Tuesday, November 22, 2016

Ready for a New Day

Today is a new day
and a different day.
Usually Tuesday's are our changeover days
but this week it changes to Wednesday here at the Ranch.

So today all four Home Parents will be on duty,
with four boys as three of our boys are on Home Visits
and one was released on Saturday.

It seems kind of crazy to have four HP's with only four boys but
hey, that's an extra days pay for both of us so that's good!

I woke up before my alarm so that tells me going to sleep about 10 pm
is a good thing for me.  I always feel so startled when the alarm goes
off, so I am thankful I woke up on my own.

My devotions came from both the New and Old Testament
Hebrews 11:8-16 The chapter on Faith,
Abraham had faith God would give him his promised land,
Sarah had faith God would give her a baby
So many in the Bible shared their faith of what they
believed God would do for them.

And I am reminded of Ruth, how she clung to God and his faith
that He would provide for her.

And HE did.  I look at my own life,
we have been unemployed,
we have had to deal with major illnesses,
we have seen our boys struggle
and YET through it all
God has been faithful.

We have never gone hungry,
we have always had a place to lay our head,
we have always been surrounded by friends & family,
and we truly have never gone without.

And for that I am thankful.
And we continue on in faith.
We have hit a couple of roadblocks of purchasing
a travel trailer, but maybe the time is not right.
When its supposed to happen it will happen.
And I know I need more practice in being 
patient and learning to wait.

and then I read in 
Malachi 4:1-3
which when I saw the scripture in 
I immediately thought of our own little Malachi,
a cousin's grandbaby
who is fighting for his life, an infection
that began to block his breathing tube
and so I prayed for little Malachi,
asking God to bring healing to him, 
wisdom for the doctors
and peace for his parents, grandparents
and all who love him.

Would you join us in prayer 
for complete healing for this precious baby boy?

And then I read 
And I am reminded of many things:

But a gut wrenching emotions
without a change in behavior
is not true repentance.

I remember a time I was angry at the world,
every person and situation in my life
all because of things that had happened in the past.
I lashed out at everyone and anything,
over and over
until
I came to a place of forgiveness,
never would I hear "I am sorry"
from those who hurt me over and over
but I did find peace in the lap of my Abba Daddy.
I began to live my life in love and joy,
not hatred and anger.

I began to see the many blessings my Abba Daddy
shared with me:
a wonderful husband who loves me just the way I am,
though I know he much prefers the joyful wife not the angry wife,
two healthy son's ~ who have forgiven me for past wrongs
and let's me be a part of their and their family's lives,
an opportunity to do things that I could never imagine:
working in a carnival!!
traveling around in our motor home,
working at campgrounds where we got to enjoy HIS beauty
and meet wonderful people and who many have become
friends and even family.

Yes I am blessed beyond measure
and I thank the Lord
for reminding me that 
sometimes life looks bleak and scary,
doesn't feel real comfortable
BUT
if I continue to keep focusing on Him
His love will abound!
And for that I am truly thankful
that I am loved and blessed
and as 3 yr old Christopher said
"that leads to awesomeness!!"

How can I pray for you today?
And may I ask that you pray for little Malachi
for complete healing and peace for his momma and daddy

and
remember

Monday, November 21, 2016

Life Goes On

I know my last post sounded like I was ready to run
and run fast


I stopped, we stopped
and prayed
and talked with good friends
and our bosses

and took a week off
and heard the Lord say

and after staying quiet, resting, praying,
laying low due to cough
and spending time in the Word

we know we are here for such a time as this.

Days may not always be easy but we know 
we are never alone.

Someone saw this
as my profile picture
and said how happy we look
and you know what

We are happy,
we are happy where the Lord has brought us,
we are thankful for our health
(which is good most of the time)
we are thankful for health insurance,
doctors who take that insurance,
we love our children and grandchildren
and can't wait to see them the end of
November and December
we are thankful for our little apartment,
co-workers who love the Lord,
bosses who support us all the time,
even when we feel like handing in the key
and they just keep encouraging us

but most of all
I am thankful
for a husband who loves me 
through the thick and thin,
tears and laughter
and most of all,
all my quirkiness!




Monday, November 14, 2016

Really ???

I believe that we are called for a purpose
and yet right now, right this moment
I am ready to say I don't like this purpose,
this calling
and I think
God 
Made
Great 
Big 
Mistake

or else what I thought was God calling us to this place,
for this season, for such a time as this,
maybe I was wrong,
plain
wrong.

Am I admitting defeat
no, not yet,
but is it clearly on my mind
yep,
you betcha.

Am I a quitter,
not usually,
usually 
I am the 
biggest fighter
but I don't 
think
I can continue in this fight.

Maybe tomorrow will dawn 
a new day and new thoughts

But right now
I can honestly say
that 
the 
time 
to
move
on 
may 
be
closer 
than
I realized.

We 
are 
having 
some
major
philosophical
differences

and I think they are going to win!

Thursday, November 10, 2016

Change and a Purpose



I woke this morning crying out to Jesus ~

last night was hard, 
hard because I felt like I was fighting a losing battle.

How do you teach respect?
By showing respect even in the midst of hard stuff.

And the first thing I read was

God never changes
He is and Always will be the Same!!

No matter what is happening in the world
Jesus is here and always will be.

I was on Facebook for a bit yesterday afternoon
and I could not believe the the nastiness, the rudeness,
the name calling, the belittling that was going on
and supposedly between friends.

All over the outcome of the election.
What happened to people using kind words?
Being an encouragement to others?

I was dumbfounded.
Facebook has been a place for me to reconnect 
and connect with family and friends.  
Enjoying pictures of babies and seeing kids grow up,
sharing about our day ~ yet yesterday was like
someone said "let's be mean and nasty as we can be."

No thank you...I want and need positive in my life.

And so this morning as I got out of bed
because I couldn't sleep and I cried out to God
he showed me and reminded

He never changes, it is us who change.
And so I said to God 
"Please show me my purpose.  I truly believe You opened 
the door for us to come to MCH, to share your love with others.
Help me to be the light that shines in these boys life
EVEN on those difficult days when they don't want to listen,
when they lash out in anger, are disrespectful to us as the house~parents,
to the Unit Manager and each other.

Lord help me to just love on these boys ~
that is what I do best.


And I turned to Mark 1:16 ~ 18
16-18 Passing along the beach of Lake Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew net-fishing. Fishing was their regular work. Jesus said to them, “Come with me. I’ll make a new kind of fisherman out of you. I’ll show you how to catch men and women instead of perch and bass.” They didn’t ask questions. They dropped their nets and followed.

And immediately felt like God was 
encouraging me,
letting me know that He is the one who has called us here,
to love on these boys
just as He loves on me/us.

And again, I am reminded 

and


And so I say
THANK YOU
JESUS
for loving on me,
loving on these boys
and 
giving us each 
a chance to start over
and to make 
today a better day
than yesterday.

Tuesday, November 8, 2016

Thoughts Abounding

My mind is flowing with thoughts.

It's election day ~ yes we voted, thankful for mail in ballots.
Now it is wait and see with lots of prayers.

Wondering if it is a 
as it sure feels like it with these boys.

Two are sick with the flu ~
and don't understand why they have to wear masks,
can't go to the dining hall and it doesn't help that they
don't feel "sick" but have all the symptoms.

We have an extra boy in the unit for a few days ~
so that changes the dynamics.

We got a new boy last week, Wednesday, and so he is feeling 
his way around the unit.  He is new to our unit but not to the ranch ~
so he is struggling with what is okay in this unit,
getting to know the other boys in a totally different situation.

Thinking how the change of houseparents is similar to parents 
sharing custody of kids...each has their own rules even though
they follow the same guidelines yet we are different people and so handle things
differently ~ neither way is right or wrong, it just is.

Tuesday's tend to be our hardest day
and every week we have a short house meeting once we come on duty,
to remind the boys we start new today and move forward.

The boys know we like to have fun yet they know we 
expect them to meet our expectations
and MCH Rules/Life Skills.

Sort of like MCH 10 Commandments

1. Use Good Words to Communicate
(no swearing is a biggy)

2. Be Gentle and Kind
(use good words and keep your hands to yourself)

3. Show Respect
(of people and property)

4. Listen and Learn
(listen when spoken to,
learn how to manage your feelings)

5. Understand Who is in Charge
(houseparents, unit manager, MCH staff)

6. Accept Decisions of Authority
(even when you don't like it,
remember wherever you go in life you will have a boss of some kind)

7. Make Good Choices
(in life, school and relationships)

8.  Focus and Finish Your Work
(school work, chores, projects)

9. Negotiate and Compromise
(when appropriate, remember #6)

10.  Build Trusting Relationships
(don't manipulate, be honest and true to self and others)

Seems easy enough right,
but not always for any one of us.

Sometimes we all need reminders.  
My reminder came to me through my devotion this morning:




And so throughout the day,
as things were shared,
and then things changed,
misunderstandings,
laughter and tears
through it all

and 



May God bless each of you who reads my blog
and as I always say:
please feel free to leave a message,
share a prayer request,
ask a question

but most of all 
Remember
Jesus Loves You!!!


Blog Address Change!!!!

Well I took the plunge and moved my blog over to WordPress! Below is the link to my blog. All of the blog posts I have written sinc...