I just looked at our journal and realized it has been almost a year since our last posting. We have sent out a few email updates but it has been hard to find the time to sit down and update our journal. I have now copied those emails and incorporated those as blog entries below.
Even now, time is short. We have doctors' appointments and a basketball game this afternoon and we still haven't put away our Christmas decorations. There is always seems to be something more pressing that has to be done today... .
Our Boys
With one exception, all of our boys have been with us for over a year and a half. Three have been with us over two years. Bryan left the ranch in October and we have just added another boy to our home. He is a 14 year old who has been living at another home on the ranch. He is moving in with us in the hope that some of our older boys will be a positive influence on him. We now have four 14 year olds, three sixteen year olds and a ten year old. Please pray for his successful integration into our family. He accompanied us on a trip to "Mimi's" house last weekend and it went well. Mimi really liked him and felt like he had a good heart and was honest. That's saying a lot. Mike is not sure he passed that test on his first visit to see Kim... .
Christmas
Christmas came quickly and was past before we could catch our breath. Fortunately, this year we had a lot of awesome help. Early in December, "Aunt Sherri" came over and spent a weekend helping Kim decorate the house. It really looked beautiful (she has quite a gift for that) and saved us a lot of work. Just prior to that, Mimi and "Aunt Jill" came to town to sew curtains for the boys' bedrooms. What a Godsend that was. Our Pensacola friend, Hope Susko, had her class at Pace High School make personalized stockings for each of the boys. LeeAnn and Zack Jenkins, Tom and Carol Jenkins and Hubert and Jackie York prepared and delivered packages of stocking stuffers for the boys. Our Christian Families Sunday School Class at First Methodist in Pensacola also provided money for additional stocking stuffers. Hank and Yvonne Nellums bought the American Idol sing-a-long game for our boys and they have about worn that out (and our ears). What a challenge and adventure it was to shop and select gifts for 9 children (our 7 (at the time), plus Andrew and Haley). The kids loved their presents, their stockings and the whole Christmas experience. On Christmas afternoon, the boys left for a week of visiting with family and friends and we headed down to Midland City for Christmas with Kim's family. For several days, we "recuperated." We both felt like we had been hit by a truck. So we slept late, acted incredibly lazy and enjoyed Mimi's cooking. Andrew, Alex and Haley had a great time hanging out with all of their cousins. It is amazing and exciting to see how close they have become. We returned to the Ranch for a few more days of "downtime" before the boys came back on New Year's Day. We were happy to see them and they all seemed excited to be coming "home" and to be able to sleep in their own beds. We all agreed, however, that things were far to frenetic and the holidays went by too fast for us to really be able to feel the true Christmas spirit.
School
As in the past, the end of the Fall semester brought a rush of exams, projects, sporting events, Christmas parties, and a school play. Our daughter, Haley, has been tutoring several boys at the ranch and helped our boys finish the semester with fantastic grades on their finals. Our nephew, Griffin Smith, was volunteering as an intern at the ranch and helped boys meet project deadlines (he and our neighbor, Pat Ryan, worked into the wee hours of the morning helping little Aaron complete a "George Washington-type ferry for Aaron's history project). I don't know how we could have survived without their help. Certainly, the boys benefited. Aaron made a perfect score on his project and four of our boys made "A-B Honor Roll." Praise God for that!
Hunting Trips
Mike and the boys were invited to go on a couple of hunting trips. One was at Dr. and Mrs. Jeffrey Gunnells' camp in West Alabama. Although they didn't shoot any deer, they ate well, got in a lot of target practice and skeet shooting and enjoyed camping out in a pop-up camper that belongs to another houseparent. The entire Gunnells family and many of their friends were involved in providing a first class hunting experience for our boys. The other trip was to Koinonia Plantation in Henry County. This camp, owned by Eric O'Bryan and staffed by members of the Bethel Baptist Church Brotherhood, is dedicated to Christian Ministry to children and other hunters. Our boys had a great time (Thanks to Johnny Sorenson for inviting us) and Mike got to share his testimony and the "ranch story" the next morning at the Brotherhood Breakfast. This was Alex's first hunting trip and he shot a doe right on target at 150 yards. Jordan shot his first buck and was real excited about that. It was a lot of fun for all-- except Alex wasn't too crazy about the "blooding" ritual....
Test of Faith
2008 was a difficult year with Kim's father's passing, the departure of Bryan, and our house and investment properties being unoccupied and draining all our savings. At the same time, we were blessed to have Haley move in with us, Andrew visiting regularly, hanging out with Griffin before he went on a mission trip to Peru, and the love and support of many friends and family members. To be honest, we feel like our faith is being tested and we sometimes wonder why God would make things so difficult when we are working within what we believe to be His will for us. I can tell you that these experiences and these tough times have helped us to refocus our priorities, to live a lot leaner and to be even more grateful for the blessings that we have been able to enjoy. We don't know what the future will hold but we remain faithful that He will sustain us if this is truly His will for our lives.
Please Pray for Us and Stay in Touch
Your prayers, cards, emails and visits are fuel for our engines. They help give us the stamina and determination to carry on when we are emotionally and physically drained and when we feel like we can't go on. It seems like every time we feel like we are about to hit a wall, someone calls or writes or visits and pumps us up again. Or, one of our boys will do something fantastic in school or home and "fill our tank." We love you and appreciate your friendship and encouragement. We hope to hear from you or see you in the near future. We especially love visitors and the boys alway enjoy meeting our friends. So, come see us soon!
God Bless and Best Wishes for a Happy and Prosperous 2009. Mike and Kim
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment