grandpa

Last night as I was tucking the girl's in for bed, Alli asked if she could talk to me alone for a minute. So, we went in the other room. She snuggled up really close to me and, through a choked up voice, she told me that she is worried about her Grandpa Kelly. She said that she has been thinking about him dying and she is scared and doesn't know what to do about it. She started crying pretty hard once she got it off her chest, and she just clung to me. I comforted her and held her. I wanted to tell her not to worry because that is never going to happen. . . but obviously I could not. So, I told her that some things in life will be hard and sad and maybe even unbearable. I told her that our earthly bodies will die. All of us. And I expained how she can find hope in the fact that we know we will spend eternity together in heaven. If we didn't have that hope, it truly would be unbearable to lose someone we love. SO, I asked her if she wanted to call her Grandpa to say "I love you." I hated to do it, but I pointed out that we really do not know when someone is going to die, and we really should take every opportunity to tell them how much they mean to us. She looked at me kinda funny. I think she was surprised that I was basically telling her it was normal to be scared, instead of telling her NOT to be scared.
So, she called Grandpa. She told him she loved him. And through her tears, she told him she has been thinking about him passing away and she doesn't know if she is strong enough to have to deal with that. Okay, so the tears started just pouring out of my eyes. Grandpa reassured her that he is feeling great and healthy and that he hopes she won't have to deal with that for a long time. He told her he loved her too.
After the phone call, she was ready to go to bed. I gave her a hug and told her that I think she is an amazing, brave, courageous kid. Most people would stuff that fear away and try to ignore it. They wouldn't tell anyone because then they would have to deal with it. And most certainly, many people would avoid that phone call. Becuase she had to allow her self to feel that pain and fear, instead of ignoring it and pretending it's not there. And many people just want to put on a happy face and act as if nothing in this world brings them pain or fear. Alli is learning at an early age that pain and fear are normal parts of being human, and rather than masking those feelings, we need to share them and deal with them. And if she had stuffed those feelings, she would have missed an opportunity to share her deep love with someone she cares about. Her Grandpa. If she continues to live with that kind of integrity, she will not have a lot of regrets about what she didn't do.
My kids teach me so much. It is an honor to raise them!
(and after I tucked her in bed. . . . I called my Dad)

my burden

Wow. Has anyone ever been to Willow Creek Community Church? I returned home last night from the 3 day children's ministry conference. I knew Willow was a large facility. But, I am speechless in trying to describe the enormity of it. I will just say. . . . WOW. Can I tell you how enocuraging it was to be in the presence of over 4,000 people who are totally commited to children's ministry? Not only that, but they are gathered together in an effort to equip themselves with as many tools as possible to do their ministry to the BEST of their ability! Four thousand adults who are affecting the lives of hundreds of thousands of children for the kingdom. It was awesome to be a part of that.
Well, among many other countless things I was able to take away from the conference, I feel like I was clearly able to identify my "burden". You see, not all burdens are a bad thing. God doesn't want us to carry burdens on our own, because He is right there to help us lift them. But, I learned that he does allow us to feel burdened and weighed down by things in our world, and He is glorified when we turn to him and proclaim "Lord, you can count on ME to do something about this!" I learned that 50% of children raised in evangelical christian homes will walk away from their faith. I learned that less than 10% of kids who attend church have spiritual conversations with their parents. I learned that our church programs for kids have never been better, but that faith transference to our children has never been worse, and that family challenges have never been greater. I learned that as a culture, we have learned to outsource for everything. And, we are outsourcing our children's spiritual training to the church, where the child spends about one hour each week. These things burden me. Children's ministry needs to be more than just teaching kids about the bible and God. That job is awesome and the church needs to do it. But, we need to train FAMILIES on how to have spiritual conversations. We need to address these issues in the FAMILY. We need to teach parents how they can have a powerful role in the spiritual development of their kids. And another burden that I feel is that we need to equip families with a biblical world view. And we need to encourage them to KNOW that their children CAN and WILL change the world. And they are worth SO MUCH MORE than just pursuing pleasure or fun or some form of success. If a child knows that he/she is made in the image of God and are designed for a purpose and will change the world. . . . if the child truly KNOWS this because they were raised in a home where parents believe this. . . I believe they will use this knowledge when they are making decisions. When they are faced with tough choices, they will know how much God values them and that they are worth SO MUCH to him, that their deicsions really are important and their behavior really does matter and they have so much to offer! Anyways, I'm rambling. But, I am so pumped. I know God wants me to use this burden I feel for families. He wants me to do something about it! I'm not sure what. . . . but I trust that will be revealed in time. And there are so many things that I get excited about, I need God to reveal clearly what I can do. So, it was a great conference and there were many other things I was able to take away as well.
I came home last night at 9:30pm to a houseful of my Communitas team. Ahh, it was great to see them all. And it was a gorgeous night. We were even able to sit outside and build a little fire. It felt like July weather! And one of our team members, Kate, just happens to be a "home stager". Gee, how convenient. So, she gave us a free consultation on a variety of things in the house. She helped us rearrange some furniture and gave some helpful hints about what home buyers look for. Very cool. And while she was doing that, Sonyia served me by cleaning my entire kitchen. Wow, that was such a gift. Showing love is such a cool thing. I think Jesus knew what he was talking about when he repeated over and over and over "love one another".
OK, now it's back to life. We get to go to Collin's baptism today. Matt (timm's cousin) and his wife Tracy chose Timm to be Godfather. How cool. He is honored. And I am excited to share my "burden" with them as a family who is committing to raise their beautiful little boy in the ways of the Lord.
And now I am going to visit with my husband, who had to go the extra mile this week while I was gone, and did not feel the energy to do it. Thanks to all who gave him a hand.

windy city

I'm heading out to Chicago today. YAY! I'm finally going to visit Willow Creek. And I'm excited to go to the children's ministry conference! Several people have noted that I haven't blogged in a while. COME ON! Like I don't have anything else going on. Well, we have a showing on the house today. So, I have been cleaning the house for over and hour and a half. How sad. I haven't even gotten to the disgusting dirty tile floors. Oh boy. It might be tight when we get into a little apartment. And I anticipate a little crabbiness on this mama's part about the clutter and mess in such a small area. HOWEVER, how hard will it be to clean 600 sq ft???? That I look forward to. Well, Timm's interview went very well last week. He will hear within 2 weeks whether he is selected. In the meantime, he had another phone interview yesterday. . . and another today. So, that's encouraging. Another family from our launch team just acquired a renter for their home! It is an amazing story, that maybe I will share if I have time. Let's just say they didn't even have it ready or listed yet. It just literally fell into their laps. TOO COOL! Well, I am really crunched for time. I am so THANKFUL to my awesome sister for stepping in big time this week so that I can go to Chicago guilt free, knowing my kids are taken care of. Between her family, my awesome hubby, and his awesome sister, the kids are all set! Hey, I'm only gone for 3 days. I just realized that it takes 3 people to take over my job! He-he. Just kidding. I LOVE my mama job. Well, maybe some day I will get deeper in my blog like Timm does. But, I tend to do that more privately in my daily journal. So, for now, this is all I have. I'm sure I'm forgetting about 7 things, but that's ok. The sun is shining, the fresh spring air is blowing in the windows, and my house is (almost) clean. Life is good. Now, I have to finish cleaning and packing, get Liv, give her lunch, go to teach my classes at excel, then boogie on out of town! Oh, I better squeeze in a shower too. I look hilarious. And it doesn't look like I'm gonna squeeze in a work out. Oh well.

Big Day

Well, it's a big day for us. Timm is in NYC and today is his interview. It is from 8am - 6pm. So, if you could pray for him, that would be great. We know God is in the lead here. We know he has a plan, and we are just trying to be faithful in following. But we also believe in the awesome power of prayer. So, I am praying that if this is where God would like to place Timm, that he would give Timm the confidence and the right words, and just orchestrate the whole day in a way that will allow Timm to shine as a candidate that they are excited to choose! We are so pumped up about being a part of the Communitas team. But, we know that God is preparing our hearts and teaching us some valuable lessons as we go through this process. We are humbled and relying on him for EVERYTHING. Everything in our human nature wants to run forward and get on with the "plan" to move. But, it is out of our power, and we have placed it in his power. So, we wait. And we pray. And we smile. And we serve him with glad hearts. If you haven't seen the website for Communitas, click here.

Blockbuster, WOW! Que Differencia!

I don't even know if I spelled that correctly. After Timm spent some time in Ecuador, he had a Blockbuster t-shirt with the slogan "Wow! What a difference!" in Spanish. I'll never get that out of my head. Anyways, tonight I offered to go to Blockbuster with the girls to rent a movie so we could have a girl's movie night while Timm is out of town. Cool! However, as we were settling into a parking space and about to exit the van to run through the rain to the building, it occurred to me. Uh oh. I think we might owe some money to Blockbuster. You see, we had fun during Spring Break playing Tiger Woods PGA tour on the Wii. We rented it for the week. On Sunday of that week, we recieved a pleasant call from an employee at Blockbuster "Yes, Mr. Kelly. Someone just dropped off the game rental, Tiger Woods (blah blah blah) and they informed us that they had found it on Woodisde Dr." Oops. Appartantly Timm had set the game on the vehicle while getting ready to leave the house, but in the chaos that ensued, he neglected to grab it. So, it ended up on the road. (Now, let me just stop right here to be very clear about the fact that I am NOT ripping on him for this oversight. First of all, it was a very legit oversight. Secondly, let's just say I have done MUCH worse and have NO place to talk!). So anyways, we were just thrilled that it was turned in and our hope in mankind was restored. How cool that someone didn't just steal it! So, the next day we get another call, from a different employee of Blockbuster "Yes, Mr. Kelly. The game you returned. . . Tiger Woods (blah blah blah) is empty. The disc is not in the case. Please give us a call." DANG IT! So much for our hope in mankind being restored. What the crap? So, of course, being the responsible citizens that we are, we ignored the call and figured we would deal with it when we had to. So. . . . that brings me to tonight. I was only planning on spending $5 on a movie rental. I was NOT looking forward to forking out $50 for a game we don't even have! So, when I make my selection and move forward in line, I start to sweat. You see, I don't like parting with my money. It makes me sweat. Plus it's sort of a weird story, and I'm a little embarrassed to have to go into it. But ANYWAYS, I get to the counter and start rambling my story. And, as you can clearly see, I have a tendency to ramble. So, I finish telling it three different ways because she is just sorta looking at me without much feedback. When I finally stop, she looks over her shoulder at a fellow employee and they shrug. And she says, OK, let's take the hold off that one. And I'm waiting for her to give me the damage amount. She doesn't. She just rings me up and tells me the movie is due back one week from today, and have a nice night. I'm sorta shocked, standing there praying that it isn't over $50. Because I was so shocked, I didn't even give them an adequate thank you. I just sorta walked away wondering what happened. YAY! I love mercy being bestowed on me! And I don't deserve it personally, because I have done stupid things like that countless times. But, in fairness, Timm still deserves a little mercy. He rarely does those things. So, YAY. Just felt like blabbing, and no one is home to talk to. So, that's my story. If you just read it all the way through, you might just have a time management issue on your hands. HA! Sorry.

He takes good care of us

My husband takes good care of his family. It's those little things, ya know? For those of you who know me well, you should be surprised that my entire computer monitor and all accessories within my reach have not been thrown through the office window, sending glass shattering everywhere and leaving a pile of rubble in my beautiful flower bed. Why would a person be driven to do such an insane thing, you might ask? Well, I have one word for you "mouse". No, I didn't see a mouse in the office and freak out. It has been the slow decline in function of my computer mouse that has driven me to the brink of insanity. However, do you think it ever occured to me to simply go to a store and purchase a new one? Of course not. This one isn't very old, so it SHOULD be just fine. The thought literally never occurred to me. But, Timm called yesterday and announced that he was going to the nearest computer supply store to purchase a new mouse on his way home from work. Again, for those of you who know me well, you know that there is no "on my way home" for Timm. He works 4 blocks away. So, he had to make a bit of a trek to make the purchase. You see, our mouse was apparantly losing it's ability to travel smoothly. It travelled. But, you had to carefully sliiiiiiiiide it until it caught and then suddenly, BAM, the cursor would move 5 inches accross the computer screen. DANG IT! I only wanted it to move 1 cm. So, I'd try again. Carefully sliiiiiiiide it. . . OK. . . . .sliiiiide. . . . OK. . . . sliiiide. Dang it! It did it again. So, if I wanted to simply "click" on something, I could possibly be coaxing this ridiculous little piece of technology for a full minute. UGH! Who has the patience? NOT ME! So, Timm came home with a wireless little bugger. It's so cute. I love it. And it glides so smoothly. It's the little things.

The biggest church in the world

I already sent an email to most of my friends with this link. It is a you tube thing that nugget sent me about the "Church of Oprah". It's a bummer that she is using her platform to preach this. Obviously, she is entitled to her beliefs. I just wish she wouldn't mix them up with Christianity and claim that they are all the same. After chatting with my sista/girlfriend, I agree that it would be wise to keep Oprah in our prayers. Because she is decieved and is influencing the multitudes. Thanks, and Oprah bless, I mean God bless.
click here to see the video

It's all good

Sun is shining. Spring weather is inching it's way into Michigan. Timm has his interview scheduled for April 16 in NYC. They are paying for his flight and one night lodging. We had a showing on the house last night, and another scheduled for today. Last week, the first member of our Communitas team moved into an apartment in Manhattan. This week, the first members of our team to rent out their home have renters moving in. Our leaders have had several extremely promising meetings recently that involve the prospect of finanicial support. Our formal prospectus was well recieved at Kensington. We have office space in Manhattan. We have a PO box. We have space for our services. And, man, do we have a lot of fun when we get together. Grass skirts, telling lies, and chicken stories? What a beautifully strange group of people God has woven together for this adventure.

This could be it

Timm got an email from New leader's for New Schools. He is invited back for "finalist selction day" in NYC. It is an all day deal (8am - 6pm). He doesn't know the date yet. He also does not know how many are invited to this or how many get selected to be in the program. But, this could be it! Most of you have heard me explain this, but just in case you haven't. . . if he is selected for this program, he is enrolled in a cohort in which he is engaged in serious learning with others who were selected nationwide. He would go to Boston for 5 weeks of intense training this summer. Then, he is placed in a school in NYC this fall where he functions in a similar capacity as an assistant principal. The school year also includes several weekends of training opportunities. This is a one year placement and the intent is to equip him with leadership training in an urban environment. After the year is complete, the organization assists in placing him in a principal position. That's the latest.