Going Home

Going home. That's exactly how we feel as we travel that long, dusty road that leads to Granny JoAnn's house in northern Boone County. We knew she'd be waiting to greet us at the front door with great big hugs and that there would be a nice hot meal waiting for us. And as our guest speaker, Adonica Drake Coleman and the G.I.R.L.S. ("Experiencing God In Real Life Situations") arrived, they were not disappointed.

We started the G.I.R.L.S. group last year so that we could continue nurturing the young women who had outgrown "The Princess Academy," and whenever we have a guest speaker, we like to highlight the event by hosting it offsite at places like Granny JoAnn's home.

Our special speaker, Adonica, talked frankly with the girls about all the heavy burdens she collected during her rebellious teen years. "The problems I collected were like these big, heavy balls and you may have to carry them around for the rest of your life," she said as she named and added one after another burden to her tote bag: debt, pregnancy, broken relationships, shame, and guilt were just a few of the heavy consequences she placed in her bag. Though her khaki tote bag felt heavy to the G.I.R.L.S. who carried it, the real burdens they represented were even more so until her life radically changed after surrendering to the Lord.

Weeks later, the girls who sat around that table are still talking about the evening: "It was awesome. She was so real." She was, indeed, a living letter from God:

"God is our merciful Father and the source of all comfort. He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When they are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us." 2 Corinthians 1:3, 4

Spring is here!

Welcome to Spring at Granny's House! The sun is shining, the winter coats are put away, and last week a huge pile of mulch was dumped in our front yard thanks to Bart Menning's Tree Service! Spreading mulch is one of the kids favorite activities to help with, so instead of running inside asking if they could have more nachos for dinner, you heard this...

"Can someone help me move this bucket of mulch? I can't lift it!!" (4 year old)

"We need to spread it out more so that we have enough to fill the whole yard! (10 year old)

"Can we do this again next week?" (7 year old)

"Come on guys...let's all work on this corner of the yard" (11 year old)

The kids love to help make Granny's House beautiful! A very special thanks to Ginger from Bart Menning's Tree Service who has coordinated this amazing donation for over 3 years! What a blessing it has been to everyone at Granny's House and to the Douglass Park community!

Whatever!

For the last seven months, several Granny's House girls have been committed to bi-weekly bible studies (Women of Destiny and Ambassadors) which have challenged them in their faith and taught them what it means to "live out" their walk with the Lord. The bible studies are a part of a leadership track which Kids Across America (KAA) provides for youth who are interested in furthering their Christian growth.

Each year, KAA puts on a conference called "Second Wind" for youth who have been involved in the bible studies and who have committed to growing in their faith. Among many things, a goal of the conference is to "refresh" the students, and provide a way for them to hear from some incredible speakers who not only challenge them, but encourage them to continue striving after God's heart. This year, the conference was held in Memphis Tennessee.

For four days, three Granny's House "Women of Destiny" members and one Granny's House staff member traveled to Memphis to take part in "Second Wind." Over 500 youth from across the country joined together at the conference to worship, participate in seminars and re-connect with camp staff and friends. It was so encouraging to see so many urban youth on fire for the Lord!

This years theme was "WHATEVER" which was based off the verse in Phillipians 4:8- "Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things." The girls learned everything from how to encourage their neighborhood for the Lord, to how to live out purity, and although there was a lot of information to take in...each girl grabbed bits and pieces of truth which they could apply to their life.

We had a great time and even got to spend one afternoon exploring Memphis (even though a snow storm came through the very afternoon we were heading to the Civil Rights Museum!). It was a great bonding time for the girls (especially the 12 hour car ride home due to the snow) and a great way for them to remember why they love the Lord so much!

WANTED!! Your Donkeys…

Every now and then I come across an article that perfectly articulates my own thoughts and I like sharing it “as is.” Robert Lupton’s “The Lord Needs Your Donkey” (February 2009) is one of those articles because it clearly illustrates how Granny’s House has, not only survived over these nearly eight years, but flourished and became a real “oasis” for the hundreds of public housing kids who have crossed our threshold since we opened in the Spring of 2001. Too-many-to-count have come forward to offer their best to the children who make up the Granny’s House family:

• About seven years ago, our friend Warren approached me at the end of a church service inquiring ‘Do you guys have a website? I’d like to build one for you…’” You’re reading this blog because of Warren’s huge talent, kindness, and incredible generosity.

• And then there was Sue, the attorney from Fulton, “I grew up on a farm with horses and would love to get the Granny’s House kids involved in horseback riding…” Now we have “The Spirit Riders” who traveled to Fort Worth, Texas last summer to compete with kids from all over the nation in the “Extreme Mustang Makeover."

• And Marty, the University of Missouri English professor after my husband and I finished speaking to the group of scholars she mentors, ‘Can we come every Friday as you’re closing and clean Granny’s House for you?...” She arrived every Friday evening for years, donned a pair of rubber gloves, grabbed the mop bucket , and cleaned both apartments… all while thanking us for “letting” her do it. For more than five years, the Granny’s House weekly cleaning budget was $0 because Marty rushed over to Granny’s House every Friday night after a full week of teaching and mentoring Mizzou students.

Amazingly, these activities were all way outside of our monetary budget at the time, but
not outside of God's vast reservoir of resources that He makes available to those who
seek to share His heart and make Him famous in the projects. What so many have done to
unveil God's heart with these precious children is priceless!

Do you, perhaps, have a donkey we could borrow? -Granny Pam

To Jamaica and back

At Granny’s House, we love mentoring the kids in giving to help them understand that living in public housing does not exempt them from being a blessing to others.

Annually, our friends at Kent Willett Dentistry travel to Jamaica to provide dental care among the poor. Because they always encounter lots of children, we jumped at the chance to have Granny’s House kids experience the joy of brightening someone else’s life by making jewelry for the mission team to take with them. Members of “God’s Precious Jewels” and “The Princess Academy” made bracelets and cards to send.

I cannot even begin to tell you how thrilled I was to hear all the “Ooooohs,” and “Aaaaaaaahs” and “Isn’t this one cute?... Hey, look at mine!” that echoed around the room as we worked together on this project all while telling the girls about the difficulties of growing up in such deep poverty. I don’t recall ever witnessing such extreme joy coming from this group of wiggley-giggley little girls as they eagerly created gifts for Jamaican children! The, literally, turned into little “jewelry-making machines” and cranked out several dozen bracelets to send off with the missionaries.

Upon their return, the kids were visited by “Granny” Linda (Ealey) and “Granny” Libby (Grantham) who shared stories and pictures of patients who had received the Granny’s House children’s custom-made jewelry. What a thrill to see the smiling faces of those who proudly wore the jewelry created with such love and joy by their new friends from Granny’s House. It really is more blessed to give then to receive! –Granny Pam

Transformed by Love

When our little African friend came to Granny’s House from Burundi last year, we could scarcely get her to look at us, let alone squeeze out a smile.


But along came Granny’s House volunteer, Mary Kate Loring. Mary Kate heaped huge, sticky doses of God’s love on her almost every day and as the days turned into weeks and weeks into months, a dramatic transformation took place. A picture really is worth a thousand words…

When I Grow Up…

“When I grow up, I want to be a movie star… I’m going to the NBA… I’ll be a rapper…”

Anyone who works with inner city kids frequently hears these kinds of responses when asking children what they want to be when they grow up. At Granny’s House, however, we’ve started hearing different responses from kids:

“I plan to be a doctor… a teacher… a fashion designer… a paralegal…”

When we hear these kinds of desires, we take advantage of opportunities to connect Granny’s House kids with mentors whose professions mirror their own educational and career aspirations. We recently arranged for two Granny’s House kids to spend time with mentors at Stephens College and the Barton Law Firm.

Seventeen-year-old Vernita is interested in fashion design so we jumped at the chance to introduce her to Monica McMurray, Dean of Stephen’s College Fashion Department. Dean McMurry gave us a tour of the department and Stephens’ world-famous Historic Costume Collection. Vernita learned about the rigors of fashion design school and the real cost of combining a love for fashion with educational excellence.

She learned about the transition from “student designer” to professional “fashion designer” as she sat in on a session with senior students and fashion designer Camille Palmer, a Stephens alumni who now designs for GAP Clothing. In the midst of all those creative minds, bolts of glitzy fabrics, and too many dress forms to count, we had to keep reminding ourselves that we WERE NOT on the set of Bravo TV’s“Project Runway!”







Recently, fourteen-year-old Mary extensively researched the path to becoming a paralegal. After searching out the educational requirements, the accreditation process, and then designing a professional-looking business card, Mary spent the afternoon with Elaine Asmus, who has been a paralegal at the Barton Law Firm here in Columbia for more than a decade. After their two-hour visit, Mary could more easily envision the pathway that leads to becoming a successful paralegal.






At Granny’s House, it’s a joy to see the kids’ faith and their lives blossoming with tokens of God’s kindness and favor as we walk alsongside them. We know that one day, many of these precious kids will, indeed, say, “Because of God’s help, I completed my paralegal training… I got my degree in fashion design... I’m a doctor… a school teacher.” -Granny Pam

Two Hearts

There they were… two hearts. One bruised, stained, and broken. The other one was glittery red, and gorgeous enough to join the knickknacks in anyone’s curio cabinet. Thus began our recent Precious Jewels’ lesson on the “Heart.” Not the one that pumps blood, but the one that is the seat of all of our affections and emotions… all that we love and hate and struggle with. At this “Precious Jewels” meeting, we had one mission: to help these 1st through 4th grade girls understand the immeasurable gulf that exists between our hearts and the pure loving heart of the One we so love: Jesus.

“Look at all this stuff that was in Granny Pam’s heart before she gave her life to Jesus,” I said as I pulled out one after another crumpled little wad of brown paper from the tarnished heart. “Stingy… jealousy…Pride…Disobeying Mother…” I read. “Do you know that Granny Pam did some of these ugly things every single day of her life before she had a relationship with Jesus?…”

“I loved living this way and had no power to change,” I said as I unfolded and read from each little wrinkled piece of brown paper.

I so wish you could have heard all the “Ooohs” and “Aaahs” that slid out of those sweet little girls’ mouths as I revealed the beautiful, red, glittery heart. “Now this is how Lord wants to change ALL of our hearts,” I said as I unfolded each neat little slip of paper inscribed with red, swirley-lettered words that filled this heart. “Now there’s Comfort, and Friendship with God, Peace, and Generosity... Only God can make us radically different.”

With the God’s Precious Jewels group, our meetings are, typically,“3-D” to help the girls understand and get a clear, visual picture of the Bible verse or principle we’re sharing. And during this particular lesson, they learned that “hearts” are about a whole lot more than those little pastel-colored candies they pass out on February 14.
Happy Valentines Day!!

Christmas Gifts for All

Every year as we prepare our Christmas gift list for the Crossing Church, I wince as I see that our list has, again, grown. This year’s list had more than 150 names, for whom Granny’s House is their very favorite place to be after school . Not to mention all the hard work Angie Azzanni pours into preparing, not just a simple list of names on a piece of paper, but lovingly makes a wooden Christmas ornament bearing the name of each and every Granny’s House kid so that the person at The Crossing who “adopts” that kid for Christmas can keep the ornament long after the holidays as a ready reminder to continue praying for that one child throughout the year. What a blessing to know that our kids are not only being blessed with gifts for Christmas but their names are being called out in prayer to our Father throughout the year. –Granny Pam

Christmas with the G.I.R.L.S.

The G.I.R.L.S. group (Experiencing God In Real Life Situations) gathered at Granny Pam’s House to have a, somewhat, unconventional Christmas party. Rather than traditional holiday treats like sprinkled sugar cookies and fudge, they requested homemade chili with all the fixins; lemonade instead of hot cider. We huddled around the television eating as we watched “The Very First Noel,” an incredibly clever animated rendition of the Christmas story.

After eating and watching our little thirty minute movie, all the fun began. Each girl decorated their very own “designer” gingerbread house. At the end of the evening, there was, quite literally, white frosting everywhere!

To add a little nostalgia, we all sat before a crackling fire as Granny Pam read “A Special Place For Santa.” Seeing Santa kneeling before the Christ child was a scene they had never before considered.

And to conclude our precious time together, we had a gift exchange: soft, fuzzy, fun socks… all wrapped up and ready to give. What a rich time we had together!
–Granny Pam