No Whine Zone

Sadly, many of my blogs have been inspired by death and grief. Today our church, The King’s Chapel, mourns the loss of another dear saint as Nora Phelps gave up her long battle with MS and went to be with her Lord and Savior.  We rejoice with Nora that she is no longer imprisoned by her failing body, but naturally, her friends and family---especially her husband who devotedly cared for her---will miss her terribly. She is one of those unique individuals who could maintain her sense of humor in the midst of crushing physical disability. Most remarkably, Nora did not complain. I have known her for over two decades and watched as the MS slowly took away all her mobility, but I never once heard her whine, grumble, or bemoan her situation. She always remained cheerful, kind, and concerned for others.

I once asked Nora how she could stay so positive, and she explained she had decided from the outset of her disease that although she couldn't control her physical body, she could control her attitude.  She had a choice whether or not to live her time out as a bitter, complaining woman. But she knew that if she chose bitterness, no one would want to be around her and she would lose all her friends and family. She would become a lonely, bitter, complaining woman. Nora chose wisely to be happy and to make those around her happy. Nora chose joy and lived her difficult days in a no-whine zone. Needless to say, everyone loved Nora and enjoyed her company.

Nora’s life and example have challenged me to do better. I confess that I can easily fall into whining and complaining. My husband and I tease each other: “Do you want some cheese with your whine?”  Recently, I experienced God’s grace despite my whining. Someone ran into the back of my little car and totaled it (my husband was driving and thankfully was uninjured). As a pastor’s family, we don’t have fancy cars but rather drive very old, used, but faithful Hondas. From a previous and similar experience when someone t-boned and totaled my parked car, I knew that the insurance company would only give us the Blue-book value of the car and not what we had paid for it or what we would need to buy a new one. Plus my husband was suddenly saddled with the hassle of having to spend time he didn't have taking our car to the shop, getting estimates, and looking for a new car with all that entails. I was very upset with the unfairness of the entire situation and couldn't stop whining about it (even to my home group fellowship). My husband would try to remind me that God could bring something good out of this mess, but I didn't have the eyes of faith to see how.

However, God did have a plan. Our mechanic told us that he thought he could fix the car for less than the money we had been given to replace it. Meanwhile, a very generous man in our church had a car his son was trading in, and he graciously gave it to us. Turns out this car is a fully-loaded 2008 Toyota, ten years newer than my little Honda! Having that new car meant that our college-aged son, whose car had died in the fall, could have our “totaled” Honda once it had been fixed. Even though we had suffered an accident, God was gracious enough to work it for good and help us come out ahead. I am humbled that, despite my whining and complaining, God still bestowed His grace, His truly unmerited favor, on me.

I have been planning to tell my car story for some weeks now, but because of Nora’s passing and her example, I felt compelled to sit down and write it today. With God’s grace and with Nora’s inspiration, I will endeavor to stop my whining and complaining and make my home a “No-Whine Zone.” Then perhaps, like Nora, I can shine like a star and bring others the message of a joyful life.

¹⁴ Do everything without complaining or arguing, ¹⁵ so that you may be innocent and pure as God's perfect children, who live in a world of corrupt and sinful people. You must shine among them like stars lighting up the sky, ¹⁶ as you offer them the message of life.             

                                                    Philippians 2:14-16 (Good News Translation)

Memorial Day Reflections: Mothers' Sons

                                        
    

            
   

                   "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends" (John 15:13).                               

Memorial Day has changed for me since my nephew Gunnery Sgt Ryan Jeschke, USMC, was killed in Afghanistan in August 2012. In the past, I honored the memory of my husband’s Marine Corps family members who had faithfully served our country, but who died in their beds after living a full life.  Now Memorial Day is not only a day of remembrance; it is a day of mourning.

While most Americans play and picnic and mark the beginning of summer fun, I know Ryan’s young wife, mom and dad, sisters, aunts and uncles, cousins, and friends are marking another reminder of his ultimate sacrifice to enable all of us to enjoy the freedom to play and picnic.

In another conflict, one hundred and fifty years ago, Unions and Confederate troops clashed on the rolling fields of the Shenandoah Valley near New Market, Virginia. Among them were teenaged cadets sent up as reserves from the Virginia Military Institute (VMI), ten of whom lost their young lives. Although the South’s struggle to uphold slavery was morally indefensible and rightly defeated, these boys were fighting to protect their homeland, families, and friends. They were all, on both sides, mothers’ sons.

With the 150^th anniversary of many Civil War battles, my husband and I have been visiting battlefields: Gettysburg as well as Manassas/Bull Run and Bristow Station, which are near where we live. A month ago we decided to walk the New Market battlefield with our son, who was graduating from nearby Eastern Mennonite University. We had heard the tragic story of the fallen cadets back in the fall when we had toured VMI, my father-in-law’s alma mater.  We walked through the meadow, named the “Field of Lost Shoes” because torrential rains had turned the field into a muddy bog, which pulled off the boys’ boots and shoes as they charged barefoot up the long hill.  Walking a battlefield is a moving and sobering experience. One can easily imagine the flying bullets and the falling men—all mothers’ sons.

In one of those amazing providences, on our return from this excursion, we received an invitation to the premiere of a new feature film, Field of Lost Shoes, which opened the 8^th annual GI Film Festival held in conjunction with Memorial Day observances here in the nation’s capital.  A dear friend from college and one of my husband’s groomsmen, David M. Kennedy, wrote and produced the film. Dave is an Irish-Catholic genius, who was the President of the College of Arts & Sciences at the University of Virginia, a Commander in the Navy, a top-gun pilot, and the military consultant for films like Pearl Harbor and Behind Enemy Lines. We had last seen Dave at Arlington National Cemetery for the burial of his brother alongside his oldest brother, a hero killed in action in Vietnam. While there, Dave took the time to visit Ryan’s grave with us, where he and his son Sam, a ROTC student at UVA, gave Ryan an honor salute. Needless to say, we were very touched by their tribute.

For many years, Dave had dreamed of making a feature film about the VMI cadets who fought and died at New Market. What a thrill to be invited as his “honored guests” to the premiere of this dream fulfilled.  We hope Field of Lost Shoes will get the attention and distribution it deserves.  I’m pleased to say that the film is excellent and a moving tribute to these mothers’ sons.

This weekend I trust we will all take the time to pause and remember the many men and women (sons and daughters all) in countless conflicts, who have laid down their lives to protect our homeland and our freedom. And while we remember and honor the fallen, please pray for their families who are also remembering---and mourning.

https://www.facebook.com/InHonorOfGunnerySgtRyanJeschke

http://gifilmfestival.com/portfolios/field-of-lost-shoes

Celebrating the Life and Faith of Shawn Kuykendall   (1982-2014)

Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit (John 12:24).

I have been putting off writing this blog about our young friend Shawn Kuykendall, who passed away March 12^th of cancer at 32.  The thought has been too painful. Just last October, I wrote of the “royal fellowship of death” our church has experienced over the past 18 months, and now we have one more name to add to that roll. I also posted a poem I had dedicated to friends whose sons had died too young, and now I have one more friend to add to that dedication.

I’ve known Shawn since he was born. Shawn’s parents and my husband and I have been friends since we were newlyweds; and Shawn’s dad has been an elder in our church, a soccer mentor and coach to our family, and one of my husband’s closest friends. Our children grew up ten minutes from the Kukykendalls and were buddies through home-school, public high school, college, church, soccer, etc. They played together as children and hung out together as teens and young adults. The ties are so deep that they’ve been in each other’s weddings and two of our sons and their newly-wed wives have even lived in the Kuykendall’s basement apartment. Walking through Shawn’s eight month battle with cancer has been heart-breaking for our entire family and our entire church family.

Shawn was known for his joie de vivre, his panache, his style, his outrageous sense of fun, his considerable soccer prowess, his zest for life, but most of all, for his love for the Lord. Shawn continues to touch lives; his life and legacy have made an incredible and far-reaching impact.  USA Today, the Washington Post, and even Brett Baier’s Special Report on Fox News paid homage to Shawn’s courage and faith, touching literally millions. Others have written and spoken far more eloquently and poignantly about Shawn than I can, and so I’m listing some of those links below.

However, I’d like to add two things. Because of the flurry of these heart-felt tributes and because over 850 people came to celebrate Shawn’s life at his memorial service last Saturday, many, many people have heard the Good News that “God so loved the world that He sent his only Son; that whosoever believes in Him, should not perish but have life everlasting” (John 3:16).  Shawn is with the Lord, and his desire is that we too will be with Him for all eternity.  The greatest tribute anyone can give Shawn is to give serious consideration to his Savior and Lord, Jesus the Christ. 

The other wonderful thing to come out of this earthly tragedy was to watch the church, the Body of Christ, work together so beautifully. Our church, The King’s Chapel, is a medium-sized congregation. My husband, the senior pastor, and his staff were frankly concerned how we could handle the huge crowd anticipated for the memorial service.  But the Lord raised up gifted people who could organize every aspect of such a large service, and many others stepped up to bring and serve food, direct traffic and parking, run a shuttle bus service, decorate, clean-up, etc. Someone provided a tent for over-flow attendance, and God provided a lovely spring day for our comfort. The event went seamlessly. Shawn’s life was celebrated. And God receives all the Glory.

We all feel incredible pain at Shawn’s passing; nevertheless, God has done amazing things through the pain and, I trust, has more amazing things in store.

Some links for more tributes and information about Shawn Kuykendall:

http://video.foxnews.com/v/3335068567001/special-report-tribute-to-shawn-kuykendall/?playlist_id=930909819001#sp=show-clips

http://kuykenstrong.com/2014/03/27/thanking-shawn-for-saving-my-life/

http://ftw.usatoday.com/2014/03/shawn-kuykendall-cancer-kuykenstrong-mike-foss/

http://vimeo.com/88882389 

http://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/dcunited/shawn-kuykendall-soccer-standout-dies-of-cancer-at-32/2014/03/12/1058874e-a9e7-11e3-8a7b-c1c684e2671f_story.html

http://washington.cbslocal.com/2014/03/12/the-junkies-pay-tribute-to-friend-shawn-kuykendall-who-died-of-cancer-at-32/ (click the Junkies radio reel).

From his sister-in-law: http://alliekuyk.blogspot.com/2014/03/legacy.html

From my daughter: http://younglifehouse.blogspot.com/

Shawn even has a Wikipedia page:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shawn_Kuykendall

"Thanks, Mom!"

I very much enjoyed watching the Sochi Winter Olympics these past two weeks while braving winter weather and snowstorms, snuggled in a warm blanket in front of a cozy fire.  Besides cheering on the amazing young athletes and hearing their compelling stories, I appreciated viewing the series of commercials run by Proctor & Gamble where the athletes thanked their moms for their support. Moms---and Dads---do deserve a great deal of credit for encouraging (and often paying for) the success of their children, and I thought those tributes were heart-warming and wonderful. Who couldn’t share the excitement, relief, and pride of the mothers of Meryl Davis and Charlie White, who had been cheering their ice dancing prodigies on from their childhood to Olympic gold? I could personally relate to the tearful pride of many of the parents, as I’ve proudly, and tearfully, celebrated collegiate national championships in cheerleading and soccer with two of my nine children, as well as countless games, tournaments, and competitions with the others.

But, although we as parents are grateful for their appreciation and certainly share some of the credit for our children’s success, they are the ones who put in the hours of work and practice. They are the ones who have the skills, abilities, and drive—by the grace of God---to achieve their dreams. It’s an interesting dynamic, isn’t it?

I recently was asked to speak about God’s spiritual blessings (Ephesians 1) at a women’s meeting at our church. I shared a testimony from my younger mom days when I was feeling a bit depressed, staying home with then four little ones and having no real ministry or impact ( at least to my mind).  My husband encouraged me to “seek the Lord” and pray that He would speak to me in this time of feeling down. In prayer I felt led to read Isaiah 8: 17-18. Verse eighteen reads: “Behold, I and the children whom the Lord has given me are signs and portents in Israel from the Lord of hosts.”  The message to me was that my children were my ministry and that as I devoted myself to them, the Lord would use us as signs, witnesses, testimonies, and blessings to His people.  This verse has given me great encouragement and peace over the years as I have quietly served my family, while my husband has had the more public ministry to our church.  Soon after I received this verse, a young woman in the church came up to me and said, “You know, Melanie, you and your children are such a testimony to me.”  Years later when I was experiencing a difficult pregnancy with our youngest, an elder in the church told me he had been praying for me and he had a scripture verse to encourage me: it was the same verse in Isaiah I had received years before!

Fast forward twenty years, and I can boast in God’s grace that all nine of our children (and their spouses) not only love the Lord, but are actively involved in ministry. The Lord has more than fulfilled His promise to this once young, struggling mother. All of my children truly are blessings to the people of God. Although I am gratified and grateful for the times they say, “Thanks, Mom,” I’m even more grateful for God’s blessing and what He has done in and through them.

Just a year and a half ago, we had five sons living at home and a constant revolving door of young people. Now with all our children, but two college-aged sons, happily married, we’ve entered on a new season, caring for my elderly parents.   In less than two years, we’ve gone from a home like a youth hostel to one more like an assisted living facility—but that’s a story for another time. My beautiful mother has Alzheimer’s and I’m finding our roles are reversing as I assume more of the caregiver/mother role with her. It’s sad and difficult to watch her decline—especially when I owe her so much. She, and my father, instilled in me a love for literature, stories, history, and travel, and most importantly, a love for the Lord.  My mom has been one of my biggest cheerleaders in my writing career. As an excellent proof reader and editor, she contributed more than anyone to making certain that my books were well-crafted. For this reason, I dedicated my first book Inklings to my parents. I’m saddened that my mother can no longer take on that important role for me with any of my future writing. However, I would like to once more take this opportunity to publically thank her for all she’s done to mold me, by God’s grace, into the wife, mother, teacher, and writer I am today.

“Thanks, Mom!”

Jane Austen: A Writer's Inspiration

 For the last few weeks, I’ve been immersed in Jane Austen—a happy occurrence while I’m teaching my favorite class for Marymount University: an upper level literature course on 19^th century British women authors. (I especially enjoyed being snowed in this past week so that I could watch a marathon of the BBC Pride & Prejudice mini-series with Colin Firth :). Re-reading Jane Austen’s novels and various biographies has given me some insights to Jane Austen’s writing life, which have inspired me, and I hope will inspire you as well.

Lesson One: Importance of observation

Jane Austen is known as a keen observer of her society and social sphere.  Her wit and ability to catch the nuances in voice of different characters has stood her above most writers for the last two centuries. By modern standards, her life appears rather uneventful, touching only a narrow sphere of society; and yet, she captures so vividly commonplace details, social conventions, settings, conversations, and characters that we are transported easily to her world. Social historians still utilize her writings to learn more about daily life among the gentry class in her era.  As writers, we need to observe and listen—even ordinary life has great wealth for the imagination.

Lesson Two: Keep writing (and revising)!

Jane Austen wrote stories, poems, letters, satires, novels, and even prayers for most of her life. She was only published in the last five years of her short life, the final two of her six novels not appearing until after her early death at 41. Despite rejection of Pride and Prejudice in its first version as First Impressions, she continued writing. Sixteen years later, after Sense and Sensibility finally met with success, Miss Austen revised Pride and Prejudice, which was immediately bought for publication. Her novels have held international acclaim and have never been out of print. Few of us will ever enjoy that kind of success, but we can at least be encouraged not to give up writing--even when faced with rejection. 

Lesson Three: Don’t stress about the “fallow” times.

I’m in a fallow time myself now when I’m not producing anything new other than these occasional  blogs, and this unproductive time can be quite frustrating. Besides just the normal busy-ness of a pastor’s wife and mother of a large clan, I’ve taken on a care-taking role for my elderly parents who have moved in with us.  I’m also an English adjunct professor with piles of student papers to grade, and I’m barely getting the edits done for putting my existing books into e-book format. So, for this season in my life, I’m often frustrated (and embarrassed) by my lack of productivity in the writing department. I’ve been encouraged to realize that Jane Austen also had a fallow period. Her first versions of Sense & Sensibility, Pride & Prejudice, and Northanger Abbey were all written in her early twenties. Then on her father’s retirement, the Austen parents and (unmarried) daughters moved to Bath. Jane Austen attempted little writing during this period of her life. Some critics speculate that she was unhappy in Bath. I think the evidence weighs more on her being extremely busy with an active social life and the care of her parents. In any case, after the death of her father and several moves, Jane and her mother and sister Cassandra were able to settle down at last in a lovely home in Chawton on the estate of her older brother Edward. In Chawton, Jane was finally able to get back to writing and revising and from there her six published novels were produced. I don’t believe that Jane’s fallow time was ill-spent. I think her observation skills had been sharpened and she had much more life experience to enrich her stories. This consideration makes me hopeful that my fallow season will not last forever and that perhaps my best writing will come in the not too distant future. 

 Lesson Four: Faith can be subtle

Some scholars have actually argued that Jane Austen was devoid of faith as her books bear scant reference to it. Many biographers ignore her religion altogether. In graduate school, I wrote a paper on Jane’s faith and my research revealed that not only was she a devout Christian from a devout family, but that her faith permeates her thinking and writing. Jane Austen is quick to satirize the religion of hypocritical clergymen like Mr. Collins, while her finest characters reflect a strong morality grounded in true religion. Although Jane Austen deliberately kept her religious beliefs from being overt so as not to “preach” to her readers, her Christian world-view informs the strong moral message which under-girds all of her novels.  C.S. Lewis aptly describes the author’s skill of keeping Christianity “latent” in a story. In an August 1939 letter in response to Sister Penelope’s praise of his science fiction novel Out of the Silent Planet, Lewis writes: “Any amount of theology can now be smuggled into people’s minds under cover of romance without their knowing it.” (Collected Letter of C.S. Lewis, Vol. II 264).

Like Jane Austen or C.S. Lewis, we Christian fiction writers have the opportunity to tell compelling stories which illustrate spiritual truths--- but hopefully, like them, we will do so with subtlety and grace.

 

 

Christmas Greetings

December 2013

Dear Ones:

Greetings from the Jeschke Clan! We wish you a joyous Christmas and a blessed New Year! After all the tumultuous changes of 2012, our lives have settled down—somewhat.  Our biggest change and challenge was moving my parents Earl & Betty Morey in with us the end of May. We’ve enjoyed having family members come to visit them, and my dad continues to bless our congregation at The King’s Chapel with his weekly Bible teaching.  Besides facilitating the move, I (Melanie) spent the spring teaching World Lit at Marymount U, attended an “Inklings” conference near Ashville, NC (touring the Biltmore Estate), and traveled to Springfield, MO, visiting Christen’s  family and speaking at their church’s women’s event and MOPS group. Bill returned to coaching soccer at Chantilly H.S. and loved it.  Since this year marked the 150^th anniversary of many Civil War battles, we finally made the pilgrimage to Gettysburg and had the moving experience of marching across the killing fields of Pickett’s Charge. We also toured the Manassas Battlefield when Christen visited in July with her crew for two fun (but exhausting :) weeks. Besides her four, Christen brought her newly “adopted daughter” KeKe with her adorable baby Julius. The highlight of their trip was an overnight to Rehoboth Beach, where we explored all our old haunts from the days when Bill’s parents owned a cottage a block from the boardwalk.  We spent our annual beach vacation in Corolla (OBX) but really missed Topsail Island and our beloved beach house, which sold last year. However, God graciously provided other short getaways as several friends generously offered the use of their waterfront vacation homes, including a condo in N. Myrtle Beach, where I met up with my cousin Barbie, whom I hadn’t seen in years. From there last New Year’s, we took a day trip to Charleston, S.C. (Bill was attacked by a virus and consequently did not find Charleston as charming as I did :).  We made frequent road trips this fall to watch our senior Brendan play soccer for Eastern Mennonite University (EMU) in Harrisonburg, VA. Despite the frustration of their losing season, we are proud that all the EMU coaches chose Brendan as the “Athlete of the week” after he scored two goals and had two assists. Bill and I enjoyed “going down the road” to watch soccer in many beautiful college towns, and stayed overnight in lovely Lexington, touring Bill’s father’s Alma Mater VMI. We’re honestly sad to see the era of college soccer end. We may have to make more trips to Christopher Newport University now where our youngest Kevin is thriving as a sophomore. With all the busy-ness of family, church, and teaching, I’m not currently writing anything new—unless blogs count—but I am editing my books for releases in e-format, as well as new paperback editions. Inklings is available now and the others will roll out over the next few months.  My new publisher is zealous for me to reach the tech- savvy generation; consequently, you can now follow me (please!) on Twitter, Pinterest, Facebook, and Blogspot. We look forward to staying in touch with you—in any format—and hope you will have a blessed holiday season. This Christmas may we not forget that we celebrate the coming of Jesus the Christ, our Savior, Lord, and King.  May you experience His great love and know Him who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life!

Blessings,

Melanie, Bill, & the Jeschke  clan                                                                                                   

 

 

Christmas 2013 Jeschke Family Wrap-up

Bill          

Status: forever busy with family, church work, soccer, and singing

 Ministry: Senior Pastor of The King’s Chapel (TKC) for eighteen years

Highlights: Road trips to Harrisonburg to watch Brendan play soccer for Eastern Mennonite; coaching soccer as an assistant at Chantilly H.S.

Melanie  

 Status: Adjunct professor of English at Marymount University & Northern VA Comm.College (NVCC-Manassas); speaker to women’s  and writers’ groups

Ministry: Mentor mom and speaker for MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers); behind the scenes editor, greeter, & organizer at TKC

Highlights: Release of books in e-format; teaching a World Lit class for Marymount;

attending an Inklings conference in Montreat, NC; speaking at Edgar Allan Poe Young Writer’s conference in Richmond; visiting the Youngs and speaking at their church’s MOPS  and women’s spring event

Katherine & Chris Craddock        Katie (9)   Colt (7)   Christian (almost 6)   Blaize (2 1/2)  Colby Ryan (8 months, born 4/8/13)

Katherine’s status:stay-at-home mom; professional writer; active in MOPS, official            soccer/swim/gymnastics/wrestling mom

Chris’s status: Pastor of Youth & Young Adults at TKC; coaches high school soccer & golf; taking seminary classes towards a PhD. from Regent  University, is now   licensed Realtor

Ministry: Chris oversees teens, college & career age ministries at TKC; Katherine serves on the SteeringTeam for MOPS

Highlights: Katherine and Chris’s screenplay The Senior Prank previewing to worldwide audiences; Katherine completed her Professional Certificate in Screenwriting from UCLA; her new screenplay "Band of Angels" reached the 2nd Round of the prestigious Austin Film Festival; Chris & Brian started Redux Realty, LLC and Redux Properties, LLC, a successful Real Estate investment and development company [www.reduxrealtyllc.com]; Katie (4th grade) excels at school, plays on a top travel soccer club, on swim team, & does recreational gymnastics; Colt excels in 2nd grade, selected for the pre-travel soccer program, swims and wrestles; Christian: began kindergarten, plays soccer, swims, and wrestles; Blaize is resourceful, happy, and a super loving big brother to Colby, a sweet, fat, and easy baby.

Christen & Jared Young    KeKe (19)   Raine (11)   Cadence (8)   Britan (6)   Decker (4)                                                                        

Christen’s status: Founder and Director of JOURNEY, a ministry for teen/college age mothers &

their families; full-time stay-at-home  mom;  blogger www.christenyoung.com; speaker at a variety of community events, including a large community concert  fundraiser

Jared’s status: 9^th year as a Fleet Manager for Prime, Inc. in Springfield, Mo; avid softball player 

Ministry:  Christen serves as her church’s MOPS coordinator & the founder and director of JOURNEY

Highlights: God provided the Youngs with a new “forever” family member out of foster care "KeKe", who currently attends Paul Mitchell School for Beauty, lives on her own, & excels as mother to Julius Alexander (8 months); Raine, 5th grade, in softball  & competitive gymnastics; Cadence, 2nd grade, in ALERT a program for gifted students,  Britan in kindergarten, plays t-ball; & can't wait for soccer season to begin; Decker, mommy's buddy, patiently waits for his "best brother" Britan to get home from school to play. Prayer need: Christen still suffers from chronic shoulder, back, and neck pain

Cheryl & Brian Craddock    Paige (2)     Emmett (16 months)

Cheryl’s status:  fulltime mom; Director of Children’s Ministry at TKC

Brian’s status: promoted to a superintendent for Clark Builders Group; partner with his brother Chris in Redux; plays TKC soccer & softball

Ministry: Children’s Ministry at TKC; Cheryl also serves on the Steering Team for TKC MOPS

Highlights: Helping to build a new business (Redux), Paige loving to talk sing and dance, Emmett

learning to run

Brett & Barbee       Liam (19 months)

Brett’s Status:  Assistant Facilities Supervisor for Trinity Christian School and adjunct faculty, teaching Western Civilization at Northern VA Com. College-Manassas 

Barbee’s status: full time mom; part-time on-call scheduling manager and affiliate trainer for a dental practice; part-time nanny

Ministry: Barbee coordinates the TKC nursery; both Brett & Barbs assist with children’s church & nursery; Barbee often cooks for TKC's young adult ministry - Fusion. Brett hosts a men’s Bible study.

Highlights: Liam! Brett's first college teaching job; moving to a townhouse in Manassas, even closer to “Mimi & Pops” J

Aaron & Thea

Aaron’s status: works as a government employee for the Consumer Federal Protection Bureau  (CFPB) in D.C.                                                                                               

Thea’s status: serves as the Director of high school youth ministry at Vienna Presbyterian Church

Ministry: Both lead high school small groups and are very active members and leaders of young adult small groups; are excited to see some of their students begin committed, personal relationships with Jesus this past year

Highlights: Celebrated one year of marriage in August; enjoy spending time with family and friends

Prayer/praise: Thea is suffering from worsening shoulder/neck problems & pain; Aaron has learned to manage & avoid the symptoms of Ménière’s disease

Mark & Beth

Mark’s Status: 2nd year Advisory Associate within the Washington Federal Practice of

Pricewaterhouse Coopers (PwC);

Beth’s status: works as government employee with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (in  the same D.C. office as Aaron and next door to Mark's office :)

Ministry: Mark is a part-time TKC staff member in charge of the Fusion ministry (young adults and college students) and leads TKC worship bi-weekly; also leads a    weekly men's Bible study at his home; currently praying about long-term ministry. Beth supports Mark in the Fusion ministry; leads a weekly women's Bible  Study, assists the TKC Women's ministry, and often serves in the nursery at TKC.

Highlights: Celebrated 1st wedding anniversary in Mexico; in the past year Mark has played guitar & sung in nearly a dozen weddings while Beth has been a  bridesmaid in just as many; Mark continues to play soccer in a men's league while his Alma Mater, Messiah College, took home their 10th NCAA DIII title; Beth, an avid-runner, completed two half-marathons with plans for more next year

Scott & Eliza

Scott’s Status: officially incorporated his video production company: Now I See Productions

LLC (http://nowiseeproductions.com/); began a new job recently as a video editor for a local technological firm.

Eliza status: promoted in July to the position of Assistant Property Manager of Retail for over

350,000 sf. of retail space in Reston Town Center in Reston, VA. Ministry: Both  continue to serve as volunteer leaders for Young Life at Chantilly HS and TKC youth  group; also serve in TKC nursery and children’s ministry.

Highlights: Celebrated one year anniversary of marriage in August; Scott has filmed and edited a number of music and wedding videos

 Brendan  (22)
Status: Senior at Eastern Mennonite University (EMU), majoring in Liberal Arts with a

concentration in Physical Education & minors in Coaching, Exercise Science & Youth Ministry; played for EMU men’s soccer team; worked as a summer youth leader for Fairfax County Parks & Rec; graduates from EMU in April!                            

Ministry: Volunteer leader for TKC Impact youth group and for TKC children’s  ministry                                                                                
Highlights: Finished final soccer season with two goals & two assists and was awarded with “EMU Athlete of the Week,” as well as a team award for “Best Hustle,” has a lovely girlfriend,  a student at George Mason who attends TKC and works with Young Life

Kevin (20)

Status: Sophomore at Christopher Newport University (CNU) in Newport News, VA;  double majoring in Political Science and Economics, with a double minor in Leadership and U.S. National Security Studies

Ministry:volunteer leader for TKC Impact youth group and for TKC children’s ministry; various service projects for CNU

Highlights: “Has somehow managed to keep a girlfriend for over a year.”  J

 

bill.jeschke@thekingschapel.org; inklingsauthor@yahoo.com;   www.melaniejeschke.com;  http://melaniejeschke.blogspot.com/     http://www.facebook.com/pages/Melanie-Jeschke/40516263050;  http://www.pinterest.com/inklingsauthor/boards/    twitter: @Jeschke_m

                                                                                                                                                                                          

 

The Grinch

I have a confession to make: I am a Grinch.  I live in dread of this time of year and feel guilty because of it. Don’t get me wrong: I love Jesus and totally get that “He is the reason for the season.”  As a child, I absolutely loved Christmas: the decorations, the music, the lights, the cookies, the tree, the visits from Santa, the reverence of our candlelight Christmas Eve service, the fun of opening gifts—everything held me in awestruck wonder. I appreciate now all my parents, and especially my mom, did to make the season magical.

But as I have taken on the role my parents played, I have found the season to be incredibly stressful, not magical at all.  Mind you, I have nine children, three times that of my parents; so I could in good conscience multiply the amount of work I have to do at least that many times, plus even more now that we have enlarged our family, adding 7 sons and daughters-in-law and 12 grandchildren (as well as my parents who have moved in with us). While I’m writing this blog, I have a stack of end of term papers to grade for the college composition class I teach, long overdue edits on my books to complete so that they can be released as e-books, and then the usual Christmas litany of the annual letter to write and mail, the decorations to finish putting up, and the gifts to buy and wrap. I feel overwhelmed and stressed and not at all excited that Christmas is a little over two weeks away.  Sometimes I almost wish we were Puritans who do not observe special holidays! But we are not, and for this reason, I’ve confessed that I’m a Grinch.

So, now that I’ve confessed, I have to ask myself: what can I do about this situation? How can I de-stress myself? This morning at our MOPS group, where I’m a mentor mom, we had a therapist and mother talk to us about abandoning our perfectionism. For me, her talk was timely, as I recognized that part of my problem is trying to replicate the wonder of my childhood Christmases and living up to some perfectionist ideal which I cannot possibly achieve. Our speaker encouraged us to give up unrealistic expectations. I have to face grading papers and getting my semester grades in since that is my job, but I should relax and give myself a break on all the other stresses, which are primarily self-imposed. I should recognize that I will never be able to decorate like Martha Stewart and our bank account won’t allow me to be extravagant in my gift giving. The Christmas letters may or may not be out on time this year. But most importantly, I shouldn’t allow my own anxieties or frustrations, Grinch-like, to steal other people’s joy.

 Here’s hoping I can take a deep breath, concentrate on essentials, forget the nonessentials, and do the next thing God has put before me, not what I think should be done. And like the Grinch, I hope I can reform and allow my heart to grow three sizes in one day. 

May “God bless us, every one!” Merry Christmas!