It was a typical windy day in downtown Chicago and my daughter, Shayla, and I were stuck smack dab in the middle of rush hour traffic! Picture it in your mind: middle aged woman who grew up in small farm town in the Midwest driving with young precious daughter in the middle of 6 lanes of jammed traffic! I didn’t have a clue where I was going, but Shay and I loved the thrill of it all, for the first 30 minutes. Three hours later we finally arrived to our motel, I was frazzled and stressed. When I got out, I felt a little tap on my arm.

“Mom, don’t forget, this is a stress free weekend,” Shayla gently said. Wow, what a great reminder for me. Sometimes I find myself stressed over the smallest things in life. Granted, at the time, they seem really big and important, but if I can get myself to take a step back, examine the situation with my God Goggles on, it’s much easier to put things in the proper perspective.

Today I encourage you to do just that with your life. Take a step back, put your God Goggles on and really look at what is important in your world and what you need more patience with.

There are so many great verses on patience, but two of my favorites are:

Psalm 40:1 I waited patiently for the Lord: he turned to me and heard my cry.

Romans 12:12 Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.

Be encouraged to press on and walk with a lighter step today! We love you and we are counting down the days to summer ’08!

Hugs,

I recently returned from a trip that took me through Louisville, KY. While there, I had the opportunity to meet up with some awesome K2 Kampers. One of them, Tannis Bachman, filled me in on how things were going at her school.

This sweet girl has taken charge by teaming up with some of her friends and creating a Fellowship of Christian Athletes group. These dedicated teens have decided to focus on younger students in their middle school because they’re worried that these students are heading down a dangerous road. “Our mission in having FCA is to be a light for younger kids in a generation that’s being lead toward darkness, and sports is a great place to start. We try to teach the kids how to be a Christian competitor both on and off the court and field.”

However, the road of discipleship is not always an easy one. Tannis commented, “We’ve had more problems than success, but that’s only natural for a new program. As the one of the leaders, it’s definitely been challenging.”

Tannis credits her relationship with Christ and her time at Kamp as contributing sources for her desire to be a leader. “I remember the way that Kamp counselors chose to be different and lead for Christ and that inspires me to do the same. Being a junior, I know that many younger girls look up to the upper classmen and Kamp has taught me how to live a godly life so they can follow Christ’s example.”

I’m so proud of Tannis and all of you who have the courage to lead others instead of being a follower.

“Wait for the LORD; Be strong and let your heart take courage; Yes, wait for the LORD.” Psalm 27:14

Isaiah 2:3 says, “He will teach us his ways, so that we may walk in his paths.” For many of us, learning the Lord’s ways takes time, but for Julian Olivares of Westfield, NJ, the lessons seem to be readily heard and studied.

As most of you know, Kanakuk runs the Haiti Christmas Project during the holidays. With this project, we send gift bags filled with necessities to the less fortunate children of Haiti. Knowing of this project, Julian used his ingenuity and created a raffle to raise money to send additional bags to the children. He solicited area businesses to contribute and 14 agreed! Additionally, he walked door to door and raised an additional $500! Incredible! After drawing the winning tickets, he called the winners, wrote personalized thank you notes, and delivered the prizes personally! Talk about bearing much fruit! Julian, you are blazing a trail for us all!

We’ll be packing gift bags next Christmas. Wanna help? Email me at joe@kanakuk.com

Pictures from the Haiti Christmas Project!

Just a shout out to the awesome Sally Higgins for making first team all-district and the all-state team this basketball season! This awesome team player led her team to the regional championship game! Way to go, Sally! K2 is proud of you!

Just a few short words of advice from awesome K-2 Kamper Madison Parker of Lubbock, TX! She claims that no one can do it all alone! “However strong you think you are in your walk, there should always be something you are aiming to do better. None of us is perfect, but if we aren’t striving to be, we become stagnant, which allows room for the devil to attack…” She also suggests that being close to your family is of the utmost importance. “…friends are fun and all, but you know your parents want what is best for you and will ALWAYS be there for you.” And last, but certainly not least is, “Always take your worries to God; no problem is too big.”