens. Thanks to Jesus for putting such great kids in my life!

5:30 AM..Really Lord?

God is laying something pretty exciting on my heart. He began to reveal it to me yesterday and it involves my teen girls which always excites me. It is going to take a lot of time though and despite my reasoning with God that I am adopting (remember LORD?), traveling in the next twelve weeks to China, still need to come up with $10,000, planning fundraisers, running my house, trying to stay sane..He is not giving up on me. This idea just won't leave my mind and so just as God does...this thing is coming together pretty fast. Please pray that I am obedient to God's leading despite the thousand excuses that I sometimes use to excuse my self from following his will. So excited to see what God does with this. Just wish he would not wake me at 5:30 on Saturday morning to "talk" about it...Praise Him for His involvement in my life and the life of my girls. Praise Him that He loves them so much..He demands my time and attention! What a thrilling adventure indeed to serve Him!

Christmas Here

We have called this city home for 12 years now. While I never dreamed that this would be the place that I would stay, I call it home and I have lived here longer than any other town during my life. There are a few things about the Christmas traditions here that I have come to look forward to. One is the Winter Wonderland Parade.. Supposed to be a time to bring Santa Claus into our neighborhood. But as dear hubby and I see it, it is a chance to put Jesus back into the season by distributing Bibles and tracks to the hundreds who line the streets waiting to catch a glimpse at the jolly old man himself. Little do these unsuspecting observers know, they are about to encounter God himself in the faces of our precious teens smiling and passing out Bibles along the parade route.

Love me some teenagers who come out in the freezing cold to bring the good news to others. Thank you, thank you, thank you for being such an incredible example to all those around you. You are boldly living your life for Jesus and you inspire me each and every day to live more like Him. Love to see you living it for yourselves and so very thankful to be a part of your lives. Love ya like crazy!!!

Garage Feast

So lucky to live in this community where Christ is alive and so many are working to reach youth for His name right here in this city. We were blessed to be able to be a part of our local Youth For Christ's garage feast last night. Is there anything better than having your home filled with 100+ (yes that's 100+!!!) teenagers eating turkey and hanging out in every nook and cranny? I don't think so and this wonderful lady agrees with me...



I think that she has been hosting this get together for 6 years now and it just keeps growing. Kids everywhere.....




You know I just love to feed kids. There is just something so special to this momma about providing food for somebody that just says you love and care about 'em. Strange I know, but I love sharing a meal in the name of the Lord. It's a beautiful thing, but even more beautiful are all the adults who came out to reach out in love to these kids by serving 'em up some turkey! BEAUTIFUL!! DELICIOUS!



So blessed to be able to support this ministry in prayer and to be able to watch all that they are doing in the name of the Lord in our community. Praise God!

Staring Sin in the Face

Seems like our weekends are never dull here. Last Saturday was no different. We woke early and headed to U of I with a stop at ISU along the way. Our purpose-to catch a day with two more of our sheep who have left us to join the college ranks. Spending so much time on college campuses has certainly left me with an urgent feeling of conviction that I don't spend near enough time on my knees praying for these students. In case you didn't know, sin is alive and well on these campuses. And to be honest I have to tell you as I live my life in this safe, predictable christian environment of mine, it is easy for me to forget just how ugly and evil it is out there. I also forget that this is exactly where I am preparing my daughter and all the students we are lucky enough to have in ministry to be. Walking on the U of I campus and even near the apartments at ISU, it was clearer to me than ever that most of the students living around these precious girls are not believers. In fact, they come face to face with evil and sin on a regular basis. Let's face it-I just don't get that. I don't have to deal with sin in my face every minute and my environment is much more conducive to growing my relationship with Christ. Man, they need our prayers. Our kids are in deeper than we can ever imagine! I need to open my eyes, recognize that, and pray like crazy that God will protect their hearts! Despite this sin and evil so many of our students are thriving and answering God's call to live a life of holiness-to be in this world but not of it. That is exactly my daily prayer for them-to live in this world and not be of it.

Despite coming face to face with this reality fun did abound!


We visited an Asian grocery store to pick up some unusual ingredients for a dish our Jill eats in the orphanage,


had lunch at a yummy Italian restaurant that's use of garlic was so liberal no one wanted to sit next to me,


bought frozen yogurt by the ounce in buckets as big as my head,


and took in the marching band competition where our PCHS dragons took 6th place! My band kids rule!! Hope your weekend is great too!

Yummy Cinnamon Goodness

So, I was lucky enough to spend the night in the church kitchen with my kids (and some even more incredible parent volunteers!!) cookin' up some yummy cinnamon goodness tonight. Delicious rolls good to eat any time of day! Especially good to sell for raising money for our mission trip. Love me some teenagers! I wish I had their enthusiasm and energy. If you want to bake up some delicious cinnamon treats of your own, it's easy.


Mix.


Roll.


Butter, cinnamon and Sugar-need I say more.

Bake, Eat, and Enjoy!!:) Hope you have a great Thursday.

College Tour Continues

Last weekend we had the joy of visiting two more of the gorgeous girls who are part of our college ministry in their new surroundings (aka Olivet Nazarene University). What a huge blessing it is to see our lovely college kiddos growing in their faith and embracing the new lives God is placing before them. Exciting, scary, and sad all rolled into one..

We were greeted by this sign as we approached the girls' new home. This momma can't help but loving that this new home holds to high Biblical standards for these girls-no boys allowed in their building..period!! DH couldn't even go in for long and I love it!!



We had a wonderful day. We attended a football game, visited their campus bookstore (DH needed to get a hat of course), and took them to a yummy local pizza joint. The pizza was delish and the campus was beautiful. The game however was really cold and the team was really bad, but hey you can't have it all.

So Darling Kiddo and I decided to escape the cold, long, boring game and find a quaint coffee shop for warmth, hot tea, and conversation. Just when you least expect it..I got me some precious time to connect with my girl! What a pleasant surprise this was for me. I actually had my new book, Keeping the Little in Your Girl by Dannah Gresh and we discussed some of the checklists I'd done. She was a goofball as only she can be, but oh what a terrific afternoon. She just doesn't do serious very well!


Visiting two of our sweet college students + one very cold day for a football game = two hot cups of tea and one great opportunity for some intentional mother/daughter bonding. Not exactly the formula my new book laid out for mother daughter bonding, but spontaneity can provide too! Hope you have time to connect with the precious kiddos God has given you this weekend!

Amazing Way to Start the Day!

Today is one of my favorite days of the whole year-See you at the Pole. SYATP is an annual event that takes place this time in September around school flagpoles across the country. Students gather before school near their flags to pray. What a tremendous privilege to begin our day in prayer with the students we love so much!! I was at Broadmoor this morning with some of my favorite young ladies and a few others who joined.



As classmates walked by, there we stood-around the flagpole-hand in hand praying aloud for those who don't know Jesus, the teachers, the administrators, our country, and anything else God laid on our hearts. There I was surrounded by my twelve and thirteen year old girls whose faith is so beautiful and so inspiring doing exactly what God calls us to do and that is live out our faith by being a light to all around us.



What a HUGE and BEAUTIFUL blessing it is to live life alongside these girls. They are amazing! The Lord is written Himself all over them and I am so lucky to be able to help bring them along in their faith. Love you Ladies!!!

Hot Potatoes

So last weekend our youth ministry had the opportunity to serve at the Marigold Festival in the beautiful town in which we live. The booth that our church sponsors serves baked potatoes complete with cheese, chili, onion, butter, sourcream..YUM! We bake 'em and serve 'em up all weekend to the masses.



The money that we make is used for our youth mission fund. Because it supports our youth trip, we had lots of our great kids out helping this weekend!!


(LOVE THEM!!)

The greatest thing about this weekend was some of the hardest workers weren't our youth at all. These three young ladies (including my darling kiddo)don't benefit at all from the funds raised because they are too young to go on the youth mission trip, but that didn't keep them from serving.


They were working hard to be the hands and feet of Jesus all weekend. You girls rock! We appreciate you sooo much! Can't wait to have you in youth group!

Inspired

We were able to spend an amazing day with two of our college girls in their new surroundings in Chicago yesterday. To say that I am inspired by the faith, strength, and steadiness of these two wonderful young ladies would be an understatement.

They both left our small area and headed to the big city for school this year. With the Lord anchored securly in their hearts, they have set out into this world intending to walk strongly and tirelessly for our Lord! They each have moved and amist new surroundings and people-they haven't missed one Sunday in worship. They haven't missed a beat. They are working hard to stay connected to God and the church.

We were able to visit Willowcreek Community Church which is the new home church for one of our girls. We walked in with thousands of other people and to say that I was intimidated would be a gross under exageration of how I was feeling. I had no idea where to park, sit, go..nothing. And to think one of my sweet girls walked in alone two Sundays ago-sought out the twenty something ministry-and activly pursued a chance to worship God when she had only been in the city a few days is soooo encouraging. What an awesome faith..


The other fingured out the complicated train system..took it into the city..and met up with the only other soul she knows in the area to go on another train to worship!! What an example these young people are to me sometimes. Would I seek out worship so immediatly and go to such uncomfortable lengths to get there or would I have put it off a few Sundays while I settled in? I am inspired by these girls and praying them on each and every step of the way!!

Girls, Discipleship, and Homemade Pizza

Back into the swing of things! With fall just around the corner and school back in session, some of our ministries are starting up again! We have an awesome ministry we call dgroups. These are small groups for jr. high girls led by some of our most mature high school girls! The high school girls teach Bible lessons and encourage scripture memory. The jr. high girls love being lead by these older girls and the younger girls are growing in their faith because these high schoolers are building into them.

We had us some kickoff fun today!! How I love me some jr. high girl madness!!!



We went on a scavenger hunt to beg, borrow, and steal ingredients for homemade pizzas.



Then we met up again and baked us some pizza masterpieces.




The girls were pretty adventurous with their topping choices because it earned extra points for their team if they ate them! (And ate them they did! Can I just say yum?!)




Love, love, love this sweet clan of girls. Jr. highers are the bomb!!! Pray for them. They have busy lives and it is a struggle to keep Jesus your focus with so many things screaming for your attention. Regardless, they are living out their faith successfully and I love watching them growing in the Lord!!!

Going..Going..Gone

It is always with a very heavy heart that I send our kids off to college, but the sending off is inevitable so I am left to resort to the strongest weapon of protection that I have...prayer.

These kids are ever sooo special to me. I have had the privilege of walking along side some of them for a very long time. How I love them and know their hearts are strong in the Lord. Still it is so scary to send them away. Barna's new research says that as many as 80% of our "church" youth will go away to college and walk away from the church forever. YIKES!!! As a momma and youth ministry volunteer that really frightens me and I know that my kids need a good bathing in prayer each and everyday!! Will you join me? This generation is a powerful tool waiting to be used by Christ to bring many more into the fold. Will you be praying them on? Are you willing to build into them? To share your time and yourself with someone younger than you are? The first time my dear husband approached me with these questions (before we were in youth ministry) I have to admit to you-I said no.. I was afraid..Afraid that I would not have what it takes to be in youth ministry or to build into the lives of teenagers. Who was I to do that? I was nobody, but I have allowed God to be somebody through me and what a huge blessing it has been. I'm telling you that there is nothing like having 50 teenagers to meet with and love on every week..You outta get you some!! You never know the difference God could make in a life through you if you are only willing to be used by Him. So blessed to be able to be a part of what God is doing in ministry and to have had these sweet sheep in our flock!