Impact 2015

For Spring Break this year, we went on our first family mission trip!  Our youth ministers asked us to go on the youth trip to Houston, and it was honestly a hard decision.  "Do we go?  Do we take the kids? How are the logistics going to work with the kids?  Will Luke drive us crazy?"  All were questions that ran through our minds, but after lots of conversation, thought, and prayer, we decided, "Yes!  We're doing it with the kids!"  It was definitely the right decision.  Yes, there were times when Luke drove me crazy, and times when there were extra logistics, but I would do it all over again in a heartbeat just to see this sweet boy share a great experience sharing Jesus and serving others with us and with our youth...

Jake did awesome and all 4 of us had a great time!  Our youth ministers, Christian and Kathrine, were so awesome and accommodating to our family and paid for a hotel room for me and the boys to stay in to ensure we could get the proper rest a 2 and 6 year-old need. Kevin and I took turns having "Luke duty" so we could also participate and serve too. This trip was a great mix of service and fun that made it easy to engage our kids in their first mission trip experience.  We did lots of cool, fun things, also mixed with "work," but at a level appropriate for a 6-year-old.  Our youth along with 2 college groups helped run a VBS for a church called Impact that serves inner city Houston.  We had VBS 4 mornings and different activities in the afternoon.  Three mornings it was our job to make 250 lunches before the kids arrived.  Jake was a super helper with the sandwiches.  The picture above shows him as the "bread man."  The kids would all arrive, and we started with fun songs all together....

The VBS was for elementary age kids, so during the VBS, Jake joined in with the kindergarten group and got to participate in all the fun crafts and Bible lessons right alongside the rest of the kids.  We also took a couple field trips with the VBS.  The first was to a petting zoo.  Of course, this was a hit with all the kids, including this guy...

One afternoon, we took the VBS kids to the park to play.  Jake had a blast playing basketball with some of our high school youth and VBS boys.  Kevin and I hung around the playground with Luke and had fun spending time with kids...

One afternoon, we got to do something extra special and fun, and drive to Kemah with just our youth group.  We got to ride some rides, enjoy the ocean, and eat at Bubba Gumps!

Enjoying the cool breeze off the water...

Silly boy...

VBS had another field trip to the Houston Museum of Natural Science.  Here's Sabrina from our huddle, with Luke.  My kids had so much fun bonding with our youth group, but Sabrina gets the prize for being extra special and sweet with them...

Kevin was on Luke duty at the museum, and Jake wanted to be with his high school "buddy", so I had the privilege of being "buddy" to these two sweet girls at the museum...

After fun-filled mornings, everyone was definitely ready for those yummy packed lunches that we helped make each morning.  Here's Jake hanging out with another teen from our huddle, Alexandra...

A shot of the room eating lunch with their age groups...

Luke was a champ and was usually pretty good about jumping in and following along with the big kids.  On this particular day, we had hot dogs instead of sandwiches, so Luke was definitely a happy camper...

One afternoon after VBS ended, the church requested our help working to organize a HUGE garage sale they were setting up.  The garage sale was going to take place the following weekend as a fundraiser for the church.  Kevin had Luke back at the hotel for naptime, so Jake and I got to serve alongside each other.  I couldn't have been more proud of Jake's work ethic.  He jumped in and worked with me to help sort through all the donations.  Here he is, hard at work...

One of the freshman boys in our youth group, Nathaniel, made fast friends with Jake.  He often let Jake ride on his shoulders which Jake loved.  I had to get a picture of the two of them...

Here's the whole group after a lot of hard work at the garage sale...

Another shot of sandwich making...

The final afternoon of VBS was a PARTY!  The kids got to enjoy several fun stations.  Here's some of the guys after setting up the bouncy slide...

Rebecca, from our huddle, with Jake, and another little boy from the kinder group...

Our group was in charge of the face painting station at the party.  Here's Alexandra and Sabrina focusing on some painting...

I couldn't resist taking a picture of these two cuties: one cat and one butterfly...

It's hard to tell in the pic, but Luke was proud of getting his hand painted...

Having an almost 2-year-old on a trip like this was no easy task, but I know he had fun, and it was meaningful for all 4 of us to be there together.  And sometimes, he even pitched in to help too...

Final group picture before headed back to Austin...