Luke Ham Sandwich Band

March 1-9- Family in Hawaii!!!! Yay!
March 10- Rocky Ford -Chamber of Commerce-7pm
March 12- Rinn Chruch- Longmont, Co-7-8:30pm
March 13-Private Party 6-8pm
March 15-Opening for the Classic Imperials Cheyenne Mountain High School Auditorium 2pm and 6 pm
March 16- Opening for the Classic Imperials Evans Community Center, Evans, Co 2pm and 6pm
March 28-31 Chicago for private parties

April 5-Sterling House Fort Collins, Co Great-grandma’s b-day musical celebration 2pm
April 6- Balfour Lodge-2:00
April 10- Arvada Center Arvada, Colorado Come see the band perform with a full orchestra to back us up!!! 6:30 pm
April 16- Christian Women’s Club, Radison Hotel Conference Center in Longmont, CO 9:30-11:00am
April 21- Private Party in Denver, CO
April 23- Lincoln Center in Fort Collins, CO 7 pm
April 26-Music Club-Greeley, Co 4-6pm
April 27-Harvest Bible Church in Elizabeth, Co Church service at 9 am
April 28-Federal Heights school- Denver, Co 8:30am

May 1- Greeley National Day of Prayer
12 pm- City Plaza downtown Greeley
7 pm- First Baptist Church ( intersection of 10th and 11th)
May 3- Bross Street Assisted Living in Longmont, Co 2pm
May 9- Thornton Senior Center- Thornton, Co-12:45 pm
Sunny Acres Retirement Villa- 104th and Irma- Northglenn, CO- 7 pm
May 10- Achievement Day in Boulder, Co
May 10- Come and celebrate Danika’s High school Graduation. She will be performing on both piano and violin with ceremony and dinner to follow RSVP if planning on attending this awesome event.
May 16- Heritage Christian Academy- Fort Collins, CO 8:45-9:45 am
May 17- WWII Veterans Celebration-
May 18-Hudson Car Show-La Salle, CO- La Salle Park-2:00pm
May 19-31 We will be unavailable as we are recording our third CD in Nashville, TN

It is Christmas Eve and I have a moment to reflect on the past few weeks. We had a tremendously busy Christmas season as we performed 23 concerts in 28 days. The children would repeatedly ask me what I wanted for Christmas. Having been blessed beyond belief, my answer was usually, “I don’t know. Peace on earth. Yep, that’s what I want.” Peace. In a family of 10, peace is hardly ever found. As I am writing this, the kids are playing with their new Christmas game-Wii. (Tim spoils them). The silence is interrupted by squeals of laughter and groanings as the children periodically win/lose a game. The washing machine is drumming along with the dryer in the other room. Footsteps above me indicate that Del is trying to do some last minute wrapping before the midnight service. For our house, this is relatively as peaceful as it gets unless you count the time that all 8 children are fast asleep, but those hours are short-lived as the teenagers stay up very late and the “babies” get up at the crack of dawn. So…. I ask myself, “what is peace?” Is it a house that is orderly and quiet; or a quiet walk in the woods: an early morning run at dawn: reading a good book before a fire as snow is falling outside? Well, yes!!! Those things are peaceful for me, but there have been times that i have made an early morning run and my heart has not felt peaceful. The more I ponder those things, the more I have come to the same conclusion. Know God Know Peace No God No Peace. It’s true. I have been in situations that were anything but peaceful and yet, trusting and leaning on the Lord, I FELT PEACE. So, in answer to the kids question about what I want for Christmas, I have EVERYTHING I could possibly want. I have the knowledge that Jesus Christ is my friend and when I die, I will go to be with Him in heaven. There is no greater peace. So, when the kids are wild and things are crazy as it can sometimes be at our house, I will reflect back to this moment and remember that peace comes from God, not my situation.
Our prayer as a family band is that you experience PEACE and that you have a very blessed 2008. We love all of you.
With love and peace,
Deb (mom)

In May, we were scheduled to perform (along with Grandma Jean) at 10 different events throughout the Omaha/Council Bluffs area. Although Dad was unable to travel with us full-time, he would fly in on the weekends and join up with the band on those days! We had really looked forward to our time on the road as this might be one of Tim’s last big trips with the band. Our trip began as most trips, a lot of gas and even more prayer. We had traveled about 6 hours and we were just outside of North Platte, Nebraska when our “Big Bertha” Van suddenly began to lose power. Although no warning lights came on, Big Bertha would not exceed 40 miles/hour!! We limped into North Platte with worried hearts. Since our mechanic also happens to be a wonderful friend, we called him on the road explained our troubles. After a moment of silence, he suggested we turn off the van, get gas and then pray. Now that sounded like good advice so……after getting the gas (and Grandma assured us that she had not stopped praying!) we got back on the highway. Believe it or not, we had no further car trouble all the way to Omaha (actually for the next 9,000 miles which we put on this past month). Back to the story: After our first show on Monday, May 14, we were traveling home to our homebase when the car in front of us lost control of his truck. It was raining heavily and I was going very slowly behind him so we had plenty of time to watch as he rolled three times up the embankment and then down the embankment. I yelled for the kids to brace themselves and prayed that I would be able to stop before hitting the truck as he came to a stop on the highway. With only a few feet separating our van from his truck, I jumped out with orders for Tim to call 911. As I approached to truck, I feared what I would find, but to my relief the young man was alive. Although he was unable to recall his name or any pertinent information, I was excited that he was not comatose. As I was working on him, I heard a crash coming from behind the van. Unable to leave this young man, I looked up in fear that our van was the next victim in this terrible rainstorm. Amazingly, the kids and Grandma Jean began to pour out of the van and I yelled for them to climb up the embankment and told them to “get under the bridge where you will be safe.” As the police and firemen arrived and took over, one policeman went to check on grandma and the kids. He came back and reported that all was fine. I glanced up to see each big kid holding tightly to a little one. Later grandma told me that although all the little kids were scared and crying, each one of them was comforted by an older child with Taylor singing “Come stop your crying it will be all right. Just take my hand and hold on tight…… This is a song from Tarzan that has special meaning for our family. Several other cars were involved in different accidents all around the original overturned truck. Would you believe that in the 8 car accident, our van was the only car that escaped without injury. The police had to move vehicles in our way so that we could leave and get home.
Looking back on the accident later that night, I couldn’t help but give thanks for our safety. But the more I thought of the evening, the more I began to see that this was exactly what God has done for me. Let me explain…. No matter what my circumstance (rain, hail, snow, cancer, sickness…) I have a bridge that I can go under and I will be safe from the storm. Jesus is the bridge. Under his shelter, it doesn’t matter what is going on around me, I am safe. What a peace that passes all human understanding. If you have not experienced that peace, try it. It is really fun to be the one who has shelter and walks away without injury!!

June 1-8- Danika at Music Camp
June 10- Christian Women’s Club in Chadron, NE 11:45 am
Christian Women’s Club in Sydney, NE 6:30 pm
June 13-14 Sydney Gold Rush Celebration Check back for performance times
June 15- Parker Arts and Music Festival Parker, CO Check back for performance times
June 21- Keenesburg Pioneer Arts and Music Festival Keenesburg, Co -12-1:30pm
June 22- Concert in the Park Roosevelt Park Pavillion in Longmont, CO Hosted by Life Choice Pregnancy Center-1 pm Free to public
June 29- Alenspark Community Church-7:00pm

July 13-Balfour Lodge-2:00pm
July 19-1st Baptist Church-Greeley, Golden Wedding Party Co 2:00pm
July 20- Abundant Life Church- 10 am service Firestone, CO (Highway 66 and 1-25)
July 28-YMCA- Estes park, Co Check back for performance times

Del and I decided to surprise the kids and take all 8 children to Kauai for a full week’s vacation without any performances. This in and of itself is amazing considering that this was to be the first true vacation in four years (meaning no performances!) Needless to say, we had 8 very excited kids and one elated grandma!! Grandma Jean always travels with us so, of course, she was to get a vacation to this beautiful island as well. Now, as you can imagine when going to a tropical island, most of our time was spent in the ocean. We took a family surf lesson, went snorkeling, played in waterfalls, and my favorite–boogey boarding. We had the time of our lives. One day, we took the kids to “Secret Beach” by Princeville. This was truly an amazing beach. Picture this: there were maybe 10 other people at the beach, beautiful sandy shoreline with terrific waves for boogey boarding and plenty of sunshine. We rushed to set up a spot for Grandma Jean and all our equipment. Then we each grabbed a board and ran into the ocean eagerly anticipating the thrill of “catching a wave”. My goodness, did we have fun. The waves were 12-15 feet high and even Tori was able to ride the waves in to shore. Being the worrier in our family, I would continually count each little head after my ride. This became too difficult for me to do while in the water so I volunteered to join Grandma on the shore. Normally, I am not too worried as all the kids are great swimmers, but we were very close to a riptide and I was tired, but don’t tell the kids (Smile). Anyway, I had so much fun watching each kid catch the perfect wave. Shouts could be heard from all the kids from Tim down to Tori. “Watch this mom!” “Mom, this is going to be awesome-Watch me” “Check this out Mom!” Over and over the kids would get my attention so that I could watch their ride. After a time, Ty (age 12) yelled for me to watch him because “This will blow your mind Mom. It’s going to be my best move ever.” Well, never one to miss out on a mind-blowing experience, I turned all my attention to Ty. I have to admit that during this momentous occasion, I did get distracted and didn’t give ALL my attention to Ty. He noticed, of course, and came out of the ocean and kneeled right in front of me. “Mom, please watch me the whole time. I might do something drastic on the spur of the moment and I don’t want you to miss out. Please watch.” Well, having been instructed with such an earnest plea, I promised to only watch him. As he paddled out to the wave, Ty would glance back to make sure I was watching. He would smile the sweetest of smiles and give me the thumbs up sign after each glance. Then would you believe, the most amazing thing happened-Ty caught a HUGE wave and had a remarkable ride into shore. As all moms do, I jumped up and down clapping and yelling out my enthusiasm.
Later as the kids got tired, all the “wave catchers” came to shore and made sand castles. Having no heads to count, I spent a few relaxing minutes soaking in the incredible view across the ocean. Suddenly, to my amazement, a mother humpback whale and her baby jumped close enough for me to see it happen. What a sight that is to see. I turned to share my excitement with the family, but it was too late. The whales had moved on and we didn’t see them again. However, as I resumed my diligent and peaceful watch across the ocean, a still small voice whispered to me, “Deb, watch this. It’s going to be amazing. Don’t look away-this will blow your mind.” Ok, I didn’t actually hear God speak those words, but I did feel a sense of amazement of all that God had created. Now, if you have not been to Kauai, let me assure y0u that it is truly one of the most beautiful places that God created. Slowly, the sun began to set and words cannot describe the beauty and majesty of that sunset over the ocean. I simply sat in stunned silence watching God’s handiwork. It brought tears to my eyes as the Lord and I shared an awe inspiring sunset together.
That night I sat down to record the day in my journal and a thought occured to me. I wonder how many, many times during the day God tries to get my attention and I get distracted and look away. How many times He must be wishing that I would give Him all my attention so He could show my “something that would blow my mind!!” The challenges and trials of raising 8 children, managing a family band, being a wife, school teacher, daughter and friend consume so much of my time and energy. I know I miss out on those special times when God was trying to show me something and I missed it. Thankfully, He has not given up on me and I pray He continues to whisper in my ear so I might see His awesome, cool, mind blowing power everyday.

On May 23, 2006, Del and I received the dreaded call that Grandma Jean (who was babysitting so we could celebrate our 20th Anniversary) was enroute to the ER with Chase. During a heated discussion with his sibling, Chase flung his arm in the air to demonstrate some point just as the sibling was raising her arm to demonstrate her point. Unfortunately, the sibling had scissors in her hand and Chase’s hand was injured. Any violinist will tell you that the hands are to be treasured above any other body part other than the head. Well, to make a long story short, Chase’s tendon to the middle finger on the left hand was completly severed. Through a serious of incredible events, we were able to get a world-renown hand surgeon to squeeze Chase into his schedule and he operated on Chase-y the following morning. We hooked up with an awesome hand therapist and after two months of therapy, Chase is functioning at 90%. The therapist and doctor are both amazed that Chase has had such incredible improvement in such a short time. On July 17, Chase was able to play his fiddle (a good month before both the therapist and the doctor said he would be healed). During surgery and everyday of therapy, a prayer team from LifeBridge Christian Church in Longmont along with many friends and family prayed for healing. Thank you all for your prayers, cards, and concern. Chase would also like to send his thanks-he said that everytime you hear him play his violin, you should “smile because God’s grace and mercy are so big! ” These were Chase’s own words. Thank you all-Deb (mom)

We had a performance in Loveland, CO with some wonderful seniors from Loveland Nazarene Church. Immediately following the performance a man and his wife approached me (Debbie-mom) and said that God had laid it on their hearts to give us some groceries. Well, it just so happened that the family did indeed need to go grocery shopping and the cupboards were a little sparse. This, however, was due to the fact that we just had not had the time to get to the store as we were busy with performances and school. This lovely couple was adamant that they were to give us some groceries. After some inner turmoil, I reluctantly agreed to follow them to their home a few blocks away. The man opened his garage door and the back of his pickup was loaded with groceries. He got us several large boxes and told us to “go shopping”. Never one to buy name brand groceries, the kids couldn’t believe their eyes when they saw all the name brand juices, cereals, spag. sauces etc… This wonderful couple never asked if we needed the groceries, never asked what our financial situation was, never asked us anything. They were just following the leading of the Lord. As we drove away, (and after many hugs), one of the kids remarked, “Boy, it is really hard to accept those groceries.” Somehow, I had to agree–it is easier to be the giver and not the reciever sometimes. Yet, God taught us two valuable lessons that day: 1. If God prompts you to do something, don’t question it, just follow his leading and 2. Learning humbleness can come in many different ways.
For the next two weeks, everytime we opened a can or bottle the kids would say, “That’s from those great friends” and we have thanked God over and over for the wonderful way in which He provided for our needs. Side note: A few days later, we had unexpected guests arrive and thanks to that generous gift we were able to feed everyone with delicious name-brand spag. sauce, noodles, fruit and a salad. God knew our need even before we did. Smile!

We had a wonderful September traveling around the middle part of America. We were able to spend time in Nebraska, Kansas, Kentucky and Tennessee. Tim and I decided to visit a college (Bryan College) in Tennessee while we were close. We ended up getting to the town which was over two hours away from Pigeon Forge where we were playing and staying. Just as we entered town, we experienced truck troubles. A very lonely, homesick and scared feeling came over me when I realized that at 3:30pm on a Friday night, Tim and I were stranded and in trouble. Here’s what happened: 1. The gas station attendant, who also worked for the sheriff, came out to help us call a tow truck who then took us to the Ford dealer in town. 2. While waiting for the tow truck, an older lady at the gas station overheard our situation and invited us to come to her house “To eat and relax while we waited”. 3. The tow truck driver turned out to be one of the nicest men you would ever meet and he drove us next to the college so that we would know where we were going later. 4. The Ford service department got us in immediately and had us out the door by 5:15pm (on a FRIDAY night -mind you!) 5. Tim and I drove to look at the college knowing full well that everything would be closed. Would you believe that the first man we saw and stopped to ask for directions was the Director of Admissions at the college. Not only did he call his lovely and patient wife to tell her that he would be late, but he spent the next hour taking info from Tim and talking about the college. (ON A FRIDAY NIGHT!!!) 6. One of the recruiters for the college dropped in to say goodbye. He ended up taking Tim and me to dinner and then spent the next 2 1/2 hours showing us around the campus (ON A FRIDAY NIGHT!!!). A side note, both the Director of Admissions and the recruiter knew each and every kid that passed us on campus and called him/her by name. I was IMPRESSED.
Well, of course, we were stunned by the reception we received from Bryan College. But, I was also impressed with the community of Dayton, Tennessee.
One of the best things about traveling is getting to meet people all around the country who are willing to go out of their way to be neighborly. It’s too bad that most of the news we receive through media (newspapers, radios, computers…..) are mostly negative, because from what we had seen and experienced the good people definitely outweigh the bad people all around the country!!! So, Thank you to Bryan College for your overwhelming show of love and care and thank you to the town of Dayton, Tennessee for being so kind to two weary travelers far from home. Love, Deb (mom)

“Kids, let’s think about something you are thankful for this year.” As I posed this thought to the kids one morning, I had anticipated the usual–family, friends, toys etc…. Tears began to gather and spill out as I listened to the kids give me the answers: “Aunt Jan is in heaven this Thanksgiving, I am so glad that she isn’t in pain anymore.” “Daddy has a great job that keeps us feed and clothed.” “We got to meet so many people this year. Mom, do you realize how big our house is and we even get to live on a lake. I love iceskating, Mom.” “It was so fun to tell people about Jesus this year. It is so cool when they realize that Jesus loves them isn’t Mom?” “I’m thankful that we have so many clothes that we were able to give a big box to the homeless shelter.” “I’m so thankful for our new puppy, Nutmeg. She is a good travel dog huh Mom?” “I’m thankful for my new violin.” “I am so thankful for all that Grandma Jean does for us. Do you think God gives her extra strength Mom?”
“I am so thankful that God loves me Mom.”
The list went on and on. Our hope, as parents, is that we raise a generation of kids who are thankful for all that they have and that they understand who the Giver is!!! We hope that you have a blessed and thankful Thanksgiving. We are so thankful to all of you who encourage us, listen to us and pray for us. Thank you. May God’s love overflow upon you as it does on us. We love you all.

August 1-Private Party for McDowell’s
August 4-Private Party at the Peak View Community Center-Denver, CO
August 5-Boulder County Fair - 12pm www.bouldercountyfair.org/
August 5-Greeley West High School 65th Class Reunion-Greeley Country Club-7:30pm
August 10-14-Lukasiewicz Family Reunion
August 17-18-Battlement Mesa Christian Women’s Club-12pm
-Glenwood Springs Christian Women’s Club-6:30pm
August 19-Kearsey Days-10-12pm
August 19-Dallmann Shower-private
August 20- Danika and Taylor are at 1st United Methodist Church in Longmont-10am service
August 20-Trinity Luthern Church and School picnic-1-3pm
August 27-Abundant Life Church-Highway 66 and I-25 Service is at 10am
August 27-Springwood Nursing Home in Arvada-5:30pm
August 30-The Greeley Place-6:30pm