Shelley Becker

Interview by Diana Gipson

Perhaps you have been greeted at SGC by Shelley Becker, who just recently began helping with the First Impressions ministry there.  This lovely lady leads a busy life and has a lot to share with us about finding and maintaining a joyful lifestyle.

Shelley and her husband Brent have been married for nine years and have two children, Jacob (8) and Jordyn (6).  They discovered SGC through their kids attending VBS two years in a row and loving it.  Their children didn't feel particularly connected at the church they were attending.  Neither Shelley nor Brent had enjoyed church as kids and didn't want the same thing for their children.  They decided to try SGC as a family and have been a part ever since! "It has been so wonderful for our family to go to Sugar Grove Church," she reflects. "For the first time since we have been married, we feel we are a part of a church.  Sugar Grove Church is what I have wanted for my family for so long, and I feel so blessed that we have found it."  Shelley herself became a believer in 1998, when a customer of hers led her to Christ.  "I will be eternally grateful to her and her husband," Shelley states.

A self-described "Jane of all trades," Shelley has traded the high heels and skirts of her former sales career for housework, laundry, volunteering at school and barn chores (which requires a Carhartt coat instead of an Anne Taylor jacket!).  She explains that she now doesn't have a job she gets paid for, but a job there isn't enough money to pay her for or enough time to finish. :)  It took her awhile to love what she does at home, but she does indeed love it now.  "I didn't understand it at first--I mean, how others did it.  It was really tough at first.  I desperately wanted to go back to work.  But now I get it.  And it's awesome!"

Shelley sees true joy as a choice that one can apply to anything, and for her that includes housework, meal planning, barn chores, volunteer obligations, etc.  She feels that these can be viewed as tasks or as opportunities to bless her family and others.  To give her family a clean, relaxing and inviting place to come home to, and a meal that truly nourishes their bodies and is enjoyable is a source of joy for Shelley.  "I even find the barn to be a place of solace where I can talk to the Lord and appreciate the amazing animals he has blessed us with."

An animal lover, Shelley enjoys taking care of their horses, goats, dogs and cats.  She loves to spend time with them and is amazed by how different each of them is.  One of her favorite perks resulting from time in the barn is the uninterrupted conversations she can have with her husband or the children, or both.  "No phone.  No TV.  Just talking. I love it when we are all out there together."

Togetherness is important to Shelley.  She uses the 20-minute drive to and from school everyday to connect with her kids.  Rather than listening to the radio, she opts for conversation during that time. "We talk about life, friendships, struggles--we solve it all in those 20 minutes, and it's priceless!  I have come to really appreciate that time.  It's time I never had with my own mom because she had to work while I grew up," she says.

Shelley also stays busy as part of the Little League board, volunteering at Loveway, Inc., and being involved in her children's school.  "I am so thankful that the Lord knew what was best for me and didn't just give me what I wanted.  I cannot imagine being anything other than a 'stay-at-home mom' right now."

When asked how she is teaching joy to her children, Shelley replies, "I like to think I teach the kids joy when I help them solve their struggles on their own with the Lord's help.  It's about guidance, I guess.  I received lots of that from my mom."  Shelley encourages her kids to seek the Lord every morning about everything and to take the time to notice the little things in life.

Christmas is a very special time of year for Shelley.  Her mother loved Christmas, and when her mother passed away, Shelley wanted to carry on her mom's warm, welcoming ways of treating everyone like family.  Shelley loves to have people over or buy little gifts for people who aren't expecting it.  "It feels so good to let others know you think of them when they are least expecting it!" she says.

Shelley says of her favorite verse, Luke 11:9, "Ask . . . Seek . . . Knock!  I love it!  The Lord is always there for me.  I just need to seek Him.  I was so independent before the Lord, and through all of my success I was struggling terribly.  Today, I am so dependent on Him.  I would rather do things the right way the first time!"

Shannon Oakes

Interview by Diana Gipson

Shannon Oakes sees stewardship as "the intentional  deploying of the resources one is given in a responsible manner that serves to benefit others, without thought to personal gain."  She has a great deal of experience with the stewardship of funds!  She has been the Office Manager and Scholarships Coordinator on behalf of the Elkhart County Community Foundation for eleven years.  This not-for-profit organization helps other not-for-profit agencies such as ADEC, CAPS, Boys and Girls Clubs, Bashor Children's Home and the food pantry at West Goshen Elementary, which is dear to the heart of SGC.  Elkhart County Community Foundation regularly stays in touch with the agencies it helps, so the needs of the community are always known.  Scholarships are another important involvement of the foundation.  A favorite part of Shannon's job is to contact families who have been awarded  a Lilly Scholarship, which offers its recipients a full-ride scholarship to any school in the state.  "The worst part of my job," she admits, "is calling the runner-up because all these children are amazing and I wish I could give them all a Lilly!"

Shannon and her family began attending SGC in September of 2008.  They had been members of a church in Bristol, where her husband, Tony, grew up attending, but, after two years of thinking and praying about it, they made the difficult decision to find a new church home.  "Leaving our family and friends was difficult, but imperative for our own personal and  spiritual growth," she says.  One of the needs on their list as they visited churches was "no family."  She explains, "I know that sounds a bit harsh, but at our home church our identity was linked directly to everyone else in the family.  We were hoping to start off somewhere new as just Tony and Shannon and the kids, without all the family history."

They also decided they would visit several churches and not stop at the first one, no matter what.  Sugar Grove was the first church they visited, and, ironically, twelve weeks and seven churches later, it was Sugar Grove that they decided was for them.  In fact, they had bragged so much about what a great church SGC was after their first week of visiting, Tony's parents and his sister's family had already begun attending SGC!  This fact caused Shannon to think twice, but she is so glad Tony and she decided to make SGC their home church after all.

Shannon describes her own walk with God as "hit or miss" as she grew up.  She was baptized and had her first communion in the Catholic church, and then her parents fell away from their faith when Shannon was in fourth grade.  She attended various Sunday services and youth groups with friends, but didn't understand the basics of faith, like reading and understanding the Bible, until she met her husband.  Out of embarrassment over her lack of biblical knowledge compared to her husband, she sought out a mutual friend of theirs, Jennifer Leiby, to explain the Bible to her.  Fifteen years later, Shannon feels indebted to her friend for helping her to understand the Bible without ever shaming Shannon for her ignorance of the Bible.

Children are very important to Shannon, and God has gifted her to interact with them well. She is involved with a program called CARE, a mentoring program which matches up students with adults who commit to spending a half hour per week with them.  Shannon now mentors three children and is excited about being able to "follow" these kids up through high school.  She believes it is important to put ourselves in the shoes of children, get down on their level and treat them with love and respect.

When asked about her family, Shannon comments, "If I believed in fairy tales, I would have to say that I am living my 'Happily Ever After.'"  She met her husband, Tony, 18 years ago in San Diego, California.  Tony was serving in the United States Navy and San Diego was Shannon's hometown.  They met at a Halloween party neither had intended to attend.  "Truthfully," she remembers, "I had a date that night, but my girlfriend begged me to go to the party instead.  I agreed to attend for a short time, then had plans to leave for my date.  I never did leave, and, well, here we are!"

Tony and Shannon dated four years before marrying. Tony, divorced, needed time to be reassured Shannon wasn't going anywhere.  Shannon, on the other hand, knew Tony was "the one," and even wrote in her journal a few months into their dating, "I am going to marry Tony Oakes."  The couple have now been married 14 years and have been blessed with three beautiful girls:  Victoria (11), Sydnee (3) and their host daughter, Christine (22), who has been a part of their family for six years.

Shannon's favorite thing to do is read, and she makes weekly trips with her daughters to the library.  She reveals a couple of her wishes as well.  She would like to learn to fly.  "I have always had a desire to get my pilot's license," she remarks.  Another of her dreams, if she can ever convince her husband, is to learn ballroom dancing.  "I won't be holding my breath for that, though!" :)