Here we go–the flurry of competition and sweat as the boys begin participation in their fall sports.

Jake kicked off the weekend with a 3-mile race.

It was so humid that it was like taking a sip of water with every breath. He ran well, despite the heat and humidity and was smiling at the end.

Then the footballers played their first games of the season. Ruthie gets an award for Biggest Fan.

Peter tackled. A lot.

Jeremy did his share of tackling as well. Unfortunately, he was stung by a bee just before his game began.

Derek blocked and carved paths for his ball-carrying teammates,

and rejoiced with his teammates at the end of a great game.

One of my homeschooling goals this year is to go on more field trips with the kids. We just wanna have  fun! So today, we embarked on our first field trip of the school year and visited the Billy Graham Museum at Wheaton College.

While the museum primarily highlights what God has done through Billy Graham, we were there to learn a little bit more about Jonathan Edwards and George Whitefield after studying them in history this week.

While the boys jotted notes on each man,

Ruthie waited patiently.

Jeremy preached it from the pulpit

and then proceeded to climb the walls.

The favorite part for all of us was the “heaven” room, where the Hallelujah Chorus plays continually in a room that makes you feel like you’re floating in the clouds.

A final group shot.

Grades represented in the Johanik household:
11th
8th
5th
3rd
Preschool
K9-garten

Time is flying.

Where do I begin to tell of this experience? I will let the few pictures I have here tell about the Baseball Bootcamp that FCA ran in Niles, MI.

Boys from both Niles and from inner city Chicago neighborhoods joined together for a weekend to learn baseball skills and hear about Jesus. It was also a family affair for the Johaniks, as three of the boys participated in the camp, Jake hauled tables and water coolers, I helped with administrative things, and Ruthie took care of this super cute yellow lab puppy named Daisy. (Ruth and Daisy were inseparable all weekend.)

Peter was happy to have his friend Anthony join us as well.

Jim and Derek rented a 15-passenger van as a backup plan in case there were any transportation issues once everyone was in MI. As it turned out, God had already been preparing Jim for the unexpected, and they would end up needing that van much sooner than they anticipated. They pulled up to the pickup spot in Chicago with breakfast for the expected 25-30 boys from the Near West Little League. Instead of 30 boys, though, there were 50 boys, all excited to spend the weekend in Niles, MI. The 15-passenger van was filled, along with a bus and another van, donated by nearby Chicago Hope Academy.

Now the question arose: How will we feed and house all these boys for 2 1/2 days? All the preparations had been done. The sleeping arrangements for the boys were already in place. But God knew ahead of time how many boys would come, and He knew all their needs.  “In Your goodness, O God, You provided for the needy.” (Psalm 68:10)

We observed an all-in, on-board mindset in the Janowskis, who didn’t blink an eye at the almost doubled number of expected house guests. The community of Niles gathered to provide bus transportation to and from the baseball field; provide showers at the local YMCA and middle school; provide an outstanding fish fry meal Friday night; and provide ongoing helping hands to cook, serve and clean up every meal.

A snapshot of the first dinner at the Janowskis:

In this next picture, the man on the left is Jimmy Brawley. He headed up all the baseball coaching for three days. He loves kids and loves baseball. He is standing with his parents. They are the fish fry folks. They donated hundreds of bluegill (caught themselves), onion rings, salads and desserts.

Grandpa Brawley walked around the tables with a tray full of homemade onion rings, and asked, “Did you get enough to eat? If not, you know who’s fault that is, don’t ya?”

We sensed a softening of the boys’ attitudes when they saw the grand dinner setup and experienced being served and loved so much.

Meanwhile, as everyone ate, the big Janowski/Johanik boys were quietly setting up fireworks down by the river. After the sun went down that night, they put on a massive fireworks show for the boys.

All throughout the days, the boys heard testimonies from various coaches about how Jesus has changed their lives. How He has given them hope, peace, purpose.  But some of the most powerful times were in the Janowskis’ pavilion down by the St. Joseph River.

After hearing about God’s Son, Jesus, dying on the cross for them; and a call to confess and turn away from their sin, every boy there prayed to receive Him as their Savior.

Other highlights of the weekend: good ol’ Chick-fil-a donated lunch on Saturday.

We got a team picture of the 50 Chicago boys and 43 Niles boys.

Derek got to know some of the Near West Little League-ers.

It’s hard not to be moved with compassion when you hear their stories.

We went ATVing, because you can’t visit the Janowskis and not ride an ATV.

Saturday night, the boys played relays, had more time in the pavilion, and roasted marshmallows to make s’mores.

Jake was able to have some lengthy conversations with a couple of the adults from Chicago. James is one of the coaches for the little league. He and Jake bonded talking about biking.

Ruth was sad to have to say goodbye to her new friend.  She asked more than once if we could bring Daisy home.

We look back on this experience last weekend with great joy, praying that the seeds which were sown would take root and grow up and bear much fruit among the 50 boys who were there.

And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God. (Colossians 1:9-10)

I find myself thinking about a few of the boys who stood out to me and pray for them by name. God prepared this weekend in advance, and I am confident that what He began in these young men He will be faithful to complete.

My little princess appears to be more accident-prone than her brothers. It was a mere 3.5 years ago that Ruth had her first x-ray taken of a leg.

Three weeks ago, she was jumping on the trampoline with her brothers and landed funny on her left leg. It was pretty scary for a moment, not knowing exactly what had happened or what part of her was hurt. After a full day of icing it and wrapping it, she could bear no weight on the leg, so off to the doctor we went for x-rays.

Thankfully, the result of the recent x-ray was the same as the first: no broken bones; however it took her over two weeks to be able to walk without a limp.

I have a feeling it’s going to be a an even longer time before she opts to go back on the trampoline.

We were *this close* to forgoing our free Great America tickets this summer. What with camps and mission trips and more camps, it just didn’t look like there was room for a day at GA on the calendar. But sometimes the last-minute plans work the best.

Derek, Peter, Jeremy and I ended up going with my brother Brian, and Hannah and Sam two days before the free tickets expired. And we had a blast!

We rode some of the old favorites, like the American Eagle and Demon.

Six year-old Sam was a natural on those; it was so much fun to watch his response after getting off the rides.

I just about flung up breakfast on the Fiddler’s Fling. What is it about spinning rides and age? I just can’t stomach those like I used to.

We cooled off on the log ride.

And teamed up to fight against the ships on Buccaneer Battle.

The grand finale was all of us going on the Giant Drop.

FCA hosted over 200 kids from the inner city of Chicago at Wheaton College for two one-day camps.

It was great to see many WC football players loving on the kids and sharing Jesus with them.

There was a Johanik representation on both days of the camp. The first day Peter and Jeremy brought cousin Hannah.

And the next day they brought a couple friends.

Jeremy also made friends with the DJ who played Christian hip-hop over the loudspeakers and did a phenomenal job emceeing the whole thing.

The kids were fed lunch donated by Chick-fil-a and also heard Coach Swider share about the hope that can be found in Jesus Christ.

Ruthie was excited to pose with the inflatable cow,

and climb up and down the stadium steps.

While the younger boys participated in the camp, Derek, Ruthie and I visited the Billy Graham Museum and explored Blackwell Forest Preserve and  watched Derek shoot arrows there.

Some other goings-on in the month of July…

Ruthie and I embarked on a mommy/daughter project and made a matching dress and skirt. She sat on my lap for nearly every stitch.

The boys gave the front porch a fresh sparkling coat of paint. Ahhh

We found alien creatures on our tomato plants. Well, maybe not alien, but they sure looked creepy. If you want a quick biology lesson, you can read about hornworms and their arch nemesis, the braconid wasp.

Molly took literally The Dog Days of Summer.

And though it was hard for me to accept at first, football practice began in July this year. We had a whopping four days between the end of baseball and the beginning of football.

This is officially the most patient dog in the world.

We headed to Chicago to hear some beautiful music.

My mom prepared a delicious picnic dinner. The kids helped spread the tablecloth on the picnic table.

It was very special.

We were pretty far back from the stage, so we brought binoculars.

The park was full of people.

But Ruthie still felt free to dance to the beautiful music.

It was a sad sight in the laundry room:

The house was unusually quiet, and we missed our boys. But Jim and I did take advantage of the opportunity for some one-on-one time for 24 hours. Jake and Ruth spent time with friends and family, and we took the dog to Starved Rock for some hiking.

Molly was very excited. Until we were about 100 yards into the hike. Although it’s been such a wonderfully mild summer, the day we went to Starved Rock the weather was hot and very humid.

We enjoyed the exercise and the view of the Illinois River.

It’s been a summer of camps. Even my computer was away at the Apple Genius ‘camp’ last week getting all fixed up. They offered to replace and fix anything that was malfunctioning for a flat $280 fee. Well, I practically have a brand new computer because of all the parts they replaced!

Two days after our July 4th celebration, Derek, Peter and Jeremy left for Lake Geneva Youth Camp. We were so grateful to a friend of ours for generously paying for their registration. This was the first time they had been away from home for an entire week, so we were all a little nervy with anxious anticipation.

I put together care packages for them.

Included in each package were goodies such as candy

and daily letters.

We arrived at the camp, and the boys were immediately offered snow cones.

This would end up being the tip of the iceberg for a certain young boy who spent all his spending money on candy and Mountain Dew.

Derek was put in a cabin with a couple boys from the Austin neighborhood. They got to be good buds.

When we returned at the end of the week to pick up the boys, everyone was pretty emotional. We were awfully happy to be back together as a complete family unit.