A whirlwind week with the kids - being a missionary to my own family!

 I spent last week with Ellie, Zeke and Anna while Gwen, Tim and Lia were on their yearly mission trip.  It was a super fun, busy, and yet very relaxing week for me. While I am actually spending the week as a fill in for mom and dad, I always feel as if it is my own mission trip.  I have a daily reminder to pray for the students and adults who are with Gwen and Tim and I love knowing exactly what they are doing each day.  The kids take the prayer time we have each day very seriously and some very specific prayers were shared.  I especially know that these times with my grandchildren are precious.  So many memories are made.  The time actually flies by and I can't believe when we come to the end of the 8 days.  

Over the eight days we visited 4 playgrounds, 1 skatepark, 3 stores, 5 fast food restaurants, 1 breakfast restaurant, a nail salon, an outdoor dance program and art show,  and 1 bowling alley and the favorite ice cream place - the TeePee. We also played so many rounds of Hues and Clues and also Disney Trivia.  Ellie had three dance practices and we all swam every day but the last day (which was a very cool 72 degrees).  There were so many crafts, thanks to the daily gifts that Gwen prepared for the kids.  We did beading (which was much harder than you might think), decorated bird feeders, magic art (which was really magic), did some detective decoding, made some origami animals, did some fashion designing, and colored some sun catchers.   I tried to get these photo collages with pictures from each day and they are pretty close. Here is the fist Saturday.

And then Sunday.  After church we stopped at the store and picked up some treats for the week.  And we also played lots of games. On Monday we went out for ice cream and we also visited the Dollar Tree for some treats. Tuesday and Wednesday were HOT! I was so thankful for their pool and we spent lots of time in the water.  

 

On Thursday we all had a pedicure.  Gwen had tried to get me in for a pedicure before this week but they were booked!  So I decided to take all of the younger kids - including Zeke!  It was his first experience and he loved it.  He said his feet felt really good.  It was only Anna's second or third time for an actual pedicure experience so it was lots of fun. We visited the "Big park" (as the kids call it) and the Skate Park before having our pedicure and finished it off with Culvers for lunch.

On Friday we ate breakfast at a restaurant, visited another playground (my favorite). Eating breakfast out was Ken's favorite thing to do and we had started taking each of the kids out by themselves for a special treat. Sadly because of Covid and then Ken's sickness, Anna never got a turn.  But this reminds me of those special times. In the afternoon we went bowling.  I USED to be a really good bowler.  Sigh.  I never came close to 100.  Zeke was pleased to win both games and both Ellie and Anna did really well.  It reminded me how much I miss bowling!

Our last day together started off watching Ellie dance in an outdoor performance for the local Art Fair in Grayslake.  The Spotlight group shared some of the recital dances. It was a wonderfully cool 72 degrees and actually nice to sit in the sun and watch the show.  Ellie did such a wonderful job and I am always so impressed by the quality of these performances.  This studio is amazing.   After the show we stopped at Burger King for lunch and the kids got crowns!

One of the last things I did was help Anna hang her bird feeder on one of the many trees in their backyard.  She was delighted that a bird found the feeder and was eating some of the seed.  I was enjoying the cool breezes in their sunroom when Gwen, Tim and Lia got home.  I was sad to leave, but also glad to be home.  

The kids have all grown up so much.  I had as much fun as the kids at all of these activities.  It was so neat to hear the kids play "Concentration" in the back seat of the car.  And I learned about a new finger game called "Sticks".  (This game actually has a math component so the kids are adding and subtracting while they play! It is really cool).  We had many great conversations and I am amazed at the depth of their thinking, the creativity of their ideas and just how thoughtful and kind they are.  I am so proud of them.  

On Sunday morning I had the opportunity to teach in the Rock Kids program.  There were 10 younger kids (3yrs -Kindergarten) and we were teaching the story of Ruth.  Now this is usually a very hard story for kids to really understand.  But this curriculum is just fantastic.  The kids were "gleaning" yellow feathers from the ground after the "harvesters" had left some of the feathers for the "Ruths" to pick up.  From this story the kids learned that God gives us hope even in bad situations.  We talked about kindness and caring.  And the kids made a basket to put some "wheat" in.  So much fun.  

It is a wonderful thing to feel like a missionary.  Being able to bring the message of the Gospel to those around you.  When I was adding the bird seed to Anna's birdfeeder, I was thinking about all of the seeds that I had been able to sow into Ellie, Zeke and Anna during this week.  What a blessing to be also have sown some seeds to those kids in Rock.  More importantly, I heard the message loud and clear.  There is hope in Jesus. In every circumstance. We all need this message today.   So much more happens during a mission trip than just whatever activities are planned.  Relationships are built.  Stories are shared.  And then people learn about Jesus.  It really is a time of being the hands and feet and the "skin" of the Gospel.  I was so blessed to be a small part in this mission time in my family.  So, so blessed.  

I ended the week filled with hope for the future.  When you see children and youth so on fire to serve Jesus and to share and care for others, your hope for future of our country soars.  I encourage you to look around and find the ones that are marching out into the darkness around us with the light of Jesus.  The world doesn't look as bad or as hopeless then.  I don't think there is anything that shines brighter than a faith-filled child.  Be like them!  Let your light shine!

Jesus, thank you for filling me with hope and joy and peace.  Holy Spirit, remind all of the children and youth and adults touched by this past weeks mission experience that Jesus loves them.  Keep them close during these next weeks as they go back to their normal life.  Jesus give us courage and boldness to shine our light into the darkness around us.  Thank you Jesus for your love.  Amen