Hope Sightings

Since HOPE is my word for the year, I'm on the lookout for HOPE embodied.

Sights that show HOPE.

Sounds that shout HOPE.

Experiences that depict HOPE.

If God cared enough to make leaves and flowers so intricate and beautiful and breathtaking ... then I'm pretty sure He was that much more interested in creating us to be intricate, beautiful and breathtaking.

I mean, really. He did this for us. Crazy love.

He could have done bland. Boring. Dull.

But not my God.

Genesis 1:11-12 says this ...

"And God said let the land produce vegetation.

AND IT WAS SO .... AND IT WAS GOOD."

And I say ... it IS good. And He didn't have to do that for us. But He did. He spoke the words. Breathing HOPE right smack dab in the middle of winter in the middle of Chicago for little old me.

Thanks, Lord. I will choose to place my HOPE in You!

Jackson's Buddy Olivia

Recently, Jackson and I have been having conversations where he asks when he will be able to be a mommy. I proceed to explain that he'll never be a mommy but that some day, AFTER he's married, he can be a daddy. He seems fine with that but then proceeds to ask who he'll marry. We talk about the fact that he'll get to choose the girl once he gets older and if she meets his standards for someone he would want to marry {this was a great tip we learned from some friends of ours}, then he can marry her.

Out of curiosity I just asked him who he thought he might marry. And without missing a beat he pipes up, "OLIVIA!" Every.single.time.

He and Olivia are little buds. Have been for years. She calls him "Jack-shin" and he calls her "Wiv-ia". Too precious.

So Olivia turned 3 last Sunday so we got to be a part of the birthday celebration. Cupcakes, ice cream and dancing.



Love when I asked her how old she was. This is what she came up with ...

Sometime after the cupcakes came "Dancing Queen" by ABBA {personal FAVE} and since you can't not dance when that song pipes over the loudspeakers, it was time to boogy.

All of a sudden a train was in motion!

Loved the hands on the hips. She might be the youngest but she's got spunk.
Catherine is a cut-up. Love her.

Her Irish roots are coming out ... I think I saw some River Dance moves.



Go chase your dreams, "Wiv-ia."

And if some day, {way} down the road, you and Jackson decide you might wanna get married, I'm pretty sure we'll be okay with that. Sweet girl.

Sunshine Friday

A week ago today ...

Mr. Sun came out, and even though we were brrrrr-ing, we closed our eyes and just took in the feel of the sun on our faces.

Did we ever need it.

All three of us.

Maddie ran in first and I heard her saying, "Oh this is the BEST. It's so warm in here! Mommy this is GREAT. THANK YOU!!!!"

And Jackson ran in behind her and yelled, "THIS FEELS SO GOOD, MOMMY."

I agree kids. It DOES feel so good. It was the best.

Beautiful flowers made us smile. And stop and smell. And WISH for spring.

Mrs. Spring, come SOON. But until you do, we'll still find a way to have a picnic. Even if it has to be indoors.

{Maddie found a few fallen flowers along the way so she instantly graced the picnic with the floral touch. Love that girl!}

And this one next flower shouted spring. Butterfly flower. You know what word immediately popped into my head when I saw this flower?

HOPE.

Something about the colours and shape.

Jackson was running from flower to flower, sticking his nose way down deep. He'd look up, turn, and say, "It smells de-wish-ish, Mommy." You, Mr. Man, are De-WISH-ISH!

So I'm only going to say it once. If you live anywhere near Chicago, you need to get here quick. It'll sweep away the winter-time-blues, if only for a few hours.

It's a magical place.

{And did I mention FREE. And, FREE PARKING. Where else can you find THAT in Chicago?}

More Than Food and Water

Teresa.

Beautiful.

Full of life.

People person extraordinaire.

Sales(wo)man.

Great with kids.

Entrepreneur.

Go-getter.

Talented.

And she just so happened to be homeless. That is, until last week.

With her permission, I thought I'd share her story.

With no immediate family and her mother's recent passing away, Teresa moved south, fell in love with it and bought a house, alongside her husband Mark. With Mark's mother's health failing, they drove to Chicago last winter to help her out, for what they thought would be just a few weeks. And it was at that point that they got the news. Mark had cancer. Serious. Stage 4.

And it was then that Teresa found herself in a position she's never been in before. Up until that point, she'd been able to fix whatever came her way. She's a self-proclaimed 'fix-it-gal.' Between her positive attitude and her gifted abilities she'd never met a problem she couldn't solve.

That is, until her husband became terminally ill with cancer. Illness took over his body and found him fighting for his life. And for the first time ever, Teresa couldn't fix a problem. No control over his health. And with no place to go with her husband fighting for his life and medical bills stacking up, Teresa landed on the streets, and ultimately found her way to Breakthrough.

That was in April, 2009. She was hopeless, not able to fix the problems that were swallowing her alive. One afternoon she found herself at the Garfield Park Conservatory and that, my friends, is where she did business with God. She was at the end of herself. For the first time in her life she decided to trust that He was what she needed.

She shared that she knew nothing about God and Jesus. She'd had no exposure to Him growing up. This was all brand new to her. She had no idea that you could talk to God like you could talk to a friend. It wasn't that she was anti-God, she just had no knowledge of a God who would care about her.

Listen to her heart on Breakthrough:

"Alysa, Breakthrough didn't just give me food and water. They helped me find God. And my life is totally different now. I have HOPE. {Emphasis mine but I couldn't resist because that's my word for this year!} They helped me find God and I'm forever grateful. I would have been in a rubber room by now, bouncing off the walls, without Breakthrough telling me about God." Wow. If that isn't powerful I don't know what is! {I have a feeling I know who might be next year's guest speaker at Breakthrough's annual fund raising event!}

We met Teresa that first time we visited Breakthrough, on July 22nd this summer. She's never met a stranger and within minutes of walking over to her table and introducing ourselves she gave hugs and encouragement and just kept holding up her sewing material saying, "This is my ticket outta here!" She's positive and refused to give up. She was not going to let her homeless circumstance get the best of her. And in the last couple of weeks, her hard work has paid off. Teresa got a job. And she got a place to live, too. That's HUGE.

We've fallen in love with Teresa. As you can tell by the pictures above, the kids are crazy about her too, and each time we've been with Teresa over the last several months I've been inspired. Moved. Challenged.

But I wasn't prepared for Friday. We went down to Breakthrough to wish her well on the new changes in her life, and out of nowhere I found myself crying. Sad and happy tears all jumbled together. I mean, I'm thrilled. She got a job. She got a place to stay. And yet, she was leaving Breakthrough. I was feeling sad that she wouldn't be at Breakthrough for our subsequent visits. I think for me, she and Patricia have come to be the face of Breakthrough. The heart of Breakthrough. And when I walk through those doors it's their faces and voices I want to see first. {We certainly love seeing the other ladies, too, but Teresa and Patricia captured a special piece of our hearts.}

So Teresa moves on. Which is absolutely FANTASTIC. I know we'll continue to see her because she's now in our life for good - cuz that's how we roll. In fact, I need to call her tomorrow because I must hear all about her new digs.

And we'll begin developing new relationships at Breakthrough. The reality is, we can't develop deep friendships with everyone there, so as each sweet lady claims victory in her life by finding work and stability and a longer-term housing, and hopefully God, we'll be excited. And will then look for new opportunities to reach out to the next couple of ladies, to see what God has in store for each of us. Building one relationship at a time.

*I wanted to add a side note to this post. Teresa is a gifted seamstress. She envisions something and is able to make it. Brilliant, for sure. She has all sorts of things for sale and I'd love to send business her way. She currently does not have a website, but when she does she'll have things for sale. A few months ago I posted an esty site for she and her partner, but things actually didn't work out between the two of them and it's best that you not go to that website to purchase. Long story. No need to go into the details. Just trust me on this one. If you're interested in seeing some of Teresa's work please leave a comment and I'll put you in touch with each other.

Goofy Friends

Oopsy. First three tries didn't work.

But this one did.

I LOVE THESE GIRLS.

I am blessed. Beyond belief.

Cooking a Meal

One week ago tonight we grabbed some friends and headed down to Breakthrough to prepare the evening meal for those beautiful ladies.

It exceeded our expectations.

The week leading up to the supper got me to really thinking about a few things. We had all sorts of options. Since we were feeding 32 women the temptation was to go inexpensive. Maybe pasta. That can be stretched far. And easy. Can't get much easier than brownies out of a box. {And that would have been perfectly wonderful. The ladies would have loved it, I'm sure.}

But as I was figuring out the meal plan I couldn't stop thinking about this: If I were to have people into my home I would feed them a nice meal. I would do a roast and potatoes and veggies and yummy homemade dessert. Or something comparable. I would set a pretty table. I would want them to feel special by how I fed them and prepared for their visit. That's important to me.

And then it dawned on me. While we can't have all 32 Breakthrough gals into our home, we're actually going to their home ... so why not bring the pretty and delicious to them.

There are some verses in Luke that I kept thinking of: "Then Jesus said ... When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers or relatives, or your rich neighbours; if you do, they may invite you back and so you will be repaid. But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed."

I'm telling you, I kept thinking of those verses and I just felt very strongly that this time, what we did for these ladies needed to be special. Like a banquet. Because quite frankly, they deserve it.

And so, the plan began. We were gonna do it up right. Ham, yummy potatoes, veggie, salad, lemon dessert and parsley as a garnish! My friends were in.

We divvied up the work and when we arrived it was exciting.

We set the tables with tablecloths and individual place settings {the ladies usually go through a cafeteria-style line and get their own utensils and drinks.} We pulled out the candles. There were six kids from preschool to middle school, all jumping in and serving. And I have to say it was so fulfilling to watch each child want to get involved. They all helped, from chopping the veggies to placing the napkins to pouring the drinks to serving the meals. It was BEAUTIFUL.

We all looked dorky in our hairnets and plastic aprons, but when you're serving together those details only make for fun memories and shared service. Before we ate there was a staff-led devotional that was really sweet. We sat back and listened to these ladies speak truth from God's word. To be encouraged. To be blessed. Powerful.

Patricia wasn't there when we first arrived but part-way through the meal she walked in the door. Maddie and Jackson both happened to be in the kitchen at that point and when they heard her voice and saw her they both TOOK OFF RUNNING. Maddie raced out of the kitchen, around the corner and ran right into her arms saying, "PATRICIA!", giving her the biggest hug you could imagine a little 7-year-old could give. And Jackson. Well, he took off running but tripped on his white plastic apron and went crashing onto the floor. So after we got the tears stopped and the apron readjusted, he found Patricia and also gave her a great.big.hug.

I'm constantly struck by this: so often we set out to serve, which is good and God-inspired, but in the process of serving it's as if God says, "Okay Alysa, watch Me do my thing. You came to serve and you are going to be served and blessed. You are going to be touched and moved. I'm gonna do some work in your life just because you acted out your faith."

He's good like that. When you love other people in Jesus' name He produces a joy and peace and love that could only come from Him. I really don't know how to describe it that well but I tell you what, get out there and serve for Jesus and you'll totally get what I'm talking about. I promise.

I was SO proud of each of the kids. They worked hard. They loved it. When we left I asked each of them if they wanted to come back again and serve supper and they all enthusiastically said, "YES!"

I'm telling you. These Breakthrough ladies are delightful.

I regret that I didn't get pictures of Jack and Tim interacting with the ladies and helping to serve. And I didn't get more pictures of the kids doing their thing. But the reality is, when we're there I really do try to keep the pictures to a minimum because I don't want this to be about us and I don't want the ladies to feel exploited. I just wanna come in, love on them, and quietly leave, hoping we've all been touched by God in some small way.

So if you want in on the next supper just let me know. I'd love, love, LOVE to introduce you to Breakthrough. And I'd love for my Breakthrough friends to meet you.

I love when my worlds collide.

I love that!

A Sack of Potatoes

As of yesterday, 3.5 weeks into my Hope dream, I've lost exactly one sack of potatoes. {Jackson could hardly hoist it up. So that felt good to see.}

One 10 pound sack that is.

I'm not going to focus on the fact that I need to lose several more sacks of potatoes.

NOPE.

Rather, I'm going to say no to the French fries that could be made out of these potatoes and continue being obedient in this area of my life.

I feel HOPE. I know God wants me to live HOPE out loud. And so that's what I'm going to do.

@@@ One potato at a time. @@@

Until I am free from the idol of food.

And in case you're thinking that I'm so diligent or self-controlled or whatever ... actually, it really has nothing to do with me. God has been showing up BIG-TIME ... helping me each day. I get overwhelmed the minute I start thinking of ALL the weight that needs to be lost. So instead, I get up in the morning, and ask God to help me for that day ... to make healthy choices. To say no to temptation. To not live for and love food.

Please keep praying. Already I am feeling a HOPE that I probably have never felt before {at least in this area of my life.}

Random Blog Post

So, as I do from time to time, I visit Arloa Sutter's blog {she founded Breakthrough Urban Ministries} and she happened to have a link to someone else's blog about an experience they had had serving a meal and visiting with the ladies at Breakthrough.

And guess what, a couple paragraphs into the post there was Patricia's name ... go check out this post if you'd like to read more about the impact Patricia is having on those of us that come to Brekathrough to serve. You can read it here.

We do love Patricia!

Chicago Fun...

Favourite shot from today:

As you might imagine, we went ice skating down at Millennium Park and it was SO fun.

Auntie Joy came along for the day, helping with kid duty, and just generally being the fun gal that she is! We love her.

And most definitely, the kids do, too!

Maddie and Daddy had fun skating together.

I love seeing them together. Makes me smile. He's an amazing daddy.

Daddy laced up all our skates and got them good and tight - the key to being able to ice skate.

Maddie absolutely loved skating, and by the end of our time she was starting to get the hang of it. I was so proud of her. She fell numerous times, but she'd get back up and try again.

And just today, on the way to school she stated that she wanted to be in the Olympics some day. She wanted to be a gymnest and a figure skater. Sounds EXACTLY like my dream when I was young. I wanted to be Mary Lou Retton AND Dorothy Hammel (sp?).... Didn't work out for me, but I'm okay with that.
The zamboni took FOR.EH.VER. cleaning the ice. So here we are waiting for our turn to cut up the ice.


Dreaming of the triple-sow-cow that I'm not able to land. If only.


And THEN ... on to Chinatown. Oh mercy, did we hit the JACK-POT in the restaurant we chose. I mean, there were like 100 of them to choos efrom and Lao Beijing is the one we landed on.

I have NEVER (and I'm so NOT exaggerating) had better Chinese food and I've had a lot in my day.

Orange chicken. TO.DIE.FOR. Tender pork with garlic sauce (pictured below). WOWZERS. Chicken fried rice. DE-LISH!!!! Honestly, I want to go back right this SECOND it was THAT good.

And after that we wandered around the local shops, happening upon a very local grocery store ... complete with tanks of FROGS and TURTLES. We felt kind of sorry for them, because we're a family that loves frogs and turtles but our experience with said creatures is that the lake, when they're in and out of the clean, fresh water ....

The smells matched the sites.

But we're good with that, because we LOVE local. We LOVE adventure. We LOVE spontaneous. We LOVE Chicago.

Go on out and explore your town/city/village.

A Visit From Down Under

One of my fave, fave, FAVOURITE things about living in Chicago is that we occasionally get visits from my former students living around the globe.

And today was one of those days. Angela had a 6-hour layover on her way from Australia to Canada. So we raced to O'Hare to whisk her away, and promptly spent 5 hours talk, talk, talking!

Angela is a girl after my own heart. See?

There are a ba-zillion reasons I love MKs {missionary kids} and in particular my missionary kids {I claim them as my own because, well, I love them. And I had them for 3 years. That's why!} But anyway, these are just a couple of reasons I love MKs ...

Within about 30 seconds of being together we jumped right to that deep level of friendship. Skipping all the "How are you? How was your trip?" niceties. And on to the, "So what is really going on inside? What are you struggling with? What is God doing in your life?" Those types of questions. There's this bond that supersedes borders and countries and time and literally within seconds/minutes, you want to get right to the heart. Perhaps it's because you know time is often limited so you just can't do the pleasantry stuff. But I really think it's more than that. It's just this "someone knows that part of my life and my world and they get me. They understand me." There's a level of trust and I think really, it comes down to the fact that these kids are family to me.

And another thing I LOVE about my MK kids is that my own biological kids have aunties and uncles all around the globe that totally love them. Maddie is at the age where she totally remembers those she's met before. She was heart-broken on the way to school today because "we were going to get more time with Auntie Angela than she was." She knows and loves Auntie Angela. And so, when we picked Maddie up from school, she ran out the door and right into an Auntie Angela hug.

And Jackson instantly went to Angela. My kids have this keen sense that these are important people to me, so they become important to them.

And of course, we always love Auntie Joy. We're spoiled to have her living just a few blocks away, but we'll take her visits any time we can get them. And it just so happens that she and Angela have been dear friends for 23 years, growing up in the same village in Irian. And so they got to reconnect today, too.

And the sun was shining. Brightly. Felt so good.

In fact, I almost pulled out my flip-flops just like Angela. Because I knew SHE wouldn't make fun of me.