Able Attack vs Syble Hopp Game 2

I love the gym at Syble Hopp!  They have awesome lighting in there.  Most of the time, this is not the case in a gym.  I love taking pictures there.  The second game was action packed.  I like to stand under the basket, right in the middle of the action.  We lost the game but they were neck-and-neck the whole time.  It was exciting!

A jump shot. Oh yeah!

That's Nick making the shot!

Whoa!  This guy almost took me out!

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Able Attack vs Syble Hopp Game 1

It was quite an exciting night last night.  This year we have enough people in special olympics that we have two Able Attack basketball teams.  Syble Hopp is a school for people with disabilities in Green Bay and they also have two teams.  We played two games last night.  There were a few little boys playing on the Syble Hopp team last night and I totally fell in love with them!  They were so cute! (I'm sure that's not what they want to hear.)  They were like 8 and 10 and reminded me of Elijah.  They were pretty brave out there with all of the big kids!  Here are the pictures from the first game.

This is Jordan.

And the boy on the right is Noah

These boys were blocking Nate the whole game.  It was pretty hilarious!

Look at him go!  He's totally fearless!

Go #2! Uh oh. I'm cheering for both teams!

Syble Hopp won the game.  An embrace of excitement for the boys on the other team.

What good sports.

Victory!

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My Adventures in Georgia part 1

I have been thinking a lot about everything leading up to this, to right now.  Living daily in disability ministry.  Being a full-time missionary.  Living in community.  How did I get here? With a lot of help from God, and those around me.

I started this blog after my time in Georgia so I don't know if I've ever talked about it much.  Let me back up a little further.  I had been on a bunch of mission trips in high school.  I had some great opportunities to travel and serve God, and he opened my eyes to the hurting people around me.  God had given me a heart for each of the places I had been, but one stood out.  I went to Chicago for a week and worked with inner-city kids.  I fell in love with them.  Totally.  Completely.  I was SURE that was what God wanted me to do.  That was my junior year.  There were a lot of things that confirmed it.  I went down to visit Moody Bible Institute in Chicago while my friend was still there and I was sure that was where God wanted me to go.  I was so sure of it, I didn't apply anywhere else.

Then the letter came in the mail.  I wasn't accepted.

What do I do now?  I didn't understand why, but I had to keep going.  I had to do the things that were right in front of me.  I stayed home that year after high school and worked.  I became a youth leader.  I built relationships with people.  I spent time out at Honeyrock Camp(owned by Wheaton College).  My mom has been a cook out there for years.  During the summer of 2006, I spent all of my free time out there(when I wasn't working).  That summer, I met Estie.  My friend, Bethany, was working out at Honeyrock and I met Estie through her.  At this point, I had been to Camp Daniel several times and I told them my crazy fun stories from camp.  Through all of that, Estie told me about her younger sister, Leah.

This is Estie and Bethany

One morning they came up to me and Estie said, 'We have the BEST idea.  You should come and work with my sister and live with my family.'  Estie started telling me more about her family and I was getting excited.  She gave me her mom's email so I wrote to her and we talked on the phone.  Everything fell into place.  God worked out all of the details.  Before I knew it, my stuff was packed and my parents were taking me down to Georgia.

    

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Making Valentines and Cookies

We made some valentines.  I figured it was close enough, right?  I thought Estie would do her own thing and play while we were making them, but she wanted to do everything the big kids were doing.  She is so funny.  Nissa took pictures while we made stuff.

Note: baby colored the table as much as the valentine. hehe :)

This kid, always a silly face. :)

Then it was time to make cookies. Estie was checking out the dough.

playing with the sprinkles.

ha, love it.

the kids took turns stirring, scooping, and sprinkling.

Later that night, it was bathtime.  We were all in the bathroom for a long time.  Who knew bathtime could be so much fun? Those silly girls!

Quack Attack! Cutie!  These ducks seemed to appear out of nowhere(Nancy)!  They were an inside joke between me and Nancy at camp last summer.  I brought them out for the girls to play with.  They WILL make an appearance sometime next summer. :)

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