Why we love jr high kids

I feel like we could write an endless list of the reasons why we love jr highers. Don't get me wrong, I never want to go back to those awkward years, but the kids that we hang out with in the jr high ministry at church are pure gems.... there's really no other way to describe them.

Take for instance the other day when during Ed's talk we look over and there is a kid eating the edges of his paper. Not only that, he is licking the part where the jr high logo is - smearing the ink over the rest of the paper. Really?! The worst part is, Grant, his leader, said he is not the only one in his group that does this. That is seriously not ok.

Next, I was reminded in church on Sat night of how much I love this kid named Daniel. First, let me describe his wardrobe. Green turtle neck, with a blue jersey over top. Not too bad for a kid in 6th grade. Then, he is wearing mesh sport pants that are close to 5 inches above his ankle (definitely not a question if it is supposed to at capri length- either way it would not be ok), with tall black socks covering up what would be skin showing from the end of his pants to his shoes. Then, he had black shorts over top of his mesh pants. (is that really necessary?) Then, there is worship. When he sings, he raises his arms straight above his head (not out in front of him- straight up), and lets his hands droop down. If Dan and I can get a picture of him at some point we will post it.

Another kid- Brandon. There is this one song (Oh Happy Day) where we do this hand movement. Almost everyone does it, but Dan one day was standing next to Brandon and noticed he wasn't doing the hand motion, so Dan leaned over and asked him why he wasn't participating. Brandon responded "Are you kidding me? I have a reputation to uphold!" Seriously- in 6th grade?

Another great story of Brandon. Dan was giving this devo at our Superbowl party and started asking people to raise their hands if they play soccer, the piano, guitar, etc. for an illustration. Well, one of our 6th grade girls brought their younger brother who is about 5 years old and he was raising his hand for everything. Everyone knew he was probably exaggerating, but he's 5, so we cut him some slack. Brandon though, would have none of this. As soon as the 5 year old raised his hand saying he played the piano and that he was pretty good at it, Brandon starts yelling "He's lying, he's lying!!" Let's just say it was really hard to bring everyone back after an outburst like that in front of 30 kids. We'll keep you updated with other entertaining jr high stories.

Recent Updates!

Gosh, I feel like so much has been going on recently! During Easter weekend my best friend, Jamie, from college came up from Indianapolis!! It was SO great to see her and reminisce about college and all of our friends. Such good times.. what we both would give to have everyone back for just one night to hang out at Koffenya in Oxford, Ohio :) We also went to the Good Friday service at Harvest, and I have come to appreciate SO much having the day off from work to really reflect on what this day means for my faith.

Every year at this time I spend time in Isaiah 53 ... "He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief... yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace." Jesus was so misunderstood- we thought that he was being punished by God because of what He was going through, but He was paying the price for our sins, and no one understood Him. The gospel is such a radical concept that I think it's hard for a lot of us to understand.. to accept that someone could love us that much. Definitely something I am trying to meditate on.

To abruptly change the subject, Jamie and I also tried to make guacamole from non ripe avocados... its never a good thing when you have to use a blender to make guacamole lol And, I am so thankful for friends like Jamie who encourage us to go into Chicago, because there are so many great things in the city, and Dan and I just don't take advantage of it! We went to the Shed Aquarium.. and although we had to wait outside in the cold right by the lake for about an hour and a half to get in, we made it! It was really fun and cool to see all of the animals!

Here's some pictures from our trip:

Waiting out side in the freezing cold.... Below is us at Fuego- an awesome Mexican restaurant in downtown Arlington Heights!

This is Dan leaving the Shed haha

I hate jelly fish with a passion- I had a terrible experience as a child in the ocean..

Our latest update is that we're trying to decide if we should move or not... as we look at our debt situation and how much longer we will be in the Chicago area, it's been a tough decision. While I hate the commute to work, I have become somewhat attached to downtown Arlington Heights and our small, 70's ish apartment. So, we'll keep you updated with where we end up going with that! Also, still no updates on which marathon we want to do.. but now that I'm writing that.. I feel like we really need to start making some decisions asap!

Our bonding time

Since elementary school I have hated running. I remember weeks before having to run the mile in gym class getting that sick feeling in my stomach even at the thought of heading over to our track. Every bit of me dreaded it. So, how ironic is it that when I didn't make the basketball or field hockey team, I decided to run track and cross country? My dad really encouraged me to do sports... maybe it was because my brothers called me Moby Dick? Who knows. Either way, they figured I needed to stop eating Little Debbie cakes after school and start doing something. Unfortunately for the track and cross country coach, they don't cut anyone, so they got stuck with me.

Ever since then, I have this love-hate relationship with running. I swear its addicting. There are days that I dread doing it, but then after I'm done I'm so happy I went. Dan never understood why I ran- unless he was chasing after a ball or running toward a base, he didn't see the point. So, I was shocked when we moved to Arlington Heights and after seeing an ad for the Walter Payton Race (about 9 miles- how many yards he rushed during his football career) he asked me if I wanted to do it. I had never run that far, and never really wanted to. But, if Dan wanted to do this with me- I totally couldn't pass up that opportunity! Well, after that race in the fall of 08, we decided to train for the Chicago half marathon in September of 09, and now we're running another one in Indianapolis in a month! And what's even crazy is how good Dan is at running- don't you hate those people who are naturally good at things? Yep that's Dan. Take for instance this past weekend after no training he ran 9 miles with me. Really? It's just not fair.

But, it has provided a LOT of bonding for us. Dan can talk more than I can when we run.. so I just let him talk and it distracts me from the pain! Last year on one of our long runs he gave me a run down of every presidential candidate and all the issues involved in the election. It was very enlightening. So, our big news is that we're going to run a Marathon in the fall. Lord willing I will finish. Then, Dan will finally get his 26.2 sticker on his Jeep. Then he will probably never run another race again lol. We missed the entry for the Chicago marathon because it filled up in record time this year, so we're looking at other possibilities. Stay tuned to figure out where we go! (Dan's number one choice is Alaska...)