What is The Gem?

Many of you have expressed interest in The Gem. That's where we go to church, where we work out, and where our kids play. It's kind of a hybrid between the YMCA and a traditional church. In order to help explain it, I'll tell you their story as I understand it.

Once upon a time there was a church in the city who lost its parking space to development. The leaders of the congregation knew something had to be done so they decided to find another location with more room. The city was out of the question because prices were on the rise. They prayed for God's guidance and He showed them a place for sale out in the country. It was a piece of land on a highway between two small, but developing towns. There were two buildings which included an auditorium, an indoor swimming pool, and a full-sized gymnasium. There was also a neat, old house with lots of windows and hard wood floors. The property offered plenty of space and potential so they sold their building in the city and bought it. The church agreed to make the drive and continue to meet together, which they did in the auditorium. It was a sacrifice but at least they had the space they needed to fellowship and grow.

The leaders went to the chamber of commerce to introduce themselves and to ask about the specific needs of the community. They were told that the property they had purchased used to be a recreational center and it was a great loss to the community when it closed down. Because the church wanted to be of service, they agreed to reopen the rec. center. They connected the old house to the main building by constructing a concourse between the two. The door to that concourse became the main entrance. They converted closets to child care rooms, filled the pool, bought gym equipment, and added air conditioning to the gymnasium. They started selling low-cost memberships and opened their doors to the public, all the while still meeting as a church in the auditorium on Sunday mornings for worship and Wednesday evenings for Bible study.

When John and I moved to town, we heard about the local gym and went in for a tour. We ended up joining for exercise and church. The kids take weekly art classes and they've been in two plays produced by the theater group. Sometimes we get a workout in on a Wednesday evening then head into the auditorium to join the church for a meal. Currently, The Gem is hosting their own version of the Biggest Loser competition. Sunday mornings they have a worship service and Bible study then hundreds of locals stream in for weigh-ins and work-outs related to the competition. At the end of the day, the church and the community are getting to know each other on a relational level. Each week we welcome new faces into the church--faces of people we met in the weight room or at the pool. It's a beautifully organic establishment addressing the question of how to introduce Jesus to a world who has no interest in religion, because it's not religion but relationship.

Last year The Gem baptized twelve people. Those twelve people live within minutes of countless other churches but, because they belonged to that demographic that has no intention of ever going to church, they were falling through the cracks. They came to The Gem for recreation and community and got more than they expected. Even in the Bible belt--or should I say especially in the Bible belt--this type of church is needed. They recognized the need for a place where non-church goers could fellowship with Christians without the pressures of religion. We hope to see more like it in the future.

JAWS Debut

This week was the first official session of the Jewell Athletic Workshop (JAWS). I spent the week painting these t-shirts for our family so folks would know how to identify us. A couple of masterminds from the GEM graciously created the logo for us. I was more than happy to do my part in getting it in print, but if any of my readers have a less time-consuming option for this, I would like to hear it.

John bought equipment for sports like frisbee golf, archery, basketball, soccer and flag football. We had twenty kids show up and participate in rotating stations. We were thrilled with the turnout. As we get more kids, we plan to break the groups down by age. 

A few of the men from the church that meets at the Gem volunteered to coach and assemble equipment.

We ran and played for three hours and pretty much wore everyone out. We saw lots of smiles and made some new friends. Goal accomplished.

Future goals include getting the word out that this is not a highly competitive program, but a place where every kid can play and be encouraged for the wonderful creation he or she is. We hope to provide a place for those individuals who don't fit into league sports and need a community of friends who accept them for who they are not what they can do.

We'll be back for our second session next week and plan to start registration. This is a non-profit organization and, if you're of the mind, you can contribute in many ways to keeping these kids off the couch, away from video games, and off drugs. We need your gently used sports equipment, prizes for games and raffles, cups and healthy snacks for breaks, and most importantly scholarships for low-income families. We've shaved this down to the penny and just $300 can send one kid through for an entire semester. $60 allows one kid to participate for a month. Thanks for tuning in and I hope you're encouraged by our future reports on JAWS.

Our Christmas

I hope you had a good holiday and enjoyed some time with family. Here's what we did for Christmas:

We drove to Colorado to spend time with my in-laws. The last time we did that was in October, and I barely remember the visit because my mom went with us and did not travel well. Now she's in a nursing home for people with Alzheimer's, which is working out to be best for everyone involved. It looks like she's going to stay. 

The boys enjoyed spending time with their cousins.

And playing in the snow.

Christmas morning started out with the adults waking up at 5:30, well before the kids were awake. When we awoke them with our coffee talk, they quickly tore into their stockings.

But these weren't just any stockings. Our very dear friend in Florida hand knit, felted, and monogrammed one for each of us. We cherished them so much that they went with us to Colorado.

Then the kids opened their main gift. Jonah got a skateboard--exactly what he wanted. Don't worry, he also got a helmet and pads.

Ben got a Playmobile farm set. He said, "Hey, look! I got a zoo!."

And Andy got a guinea pig, which you can't really see because he was immediately mobbed with affection. He also got a book about guinea pigs, which taught us they should not be raised individually. So, we promptly went back to the pet store and bought a friend for little Domino. 

When the rest of the family showed up, we did the adult gift exchange. As you can see, it's a good-sized family, so we've started a tradition where the adults draw names instead of buying for each person.

John was happy to get a Nook--something neither of us had heard of. I guess we really don't get out much.

And I guess they felt sorry for us, because they sent us to Estes Park where we visited the Stanley Hotel, where they filmed the Shining.

 But we stayed in a lodge where, to my knowledge, no horror films have ever been shot.

It was already really great, but when this elk paid us a visit on our back porch, it went from great to perfect. We drove through rocky Mountain National Park and saw a couple of hundred more.

I'm happy to be able to share some of our holiday memories with you and would love to hear about yours.

Women of the Congregation

The women of the Park Hill Church threw a Christmas party. I was invited so I guess that means I'm one of the women of the congregation. 

This group bears an interesting dynamic in that they sold their building in Fort Worth and opened a recreational center between Springtown and Azle. They present themselves more as a community center than a church in hopes to be more inviting to folks that otherwise wouldn't hang out with church goers. Some of the original group didn't quite agree with that vision so they left. Others stayed, and others still have joined--twelve people were baptized last year. The sand is still being sifted to see which grains will remain as the mission team that will canvas this neck of the woods. It looks like I might be one of those.

Basketball Rooster

I've been reporting on some pretty heavy stuff lately. If you're anything like me and you appreciate a little comic relief, then this story is for you. 

We bought some chicks when we moved to Texas and now they're full grown. What we thought were a bunch of hens turned out to be mostly hens with a couple of roosters. We made one into soup--yes, really. But the other one saved himself in the nick of time by showing us that he could do this:

We just can't bring ourselves to kill him--even though we have to carry a broom to gather eggs so he won't attack us. Any suggestions for a name?

Mom's Birthday

Mom is in respite care for the month of December. (Respite, in this case, basically means a break for us, the caretakers.) I'll spare you all the details of what brought us to that decision, but I will say our family was in desperate need of some assistance and we found a place in Fort Worth that works exclusively with Alzheimer's patients. There are in-house doctors and lots of wonderful nurses who understand our situation and have been a tremendous help. They are very good with Mom and she seems to like them.

Last Saturday we surprised Mom by bringing her a cake and some presents to celebrate her 66th birthday. She's always been very good about making us feel special on our birthdays and we wanted to make sure she was honored on hers. I told her we were coming, but everything is a surprise when you have Alzheimer's. We took my mom's mom and sister with us, while my brother and his family met us there. 

The facility provided a room for us to celebrate. They even decorated and set out some punch. They seem to know their clientele; Mom was thrilled with the party hat. 

Mom enjoyed her sister's antics as she opened presents.

We got her a fuzzy sweater and some grippy socks because comfort is key when shopping for someone in a nursing home.

It was a good day and Mom was very grateful--something she's not always aware enough to be. We were able to actually enjoy the simple pleasure of her company after getting a short break from the daily task of caring for her every need. We know she's in good hands and, because the past six months have been extremely taxing on our family, we are taking the month of December to recalibrate and make some decisions for the coming year. We're asking God for wisdom to do what's best for everyone involved and we appreciate your prayers to that end.

Andy's 8!

We've been somewhat overwhelmed with life lately, but we try to always put first things first. In November that meant celebrating Andy's birthday. He's an absolute joy and a blessing to this family, so we wanted him to feel honored and asked what he wanted to do. He said "to have friends over, get a dog, and eat chocolate cake". We combined the first two, as one of my best childhood friends came to town and brought her kids and their dog. 

Mom especially enjoyed the dog.

And Andy especially enjoyed the friends, who consisted of my friend's kids and two other families.

John and two of the dads took the kiddos to play laser tag then we grilled out at the house and ate chocolate cake. I think Andy enjoyed himself. What do you think? 

 

A couple of the boys spent the night to seal the deal as Andy's first official slumber party. He was proud to introduce them to a breakfast of eggs fresh from his very own chickens.

Happy birthday to my great kid!