Happy Mother's Day, Mommy!

Dear Mom,

Happy Mother's Day! 

Thank you for giving me a fairy tale childhood!  Thank you for making sure I had the security of a consistent schedule.  Thank you for making it possible for me to find any toy I wanted to play with because they all had their own spot to be put away in.  All three of your children have the organization bug - apparently it was catchy!  Thank you for letting us get filthy dirty, even though dirty children were not your favorite.  I remember more than one hose bath before we were allowed to enter the house - it was a good compromise. :-)  Thank you for moderating a thousand disagreements between us kids - we didn't mean to be so petty.  Everything just seemed so important at the time!

Do you know that one of my favorite memories was getting to pick the vegetable for dinner?  I used to hover around while you were making dinner just so I would be the easiest kid to send to the pantry!

I remember playing with your doll house furniture for hours - please tell me you still have that in one of your boxes!

I remember running through the snow in swimsuits after getting out of the hot tub.

I remember you putting a blanket on the front porch for us to watch the lightening from. 

I remember you making us dolls out of flowers and tooth picks.

Thank you for documenting all our many memories in photos that I will never forget:

Mommy and Megan vacuuming together.  Everything about this picture is endearing to me... including those care bear curtains I had forgotten about!

This picture is excellent!  We spent hours and hours playing one kind of dress up or another.  Poor Matt, I'm sure to this day he wishes he had been the oldest!  This picture is confirmation that he was a victim of my persuasion, lol.

You were always good at matching outfits. :-)  I love this picture of Sarah and I.

See?!

You tried to talk dad out of letting us climb on the shed and run down the roof to jump on the trampoline.  Praise Jesus we are all alive to laugh about this!  Thank you for being the voice of reason in that craziness!  Before I drop my kids off with their grandparents for the summer we are having a long conversation about how grandma gets to make all the safety decisions!!!

You made sure there was never a dull moment at Vacation Bible School.

And you made sure that we were never the kids who didn't have a costume.  It's hard to guess what Christmas event you had us all dressed up for.  Probably Awana.  But no one was ever gonna catch a Schenk kid not participating on dress up day! :-)  I'm also guessing that not everybody's Awana came with so many dress up opportunities, lol.

Happy Mother's Day, Mommy.  I love you!

Blindfolds+Egg Hunts=Entertainment

In the past few months God has connected me with Examples Ministries, an organization that desires to equip families to grow, model, and invest their faith.  I love the heart and mission of this organization, because I think it echos God's heart.  It's God's divine order that parents raise up their children to love and follow Him.  It's also God's desire that we support each other on this faith journey! 

Every other Friday night Examples hosts a mom's group called A Mother's Heart that provides an opportunity for moms to connect with other moms and hear relevant, Biblical teaching on parenting.  I provide transportation for my friend Nakeisha and her children to attend the group.  While the mom's are meeting, I get to minister to their children.  I love the fruit from A Mother's Heart, because the more a parent's heart is submitted to God, the greater access God has to that child.  God's design is for parents to reveal God's love and grace to their children and to intentially establish faith in their home!

I'm also thankful for the new friends I've made by ministering with the Examples team.  Deanna co-directs Examples with her husband, Eddie, and leads the teaching and discussion at A Mother's Heart.  We don't have any pictures together (yet), so I stole this picture of Deanna with her son Quad from her facebook page.  :-)  It never ceases to amaze me the many ways that God brings people into my life.  I am thankful for you, Deanna!

A Mother's Heart hosted an Easter Egg Hunt for all of the families this year.  It was a great day to be together!  We did the bounce house and barbecue gig - always a winner. :-)  Especially since I let it be known ahead of time that I should not be the one to work the grill.  (riiiiight, Miss LaVerna?!  lol)

Our smaller children hunting eggs.

Marianna in the bounce house!

Since Nakeisha comes to A Mother's Heart, that means an extra day I get to spend time with Tavaris, Tavontay, and Tamyra!  They LOVED this bounce house.  Tavontay has like a hundred of those little wrestling men, so I'm sure that's what he was thinking about up in there.

Quad enjoying the bubbles.  I love that he is in his socks in this picture. :-)

Jayla blowing bubbles.

So, we decided that the mom's should get in on the fun of hunting for eggs as well.  Deanna had some fun prizes for them and got everyone excited to be involved ... then she told them that they would be doing the hunt blindfolded!  We spread the eggs out in one big pile, just like for the small kids, and the moms felt around for them.  It was hysterical! 

The tricky part was knowing where to bend down.  Since they were plastic eggs they kinda just moved out of the way if you shuffled your feet.  Again: HILARIOUS!  I love this picture of Marcia!

T.J. and Isaiah

"Dear Lord, please let my children have dimples.  Amen!"

Jayla, Heaven, and Tamyra waiting while their eggs were being hidden.

Faith Like This Child

I love the innocence of children.  The way they embrace life as one big adventure.  The way they are enthusiastic about the smallest - we are tempted to say silliest - things.  The way they make friends in the amount of time it takes to smile shyly across the playground.  The way they hope expectantly - not cautiously like so many adults. 

And I love the way that children love!  With complete abandon.  With fierce loyalty.  With the kind of acceptance that willingly overlooks faults.  With the sugar sweet affection that only a child's smiling eyes and squeeze-tight-hug can bring.

You know, there's a reason that God instructs us to have faith like a child.  The faith of a child is pure.  Genuine.  Not complicated with my doubts and  my stubborn pride and my insistence on seeing everything before I will move forward.  Children receive God with the blessed assurance that, sometimes, I find I only sing about.  Of course God loves me, they say.  Of course I am valuable!  Of course I am forgiven!  Of course God is good!

I say these things too ... and believe them!  But some days it comes out a little less confidently:  God loves me, right?  I have value, right?  God can forgive this too, right?  God is good even though children die in the streets and injustice runs rampant in this world and the empty aching of loneliness leaves tear stains on my pillow ..... right?

Every week I meet with youth from across Chicagoland for camp's year-round discipleship program. The kids are growing! They learn Bible stories and verses and are challenged with real-life application. I see an understanding of God's Word maturing in my kids as they consistently study. I can see the fruit of discipleship in their lives, and even in their families. Chelsea is 10 years old and this is her first year in Partners in Discipleship.  At the end of our Bible study time we always pray together.  These are Chelsea's prayer requests:

"Pray for my aunt and uncle.  They are going to have a baby!  I want to pray for the baby that she will get to hear God's Word and hear about how Jesus died for her."

"Pray that I will get to come to church every week.  Sometimes my parents can't bring me because they are working, but I still want to come."

"Pray that I will be good crop.  The Bible lesson this week was about the seed that feel on good ground and made good crops and the seeds that fell on bad ground and didn't grow crops.  I want my life to be the good crop for God!" 

What beautiful, beautiful prayers!  I can feel the smile of God as his child prays from a tender heart, wide open.  The faith of a child: innocent, pure .... and unexpectedly convicting.  And I can hear the whisper of the Spirit in my soul saying "Have faith like this child."

I Am My Grandpa's Favorite!

       I love my grandpa!  And he loves me!  A couple of years ago we picked up my brother from the airport together.  Grandpa stayed up half the night talking with Matt and I suddenly realized:  He loves my brother too!  I had no idea.  I mean, I knew that he loved Matt.  But I didn't know he loved him as much as me!  My grandpa has always made me feel so special, I just figured I was his favorite. :-)

Our most recent time together, Christmas 2010.  I need to print this for the frame.  Just in case you think all my favorite pictures all have my grandpa with his eyes closed:  they aren't!  That's as much as he can open his eyes and smile at the same time. :-)

       (I feel the need to add a disclaimer:  I'm not always great at accurately recounting the events that happened yesterday.  So I'm sure some of these memories, having been filtered through the glasses of childhood and carried through the past 28 years, may have inaccuracies.  Enjoy them for the comfort they bring, just the same).
       My grandpa has a great sense of humor.  Ever since I was a little kid he's had a collection of annual jokes.  The start of school: "I've got my new backpack all ready for tomorrow.  What time are we catching the bus in the morning?"  Halloween: "Sure hope my snowsuit fits over this costume."  Christmas: "I hope Santa doesn't get lost again.  He didn't make it to my house last year ...", etc.  In the past couple of years grandpa and I have taken 3 trips together down to AZ to see my aunt and uncle.  This picture is from Easter 2008.  Grandpa is always telling me that he is going to email me and the other day he said he was going to Twitter.  Pretty sure he's getting that from the news, lol.

Grandpa arriving for Christmas morning.

Grandpa singing Christmas carols in German with Aunt Clara, Uncle Alvin, and Aunt Ardena. Well, my aunts do most of the singing, but grandpa and Uncle Alvin are generally good sports. :-)

This is my very favorite picture of grandpa and I!  Not only is he wearing the hat for my 4th birthday - he looks happy about it!  I LOVE THIS PICTURE!

       My grandfather, Richard Rueben Schenk, has celebrated his 86th birthday. Married for 56 years to my late grandmother, Viola Edna Schenk, he has been an example to me of faithfulness.  I was in 5th grade when my grandma experienced the first symptoms of what would be a long and painful illness.  I remember grandpa sitting beside her bed.  I remember him learning how to work with pantyhose and fix hair so he could take grandma to church the way he knew she wanted to go.  After grandma's eyesight worsened, I used to help her paint her toenails.  I remember grandpa making me redo them after he came home one day and they were bright blue with glitter, since he knew that she wouldn't have approved!  My grandpa loved my grandma in sickness and in health, and I will never forget watching his care for her and the legacy of faithfulness he has passed down to me.

       My grandparents live a mile up the road and my grandpa continues to work on the family farm with my dad.  When I was a kid I had constant access to my parents and my grandparents.  Us kids helped out, but make no mistake about it:  we were the spoiled kind of farm kids.  I'm sure you would have had a hard time convincing us of it then, but we truly did not have to do as much as the generations before us!  Anyway, grandpa was our snack supplier.  He figured if we had to hoe beets we at least needed a pop and some ice cream.  He was also good motivation.  Hoeing beets doesn't add up very fast at 10 cents per row.  But if we could manage 6 rows at a time like grandpa and dad, well then, we might just get somewhere! 

       I have a very distinct memory of being trained to hoe beets when I was about 5 or 6.  I had a half hoe and I would trail along behind them, with our puppy bouncing through the field behind me.  They would pick out a weed for me that was big enough to see but small enough that I could get it out.  When I had that one taken care of I would run to catch up and they'd assign me another weed.  If I hoed without asking what time it was then I could go in after a half an hour to watch cartoons, otherwise I had to hoe during the cartoon.  (I caught on quick.)  

       Grandpa and Matt.  Every year grandma and grandpa used to take Matt and I to Lava Hot Springs.  They put us in the backseat of the truck with a book of Lifesavers for the trip there.  I now know that was to keep us quiet.  :-)  One year they took us to the store to pick out a toy.  I remember the effort it took to convince grandma to get crayons to go with my coloring book so I could use it before I got home.  Matt and Grandpa came back with a cart so full of toys that they had to take the corner slow.  I'm sure you can imagine my chagrin. 

       And it wasn't even Matthew ... Grandpa put up quite the argument about how they couldn't put back the army tank or army men or squirt guns or bubble gum, etc.  We compromised:  the boys had to part with a few things and I picked out a doll and the biggest box of crayons!  I also remember grandpa riding along to go pick up our new puppy.  Matt and I were having a hard time agreeing on the cutest puppy ... so grandpa suggested we bring home two!  That was the last time Dad brought him along to get any pets!  Shopping with grandpa still goes pretty much like this, by the way. :-)

       My grandpa has written me letters ever since I left for college.  Hand-written pages full of jokes, commentary on the weather, admonitions to stay well, updates and news, warnings about running out of gas, and a little gas money.  And every letter ends with "Make sure you don't work too hard.  You have to have a little fun."  I have a huge pile of letters that I will always cherish.

       Grandpa and Sarah.  Does this look like a "grandparents house" or what?!  And I think that owl pillow might be back in style - I wonder where it's at, lol.  We used to sleep at grandma and grandpa's house all the time.  I feel like I was in second grade when they made a rule that I had to sleep at home more nights during the week than I slept at grandma's house.  I always slept in grandpa's white t-shirts and on the floor at the foot of their bed.  Every morning grandpa would step on me when he headed out for lines.  I'm still not sure why I didn't sleep in the perfectly good bedroom across the hall, lol.

Grandpa and Matt.

Grandpa reading stories to Matt and Sarah. 

Grandma, grandpa, Matt and Megan in front of George K's. 

Grandpa playing memory with me.

       How can you not love this picture?!  Grandpa laying on the floor reading the paper with a bunch of toys spread across the floor .... and Sarah with her hand in his mouth trying to get him to come play with her.  I love this picture! :-)  And I LOVE MY GRANDPA!

Things that make me chuckle!

Life is better when you chuckle.  I'm convinced of it.

So the other day I noticed a sign around the city.  When you're driving you can see this picture.  And a big, red "WARNING" ... but driving by you can't read the text.  So I'm driving down the street wondering what warning involves a man walking a dog being followed by rats?  "Walk fast so the rats won't eat your dog?"  I mean, I feel like any warning involving rats is just not really going to work for me.  So of course I had stop sometime to get a closer look:

Turns out that's the warning.  Turns out I really care if my neighbors pick up after their dogs.  I saw a rat the other day that I thought was a cat.  My kids thought it was hilarious that they had to correct me about this.  I have never in my life thought rats are hilarious.

Many of my kids eat hot sauce quite liberally.  On chips.  On pizza.  On all pasta.  On eggs.  On garlic bread.  So I bought this bottle of hot sauce for my house.  I had to call a friend to find out what brand.  I figured a 6 oz bottle would last for quite a while since I don't eat it and the bottle says "one drop does it."  The kids were making fun of me, talking about "we've never even seen such a little bottle of hot sauce."  And they have clearly never read the part about one drop, it is amazing to me how much hot sauce they enjoy!  And apparently you aren't supposed to store hot sauce in the fridge.  The kids said it loses its hot if it gets cold, lol.

So ... for Tavaris' 13th birthday I bought him a gallon of hot sauce.  :-) 

It's finally sorta warming up, so Mr. Percy is back outside.  Although with this coat (and those baby blue gloves) I think he coulda been out sooner!  Hopefully this means there will be more Mr. Percy coming soon!

My friend Rachel has an excellent blog where she posted the pictures of this bag of chips she found on her walk home from the train.  She says she loves everything about this: "stay in school" and "Bar-b-quin' with my HONEY". 

And "the official snack of hip hop".  Surely this is worth a chuckle!

February Winter Blast 2011 : Breaking Generational Poverty

Jaheim and JaKee.  Camp Beechpoint HERE WE COME!

I love Camp Beechpoint!  February Winter Blast was a BLAST!  I love being with kids.  I love the hugs when kids come back to camp and realize I'm still there for them.  I love creating an environment where kids are successful.  I love the schedule of caring for kids.  I love serving meals and keeping track of gloves and fussing about brushing teeth and getting us all somewhere.  I love mediating a dispute so that everyone is happy and can move forward.  I love laughing over silly stuff.  I love helping kids experience something completely new.  I love, love, love teaching God's Word and making it's truths real and accessible to kids.  I love the good-bye hugs.  I love camp!

Top row: Tah'Jae, Rayan, Megan, Curtynaija, Manijah, Jada

Bottom row:  Amarrea, Mia, Annalise, Chanel, Jalise, Mya

Roasting marshmallows during the night hike.

Curty tryna decide how she feels about these marshmallows.  Gotta love the nails. :-)

Our first winter blast in the new dining hall.  This is 1/3 of the dining space.  Praise God for his provision of this facility!  It's a blessing to not have to serve split meals and to be able to host larger retreat groups year round.  We've been able to use this facility for conferences and banquets and weddings ... just another way God provides funds to keep camp accessible to urban youth.

The Great Klondike Derby - team building activities for all!  One camper gives verbal directions to a blind- folded partner to avoid the cones.

Shardae trying to walk without dropping the egg on the spoon.

This one is a favorite activity! 

One of my supporters had her Sunday School class make blankets and hats for Winter Blast campers!  The girls were so thankful for their blankets and the letters from the Sunday School kids and had fun writing them back!  Thanks Kathy and Courtney!

This is my favorite picture from Winter Blast, lol!  I wish I knew what I was saying to Mya when this picture was taken.  Whatever it was it made her happy. :-)  Love this.

Trying to get eveyone to jump rope in the gym.

Curtynaija and Manijah making a giant thank you sign for Chef Marissa.  We never take pics in our cabins, but I love that camp is so....homey.

Kadavion told us that before camp he wasn't too sure he wanted to come.  (Praise God for the adults in his life who love him and fight for him to have opportunities to hear the Word!).  At camp he participated in 3 teaching sessions centered on Romans 12:2 "Do not be conformed to the patterns of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind."  At the end of the last session Kadavion asked his Bible teacher "How do I break the chains of generational poverty in my family?".   The older boys stayed in class for an extra 20 minutes to hear the discussion!  Pray that Kadavion's mind will truly be renewed and that he will embrace the life available to him through submission to God!