Resurrection Sunday

For the first time since moving to Highland Park, I was in town this year for Easter. It ended up being a good, but very busy day. I decided to take one of our families to church with me in the morning. This meant bringing 10 kids! With almost any other group of kids this would have been impossible. However, the kids in this family (though highly energetic!) are so well behaved. They have got to be the sweetest group of kids I've ever met. Thankfully, I also had one of my teen girls Ashley to help me. She ended up being a huge blessing! We loaded up the van and drove to Revival Tabernacle here in Highland Park. the younger kids were able to attend worship with us and then go upstairs for children's church. (Where they told me they learned Easter isn't about candy and the Easter bunny but Christ's sacrifice for us:) ). The two teen girls, Ashley & I enjoyed an illustrated sermon that focused on Peter's view of the crucifixion and resurrection.

After church, we picked up some "Hot-n-ready" pizzas and came over to my house for a quick lunch before taking everybody home. I can't begin to explain how much this family has come to mean to me. The kids each bring so much joy. Please pray for them as it is obvious they are loved at home- however, live in a very unstable unstructured environment. They aren't given the resources many of us take for granted.

When I dropped them off, the youngest-DeMario- showed me that he could ride 2 wheel bike! He's only 3! DeMario has become my little buddy, and I try to spend time with him during the week. It's been fun to watch him grow up. I'm so proud of this little guy :)

Ashley and I were able to spend some chill time together after we took the kids home, and then I went over to my neighbor's for an Easter meal. The family across the street invited my roommate Emily and I over since neither of us were able to go home for the holiday. What a blessing to live in community with other believers!

It's been waaaaay to long!

I have no excuses for the fact that I haven't written anything since December. When I look at the iceskating pictures, then look outside at the sunny warm weather I can't help but feel guilty for my neglect of keeping this updated!

The beginning of the year here at HPCO has started off well. I was able to spend the first 2 weeks on vacation-visiting friends in Maryland & North Carolina. It was very relaxing as well as encouraging to catch up with some good friends I have't seen in awhile.

Our Thursday night youth group continues to go strong. The boys are being tutored before hand at Wayne State University. I feel as though our boys group has exploded! We have a great group of men leading it- to the point that we are able to recruit more boys to join us. Most importantly, we are seeing our boys being mentored. They are able to come each week, be in Bible study groups and also have positive male role models in their lives. I've seen a lot of growth in one of our guys in particular. He has a special place in my heart as he was in my first day camp class 5 years ago...he's now 16 and over the past year Ive seen some steps towards maturity, responsibility and desire to grow spiritually. One of our guy leaders has decided to start discipling him outside of the normal youth group hours. This is incredible and what we are all about!

Another encouraging part of this year is watching 2 of our junior high girls receive weekly tutoring. My roommate, and HPCO intern, Emily has not only been committed to tutoring the girls, she also spends time with them during the week. She's taken them to Panera Bread (where she works), hung out with them and their siblings & created a great bond with both of them. Please pray for these girls as they are both so behind academically. They also have a very unstable home life. However, they are two of the sweetest girls you will ever meet. Sadly, humanly speaking the cards seem to be stacked against them. Most females in their family started having kids as teenagers, they don't have the structure that kids need in a home & they can hardly read. Thankfully, we have hope in a God far superior to human understanding and we're trusting Him to change the course of their lives!