Seattle Reach Week

Back last fall Josh (the other staff member at our church) began planning a mission trip to Seattle.  I was game from the get go, but we didn't know that four of us would end up making the trip.  After spending some time in prayer we decided we should take the two big boys.  We set out for Seattle on Sunday.  It was the boys first time to fly.  You think Jack was excited?!?

 After meeting our host home, which was an answer to prayer, and a good nights rest we reported for duty at FBC Martha Lake in Bothell, Washington.  We spent most of the first morning blowing up balloons, filling bags to hang on doors and getting ready for a school outreach.  Can you see the boys in the background working on signs?  They were a big help!  After lunch we handed out balloons to the children leaving school for the summer.  Then we hung bags on door knobs to advertise for a BBQ (grilled hot dogs) and a recreation camp. 

 Later that night we hit a Seattle Mariners game.  It was the boys first experience with a MLB game.  It has been way too long since I've eaten ballpark food.  Fred and I split a plate of nachos that was bigger than my head.  $40 later I would like to report that it was TOTALLY worth it!! 

 Jack is passing out some of the many bags that we passed out.  Within 5 minutes of the church that we were working with there are 25,000 people.  Less than 5% of them are considered "churched".  To say that FBC Martha Lake has a great task ahead of them would be a major understatement. 

 
 Here we are at a park in town.  We hosted recreation camps for the neighborhood.  The first day we had about thirty kids participate.  The second day the attendance was a little down, because, surprise, it was raining.

 The boys are at an apartment complex where we had a BBQ.  They were a big draw.  Where the kids in the complexes might be intimidated by us, they were eager to meet our boys.  When the children started coming out so would their parents.  FBC Martha Lake was able to meet at lot of new people.

 We worked hard to four days and then on our final day we headed into Seattle to see the city before our plane left.  We went to the famous Pike's Place Market.  There were people everywhere!  Everywhere.  It was like a giant farmer's market.  I could have stayed all day.  If I go back I will get Rainier cherries and eat them while I walk. 

Downstairs at Pike's Place there is a gum wall.  Gross.  Thankfully the boys shared my opinion.

 The boys got to go to the Space Needle.  I think they really enjoyed it.

 Here is our group before we left for the airport.  Jason, the pastor at FBC Martha Lake, is pictured on the right with his wife Melissa.  We all went to Union together...many years ago!

 We took this picture at one of our BBQ's.  We took it for the Unionite, since we are all grads of Union University.

The week went by quickly and many memories were made.  I pray that my boys have life long memories of sharing the love of Jesus with everyone we come in contact with, whether in Seattle, Paris, TN or wherever we may find ourselves.

Just a quick side story so I never forget a specific answer to prayer.  About a week before we left I began to feel very anxious about taking the boys.  You know, I was taking 2 young boys across the country to stay in someone's house...someone I had never met.  I was nervous about traveling.  I was nervous about staying a week at someone's house.  I was nervous about them acting wild and crazy.  I was nervous about them being tired.  I was just nervous.  Really nervous.  I began to pray for these specific fears instead of worry.  Boy, did the Lord answer those fears and calm my nerves.  I prayed that the host home that we stayed with would love children and understand boys specifically.  We drove to their beautiful house Sunday night, exhausted after traveling most of the day.  We walked upstairs and I will not lie, my heart was beating out of my chest.  She took us upstairs and showed us where the boys would stay.  And I quote, "We have two grandsons and I have this room set up for them.  Will this be okay?"  Will it be okay?!?  Talk about an answer to a specific request.  Believe it or not it just kept getting better from there.  God answered every request I made, plus more.  I still haven't stopped praising His name for all the great things He has done!
This is a picture of Diane.  Her husband, Mark, had already gone to work.  Precious people.  Precious.

Five on Friday

1.  Around 15 years ago Fred took his first official ministry job.  It was at a small country church, Crossroads Baptist, in Alamo, Tennessee.  Well, life is coming full circle for us because several months ago they lined up Fred to preach revival services this week.  We are all excited to go back and see everyone.  We hold some great memories from Crossroads!
2.  I am leaving with Clayton and several other kiddos from our church for camp today, thus the early post.  I love camp, especially Camp Linden.  I grew up going to Linden every summer.  I am praying that the kiddos going will build a foundation on Jesus and their lives will never be the same.  Join me, won't you?!?  Click here to see the camp. 
3.  While Fred and I were sipping coffee yesterday, our eldest child came in the kitchen from the living room making the strangest noise.  It made us laugh; however, Clayton was not laughing.  He had had the air knocked out of him.  After regaining his breath he began to explain to us through many tears what happened.  In an effort to escape his youngest brother he tried to go through the window in our bathroom.  Yes, through the window.  Well, Jack had put a rocking chair under that window and when Clayton came through feet first he landed on the top of the chair.  After he laid around all morning I decided I should take him to the doctor.  Yes, he has a cracked rib...from a game of tag...in my house.  My brother wins the quote of the day by saying, "Five seconds of stupid can really change your life."  I think this will be our new motto.
4.  Jack is not going to camp.  He would have been pretty sad, but we gave him to option of having an "all about Jack" day if he stayed home with Fred.  So far, Jack has about 15 things on his list that he would like to do tomorrow.  We'll see what all they get to accomplish.  He has been counting down the days.
5.  Andrew does not like thunder.  Fred was in the garden this week with Andrew and it thundered.  Andrew made his way, rather quickly, back to the house.  After being inside with me for  a while he looked up at me and said, "Mom, did God stop the thunder yet?"  Sweet.   

Jack's Party

Does anybody else struggle explaining the difference between a birthday and a birthday party when they don't happen on the same day?!?  Just wondering. 
Once we got back from vacation we had Jack's party.  It felt like we'd been celebrating a week since his actual birthday was days before his party, but oh well, who doesn't love a few days of celebration?!?  Jack decided several weeks ago that he wanted to have a science experiment party.  I immediately began searching for ideas and found some great ones:
-when a skittle is placed in water the 'S' on top of the skittle will float off
-when water is poured over pop rocks they pop...forever.
-Mentos in a Diet Coke really do result in a geyser
-vinegar and baking soda erupt (we did several with this mixture)
-flubber
We feasted on hot dogs, cheese, cheetos, fritos, watermelon and cookies.  It was a rockin' time! 
Happy Birthday Big Man!

Good Bye to Cheesecake

I love Chick Fil A cheesecake with blueberry topping.  Love it. Well, our first stop on our trip to the beach was at Chick Fil A for breakfast.  I noticed the girl behind the counter fixing a cheesecake tray.  We started discussing it and how good it was. I began telling her about CFA cheesecake and how for our first Valentine's Day I was sick and Fred brought CFA cheesecake over for dessert.  (I know, I rarely meet a stranger.)  After my story she broke the news to me that they would no longer be serving cheesecake.  Then, at 9:30 in the morning she did the unspeakable.  She gave me a piece, topped with blueberry, and told me to enjoy since that day was the last day to get CFA cheesecake.  I've never had cheesecake at 9"30 a.m. and I guess it will never happen again.  Last day for cheesecake at Chick Fil A.  Sniff, sniff...

Vacation

We hit the beach a few weeks ago.  Before we went to the beach the boys spent a little time in Jackson while Fred and I toured the state for TBC meetings.  Seriously, we toured the state.  We had to be in Lexington by 9, Donelson by 2 and Crossville by 7.  Then we drove back to Knoxville for the night.  We had the best time together.  Fred left the next day while I shopped in Knoxville all day...good times!  We drove in Wednesday, packed and then loaded up for church.  Once church was over we drove to Jackson to sleep for the night and leave out bright and early.  We really have the best traveling kiddos on the planet.  We left at 6:00 a.m. and arrived in Gulf Shores by 3:00 p.m.  That's awesome, isn't it?!?  I think it might be a record.  We stopped two times...yes, two times. 

Once we got to the condo (which I would highly recommend, click here to see it...not great pictures, but a great price and easy to work with!) we dropped our bags and the boys hit the pool and beach while I went to the grocery.  Other than eating out for lunch that is pretty much what we did all day.  Below are a few pictures from our days...

While we were at the beach, Jack celebrated his 6th birthday.  Seriously, 6?!?  Where has it gone.  I may or may not have gotten a little teary as he blew out his candles on his birthday breakfast of beignets.  We celebrated all day long with all things Jack:  beignets, putt putt golf, go carts, bumper boats, an arcade, lunch at LuLu's, the tower of youth, ice cream and a roller coaster ride.  Could we have possibly squeezed anything else in that day?!?  I think not. 

As we were driving in to Gulf Shores I saw a billboard about a Hot Air Balloon Festival in Foley, Alabama (10 miles away).  We all thought it sounded like fun and it did not disappoint.  If I ever see one of those again we will stop for sure!

After five days at the beach we headed to New Orleans for the annual conference of the Southern Baptist Convention.  I don't have too many pictures from those days.  We did spend some time one day at lunch in the French Quarter...walking and walking and walking and walking...

Good times for the Shackelfords!

We rolled in late Wednesday night, just in time to get ready for Jack's party on Saturday.  And then to  roll out again for Seattle on Sunday.

Five on Friday

1.  Last week was beautiful in Paris.  Fred had the idea to go play frisbee golf at our local park.  We had the BEST time!  However, Fred was a little prone to tossing his frisbee in to the woods...often.  Unfortunately, we think he got poison ivy while searching the woods to retrieve his frisbee.  He is at the doctor now begging for a shot. Begging.  Here's to hoping he gets a shot...fingers crossed!!
2.  As you know I have been keeping up with loads of laundry for 2012.  As of May 31st, I am standing at 187 loads.  Good times. 
3.  Clayton has been saving for a Kindle Fire since the beginning of the year.  He is a little over half way to his goal.  While he has many good qualities that are just who he is, being sensitive to others and those around him does not come naturally.  This week while attending Bible School at FBC Paris they told him of a need for mediation for those in needy countries.  Before he left that morning he dug out enough of his money (almost 15%) to give someone medicine for 2 years.  This is nothing more than the power of the Lord working in his life.  Tears filled my eyes as I watched him leave that morning, not out of pride, but out of a testimony that God is working in his heart and life.
4.  Jack's birthday is June 16th.  We were recently discussing his party and what he would like to do, what to eat, etc.  We started getting specific about food and he requested, "Hot dogs, Cheetos, cookie bars, Frito twists, watermelon and that's it. (Brief pause...) Oh, and fried okra.  Yeah, that's about it."  Best.party.ever.
Also, Jack told me this week he wants to start collecting money.  I'm all for it.  Anybody that would like to contribute to his collection please let me know.
5.  I pray I never forget what Andrew's 2 year old voice sounds like.  He chatters all the time.  Some of the things he says right now that are particularly cute are: "What does that mean?", "Is that funny?", "Why you laughing at me?", "I wanna eat Dragon Gold today." (Golden Dragon is a Chinese restaurant here and he loves it.) and my personal favorite from the week...he was not getting his way one morning and he put his foot down, looked at me in the eyes and said emphatically, "I wanna go to Mimi's house!"

Random Catch Up

Things have been moving around here and there's a lot I need to catch on, so here goes...

1.  Fred has meetings out of town occasionally, but the boys and I rarely get to tag along because of school.  Well, since school let out Fred had a meeting at Linden Valley Retreat Center (a.k.a. Camp Linden...I spent a week here every summer for years).  The man in charge of the meeting asked us to come with Fred and we did.  Apart from a rough night in a hotel room, we had the BEST time together!!  We hiked to the water fall, canoed the Buffalo River and I even read a book.  I didn't have to cook or make up a bed and it was incredible!! 

 I have no pictures of the canoe trip, because Fred and I decided it was not a good idea to take electronic devices on a 2 hour canoe trip.  Bummer, right?!?  Those would have been some great pictures.

2.  Andrew lost his night night and we FINALLY found it after a week.  FINALLY!  Is this not the sweetest picture?!?  That's some true love right there. 

 3.  Andrew does not like the water.  Does not like it one bit.  He screamed on the canoe ride listed above.  He screamed at the pool.  He screamed on my brother's boat.  When we are at a pool he just walks the perimeter until I finally just force/pull him in.  Before you start sending me hate mail, please know that when he is out of the water for over an hour, it gets hot.  Plus, I just held him above the water, in my arms.  Needless to say this did not go well.  We are working on a plan to get through this. You can't tell by this picture, but this is where he is happiest...in a raft, with his floaties on, on the side of the pool.  Good grief.

 

 4.  My brother took us out on his boat for Memorial Day.  By us, I mean my parents, Jeffrey's family and my crew.  It was a blast!  (Minus Andrew screaming over everything.)  I'm pretty sure we reached the weight limit on his boat, but it was totally worth it.  The boys in the tube below could not have had a better time.  By the end of the day they were exhausted. 

  

5.  Our church is going on a mission trip to Seattle, Washington this summer.  Fourteen people are going, including Fred, me, Clayton and Jack.  (Andrew will stay with grandparents.)  In an effort to reduce the financial burden on those going we have had several church wide events.  One of those was a yard sale at our house this weekend.  It could not have been a better weekend for it!  I was so blown away with the generosity of our church and friends with items donated.   We all counted it a success! 

 

Fred and I like the show Antiques Roadshow.  (I know, what are we, like 72?!?)  Occasionally, Clayton will see it.  Well, during the sale Clayton found a vase.  He is convinced that it is worth some money.  I think he thinks we will show up on Antiques Roadshow to be one of the success stories.  He is so proud of that vase. 
6.  June is going to be a fun month!  We have Vacation Bible School, a trip to Aunt Janice's house, vacation (which will include the beach and a trip to New Orleans), Jack's birthday and a mission trip to Seattle, Washington.  July looks just as exciting! 

I heart summer.