Spreading the Love

This past week a group of fantastic teens and adults came to Philly all the way from Faith Fellowship Alliance Church in Butler, PA to serve God and love on people.  They partnered with some friends of ours, the Varaso family to work on an abandoned lot that they are transforming into a place to host, serve, and play.  They also interacted with people in our neighborhood - praying over them, giving out food and socks, and playing games with kids.

Here are some pictures that they captured of our neighborhood:

We had a great time partnering with them to spread the love of Jesus to our neighborhood and to the streets of Kensington.  We were blessed by their encouraging attitudes and their boldness to share Christ.  We were led to remember the goodness of God and to see Him working in the midst of so much struggle around us.

They did activities with kids like tye-dyed t-shirts, football, cupcake decorating, and games!  They talked and listened to the people around them - offering to pray with them and they were able to meet some practical needs like food and other items they were able to give out.

Jonerik was refreshed through leading them in some worship and prayer this week.  They took time each day to seek the Lord's leading and to praise Him for all He did.  Music is always a great way for us to connect and this was no exception.  We enjoyed spending time with the group and hearing more of their stories.

This was not a ministry opportunity through Cornerstone Community, but it came at a great time during the summer when we had fewer responsibilities.  Thanks to all of the team members that came to Philly and to the Varaso's for a great week! 

Beautiful Chaos

As I sat down to update our blog this morning I was interrupted with two requests to come join the fun in the back bedroom.  As much as I was wanted to stay on task I couldn't resist the laughing and giggling that was being heard in the distance.  I stuck my head in the door and found 5 little ones and my sweet husband in an all out pillow/stuffed animal fight!!

This is one example of how our lives have changed dramatically in the past few months.  Changes like finding baby shampoo in the shower, a booster seat at our table, mini clothes in the laundry basket, and the timer on our microwave is getting more of a workout now that the kids take turns on the computer.

Jonerik's sister is scheduled to come home today from a week's stay at the hospital.  We have had all five kids most of the week (we were down to 2 for one night) and we are not sure how long or how many we will have over the weekend and next week as she comes home and works to bounce back from her treatment.  A brief update, she still has a mass on her heart and that has now spread to the wall of her lung. Her lung is still filling with fluid regularly and she has a nurse help drain that every few days.

This summer we have watched the kids a lot and while we are honestly LOVING it, it has stretched us in new ways.  I have never been in a parenting role before and while I have worked with kids a good deal and led lots of activities - I haven't had this role of constant modeling, teaching, correcting, feeding, and cleaning.

God has been gracious to us and has provided for us in so many ways.  One way He provided for us was by gifting us (through others) with beds for all of the kids in our second bedroom.  No, it's not an ideal long-term solution, but it is SO great to be able to tell some of the kids to go play in the back room and not have to worry about breakable things I used to store back there.  Our storage is mostly on some new shelves by our front door which works great!

So it's ok for the kids to have a pillow fight with Jonerik back there and I can rest easy that it is their space for play and sleep and reading.

Another fantastic new addition to our apartment is a paved backyard!!!  Our housing situation is a little hard to explain to people who haven't been here or don't know our living situation, but we rent our apt. from our neighbor's (and fellow staff members) parents.  We share their backyard and this past week they had a team help them pave it!  This week it has become our own little water park/skate area/sidewalk chalk canvas.  It is so great to be able to take the kids outside to play while something is cooking or we just need some fresh air.

Some friends from the church were I grew up generously sent some clothing for the kids.  This was one of Gigi's favorites (all of the dresses fit into that category!) which she loves and asked if me if she could wear it to VBS this week!  Thank goodness for the "out of sight, out of mind" concept!!

We are so grateful for these ways that God is walking through this journey with us.  It is still so hard to be strong.  To hear a little 4 year voice ask God to heal her mom and ask that she will be done with cancer.  But through it all it's like He is holding my hand and whispering, "I've got this.  Trust me."


Thank you for your prayers and for your love as we follow one day at a time.