Meet the Blazsiks

Drew and Jessie Blazsik of Toledo, OH have been married for eight years and are parents to Avery, Braden, Cole, and Christian. They belong to St. Joan of Arc parish. Jessie works as an art teacher at St. Joan of Arc school, while Drew is an Economic Instructor at UT. Here’s their story.

Please share the short story of how you met and began dating.
Jessie’s parents bought a washer and dryer from Drew when he worked at Lowe’s. Jessie’s mom, Lisa, had a feeling that she needed to say something about her daughter (which is not like her to talk about Jessie to strangers!) A few weeks later Jessie needed a washer and dryer so her mom took her to Lowe’s and Drew was working. We went on our first date and were engaged a year later!

What are some favorite family activities?
Hiking at our amazing metro parks! Kickball in the backyard. Board games and a fun game of Spoons!

Share a time you all really laughed as a family.
Playing kickball on the beach in the Outer Banks!

Share a “cute kid” story (or two).
Jessie was talking about end of year gifts for Avery’s teacher. Jessie mentioned wine and Avery said, “Well, I don’t know if she likes wine, I have never seen her drink it at school. But she always drinks coffee!”

Describe a dream family vacation.
Traveling out west in an RV, and traveling through the Holy Land.

What do you love most about being married
Jessie: Having someone I love to do life with.
Drew: Being able to participate in God’s plan for my life with the person God chose for me.

What do you love most about your family?
Our family dinners and all the laughs we have around our dining room table.

What is your greatest challenge as parents and how are you working at it?
Maintaining a consistent routine with discipline, evening prayers, and having individual time with each kiddo!

How does your family pray?
We try and have family prayer time on Friday nights and always before a meal. We do individual prayer time with each little one at bedtime every night. We also have a great family devotional we do nightly before bedtime book time.

How do you measure success as a family, and what help do you need getting there?
Raising faith filled kids into respectable faith filled adults! We need to surround our family with other families on the same course as we are on, some families with older kids for ours to look up to, and some families with kids the same age for them to grow in faith and life with!

What are you moved to proclaim to other families?
Marriage and having a family is such an amazing ride through life!

How have Mass Impact and LIT Groups impacted your marriage and family life? Why do you think others should get involved?
Being apart of a LIT Group has encouraged us to do more with prayer inside our own home. We have gotten ideas from other families, and have been encouraged each week while sharing our challenges and our victories. We get to listen to the Gospel for the week and discuss it together and what it means for our life. And for me, with 4 kids at Mass, I may or may not be able to fully listen to the gospel, so reading and understanding it before Mass is a huge plus for me! Our kids have met other kids their age, and older kids that are role models for them. Getting involved in a LIT group is an experience that brings you closer in your marriage and is something worth being a part of.

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