handsful

Our new home (we’ve been here 8 months, so it still feels new…) has a large shop out back.  The previous owner was a contractor, and used it for his business.  We weren’t sure exactly what to do with it.

Storage?  Workshop? (Randy loves to build)  Hang out place for big kids?

Last year, Randy had a middle school age guys group.  They met at our house for bible study and teaching every Sunday night.  As the year went on, he began feeling like it was supposed to be “more”, but he wasn’t sure what/how.  Then, it became clear.

We’d use the shop for a youth ministry…guys and girls, middle and high school age.  Our initial idea is to meet every other Friday night for teaching, prayer, and fellowship.  This past Saturday was the kick-off…

The Shop

It’s still very bare-bones.  The previous owner was in the process of finishing the inside…there are two rooms in the back that aren’t completely walled-off.  There’s no plumbing.  We’re getting the heat turned on this week (yes, the kids were cold!).  Randy and his friend Ed built railings for the existing stairs and 2nd floor space, and Ed built 4 benches for seating.  We’ll eventually have a couch and other furniture, we’ll paint, hang stuff on the walls, etc.

About 15 kids attended the first meeting.  I didn’t get any shots during the teaching, I was up at the house stretching out wire hangers to use for marshmallow skewers with Kelley!  Her younger kids and my littles were playing and helping…

When they were done, we loaded up snacks and water and headed down.  They had already started the bon fire.

And, to end the night, Randy took the brave kids on a bumpy ride around our property.  They climbed into his tractor’s trailer and held on tight!

We’re so thankful for this building, and look forward to tons of memories watching our kids and their friends grow in Christ :)

Our church, each year, encourages us to join in corporate fasting. Last year, we had only been home from China for about 3 weeks…jetlag was only slightly a thing of the past, we were still getting used to being a family of 8, I couldn’t even begin to think of adding something new.

But, when I heard about it this year, something clicked…I felt called to this, as I never had before. But, how? And, what? Fasting isn’t just giving up food for a set time period, but it’s the process of giving up food (or some other “idol” that’s taking your time away from God) for a spiritual purpose. It takes your focus away from worldly comforts, and puts your focus on God…hunger for food is replaced with hunger for God. The bible talks about “when we fast” (Matthew 6), not “if we fast”. My goal is to grow closer to God, be more aware and intent on listening to God, and spend more time with God.

This past Sunday, our pastor talked about having idols in our lives. Not gold covered cow statues, but things that steal time away from the time we would be giving to God in bible study, prayer, etc. TV, internet, hobbies, even other people can be idols in our lives.

When I decided to join in this fast, I prayed and asked for clarity as to WHAT to fast. I came up with these…

Facebook – chocolate – hot tea

Ouch. I’ve felt for a while now that FB absolutely takes up so much time. Even if you’re just “checking it”, you can get sucked into reading the news feed, watching a video, clicking over to an article…and, suddenly you’ve been sitting there an hour. I’m going to miss it, I won’t lie. But, I’m glad I’m doing it.

Chocolate? I mine as well give up breathing. That’s enough about that.

And, I just got a new Keurig and boxes and boxes of lovely new teas to try. Which I can’t drink till January 30th. Hot tea in the morning is as routine for me as coffee is to most. Yep, I’ll miss it. But, that’s part of the point, right? The bible talks about bringing a sacrifice of praise to God. Sometimes we don’t feel like praising…it’s been a rotten day, we’re sad about a situation, etc. We choose to praise, even on the bad days. It’s a sacrifice to make that choice to be joyful when we feel no joy. Sacrificing comforts is a sign of our complete trust and dependence on God, despite how loud our stomach growls or how much we’re craving chocolate.

I’m still in prayer over anything else I might do…a short, 3-day Daniel fast maybe? More on that later, if I go that route. We discussed it with the kids, and they’ve all chosen things to sacrifice, too. I loved Lainey and Dylan’s, which they came up with on their own. Lainey is giving up hot chocolate (she loves it…) and Dylan is giving up whining. Ha!

Expect me to be HERE more than usual, since FB is off limits. Oh, and today is Day 1. In case you’re keeping track along with me. ;)

Most days, we’re told we have our handsful (hence, the name of our site).  Yesterday, we had a houseful!  We braved the unknown and gave an open invite to the whole Jr. High at our church.  We wanted to give the kids a chance for one last bash with their friends before we move.  They began trickling in around 1pm. 

And, by 2:30 or so, we had a crowd.  Randy did a rough count at some point, and came up with about 75. 

We all gathered in the kitchen for some games.  We chose a few of the Minute to Win It games, from the tv show and made them girls vs guys. 

Stack Attack

Defying Gravity

Hanky Panky

Paper dragon

Randy’s made up game…

Junk in the trunk

   

Ping tac toe

Stick the landing

Games can be messy. 

Somehow, after calculating the girls and guys times, we had a tie.  “Okay, everyone go swim!”

Some went involuntarily.  Here, Ethan is being helped into the pool by some very kind 8th grade boys.  Awwww…notice brother Payton at the bottom smiling. 

The girls safely out of the 8th grade boys way. 

Apparently, our pool is still a little chilly.  A few brave souls decided the pond behind our house was much warmer. 

Abbey, far right.  Payton and Ethan swam across, too.  Marley is too much like her momma…either too chicken or too smart to try it. 

No, they aren’t wearing black socks.  Ewwwww….

I mean, really.  Would you want to swim in this gunk?? 

it does have a practical purpose…camo. 

Everyone who dunked in the pond was required to hose off / jump in the pool to “cleanse”.  I’ve not heard of anyone with pond sickness yet. 

How about some nice pictures??

Lainey and Nate

Abbey with homeschool co-op friends, Sarah, Brendan, and John

Ethan and Reese.  Or, I called them the “two guys with brown shirts and shaggy hair”

Abbey posing with Lindsey and Delaney

Lisa, David, their daughter Lauren, and Kristen (her husband Gregg was also there).  They are also Jr. High leaders with Randy and graciously helped us supervise the crowd. 

Marley spent some the day hanging out with her friends in the front room, playing “Sing It”. 

Marley (with her blow-pop stained lips) and Jasmine have been friends for years. 

Funny how no one is behind us in the pool…I think they were all in the pond. 

The grand finale of the party…ready, set, GO!

Girls vs. guys, of course

Great shot, Abbey!

Is there anything more fun than silly string?

Okay, ya’ll break it up!

The party was crazy, loud, tons of fun, and…did I mention loud?  Three kids ended up spending the night with us.  Thankfully, they all woke up early enough for us to get to church on time.  :)  We were all ready for Sunday cat naps today!

I know our kids will remember this party for a long time.  Any amount of noise and exhaustion is totally worth that.

Our church’s annual Easter outreach “All Cracked Up” was this past Saturday.  It started out a little chilly, but warmed up nicely and we all had a good time.  Lainey stood by the sign like we told her to, but she decided she didn’t have to smile. 

Egg hunts were divided by age, and Lainey’s age (the one that Randy and I were in charge of) was planned for the b-ball court.  The eggs were already out there when we arrived.  Problem…it was windy on Saturday, and the eggs kept rolling out to the edges of the court.  Our kids and friends attempted to spread them back out, but one gust of wind and they were right back.  Oh well, they tried. 

Ready, set, go!  See Lainey in the middle?  We had to prod her to get her out there, and then she basically just walked around like she had no clue what to do.  ??  Thankfully, a little boy with a basket full of eggs shared with her. 

Call me cheap, but I didn’t buy her an Easter basket (gasp), so we used this pink bag.  We’re a non-Easter bunny/Santa/Toothfairy family so my kids are obviously deprived. 

Payton, Marley, and friends help her go through her loot.  They were looking for a special yellow paper that meant she’d won a prize.  She did.  Silly Putty!

After the egg hunts, it was time for a KidStuf show.  The teens dressed up for fun…the cute little ladybug on the right is Abbey. 

Next, was the Manhunt.  A special egg hunt for the big guys.  There were gift cards for a certain chicken restaurant (see the cow?) and a golden egg with a Lowe’s card.  Food and tools…motivation.  See the guy in the middle with the wide brim hat?  My guy. 

He zeroed in on the sandbox.  Afterwards, he told us he did find a silver egg, but left it there so a guest could find it.  Should I believe him?  :)

This face wouldn’t lie. 

Abbey snatches the camera, and helps prove that I was there. 

Lainey finds her smile surrounded by her brothers and their friends. 

I hope you celebrated Palm Sunday today.  This week we remember Jesus, his sacrifice, and then celebrate the truth of his resurection.  Happy Easter!

Click the link below to go to the Change This World website – if you read an earlier post of mine, you’ll remember that is the organization that arranged for the Jr. High at our church to package 15,000+ meals for Kids Against Hunger.  They did a write up on their trip to CFC.  You can see the back of Abbey packaging meals (black and white striped jacket) and a pretty interesting picture of Randy having a hair net malfunction.  Only MY husband. 

http://www.changethisworld.com/2010/03/15120-meals-by-middle-schoolers/ 

Reading this makes me even more proud of my kids taking action in this world for Christ, and it makes me want to find even more opportunities to make even a small difference.

Our kids had an amazing experience today at church. It’s been Missions Weekend at our church, and the Jr. High decided that their project would be raising money to feed the people of Haiti. 

The kids spent the night at church last night, and packaged 1,000 meals with the help of Change This World (www.changethisworld.com) and Kids Against Hunger (www.kidsagainsthunger.org).  The meals consist of rice, dried vegetables, soy/protein powder, and vitamin powder.  Each individual meal costs approximately 25 cents to make.  The goal for the Jr. High kids was to raise enough money to feed 15,000 Haitians. 

All the kids were super motivated.  They were giving their allowances, birthday money, babysitting money, etc.  Our kids went door to door and raised money, too.  The fact that there was a boys vs. girls competition MIGHT have encouraged them a little.  Not sure who won, yet! 

They awoke this morning at 7am, and by 8am were back at their packaging stations.  Randy and I saw them at work, as we walked into church.  A whole group of teens standing around tables, wearing hair nets.  I hope to get a few of those pictures.  After about 3 hours, they were done.  15,080 meals packaged and ready to go to Haiti.  The organizations rep told them they would be on their way in a couple of weeks, but when they actually make it to Haiti depends on Customs. 

Today, they’re all pretty worn out.  But, with the satisfaction of knowing that each one of them was part of something really big.  What a blessing and honor to be the hands and feet of God.

It is a rare Sunday when we come home from church with only the children we took TO church.  Sometimes one of ours goes to a friend’s house, but more often we’re piling extra kids into our truck.  This past Sunday, the boys hit the motherload.  THREE friends!  I just had to get Lainey to pose with them.  All the guys seem to love Lainey, especially the guy in the middle with her….he has her picture in his wallet.  Too cute.  Their favorite thing to do is “high five” or “fist bump” with her – she loves it.  Looks like Lainey has a bunch of big brothers!