Micah 6:8 Laundromat Outreach | Somber Loss

Today was a bittersweet day. Emotions are all over the board in my church family as the day closes with a ministry success shadowed by a tragedy.

caitlin

We've met so many fantastic people so far as part of the Towerview family. Jarod and his daughter Lyla are just two of them. Late last night,  Lyla's mother Caitlin was involved in an ATV accident that cost her her life. I personally didn't know her, but what I do understand is the effect that losing a parent can have on a child, and even on the other parent, regardless of whether or not they are still together.

My heart breaks for the Thompsons, and for Caitlin's family. The gravity of this, the freshness, proved to be a dark shadow not easily cast from our minds over the course of our morning on ministry. It's going to be a long road for Jarod and for Lyla; My continued prayers for peace, comfort, and strength are theirs.

It's hard to transition from that. If there is one thing I have discovered about my church family, it is that they are able to emanate their own sense of mercy and grace while simultaneously displaying perseverance and strength unlike any other. Today's example of being faced with news of this tragedy yet still completing the ministry we had planned, with genuine smiles on our faces and in our hearts for its purpose, not only encouraged me, but made me proud to be a part of it all.

towerview bus!

Back during our 40 DITW study, my study group had developed a plan for our Micah 6:8 project. It started with a church-wide yardsale [remember that??], the profits of which would fund a community outreach. We collectively decided that we would break into teams and hit a few of the local laundromats, armed with coffee, donuts, laundry detergent and quarters, and just pay for people's laundry. No catch, no fee, no sermon. Just free laundry and breakfast. 


 << Oh, btw, our Towerview bus is now complete! Just in time for the youth group missions trip, which heads out tomorrow. It looks great! :)

We arrived at the church this morning and divided up into three teams, quick to plan our routes and off we were. I joined Diana, Olivia, and three of the youth group at the Maytag in Fairview Heights. Our very first offer was met with flat-out denial. I was amazed over the course of the morning at the wide range of response elicited by our desire to load quarters into washers and dryers and provide the detergent to go along with it. While it was slightly discouraging to be turned down, what mattered more was the handful of people who accepted, perhaps questioningly, but accepted nonetheless, and were so deeply moved by it that some of them even began crying. I met a woman today whose husband is in the hospital for a medical condition that has almost taken his life twice. Her two children's lives with their father consisted more of hospital visits and stays than it did of him being home. The trips to the laundromat are a family outing for them. I sat and listened to her story after we'd loaded quarters into the washers and dryers, and realized that this was more than just gratitude for her laundry being covered for today. She poured out her heart to us, and I would be willing to guess we'll see her soon, at the Tower. I was moved by this, in a sincere way. I was reminded today just how powerful God's love is on a simple Saturday morning, in a laundromat, over coffee and a donut :). I was blessed to be a part of this.

look at this little guy!! adorable friends at the laundromat

these things are expensive!

yummm summer salads!

The other two groups had very similar stories: rejection by some, whether by pride or fear that a 'church group' would demand an ear for preaching if they ceded to them paying for their laundry. Others were more than receptive, appreciating our efforts, and even delving into conversation over life in general. We all ended up at the Page house, where the kids had spent the morning along with Lara and Cathie. We ate lunch there before we all headed home. 

It's going to be a very difficult remainder of the weekend for the Thompsons and Caitlin's family. I hate that tragedies like this are what it takes sometimes to put life in perspective. Our very deepest condolences go to their families, and our love and support will be among the flood of such for which our church family is so well-versed.

xo | cmd  

Short Lived But Well Worth It

In case you didn't know, Joe's in the Air Force. It's the military that brought us here to Illinois and opened the door for everything that is now a part of our daily lives. In hindsight, I should really be exercising a more prominent sense of gratitude for everything we have now and everyone who we've met in the last few years. I absolutely believe in the God things; my life now is the perfect testament to just that. [Free Plug specifically for our incredible church, Towerview Baptist, and its family, who has become one of our favorite, favorite things!]

So since Joe's been in the Air Force, he's found some once in a lifetime opportunities: he traveled to Virginia and earned a position on the 2011 All Air Force soccer team. They won gold medal in their tournaments, and he returned home an athletic icon at work. He's met a full battery of amazing people; by association, I've had the pleasure of meeting many of them. We've gotten a taste of military life and the perks that it offers. However, when it came down to it, we prayed over it and Joe felt prompted to part ways with the Air Force and pursue another avenue. His flight decided to throw him a going-away party of sorts, which was tonight! We summoned the aide of our unbelievably awesome babysitter, who agreed to keep Boogie overnight so we could enjoy the shindig company unrestricted. By 7:15, a crowd of nearly 30 people were packed into tables at Bdubs being entertained by the happenings of the evening....


too much. too much.



But let's REWIND. It's been quite the multi-tasked ride at work over the past week or so. With the warmer seasons comes a budding of business; it's awesome, but it's got each of us now shedding our winter coasting skin and branching out into all kinds of different directions at the same time. Apparently, I've been so engrossed in my day-to-day that I figured I'd make some last minute calls on my way home...

... with my computer mouse.

Yeah.

We pulled into the parking lot at Bdubs tonight and I thought i'd double check my memory to bring my camera. I thought I'd found it in the bottom of my purse, but instead fished out my mouse. I immediately sent a picture to Meagan & Nancy, who confirmed that I had just taken it to a whole new level of crazy. Woops.

Anyway, this night wasn't about me, at all. Joe's friends from work made the trek from base and surrounding area to hang out and celebrate his short lived but impacting career in the Air Force. Brandon even got him a plaque engraved that reflected the hilarious sentiment, underlined with Joe's famous tagline, "Hey big guy.."

joe's plaque | joe & brandon | puppy!
cori & caitlin | c&n's beautiful save the date

Pretty funny. We stayed through dinner, and ended up taking Caitlin back to her and Nick's apartment afterwards. We got to meet their adorable dog, and we even got a personal delivery of their Save-the-Date for their big day: November, in Arizona! [can't wait, can't wait, can't wait!]

All in all, definitely a good night. I'm spent though, and it's off to work early in the AM.

G'night!

xo | cmd

Base Picnic

Another scorcher out there today…

Let’s go to an outdoor picnic, eh?

Okayyy.



caitlin & sydni

It was definitely warm out there. We spent most of the morning into mid afternoon hanging out on base at Joe’s squadrant picnic. It was a pretty good time; giant grill out, cornhole tourney, volleyball, soccer net, and a huge playtower off of which Sydni nearly shoved someone else’s kid. She’s a bully, I tell you.

We left halfway through the afternoon after we had spent the entire day sweating; Sydni needed a bath and a nap, and after she was down for the count, I found myself waking up on the couch 2 hours later.

This was pretty much how a standard Air Force Saturday goes. I’m a fan. J

xo | cmd

Double Date

Work was work. Aside from it being Friday, I’m not here to talk about work. J

Good news: I finally ironed out the kink [at least I believe I did] with the wedding wardrobe issue I’m having. I ordered new dresses today, and if I’m lucky, I’ll see those within the next two weeks. I also ordered the TOMS I'll be sporting, as well as two pairs of silver TOMS for two of my bridesmaids. Scoooore.

toms toms toms toms | ♥.

Earlier tonight, Caitlin and Nick met us here at the house and the four of us loaded up for a double date. First stop: Eckert’s. [Thank you Pastor Ron & Debbie for helping us discover this GEM!] They’d not been, and Joe consumes the biscuits like water, so really, nobody lost there. They loved it, we loved it, and we all left with just one unanimous complaint of overstuffed bellies.

From there, we headed over to a mini golf course near our house. We’d been meaning to visit, but hadn’t yet, so we figured we would utilize a perfect summer evening and challenge each other to 18 holes of putt-putt.



such focus!



I won.

Don’t ask me how it happened, because I bet I wouldn’t get that lucky again in a million years. But, for the record, I won. Haha. I can’t celebrate too much, though, because Joe was the only one of us that managed to sink a hole-in-one on the last hole to earn a free game. Don’t act surprised… J

This little place turned out to be a lot bigger than we thought. Once we finished golf , we grabbed some bats and each took a turn for one round in the batting cages. I’m not nearly as bad as I thought I would be, but not nearly good enough to say I’m anything worth noting. Softball was never my thing. We did decide that we would make another trip soon and try out the bumper boats, go-karts, or the other mini-golf course.

we are barely tall enough to ride these things

*Yawn.
Tomorrow, Joe and I head up to Columbus, IN to rendezvous with my parents. They’ve had Sydni for two weeks now and this will be our halfway meeting trip to pick her up and spend the weekend with them. I suppose I should get some sleep….

xo | cmd

Golfing Guys & Galleria Girls

galleria | st. louis, mo



Yeah, shopping. *Kidding.* I’m not a huge free-shopper, meaning that I pretty much lack the ability to and am also not a fan of mall-walking and window shopping. I’m more of the need-it?-ok,-go-get-it-and-be-done kinda girl. So this was a refreshing change of scenery, more or less.

The day started with Joe, Sydni and I loading up and trekking to the Kobularciks’ on base. One of the Sandven’s were there, along with Nick & Caitlin. The boys took care of transferring all the golf clubs into our car, strapped in 1 of the 2 Kobularcik boys, and headed off for a day of golf.

Meanwhile, I stayed behind with Sydni, Caitlin, Bonnie, and the smaller of her two boys. We spent some time relaxing and enjoying the mid-morning weather from her back patio before loading up into her Subaru and setting off for the Galleria in St. Louis.

just keep shopping.....

Hi, 3-story mall.

Sure, it’s not the Mall of America, but for being so accessible, it will definitely quench the thirst of any local wandering shopaholic. Needless to say, we barely covered a quarter of the mall before we left, but it was worth the trip and admittedly nice to have some adult female company (nothing personal, Syd).

Back home, it was a quick sprint from the Kobularcik’s to the Sandven’s for a grill out. We managed to beat the rain, and had a fun evening of grilling out, playgrounds, conversation, and of course, cornhole.

Not too shabby for a first weekend back, I’d say. =]

xo | cmd