Thankful!

We are thankful that we just got some time away. We left Friday afternoon, drove about 3 1/2 hours to Jim's brother's house Tim's and spent the night with him and his wife Lisa. Had a great visit, then took off in the morning and drove about 3 1/2 more hours following them to Jim's sister's house Kim's to have Thanksgiving dinner with the whole Fry family. We had a great time getting to see the family and Dustin our boy that lived with us for four years also drove up from Branson to be with us for Thanksgiving at Kim's too. It was good to see him. This morning Jim and I got up and finally was able to get Jim to St. Louis to see his first Ram's game. We had a great time, but it would have been a better time if they would have scored that touchdown when they were on the 1 yard line with only 30 seconds left of the game. But it wasn't meant to be they lost 19-24. Bummer! But we are still thankful Jim finally got to a game, after all he has been a Rams fan since he was a little boy. Wait a minute isn't he still a little boy? Oh, I guess not, he is an old man now. Anyway it seems like that because this last year he has been fighting the pneumonia and bronchitis so much.

We are thankful to find out that his lungs in a ct scan were clear and normal, so he is on prednizone, 3 different asthma medicines, and an antibiotic, trying to get rid of his cough and we are waiting for a blood test that they sent away testing for allergies. The pulmonary specialist is pretty sure it is allergy related (the cow barn?). Please pray that we can find out what to do to keep it under control, he is tired of being tired from all the coughing. But very thankful that his lungs were clear.

We are also thankful that the boys went home Wednesday night the 21st at 4:00 and their parents will take them to school tomorrow morning the 26th and we didn't get a single phone call while we were off. Very thankful for that!!!!!

Now please pray for us this week, as the boys get back into our routine, that things go well and we are able to continue feeling refreshed after time off. Not that we don't love the boys we work with and enjoy working with them but it is good to have the time off occasionally.

Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving weekend and also have a lot to be thankful for.

We are also thankful for Jesus being the reason we are getting ready to celebrate the next season coming up. Thank you Jesus!

Serving Him,

Not sure who did this but GOD knows!

As we drove out of the lane this morning to go to church this was our view. Not a very pleasant sight.

Our son Curtis, spent quite a bit of time building this mailbox for us, to go along with the cabins we live in. Like I said in this post, is this ministry easy? No, it can be very hard, trying and frustrating. This would be one of those days. We don't know who did this but a little while ago I posted about a Lost Boy. Then in another post I asked you to pray for the Lost Boy because he has left the ranch before completing it, and never accepted Jesus into his heart. Our heart goes out to this boy, we came to love him like our own, and he is still running, still hurting and still searching in all the wrong places. Please pray for him.

We are waiting for the police to find the person that did this crime. We find it a little amusing when we found an abandoned car along side the road this morning about two miles away from the ranch by a little country church and it happens to belong to the lost boy.

We do want the person(s) involved in this crime to be consequenced for their actions. So please pray that God would bring to the surface the truth in this whole thing.

We not only want them to pay for the crime but deep down we want them to realize that they can't keep running from God and have a "good" life.

Ecclesiastes 8:12-13 "Even though a person sins and gets by with it hundreds of times throughout a long life, I'm still convinced that the good life is reserved for the person who fears God, who lives reverently in his presence, and that the evil person will not experience a "good" life. No matter how many days he lives, they'll all be as flat and colorless as a shadow—because he doesn't fear God." The Message

Wreckers vs. Builders!

James 3:1-5 "Not many of you should presume to be teachers, my brothers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly. We all stumble in many ways. If anyone is never at fault in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to keep his whole body in check. When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can turn the whole animal. Or take ships as an example. Although they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot wants to go. Likewise the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark."


As I was shopping last night telling store clerks, no thank you I don't need help.....I'm just browsing. One thing I noticed was how it is so sad the way customers come in and wreck all the organized shelves and the workers have to fix the mess. Back at the ranch, while I was wrecking our checkbook by spending money (oh, oh!) Jim was home with one of the boys listening to him say he doesn't need help he's a loser and he is going to end up in jail anyway so it doesn't matter. It is so hard when we hear these words come out of a young man's mouth, it makes us realize how the words we speak says it all. It is so hard to get through to anyone when they have been called a loser all their life, that they are not a loser. Last night while Jim was milking cows with this young man, trying to BUILD him UP he would say.... hey, Hector, you're a winner, you can be a winner...... Several times throughout the hour they were milking Jim would tell him this, and then stop just to give him a hug. By the end of the hour Jim finally got an answer from him, when he asked him, "so what can you be Hector?" With a real slow drawn out answer he said, "a winner." It wasn't very convincing but it is a start.

Our job is a very hard job, and we need all the prayer support that we can get, because like the scriture says we are judged more strictly being teachers to these young men, we stumble, we will not be perfect until we are in heaven with our Savior Jesus Christ. We are trying to take a heart that has been broken, ripped, calloused, wrecked by a small thing called the tongue. We have to rebuild this broken heart, to learn how to love and that it is okay to love. We make mistakes because we are human but we try everyday to make a difference in these young men's lives. Is it easy? No, it can be very hard, trying and frustrating. Is it Rewarding? Yes, very! Especially when we get a report card from the school and see that a young man is on the honor roll now instead of mostly F's, or when young men pray for a little 4 year old girl everyday. or when they start to feel good about themselves instead of thinking they are a loser. The most rewarding thing is when they accept Jesus as their personal savior to be Lord of their life.

So please help us out by praying that we can be builders in the young men God entrusts us with and not wreckers. Pray for our tongue because some days are harder than other, when they push us to the limit because they want to see if we are still going to be there for them.

I'm so glad our Father up in Heaven is who HE is because I know there are times when I push Him to the limit to see if He is still going to be there for me.

Thank you Jesus for loving me through it all.

Builders for Christ,

Rejoice in the Lord Always!

Phillipians 4:4-7 "Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."

I know that God's word here does not say that we are suppose to rejoice only when life is good, no it says Rejoice in the Lord ALWAYS!!! I'm sure as you have been reading the blog lately that it doesn't sound like I have been rejoicing. I apologize if I have sounded negative, I'm human and I know God is not finished with me yet. I know HE is near and I am not to be anxious about anything. BUT.............. in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving , present your request to God. So my request to God is everyone out there that is reading this please pray for the Lost Boy that I talked about in this post. He has left the ranch before completing it, and never accepted Jesus into his heart. Our heart goes out to this boy, we came to love him like our own, and he is still running, still hurting and still searching in all the wrong places. Please pray for him.

Some other request to God in our life right now are:

• Expansion of the ranch.....................(30 on a waiting list) That's a lot of hurting parents, wanting help for their son. Thankful that this ministry is needed!
• Our (personal) Church Family / Middle of a church split/ Thankful that we can go to a building and worship!
• Some friends of ours going through a divorce / Thankful that we can come to a Father of love and cry out for help on behalf of our brother and sister in Christ
• Jim's health/ thinking that he has allergies to something in the barn/ seeing a pulmonary specialist/ Thankful that God is the great physician
• That we can be obedient to God's word and Rejoice Always!

We do want to Rejoice in the Lord, He is faithful to show His love to us even through the hard times. We love you Jesus and thank you for who you are.

Rejoice with us, as we lift these requests to God.

Serving Him,