Elevate Church

What a exciting few months it's been. Back in October Chris and I were presented with the opportunity to join with a group of people to begin a new church in Morton. From the first time we set foot in the building we knew it was a "God thing". Good friends of ours, Brian and Danielle Sanders also felt God call them to this place, and the journey began. With the help of Pastor John King and Riverside, we set a launch date of 3.23.03, Easter Sunday. For three months we worked hard to get everything up and running by Easter. My sister, Heidi Bolt took on the role of Kid's Pastor. Little did she know that it would also mean she was head contractor for an entirely new kid's facility. In just over a month, our small congregation of about 100 people sacrificially gave $22, 000 towards remodeling and building an amazing place for kids. Easter Sunday was last week and all the hard work paid off. We opened our new kid's area as well as the Baby and Toddler Rooms. The building had a beautiful face lift thanks to a handful of volunteers that worked day and night to get it all done. Over 230 people attended Elevate Church on Easter Sunday. What a joy to see the faces of the kids (and the parents) as they walked into the Elevate Kid's area and realized it was all for them. The stage is AWESOME. We are excited to see what the road ahead brings.
If you are reading this and you do not have a church home, you should check us out at www.elevatechurchwired.com. We love people of all ages. We have a modern, exciting kid's program and....our services are only one hour long. :) I've posted a few pictures, but will post some more as we complete our remodel.

This is the coolest kid's room ever. Jared Ely designed and built this stage, and Heidi facilitated the entire process. It's the sweetest thing I've ever seen.


These picture with the grass is our 3, 4&5 year old room. My sis in law, Jenna Bennett is the director for that age group. This room is still in the works and will be completed in the near future.
















The room with the squares is our Toddler Room and the striped room is our Baby Room. We are still waiting on furniture to come in for both of these rooms. What fun!

A good report - Praise the Lord!

Last Wednesday was Bennett's MRI and EEG. It was a rough day on all of us. We stayed up until 11PM the night before and woke up at 4AM the morning off. The goal was sleep deprivation (for Bennett, not for us). Chris, Bennett and I arrived at OSF hospital at 5:45AM. The first test was the EEG. The EEG techs had to attach 20-30 tiny wires to his head which involved scrubbing each spot with an exfoliate. He hated that part. He cried, no sobbed, the entire time. He was wrapped up in a sheet like he was wearing a straight jacket and a nurse held him down. We were right there next to him the entire time. His big eyes pleading with us to get him out of this craziness. It was so hard to stay there and watch and feel like we were allowing our son to be "tortured". Chris said later, "I almost left the room". The nurses were very kind. They laughed at my singing. The only way Bennett would calm down even a little was if I sang to him. It's a funny thing, really, I know hundreds of kid's song and in those moments I could only come up with a couple, both Veggie Tale songs, which I sang over and over. One of the nurses said, "I'll shop the produce section in a whole new light now." When I would sing Bennett would calm down for a moment and keep his eyes on me, listening to "We are the Pirates Who Don't Do Any Thing" and "Don't Cry Daniel". He finally fell asleep and I was able to lie next to him and hold his hand. The test took about 30 minutes. At first he kept startling out of his sleep (Chris and I think due to the trauma he had just endured) and then he fell into a deep sleep. He didn't even budge when the lights flashed over and over in his face (to test for seizures).
When the test was done we had to work hard to wake him up. Poor baby. He was so tired and here we were waking him up after only sleeping for 20 minutes.

After the EEG we went down to MRI. We had to wait about 2 hours. Bennett was so tired and so hungry (he hadn't eaten since 5AM) and he could not have anything to eat or drink. We found lots of creative ways to keep him entertained. His favorite was when Daddy took him out in the hall and let him run up and down a long ramp half a dozen times. He was so tired though, that he kept running into walls. Kind of humorous.
After talking with two nurses, the MRI tech and the anesthesiologist, Bennett was all set for his MRI. The hardest part for Momma was when they took him from me, walked out of the room and I couldn't go. I almost cried. Bennett did very well. We heard him cry for just a moment while they attached the monitors on his chest. He got to keep his passy in his mouth and they put the mask over it while he was put to sleep.
The MRI lasted about an hour. It was hard to wait. Once he was done they let me go back to be with him when he woke up. He looked so small and sweet lying there on the gurney bed. His cheeks were all flushed and his eyes were so tired and droopy. When he was fully awake he was very happy to eat and be with Momma. The nurse gave him some Nemo stickers which he promptly turned into a game with them, "I'll throw it on the floor and you pick it up. Finally, Chris was able to come back with us, too (the room was tiny which is why he couldn't come back right away, until the nurses finished there observation of Bennett) and we were discharge. Whew! What an experience.

We were told the results might take a week, but thankfully, we found out Thursday evening. Both tests came back clean. Praise the Lord. Chris and I are so relieved to have that over with and so very thankful to our Heavenly Father for His hand on Bennett's life.

Thank you also, to our sweet family and friends who stood by us through this time, praying fervently. I was once again reminded of how precious it is when the body of Christ unites together to uphold in prayer one another. A special thank you to my mom. She helped keep Bennett up late and even got up early with him the morning of to keep him awake. Matt, Jenna, Ike, Holly, my dad and mom all helped with the "keeping him up late" shift, too.
Our friend and pastor, Brian even offered to come to the hospital with us. We felt very cared for and supported, so thank you all and....Blessed be the name of the Lord.