November 11-18,2007 Family Promise Journal
Family Promise Journal by Beverly Storms
Day One: Sunday 11-11
Walt Murray and his team began early with the delivery of the traveling Family Promise cots at 8:00a.m. Paul Niblett, Steve Rednour, and I met after the first service to move the Family Promise items we store from one hosting to another: Steve's pickup was overflowing and Paul's SUV was stuffed for the trek to the Youth Building.
The youth were great 'worker bees' putting folding chairs on the racks and moving furniture to the north 1/3 of the gym to create the Family Promise living room. Thanks so much to the youth Sunday School classes! We appreciate you!
Eric Elkins spent some time with us making sure we had everything we needed. Thanks, Eric.
Russ Funk joined us as we did a lot of moving and rearranging to complete the functional part of the bedroom set-up preparing the way for Tonya Niblett's team consisting of Jesse Hebert, Andrew Werth, Linda DeFelix, and Kimberly Elkins. You should have seen the incredible job they did of transforming classrooms into cozy bedrooms. Tonya had sorted & coordinated sheets, blankets, and towel sets for the artistic bedmakers. She had lined up a Blue Room, Green Room, etc., so now, we are the CrossRoads Hilton White House! The beds for the children all had stuffed animals on them along with a 'welcome' card and a chocolate. Our guests have a chocolate on their pillow every night, and fresh flowers are in each room. You should have heard the oohs and aahs from our guests when they opened their doors! Diane Wolynia's granddaughter helped put the finishing touches on the beds. She told her Grandma she wanted to stay this week, and definitely wants to help make beds next time we host!
Diane Wolynia worked pretty much solo setting up the hospitality counter with help from all of us intermittently as we were doing other parts of the set-up. She did a great job of making a welcoming snack area for our guests.
Dara McKaig headed up her team consisting of Pam Funk and Cathy Williams converting the north section of the gym into our dining room/living room. The tables are all covered with brightly-colored table cloths and character Mylar balloons for centerpieces. We have Strawberry Shortcake, Minnie Mouse, Elmo, Nemo, and Big Bird! Again, the reaction of the children made my heart melt at "Oh, my gosh, this is so-o-o cool!"
One time I would like to have an Open House on set-up day for anyone interested to take a walk through the CrossRoads Hilton White House. I think you would be quite surprised.
Many thanks to the set-up crew: excellent job!
We finished about 3:30 and guests arrived on the Family Promise bus at 5:30pm. We are at full capacity for Family Promise with four families (8 adults; 8 children from 5 months to 12 years).
Each evening we have a faithful crew who help with the dinner set-up and clean-up. Joseph Iler, Paula and Carl Smith put in 4 - 5 hours a night. I am sure they could make the journey from the kitchen to the gym dining area with their eyes closed! Their service is invaluable: thank you.
Our guests were served a very tasty taco bar by Monique, Leah Palmer, Cindy Irish and their families. We had root beer floats for dessert. That was a big hit.
Paul Rogers and David Storms were the evening hosts. Tall Paul was shooting hoops with the kids after dinner.
Judy Appelt 480-839-9648/judyappelt@earthlink.net leads the Family Promise Prayer team. During the very first hosting, May 2006, Judy was the only one who came on site to pray each evening. It is looking better these days, but we would like to have at least 5 prayer warriors on-site each evening. We are grateful for our Sunday night prayer warriors: Debbie Prigge, and Wayne & Wanda Sharpes.
Zach DeJesus and Tyler Baker spent the night: urban camping in the gym!
Day Two: Monday 11-12
Oh, I forgot to tell you: I got to hold little Gregory, 5 mos., last night. My sleeve was soaked. I forgot babies drool! I want to hold him again anyway; he is so cute!
Veteran's Day. All was quiet at the CrossRoads Hilton when I arrived at 7:30am. A little sleep-in was so nice for our guests who are usually riding a bus at 5:30am! Steve Rednour came with his daughter, Lauren, around 8:30. Bill, Patti, Haley, Brycellyn, and Jerram LaBorde also joined us. In our little circle prior to breakfast (We circle up and hold hands prior to the meals and pray.), we talked about Veteran's Day: the children knew all about it, of course! We honored Steve, the veteran in our midst, said the pledge, and were honored by the singing of the "Star Spangled Banner" by Eden Kroeger: I cried! The Kroeger family provided a delicious continental breakfast for us.
We have a new member on our Family Promise team of leaders: Stephanie Hatlestad - Children's special activities. Welcome, Stephanie! We all went to Desert Breeze Park for a cookout that Stephanie organized. We recognized our special Family Promise area by the red, white, and blue balloons and tablecloths. Stephanie did a great job and said she was thankful for helpers Joni Castle, Becca Spaite, Kristen Hatlestad, Jose Fernandez, and Josh Moll. The dads and boys were playing ball; one of the moms found a good spot to read a book; the children had fun at the playground near our tables; after lunch, they rode the train and carousel. We headed back to the Hilton around 2:30 where the children decorated patriotic sugar cookies. Some of the cookies had lots of icing and looked very good! It was a relaxing afternoon.
Lisa and Jeff Knudson, and Celida Garcia prepared Jan Gentry's famous spaghetti chicken for dinner. The guests thought it was great. Hector, who returned from work after we had eaten, also enjoyed the plate we fixed for him. He told me to be sure to tell Lisa how good it was. Steve, Karen, Steffi, and Samantha Frank, and Jose Fernandez, Jr. were our evening hosts who ate dinner with our guests and played/visited afterwards. You may as well count on basketball every evening. Balls hitting the floor is becoming like music to my ears! Karen helped me get the donated items for the Day Center ready to go on the bus Tues. morning. She also restocked the hospitality counter for me.
Tonya Niblett and Jose Fernandez were our on-site prayer warriors.
As you have probably noticed by now, Jose has spent the day with us. Well, it doesn't stop here. He and Bryan Herdt spent the night, and Jose is asking to serve more nights. Praise God! I am so excited to have the young people involved.
Even though, I went home to take a nap after we got back from the park, I was still tired. One of the moms told me how much they had enjoyed the day, and they were really glad they didn't have to spend it at the Day Center. It was like speaking a burst of energy into my weary body!
Day Three: Tuesday 11-13
Due to traffic delays, the Family Promise bus didn't arrive until 6:15pm. Steve and I greeted some pretty weary guests. They had forgotten that this is family picture night, and were too tired to want to even comb their hair! Our first concern was feeding them their dinner. Tonight, instead of gathering in a circle, we told them to sit at the tables. I had made a little checklist of things to tell them - some I should have told them Mon., but, without a list, that didn't happen! We honored our evening folks who are veterans: Steve Rednour, Carl Smith, and Joseph Iler because I forgot about it last night!
Guess what we had for dinner? We had a complete turkey dinner prepared by Donnie & Larry Garver. Dara McKaig also helped with the preparation. It was so good!
Matt, Kathy, Elijah, and Baby Burlend, Lori and Hezekiah Young were our evening hosts. Hezekiah cried when he had to leave. I'm telling you, parents, our CrossRoads children love serving! Lori was our photographer for family portraits. After some food in the tummys, everyone, except one of the moms, was up to being photographed. We have a very good looking group of guests.
This was an outstanding night from the prayer team. We had 5 prayer warriors on-site, and they all joined us for dinner: Celida and Angel Garcia, Tonya Niblett, David Storms, and Matt Burlend. I saw Angel with his arms around his mother sitting on the stage steps praying. It was very touching. Judy and I had prayed last week that God would send praying children with their parents to pray for the Family Promise children: this is a praise.
Matt Burlend did the overnight duty by himself. I didn't get any phone calls in the middle of the night, so everything must have gone smoothly: yet another praise!
Day Four: Wednesday 11-14
When Espi got off the Family Promise bus, she told us the parents didn't forget that this is Parent's Night Out! Our guests arrived about a 1/2 hour before dinner, and, yes, the basketballs were out. . .
Thomas, Jacqueline, and Tyler Baker, Penny, Chase, and Rochelle Holt, and Linda DeFelix were our evening hosts. Pastor Dave joined us for dinner, and George Prohaska, who serves on the Family Promise Board and is host coordinator at Mission Del Sol church, also joined us for dinner. I gave him a little tour and shared how we had set up the organizational piece at CrossRoads. George was very impressed and amazed at all of the volunteers involved, especially when I told him about Steve Rednour, Paula & Carl Smith, and Joseph Iler who faithfully serve every day of hosting.
Cathy Williams and I were talking when she was helping Sunday with the set-up about the weeks activities. She shocked me tonight when she gave me an envelope before dinner. Cathy told me Sharon, a message therapist, would be here from 7:00 - 8:30p to give the parents chair messages. The envelope was for Sharon: Cathy paid for 1 1/2 hours of message time! I could hardly contain myself.
When we circled up for dinner, I introduced new volunteers to our guests. They clapped when I introduced Pastor Dave. I had a few announcements to make, then I got to tell them about the messages. Of course, I couldn't see all of our adult guests reactions when I told them that, but Jospeh, Steve, and Pastor Dave told me about the excitement they saw on their faces. Thank you, Cathy, for such a great gift.
We haven't detected a bad cook yet amongst our CrossRoads family. Tonight we were treated to a yummy fried chicken dinner by the Hatlestad family: LyNelle, Kristen, and Greg. We were looking forward to seeing Stephanie again, but she was sick - we prayed for her. I think her nephew, Noah (9 mos.), took over her supervising position!
None of the adults had a hard time finishing dinner by 7:00 to begin their 1 1/2 hours of time to themselves. We shut the gym doors, so they had their own quiet quarters. Now the work began for our evening hosts as we were watching 8 active children. Jacqueline snatched baby Gregory. She told me, "This makes me want to have grandchildren!" Thomas was watching Jacqueline - maybe he is wanting to be a grandpa! Rochelle played cards with Jackie; Chase overdid himself playing basketball with our boys; Jose was back with his brothers, Christian & Alejandro, playing ball; Tyler also was at the basketball end of the gym, but our little 2 year-old latched onto him; Linda brought all kinds of paper for drawing and making paper boats & planes. Dominic (2) wanted me to draw circles for him, then eyes, mouth, nose, ears. I asked him if he wanted hair. The hair I drew made him laugh, so did the teeth!
Our prayer warriors were Margaret Brandt and Rosemary Nunemacher. Rosemary also joined us for dinner. Our evening hosts Jessica Conrad, Jared Monaco, and Russ Funk were also going to pray.
When I left around 9:00, Jessica and Jared were drawing with some of the children. The dads were playing basketball, and Russ was making his way around meeting folks.
Day Five: Thursday 11-15
Steve was 'missing in action' today.' I felt sorry for him: he has worked hard all week plus working a full-time job. I wouldn't even want to think about doing all of this without his help. Carl was moving tables and chairs, emptying trash, and figuring out the speakers and DVD player for the big screen TV. Joseph was making preparations for dinner time. My husband was mopping the floor: Hmmmm. . . I didn't know he knew how to use a mop! Paula said Steve will probably come back tomorrow all rested and obnoxious!
Anyway, after much rushing around, we did get the CrossRoads Hilton looking presentable for our guests.
The Grace Singers have performed every evening for us during circle time, except Mon. when I forgot to ask them. Five of the children sing this song:
Oh, the Lord is good to me
And so I thank the Lord
for giving me the things I need,
the sun and the rain and the apple seed
The Lord is good to me!
Chad, Pilar, Hannah, and Samuel Derenge, Lori & Hezekiah Young were our hosts for the evening. Marisela and Andy Munoz prepared a to-die-for tamale dinner. Veronica said it was so good to have homemade Mexican food. From the looks of the plates, I'd say everyone was thinking the same thing!
Lori brought picture framing kits for our guests to make frames for their family pictures that Lori had taken on Tuesday. The pictures all turned out good. Lori is even going to make some wallet-sized pictures for the families. One of the moms told Lori her family didn't have a family picture: she was so grateful. Hannah was playing cards with Jackie; Chad, Samuel, and Hezekiah were playing ball with the boys; Pilar made a run to the store - baby Gregory was out of formula, & the guests needed some things for the Day Center.
Jeri Ablin came to pray for us - thank you so much. Judy Appelt was also our prayer warrior on site, and she joined us for dinner. Mary Metzger prayed from home.
Mark set up Barber Shop in the hall. He gave several haircuts to the men and boys. The barber shop thing was a first - it was fun. Several us were watching, talking, and laughing. Actually, Mark did a good job. The night before was funnier when Angela had Gregorio practically stick his head IN the trash can while she buzzed him!
Paula Smith's mom, Pauline, is visiting them this week from CA, so she has been joining us. I told her I had this vision of having grandparent-type folks available to rock, hug, or talk to the children. Pauline was the first. She was rocking Gregory with a smile that was almost too big for her face!
This overnight was a blank space on our schedule. At the eleventh hour, Jose Fernandez and Josh Moll served as our overnight hosts, but couldn't get there until after 10:15. So, after I played Skip Bo with Jackie, and straightened up the living room, I was an intercessor on-site. Thank you. Lord. It was a wonderful evening. I don't know how God makes such a big building seem so warm and cozy.
Day Six: Friday 11-16
This was pizza night served by Carl & Paula Smith, Joseph Iler, and Pauline. Prior to dinner, I gathered the parents at one of the dinner tables to share with them how I had been praying for their children that morning. I prayed that they would not get caught up in addictions, and that God would just help them say "NO." When I was reading the "In Touch" devotional for the day after I had prayed, the scripture included "It teaches us to say "No" to ungodliness and worldly passions..." Titus 2:12 NIV. I read the scripture v.11-14 to them and shared the devotion which included 'Believing in Jesus means He lives in us - guiding us to wise decisions and offering us comfort and security, even in chaotic circumstances.' Two of the moms thanked me. I praise God for the opportunity.
Randy, Lori, Connor, Landon, & Carson Hack, Kristen and Kendra Werth, and Linda DeFelix were our evening hosts. David Storms joined us for dinner and helped with the clean-up. They were shooting a few hoops, making necklaces and popsicle stick crafts after dinner.
We showed "Facing the Giants" on the big screen TV in our living room. One of the families didn't join us, but the others were all snuggled on couches and some were on the floor mats. Pastor Jose and his sons, Jose, Christian, & Alejandro joined us. Randy and Steve were popping popcorn theatre-style; Lori was serving. The guests seemed to enjoy their pizza dinner and movie night.
Jose Fernandez prayed on-site while Mary Metzger was praying from home. We value our prayer warriors.
Randy Hack did double-duty tonight: he was overnight host along with Jose Fernandez and Josh Moll.
A home-cooked breakfast of scrambled eggs, hash browns, pancakes, bacon, and fresh fruit was prepared by Carl & Paula Smith, and Sam & Sharon Parks. One of the little girls said she hadn't had a cooked breakfast since they have been in Family Promise. Scott Shepherd joined us for breakfast. Anyway, the guests got to sleep in a bit as breakfast was served at 9:00.
At 10:30 Family Promise Standard Time, Russ Funk and I took the families to the Holiday Festival at the Mesa Arts Center. It wasn't as kid friendly as I had hoped, but our guests enjoyed a change of scenery and the live jazz stage performance. We were planning to have lunch there, but a double cheeseburger was $7 and soda was $3! Plan B was McDonald's with a stop at DQ for those craving some ice cream.
I think everyone took a nap after we got back to the church. I sacked out in a cushy chair. Joseph caught me, and told me there was no sleeping on the job! Dave Kofka came about 5pm to set up the rock wall for climbing. That was a big hit, and several of our guests made it to the top. Sammy (8) got part way up and wanted to come back down. Dave let him rest a bit, his mom told him to remember the movie - nothing is impossible with God. Pretty soon Sammy started climbing again, and rang the buzzer at the top of the wall!
A great spaghetti and meatball dinner was served by Jena Miller, George, Dara McKaig, and Joseph Iler with a contribution from Pat Kofka. David Belles, Margaret, Alec, and Amanda Brandt were our evening hosts. This was a really different night: the guests were preparing to move on the next day. Steve Rednour, David Storms, Margaret, her children, Russ Funk and I started doing what we could to prepare for the take-down.
Judy Appelt was our on-site prayer warrior. We really needed her tonight. I noticed a change in the Family Promise climate after she got started. Praise God! Mary Metzger prayed from home.
Russ spent the night.
Guests departed Sunday morning, 11/18/07 at 7:00am on the Family Promise bus. Steve Rednour, Walt & Kim Murray, Russ Funk, David and I put the Youth Building back together again.
Our next hosting is 2/17 - 2/24/08. Sign-ups will start 1/27/08. If you have any special services i.e., manicure, pedicure, balloon art, clowns, face painting, use your imagination, that you would like to donate for our guests, please let me know. 480-413-1651
If I have forgotten to mention anyone who served, I am sorry because you are important. As you can see, it takes many volunteers to make this possible. I appreciate each one of you.
Well over half of the items we had donated were collected by the students at St. Timothy's Catholic Academy. The student council sponsor visited CrossRoads for the first time with her parents two weeks before we hosted. She noticed the Family Promise announcement in the bulletin. She was looking for an outreach project for the students during Homelessness Awareness Week, so, Praise God for making this provision.