Spring Break in Chicago

Last week we spent an incredible week sharing life and seeking God with the people of Chicago City Church in south Chicago. God has blessed us with a connection with these precious people over the past four years. He has connected the hearts of students with the hearts of the poor & broken in south Chicago. Two very different worlds but both having the same hope and needing the same God to forgive our sins and make us whole.

We spent our time serving, building relationships, encouraging one another and seeking God together. We had a blast working together to paint their church, organize the summer & spring clothes for their botique, hanging doors on their tutoring rooms and other work projects to help CCC do more ministry. Tutoring the kids, getting out on the streets to pray with people & invite them to the church, hanging out with kids in the projects & sharing about Jesus with them and helping with the Tuesday night outreach service & meal were incredible opportunities to love people and share our lives with them. It's amazing how God takes people from two totally different worlds and connects their hearts for one purpose and one hope. We all returned encouraged. I was amazed to watch all of the UMD students step out of their comfort zones and use the gifts God has given them to serve God and others. The gifts God has given them are incredible. I saw each of them grow a begin to really see who God created them to be. I'm so excited for what God has for them in the future!

One other exciting part of the trip was reconnecting with our friend Mercedes at her coffee shop "Mi Cafetal" in the middle of Pilsen, the Hispanic neighborhood in Chicago. We stumbled on Mercedes shop our first year in Chicago and have returned every year since. Mercedes is a dear friend who we have had the opportunity to pray with and encourage every year. We are always excited to see her and get her hugs. She's an energetic lady who cares for everyone. Every year she cries as we say goodbye until the next spring break. She blessed us with lunch for the road; they were incredible rolls with cheese, refried beans and some kind of spicy sauce she makes. Yum!

I'm 8 again!
Where did February go? It's March 1 and as I sit here typing it is a blizzard with whiteout conditions outside. UMD is the only school open today. Right now life feels like a white out where you can only blink your eyes and catch a glimpse of what's going on around you. I'm so thankful for those moments you have in life that remind you to slow down and to enjoy it...we only get to live it once.

One of those moments came this past weekend after finally the first substantial snow storm of the year. Lindsey & I were at her parents home with her sisters watching the snow pile up all weekend. Finally, Sunday morning the snow & wind stopped, so we headed outside to the snowpiles the plows left at the edge of the church parking lot next door. We got our boots, hats & gloves on, grabbed the sleds and headed out to play. It had been years since I last sledded. As we played king of the hill and Lindsey & her sisters tried to drag me off the top, I had a realization. I felt like I was 8 again, not 28! Here were four adults over 25 playing on a snowpile, living up life like we were kids again. I thank God for those moments in life that remind us to smile and remember what's important to us and what we're living for.

Unfortunately the dream ended when we got home and had to plow our driveway out. We're waiting to do that again when the snow stops in a couple of days. But on the other side of the plowing, will be breaking the sleds out and playing again!