{"id":141,"date":"2013-01-03T21:33:16","date_gmt":"2013-01-03T21:33:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.closetsbydesign.com\/?p=141"},"modified":"2020-07-14T16:13:49","modified_gmt":"2020-07-14T23:13:49","slug":"skokie-family-wins-gift-of-organization","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.closetsbydesign.com\/skokie-family-wins-gift-of-organization\/","title":{"rendered":"Skokie family wins gift of organization"},"content":{"rendered":"

SKOKIE \u2014 Even with a $25,000 gift certain to get their new year off to a badly needed organized start, the Lancasters are careful to keep the \u201cMe Monster\u201d away.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s what Jason and Melissa Lancaster of Skokie sometimes call the impulse to focus on oneself \u2014 wanting \u201cstuff\u201d when there are so many people in the world who need a loving home. These parents have imparted the \u201cMe Monster lesson\u201d to their children \u2014 four biological, one internationally adopted and one from a local foster home.<\/p>\n

More internationally adopted children are likely on the way; the Lancaster family, now with children ranging in age from 2 to 14, will soon get larger.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe love kids, and we love to love kids, but we often have a hard time keeping all their necessities organized,\u201d Jason Lancaster wrote. \u201cSoon and very soon we are going to welcome more internationally adopted children into our home. Once the paperwork clears, up to three more children will join in the fun and love. It is a blast, but it also makes for an organizational nightmare.\u201d<\/p>\n

That explanation was part of Lancaster\u2019s essay submitted to Closets By Design<\/a>, which offered a $25,000 \u201cHolidays By Design\u201d home makeover to the winner.<\/p>\n

The Lancaster family was that winner, initially among the dozens that submitted a photo of their disorganized home and an essay making a case for the gift.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe laundry piles are enormously high,\u201d Jason Lancaster wrote. \u201cIt\u2019s like climbing a mountain. And where do we put all the food?\u201d<\/p>\n

Jason Lancaster is a pastor at Evanston Bible Fellowship Church<\/a> while Melissa is a stay-at-home mom caring for her six children and Teddy, the family\u2019s affectionate pet.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought we\u2019d never have a dog,\u201d Melissa said. \u201cI swore we never would, but one of our children had sleeping issues and along came Teddy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Then again, Melissa also thought that she was done having kids after their four biological ones were born.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had given away the baby stuff, I wasn\u2019t going to have more kids, we were not going to have dogs,\u201d she said, smiling. \u201cGod tipped everything upside down.\u201d<\/p>\n

One changing factor, the Lancasters say, was learning more about international sex trafficking of children. Children in orphanages are especially vulnerable.<\/p>\n

On a Sunday night, Jason and a friend became frustrated \u2014 tired of just sending in money to help the cause. They vowed to do more and Melissa was on board by the next morning.<\/p>\n

Jason Lancaster notes there are 140 to 160 million orphans in the world, though not all of them adoptable.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut many of them are,\u201d Jason said. \u201cWe\u2019re nobody\u2019s hero. This is the way God was encouraging us. We just want to do what we can do.\u201d<\/p>\n

Along with a burgeoning family has come more clothes to wash and food to store. Jason\u2019s essay specifically referenced the laundry\/food\/utility room and called that catch-all venue \u201cone big mess.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMy system just kind of blew up,\u201d Melissa said. \u201cI didn\u2019t want to complain that I had too many kids because I wanted to be doing this. But I felt my hands were tied.\u201d<\/p>\n

The entire family welcomes the outside help.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m really happy because our house isn\u2019t so organized sometimes,\u201d said Elijah Lancaster, 12, the oldest child.<\/p>\n

Closets By Design spent three December days at the Lancaster home. By the end of the first day, the family had double the kitchen storage space. Other reorganized space included the laundry and furnace rooms, master closets, the kitchen, the foyer and more.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe usually don\u2019t do whole house systems,\u201d said worker Barry Ano of Closets By Design. \u201cIt\u2019s unique for us to be working on so much of a house.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s more unique for the Lancasters. They already felt blessed, but now they are blessed in a new way.<\/p>\n

\u201cI never won anything before,\u201d Jason said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe feel like it\u2019s a direct gift from God to give us exactly what we need to do this and to continue to do this,\u201d Melissa said.<\/p>\n

by Mike Isaacs<\/p>\n

Originally posted in the Post-Tribune<\/a> | January 3, 2013<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

SKOKIE \u2014 Even with a $25,000 gift certain to get their new year off to a badly needed organized start, the Lancasters are careful to keep the \u201cMe Monster\u201d away….<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":17522,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[183,184,162,185,186,187,188,189],"class_list":["post-141","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-closet-organization","tag-chicago","tag-holidays-by-design","tag-home-improvement","tag-home-makeover","tag-kitchen-storage","tag-laundry-room","tag-master-bedroom","tag-master-closet"],"yoast_head":"\nSkokie family wins gift of organization<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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