Monday, December 31, 2012

Ranch History 2012


Some of my favorite photos captured for the ranch history in the year 2012
 
 Jim praying with the boys and house parents after a fun game of football!


Mason praying with his cross country team at state tournament!


Mason very excited after opening a phone for his Christmas present;
 all because our supporters made it possible!

 Dylan and Mason showing Michelle how much they care about her in their prom tux's!


 Favorite picture of Got Guts Camp
(Curtis Fry speaking about C.H.O.I.C.E.S.:
Choosing Him Over I Changes Every Situation)!
 
 
Tristan with his great smile!
 
 
Ryan with his Psaltry that made it to the state fair!
 

First day of school the boys walking up the lane to the bus.  Hoping this
picture will help them to remember to always look forward and move
on in life with a new attitude!  Also that they will remember that God
forgives them for their past if they ask him.  He is a BIG God with
BIG arms to carry us through our tough times. 
We love you Mason, Ryan,
Dylan and Tristan. 
Always remember that! 
 

 
Happy New Year may God Bless you all in the year 2013. 
I know I, personally, am excited to see what God has in store for the year 2013
at the
Miracles Can Happen Boys Ranch.
 
 
 
Serving HIM with Hopeful hearts in the year 2013,
 

 
 
 
 



Friday, October 5, 2012

How touching!


This was an awesome feeling watching this happen after Mason got done running in his Cross Country meet.  Here are three teenagers not afraid to get down on their knee and pray in front of all their peers.  God has done an amazing work in the heart and life of Mason.  We are very proud of the way he has grown up into a fine young man of God. 

Mason is doing very well this year in Cross Country has placed in the top 20 a few times and their team is possibly going to make it to state if they keep doing as well as they have been.  He loves to run and uses that to help deal with some of his frustrations. 

Please pray for Mason as he continues to run the race of life with perseverance.  Pray that he will continue to run this race marked out for him as a man of integrity not giving up even when the tough gets going.  Mason will be graduating mid - term this year from High School and he turns 18 the end of this month.  Mason is not sure on his plans yet for his future but is talking about going to school this winter for EMT and then possibly would like to go to Northwestern Christian School in Minnesota. 

Thank you for your prayers.....we at the ranch could not continue to run this race in ministry without all the prayer support that we get. 

God Bless you all!

I Corinthians 9:24 "Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize.  Run in such away as to get the prize."

Running the Race for HIM,


Wednesday, October 3, 2012

Proud of this Birthday BOY!

 This young man just celebrated his 17th birthday with us here at the ranch.  Ryan has changed alot in the last two years.  He has grown into a fine young man and even this year we are seeing more good things happen at school.  We were starting to have some negative comments from a teacher and so we had a talk with him and he said he was going to change it on his own.  Michelle got an email today from this teacher that he is totally impressed with his change of attitude the last couple classes.  God continues to mold him and this we are grateful. 

The other day Ryan loaded this load of hay all by himself after school one day.  Jim says this is the biggest load any one boy has loaded at the ranch.  He was pretty proud of this stack of hay. 
Please pray for Ryan as he continues to grow into the man God would want him to be.  It amazes me how excited he gets when we have Bible Study in the evenings and how much he pays attention.  I'm thinking God is going to use this young man someday to help spread HIS word.  We love him and are excited to see what God is going to do in his life.

Isaiah 64:8 "Yet you, LORD, are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand."


Serving HIM,


Saturday, September 29, 2012

Hurt hand....need prayer from our helping hands!

I know I just wrote about Dylan...however, he could use some prayer right now.  I don't know what it is about Jim and a boy from the ranch going to a pro game but last year Jim tore his bicep and could not go to the game and this year Dylan has a very sore hand.  He was playing football last night and got his hand smashed between two helmets and stepped on.  He and his parents were in the emergency room last night till wee hours in the morning and they said they don't see a fracture now but said it could show up later, so he is in a splint for now.  If it does not get better he will need to go in for a recheck.

So in saying all this pray for him so that he can still enjoy the game tomorrow in St. Louis.

Thanks again for all your support!



Serving HIM,


 

Friday, September 28, 2012

This young man is going to a pro game!


Last year this young man made the HONOR ROLL all 4 quarters which earned him the rights to a pro game.  He will be going this Sunday with Jim to the SEATTLE SEAHAWKS game against the RAMS in St. Louis.  I'm thinking he might be a little excited.  He has waited awhile to get paid up for his great job in school last year.  Dylan will be graduating from High School in January mid-term.  His plans aren't set in stone yet but he is very seriously thinking about going to Northwestern Christian College in Minnesota. 
 
Please continue to pray for him as he finishes out the program here at the ranch, that he will take with him the tools that he has learned.  He is a GREAT kid and we will miss him when he leaves. 
 
Now back to the game....I think there is somebody else that is a little excited to go to this game too.  Jim has set up a challenge for over 40 boys that if they make the honor roll all 4 quarters or carry straight A's for 1 quarter he will take them to a pro game.  This will be the first time Jim will be able to take a boy from the ranch to a pro game.  He missed out last year when Charles was able to go because he just tore his bicep and was in severe pain....so I'm sure my guy is a little excited after waiting for 20 years to be able to take a boy from the ranch to a pro game. 
 
I'm sure they are going to have fun and a memory that will last a life time. 
 
GO RAMS!  oops I'm sure Dylan will be saying GO SEAHAWKS!!!!!!
 
Thanks for praying for the boys here at the ranch and helping us give these boys a chance.
 
Serving HIM,
 
 


Sunday, June 3, 2012

8th Annual 2012 Miracles Can Happen Golf Outing!





We are so thankful for all our sponsors, golfers, and workers.....we had a successful outing.  Thankful that people like you continue to help us work with boys like this -----

If you would like to see the 2012 pictures from today...just go into our picasa album right HERE.







We had a GREAT turn out today.  The ranch was able to raise $4,500.00 today at this fun OUTING!  Thanks all for making it possible for us to touch lives by helping them make a U-Turn in their life and Drive down the course to SUCCESS!

We could not keep the doors open if it wasn't for people like you to help us in fundraisers like this! 

A special thanks to our 2012 sponsors this year! 





Gold Sponsors
1.  Gerdau Ameristeel; Wilton, IA                                                                             $500.00
2.  Heartland Fellowship Church; Wilton                                                                   $500.00
Silver Sponsors
1.  Townsend Farms; Wilton, IA                                                                                $300.00
Flag Sponsors
1.  Heuer Construction; Muscatine, IA                                                                $100.00
2.  Eastern Iowa Light & Power; Wilton, IA                                                      $100.00
3.  First National Bank; Muscatine, IA                                                                $100.00             
4.  Hogan Financial Services; Durant, IA                                                            $100.00
5.  Mike’s Wilton Motors; Wilton, IA                                                                 $100.00
6.  Becker Trucking & Lime Spreading; Wilton, IA                                            $100.00
7.  Morgan Family; Wilton, IA                                                                            $100.00
8.  Wahkonsa Country Club; Durant, IA                                                             $100.00
9.  Wilton Café; Wilton, IA                                                                                 $100.00             
General Fund Sponsors                                                                                          
1.      Richard Grunder                                                                                                  $200.00
2.      Plamor Lanes                                                                                                     Valu-Pak          
3.      Community Bank                                                                                                 $  50.00
4.      WTC                                                                                                                    $  50.00
5.      Joanne Blair                                                                                           Iowa Gift Basket
6.      Joanne Blair                                                                                            Golf Gift Basket
 Food Sponsors                                                                                    
1. The Bartell Family                                                                                           Dessert Bars
2. Miracles Can Happen Boys Ranch, Inc.                                                                      Food

Thanks again for a successful...2012 Golf OUTING!



Tuesday, May 1, 2012

We will not need an OUTHOUSE at the Filling Station!


We are so thankful for all the help so far with adding on to the filling station.  This was the beginning of the project.  It was a lot of preparing for the next stage of the building....
We just had a work crew here from Mediapolis Methodist Church Saturday April 28th  and we are very thankful that they stuck out the cold April day and worked as a team.....this is what was accomplished.









We also had some women doing the behind the scene work that day....like preparing the food to feed this crew. So thankful for all they did for us too! 





The PERFECT waffle of the day!

If you want to see more pictures of the Bath HOUSE buiding project you can check them out here!

Thanks to all who have helped with this project.  Also this Saturday at Heartland Fellowship Church 315 W. Summit in Wilton Iowa....they are having a fundraiser for this project.  Come to the city wide garage sales in Wilton......but make sure you come by the church and find some treasures!  The church will also be serving grilled sandwiches for lunch.  So stop by and help the ranch out by taking home some treasures....and in return we can continue to work with boys lives and help them feel like a treasure.


Serving HIM,



Tuesday, April 3, 2012

Human Video.....GREAT performance!

Mason
Two of the boys from the ranch and the houseparents daughter were involved in a human video that was performed this last Sunday at Heartland Fellowship Church in Wilton.  This is where they go to youth group on Wednesday nights.  There were twelve youth from this church that were willing to invest three months into practicing for this human video.  It was a GREAT experience for all involved and we are very proud of Mason, Ryan and Morgan for the outstanding job they did. 

Morgan















They will be performing this at the Wilton Smorgasboard, the Wilton Founders Day event and at the Muscatine High School on May 3rd at a SOAP event. I will try to post more info later on times and dates.

If you would like to view the human video drama presentation just click here and ENJOY! http://youtu.be/pzhf-hIyQT4
Ryan