Summer Changes...

Our new cottage, Cottage 12. You can barely see the lake peeking out that sits behind the cottage. 

This news, though exciting, is not easy. It has come with much prayer and some heartaches as we have sought out God's plan for our next chapters.

When we made the move from Nola to Houston two years ago one of the things that drew us to this children's home as opposed to many others we looked at was their College and Career Program. Most homes do not and cannot provide care for children after they graduate and turn 18. But Boys and Girls Country has a wonderful campus about 15 miles from the main campus where a home for the kids who have graduated from high school is possible.

It is because of a calling that we have felt to this campus and the unique ministry opportunities there even from the very beginning that we have decided to accept a position working on the College and Career campus beginning in June.

We have very heavy hearts as we make this transition. Obviously we have grown to love the girls in this cottage as our own and will miss our daily interactions with them dearly. We hope, however, that we will be able to continue an appropriate relationship with the girls, allowing them also to bond with the new couple, and that ultimately we will be a part of their lives again in a few years as they all graduate and move over to the other campus where we will reside.

Things are a little bit different over on this campus. Some of the kids are away at schools like the University of Texas, Texas State or Prairie View A&M, living in the dorms, but there are also several who will live "at home" in our new cottage, Cottage 12, with us as they attend community college at Lone Star just a few miles away.The residents have a little bit more freedom and independence to come and go and make more of their own decisions. We are there more as mentors, but hope to still provide a family-like setting for them. This is such an amazing program because if they will do what they are supposed to do, keep their grades up and do well in school, BGC will actually pay for their entire college degree. 

Cliff is excited because this will give him the opportunity to work with some guys, something he has missed being in an all girls cottage. And I think that Campbell and I will also enjoy this aspect of living over there as well. 

It is a beautiful campus with a lake behind the cottages and it is very peaceful. We are looking forward to perhaps a bit more quiet setting for Bug's sake and for ours. I believe that there is no less work over there, but that it is going to just be a different kind of work dealing with these older youth as they are transitioning into adulthood. 

Pray for our cottage of girls as they digest this uneasy news and as they begin to also trust that God has a plan for this next chapter of their lives as well. We have tried to tell them that if God has made this plan for our lives, then that means that he has also made a plan for their next steps as well and we all are trying to trust Him in His sovereignty. We love them so much but know as much as we love them, God loves them even more, and we are trying to rest in the peace that thought brings.

Pray for them as they learn to trust and bond with the new couple and their family as they take our place in Cottage 3. Pray for them to use the life skills that we have taught them and for their continued growth. Pray that they would not go backwards in this transition but they could continue on their journey toward becoming all that God wants for them to be. This is probably one of our biggest prayer requests. We have seen God's hand on this cottage and these girls from the very beginning and know that He has great things in store for them all. Pray that this new couple, this campus and the girls themselves will see this potential that the Lord has placed in them and that this transitional time in their lives will propel them forward even more. 

Pray for the new couple as they have the daunting task of taking over a cottage. Pray for them to learn to love our girls as much as we do and to see them with the Lord's eyes. Pray for them to have the patience, endurance, mercy, understanding, and unconditional love that it takes in raising our precious daughters. 

Pray also for our newest resident who has joined the cottage, Alexis. She is an 8th grader and is adjusting well to campus life but pray for has she goes through yet another transition so soon after coming here.

Pray for Bug. He is excited to move to the new cottage with a lake and trampoline, but I don't think he totally understands yet that it means that he will not live with the girls, who he considers to be like his sisters, anymore. Pray that this will be a good move for him and that he will still be able to feel connected to his sisters here but also gain new relationships with the kids over there.   

Pray, also, for Cliff and I as we make this transition, too. The kids over there are also losing a single teaching parent who's place we are taking. So pray for them with this, but pray also that they will accept us in this new role. Most of the kids over there know us from this campus and it will be hard for them to see us in this new role in the beginning. This will be especially hard for Kelly, our graduating senior. She was looking forward to transitioning away from this campus and like most seniors looking forward to leaving her parent's nest, and now she is faced with the news that her "parents" she has had on this campus are flying off to the new campus with her. We requested specifically for this reason that she be allowed to live with the other couple who works there in other cottage, but this is still a hard thought for her to come to terms with.

Pray, also, for the other teaching parents couples on this campus who will have to learn to see us in this new role and trust us with their kids that they are sending over. It's never easy to trust kids that you have had in your care for so long with someone else but it is our prayer that this can happen in a way that is most beneficial to the kids. 

Pray for our continued ministry work with BGC and for us as we try hard to seek God's will in our lives. We know that it is with the help of prayers from friends and family like all of you who take the time to read these ramblings that the work we do is possible. I will continue to try to update regularly our journey and as always I leave you with some pics of life lately!! 

The girls and Bug and I got to go sever luch at a homeless shelter for women and children. It was such a blessing to be able to minister with the girls and him in this way. 

Spring Festival is alwasy a great time!! 

Four of my sweethearts at sunset!