Oh My

I have not written in over a month!!! What has happened! I have little access to internet, so here is my short summary.

Ladies Ladies Ladies
  
     We had our final ladies night and it was a hit. Over 20 women showed up to learn about how to find their prince charming. We had mocktails and dressed in black and white and it was so much fun! Several girls said how it was what they needed to hear ( we talked about ephesians 5 and raising expectations) and Curtis Martin even commented on a picture that was posted on facebook! The women's movement has really been going well this year at Bradley!

    Also in the women's department, I have been so blessed to continue to grow closer to some of the girls. I know they will be so excited when we have the baby and I have several volunteers for babysitting!

Mary's Heart
  
     This Advent I have been reading a book about Mary and trying to grow closer to her heart as I wait and prepare to be a mother. It has been a beautiful journey and is preparing me for Christmas AND being a mother. She was a such a great wife and mother.

Jacob

    Jacob has been working so hard this past month. He has been getting ready for our conference (registration just ended last week).  He has been meeting with many of the men on campus and I think he has a little fan club developing. And he has been trying to re-arrange his schedule to have more time with me so the adjustment will be a little more smooth when baby gets here.
    He is a great missionary and husband and I know manyof the guys look up to him and also admire his uniqueness. Several students call us mom and dad and I just love it because we pray for them often and consider them like spiritual children.

Break

   Right now we are in Madison and just got to make a gingerbread train with our nephews! We leave for Florida on Christmas to visit his siter and then we will come back and make a stop in Decatur to visit my family! It is so great to be with family and have some time to reflect on how great our job is.

Well so much for a short post.  God is blessing us too abundantly to keep it short! :)  Merry Christmas to all!

Small joys

Last week during my Bible Study we were talking about how to apply scripture to our lives and then I just started talking about how we can't apply it if we don't read it. I was giving practical tips on how to read scripture and the girls were taking notes! A few days later one of the girls texted me "i just found this and love it - "Immediately Jesus spoke to them. Have courage. It is I. Don't be afraid." - Matthew 14:27 It made my heart fill with joy that they are reading the Bible more and finding things they like! How glorious.

Also Jacob gave a great talk (from what I hear) to a group of men last Monday night about guarding women's hearts.  Then he met individually with several men and was able to have some great conversations with them about how to be better men and lay their lives down for their future vocations. Wonderful!

And then on Saturday Amy (FOCUS missionary) threw a late Halloween party and a LOT of students came and we just had a great time dancing to Thriller, playing charades, and laughing and having great conversations. It was a great event to win the students over. Our team went as Mario Brothers. I think we looked pretty good!

Mario, Donkey Kong, Princess Peach, Toad, and Luigi!

Off to prepare for Bible Study tonight then make dinner for my husband!

Fulton Sheen Rocks!

So I just can't contain it! I have to share. I keep hearing tidbits about Archbishop Fulton Sheen and how great he is. So I was at the Catholic bookstore and I was looking at the books and didn't want to spend much money but really wanted to read something of his. I picked up the least expensive book and am currently reading "The Divine Romance."  SO good. Anyway I just read this chapter all about how the Church is the new Body of Christ and and the Vicar of Christ etc. He goes on to speak about how the Church doesn't come down on important yet difficult teachings. Just as Christ did not come down when He was suffering on the cross and people said, come down and I will believe. And I quote,

"The divinely suprem emiracle of Christ's whole life and the whole life of the Church 

is that she does not come down......The miracle is to be able to come down, and yet not to 

come down. It is human to come down, but it is divine to hang there."

Can you tell I am excited about this. He just really made some great points. And he said I would not discredit Christ because of the followers who left Him. In the same way I do not discredit the Holy Catholic Church for the mistakes of some of the followers. 

Thank you Fulton Sheen for inspiring my day today! Pray for us!

Chi - Town and Funcie

Last weekend was our regional gathering in Chicago! It was so great to see other missionaries from around region.

View from UIC's campus! Beautiful in the Fall!

Ready to go out on the town!

The frog and I at Rainforest Cafe!

We watched Jacob's brother Joe run the marathon. Very impressive. 

 

 

Then we went to Muncie for our Fall break. Kyle and Sebastian came to visit us too! Love that kid!

And of course we saw Ty! I think that shirt might be too small for me.

 

We finished our trip with a visit with Claire and Justin Mc McCullough and 1 year old Grace. Unfortunately I didn't take any pictures with them.

Baby Sebastian

Ok I just have to show you how cute my nephew Sebastian is. Cutest baby I have laid eyes on. I know it might change in a few months but I just love this jolly little bundle of joy!

Trip to Madison

I never posted about our trip to Madison. It was great to see Uncle Chris and (Aunt?) Peg. It was Chris' birthday and we celebrated Owen's birthday too! Grandma made a cake and sand in her deep voice to Uncle Chris all by herself and it was so sweet!

Love this selfless woman!

Owen loved his gift!

We pretended for the picture that we had gotten Uncle Chris a gift.

As always, a picture of me and baby. You wouldn't believe it though. In the last week or two I have grown a lot! And I look a lot bigger. A student here, Rose, said that I exploded in the last week! :) I shock myself sometimes walking past reflective windows. Wow she looks big. Oh my gosh that's me! Mom and dad came to visit and she couldn't get over me either. 

Off to Chicago for a regional gathering with missionaries throughout the region. Then to Muncie to see old friends and family for Fall Break!

Sardines and Such

Great news at Bradley. We have been squished like sardines at daily Masses in the chapel here. Especially Tuesday and Wednesday nights. There have been about 40 students there which is reaching the max. There have been discussions about where we could move.

Last weekend we got to visit the great town of Madison Indiana, Jacob's hometown. We went to the Madison Chautauqua (an art festival) and celebrating our nephew Owen's 8th birthday! 

Men's Rosary on Friday mornings has been a hit. Once a month the women are making breakfast for them in thanksgiving for their sacrifices for the women. Today there were 10 men which is about the usual. It is slowly growing!

We went to see Little Shop of Horrors on campus last night. It was cute, great music and one of the girls in my Bible study was in it! She has a great voice. Her name is Hope. Awe. Hope and Joy how cute!

Got to go get ready for our sleepover tonight with the girls. I am going to make Laura's homemade hot chocolate. MMmmmmm can't wait! The guys are having a camping trip.

Bragging Rights

I have been so excited to blog about Baby that I have forgotten to brag about my husband. He has been working so hard here as Team Director and learning new responsibilities. We are learning still how to balance ministry and family life and we are getting better by the day. AND, on top of that, he is also using his amazing PR talents to start some campaigns on campus that I think are catching the eyes of many students. Isn't he amazing?!

This is the Bible Study design that was put on posters, business cards, and postcards to put in the students mailboxes. A number of people stated how impressed they were with how cool and professional they were.

This design was made for an event on natural family planning. We did not reveal much about the event prior to it, to attract students that might not normally be interested in hearing our message. We had over 100 students come and most students walked away with a new perspective on what contraceptives can do to your body and the environment.

This is his latest invention, a campaign for the 7 am Men's Rosary where the men pray for the women on campus! The goal is to show others that we are Catholic and proud of it. He is making posters with different faces and quotes about the rosary, from Pope Benedict to Chris Farley, all rosary sayers.I will post those soon! They're my favorite!

And of course little baby Laskowski (taken this morning). We can't wait to meet the little Babe and we will find out the gender on October 19!

Marathon

Jacob completed the half Marathon in Chicago this past Sunday!!! We are so proud of him!

My brother Cory also visited this weekend and filmed a commercial that will be on EWTN sometime in the future. When he is done editing it I will post it. I was in it too!

Ladies Night

On Monday night we had our first Ladies Night with our student leaders. I think it was a hit. We pampered our lady students a little bit and reminded them that they are daughters of the greatest King which makes them Princesses!!! It was just great to bring the women together and learn about femininity as a group!

                                                                         Here we are!

Catch Up

Hello. Lots to update here. Above all, little Baby Laskowski is doing well. We have had 2 doctors appointments since I last wrote and we have a picture of the baby and we heard the heartbeat. The second visit we even heard the baby kick! I am feeling much better and my belly is growing a little bit. Here are some fun pictures...

Head and growing brain on left and bum and feet on right. I find it's better when I squint. :)

 

Our fantastic new team Steve, Amy, Joanna, Me, Jacob, and Brett in the back! I look really pregnant. I'm not that big.

Fall Outreach has gone really well! Tons of ways for Catholic students to get involved. This is Joanna after our pizza and root beer keg. It was a hit! Bible Studies will start soon!

 We also had a camping trip that was a great environment to talk and be real with students and get ready for the year.

Last but not least our team visited the UIC team in Chicago. It was Mark's birthday! (in the orange)

Much more to report soon! God is so good to us. Baby is well. Students are growing and loving Christ and we love our jobs! Keep us in your prayers!

Summer Days

Soooooo, I am starting this new blog and I am determined to be dedicated to it in order to update my friends, family, and mission partners with the happenings of our work and lives.


We just finished training at the University of Illinois in Champaign, IL which has the largest Newman Center in the world!!! It was amazing. There were great speakers and plenty of time to spend with the 250 other amazing missionaries.

This is the FOCUS staff at Newman for Mass!

And here is our new team! They are great!

From Left: Jacob, Brett

Joanna, Me, Amy, and Steve (part time)

For now we are just working on our fundraising until school starts here at Bradley.  AND we are celebrating the Lord's work inside my womb! That's right, we were able to see little Baby Laskowski's heart beat this week and we were thrilled. In two weeks I should have a picture to post.