Christmas This Year

Our Bible study group is studying counter cultural Christmas, in other words, the true meaning of Christmas.   Then we've had sermons about it. And I even got an email with this picture which I posted on Facebook.

 Our culture has made Christmas about hurrying to buy a bunch of presents and decorate and wrap gifts and bake and eat and stress out.  I used to do it all.  I've always felt something was missing.  

When you look back over the special Christmasses you've had, it really isn't about any of those things.  For me, it's been about worship.  And fun, relaxing times with the family.  

So this year, I'm trying to do only those things I feel led to do.  I want to let people know how special they are to me.  I want to slow down and see what God wants me to see.  I want to spend time with people.  I want to spend time thinking about Christmas, the birth of our savior.  God came here to be with us, to let us know we are special and that He loves us so much.  He came to make a way for us to be with Him forever.  I want to rediscover the true meaning of Christmas.

I Love Saturdays

Saturdays are so great!  I get extra sleep, quality and quantity coffee time with God, then I make my to do list and grocery lists.   By Saturday night the fridge and cupboards are full, the house is clean, laundry is done, I've had a nap, time with Adelle, reading time, and then I get to crawl into clean sheets ready for church tomorrow!  

Sorry It's Been So Long!

Whew!  Been awhile since I wrote!  Catching you up:

Thanksgiving was at our house and it was a lovely and relaxing time.  I kept the dinner simple on purpose just to keep the stress low.  Mom and Dave came the night before as did Leah and David!  On Thanksgiving we were joined by Alexis, Jeff and Jake, and Jon and his friend.  We feasted and played games, of course.  

Joel has come home for awhile to recoup til he gets a job in his field or money starts coming in from games.  He drove straight through to get home and it was awesome to be awakened at 6am on a Sunday morning with a tap then a hug.  

Work is good. Crazy stuff happens on a regular basis.  I like having Scott there so we can support one another.  He doesn't love his job but knows he's doing good here and there where he can.  

TRU is going well.  New families and good attendance on a regular basis.  

Some good news and sad news with Homestead.  A few weeks ago, we received word that one of our previous gals died of a heroin overdose.  Her name was Shannon.  She loved Jesus but just couldn't break out of the prostitution and drug addiction.  I loved her.  I had kept up with her on Facebook.  She had recently been reaching out, wanting  to come back to Homestead.  There aren't a lot of options out there for these gals.  There needs to be more Christian drug treatment centers and rescue facilities.  Even then the statistics aren't good. Similar to domestic violence as best we can tell.  Ours is the next step, transition into society.  

But the good news for Homestead is that we have two more graduates!  One of the gals from Detroit who had been working the streets, addicted to drugs, was rescued by an FBI agent and sent to us.  She loves Jesus with all her heart and He has healed her.  She is moving back home and gets her precious children back.  The other gal is a young gal who was pretty much taken hostage by a much older man in Kansas City and was addicted to meth and being groomed for trafficking.  A friend recognized the danger and sent her to us.  She, too, has been healed by Christ.  Both these girls completed apprenticeships and are ready to be out on their own.  Both are such precious people and I feel honored to have gotten to know them and walk alongside them on their journeys.

Adelle turned 19 last weekend.  We had a little birthday lunch for her at Pizza Hut.  She now has a case manager at Big Lakes.  Not sure what that means exactly other than we now have additional help in getting Adelle ready to move out of her parents home and either pursue an education or work.  She is still at high school and through school, she sacks groceries in a grocery store in town.  It's been a big adjustment for her but she doing ok.  

Adelle also likes going with us to TRU.  Here she is getting her worship on:

Diego is holding at 35 pounds.  He is calming down and responding to training so the craziness has lessened.  I still have hope he can be a therapy dog at out school but he has some quirks that are going to have to go away.  He doesn't like detain sounds and when he encounters them, he goes berserk!  

I'm still working out at the gym about 4 nights per week.  I put on a couple pounds over Thanksgiving that I can knock off.  Oh well.

That's pretty much it!  

Out Of The Ordinary

What have I done lately that was out of the ordinary day to day things I do?

Couple of weeks ago, we had a ministry fair at church.  I'm on the Welcome Committee.  Well, as of last Sunday, I'm in charge of the welcome committee.

Scott and I went to a k-State football game.

We got Diego neutered.  It was supposed to calm him down.  Didn't.

This week we are having Angela Dicostanza and her friend Rhoda stay here.  I enjoyed the weekend with just the girls very much.  We've been to Chipoltle, a walk, the movie, and played dominoes.

We went to a family get together at Ronnie's last weekend and saw the fam.  Did t take pics, sorry.

A few weeks ago I took Diego over to Alexis' for a play date.

The weekend before that I went to the Wstmoreland jail to visit our friend, Bryce.  Didn't take pictures of that, either.  

Other than that, life at Eisenhower middle school and the Clark abode goes on as usual.  

What's new with you?

Hanging out with Adelle

As many of you know, I hang out with my friend, Adelle, every week.  Adelle is 18 years old and has autism.  Because of the autism, Adelle has difficulty sorting out and following social "norms". But the longer I hang out with Adelle, the more I wonder, what is normal social behavior?  When I'm with Adelle, we sing at the top of our lungs, clap our hands, throw our rock fists in the air and we don't really care who hears.  Adelle talks to herself in public and speaks in a friendly way to anyone nearby.   Adelle loves to eat sugar and carbs and other food that is bad for you.  She wants to be friends with everyone.  She's sent Facebook friend requests to everyone at Manhattan High.  I tell her she needs to only send those requests to close friends and she says, yeah, they are!  If she wants to bounce in a bouncy house or be sprayed down by the fireman's hose at the zoo, or play at the splash park squealing with delight when the buckets dump on her head, who is to say she's the one in the wrong because it isn't "normal"? Maybe we are the ones who have it wrong.  

By the way, I had Adelle read this and she smiled and gave me permission to post it.  

Joel and Mike

I am really enjoying having the boys here.  They appreciate the meals and the Mom and Dad time.  It's so nice not to have to worry about them!

Some highlights:

One of the first nights here, it thunder stormed.  Mike had never experienced one and Joel misses them.  When the storm was winding up, Mike and I sat out on the patio.  We moved inside for the biggest part then after the lights went out, we went back out and sat on the patio.  Several of Joel's other friends joined us and the guitar was brought out, also.

One night we played Settler's of Katan on the back deck.  

We drove through the scenic bypass listening to great music, Springsteen... On the way to the lake.  And Shari was there!

Yesterday Joel and Mike came to Eisenhower and had kids play test their game then talked to the computer classes.  It was so fun having them there!  Some of my favorite kids really got into it.

Last weekend Leah came home and we had fun.  Found Joel some shoes at R and R thrift store.  

Of course we went to Chipotle and nephew Jon joined us.

I enjoyed watching the boys work together on their game.  They collaborate well and the process is interesting.  

It's great that Diego hasn't had to be in his kennel much and the boys help in training him.  Mike encourages him to give kisses.  Oh well.  

Today I caught a cicada to show Mike.  He'd never seen one.  

We've been to orange leaf several times.  Love that stuff!  It's easy to please these guys.

Sorry I haven't taken more pictures.

Pringo Dingo at Home

Joel, who has been without a place to live in LA for over five weeks, ran out of money.  It's been so hard as a Mom to have him be homeless.  He is putting in tons of resumes and working with his buddy, Mike on finishing Paparrazzi, the video game that will be released on Playstation 4 when it is done.  There are several more exciting things happening right around the corner for Pringo Dingo games.  So after praying for him and asking others to do the same, it came to us to have both he and Mike come to Manhattan for awhile to work on the game.  

Last night, I went to Wichita to pick them up at the airport!  I stopped by and had dinner with Leah (German food at the Breadbasket) and did a little geocaching and went for a walk then picked them up at 9:20.  We went back by Newton so Joel and Leah could say hi.  Leah and David and his family have purchased a super cool store in downtown Newton, Prairie Harvest, and were doing inventory.  Prairie Harvest is a natural foods store and gift shop.  It sells local and homemade and health food items, novelties, and even has a small natural foods cafe.  It is so fun!  I want everything in there!  I really like their natural peanut butter.  They make the peppernuts that they had on the tables at the wedding.

We got back to town at midnight.  I like having Mike here, too, and it will be fun to share Kansas with him as he's never been here before.  We are looking forward to thunderstorms tonight and then Lake Wabaunsee tomorrow.

Right now, there is game designing going on in the room along with a fantasy football draft. I'm surrounded by males, Joel, Mike, Scott, Andy, and two male dogs.  Time to make everyone a snack I suppose.