May, Hurry Up and Wait...

(I feel as though I have remarked on something similar before and

I will most likely say it again, but..)

Sometimes the waiting is the hardest part.

Especially when you know that some things must come to a close or be torn down before God can begin to rebuild.

I am sitting here now at the dentist office waiting on G-Man to get some fillings and I am struck by the thought that in many ways we are sitting in a waiting room of sorts in our own life right now, too.

G will be leaving us soon. In a surprise turn of events, a family member he never knew (and who never even knew about him!) is going to be adopting him before summer’s end. It’s all happened so quickly that we have barely had time to even process it but when we see the two of them together we know that it is God’s will. It’s amazing how much alike they are even though they had never met before a month ago.

In addition to his departure another one of our young men, Erick, will be leaving at the end of May to deal with some family issues that have arisen. He is excited about this next chapter of his life and eager to get it started, but we are saddened to see him leave our little nest. He has truly become like a son to us and though I know we will strive to stay in his life, it will be difficult not seeing his smiling face every day.

Add to that our two seniors, Marcus and Leo, who will be graduating soon and moving to College and Career and our bustling cottage of six will soon be down to two, plus our own little Bug, in just the blink of an eye.

Leo has already moved over to our transitional living program and the cottage has just not quite been the same without him!

We have also lost both of our singles who worked with us recently. It is truly a time of transition for us in more ways than one!

Another loss we have suffered recently is that of a dear co-worker who unexpectedly passed away from cancer this last month. He and his wife were our very first mentors on campus when we first started at Bgc four years ago and we served as singles in their cottage. It has been heartbreaking to walk through this with his wife and with their cottage boys, most of whom we served when we were singles, and who we still consider “ours”. But we know that in even this, God has a plan and we must wait for it.

I started this blog by saying that the waiting is the hardest part, but I actually think the hardest thing of all is when life doesn’t stop just because you are waiting! May is one of, if not the busiest month at Boys and Girls Country. I think it even rivals December and all its holiday celebrations! And with summer right on its tails to plan for, it makes for a non-stop ride!

We just completed a miraculously beautiful day of Spring Festival on Saturday, the weather clearing up just in time for a muddy but sunny day. Prom is this coming weekend and then begins the final sprint toward the end of the year and graduation. With two seniors in our cottage and a total of thirteen on campus all together it will be time for quite the celebrations! We are planning seven showers and two senior nights as a campus all culminating with graduation the first of June.

I am trying to finish strong homeschooling Bug, (Campbell as he insists on being called these days)! I feel good about this school year and all that we have accomplished as well as his mastery of the subject matter. Part of me feels like just wrapping it up now in order to feel less stressed with cottage things but I think he will feel a greater sense of accomplishment if he finishes the year out when the boys do.

It’s a fun time of the year for our campus and I know it will fly by quickly with so much to do.

We are trying to get everything we must plan laid out and ready, while at the same time try not to get too bogged down with trying to figure out all the details just yet. We are trying so hard to trust God with all the details of life right now in everything from who will join us as new residents in cottage 6, to what will happen for our boys who are moving on, to how the Lord will choose to grow our immediate family in the future.

In April we celebrated 4 years since we took this crazy leap of faith to move west and join God in His calling on our lives to be teaching parents at Boys and Girls Country. I did the math and between the two cottages we served in as singles in our first five months here, our two cottages we have served in as primary house parents and our time at College and Career we have had the amazing opportunity to minister in the lives of 41 different children!! Wow!!!!!! I never would have dreamed the reach would have been so great. Of those about half, we have been able to still stay in touch with on a monthly if not more often basis. We feel so blessed to have been able to be even a small part of their lives. It is our prayer that above all else when they remember us they know that they are loved.

Please pray for us in the days and weeks ahead to find time in even the busy moments to stop and thank God for our blessings. Please pray that we can trust Him with what will come next.

Please pray for our dear friend, Selina, as she grieves the loss of her husband and for our precious Cottage 11 boys who are mourning their "Daddy" Mr. Todd.

Please pray for my own father as he faces some health issues concerning his heart in the coming days. Nothing too serious we hope, just catching some things early and trying to be preventative, but prayers are appreciated.

Pray for our boys to be able to finish the year strong academically and for us as we try to motivate them!

Thank you so much for your continued prayers along this journey with us!! We appreciate them more than you know. I will leave you with a few pics of life lately and some of my faves from the past 4 years!

Campbell represents our cottage in the balloon release at Mr. Todd's funeral.

Campbell and Cliff honoring our dear friend, Mr. Todd.

Marcus and Nick ready for the Luau at Cotillion.

Campbell making one of his new learning videos with his favorite new toy!

Me posing with one of the Cottage 8 boys while we work on the quilt that fellow Teaching Parent and friend, Amy Smith and I made for the auction at Spring Festival. I am proud to say it sold for $260! Amy was so patient with me and taught me so much!

One of my favorite shots of the day at Spring Festival even though we are all a bit squinky eyed. I loved getting the chance to hang out with sweetheart, Carla! She is doing awesome at College and Career working on getting her dental hygienists license.

Campbell is doing so well at Piano lessons which are being taught by our wonderful volunteer coordinator's son. He has been working all semester with him along with G-man. Nick and Jeremiah and I have been so proud of their progress.

Nick cheesing for the camera in his Brazilian Jui Jitzu gi.

Nick has been so blessed by one of our sponsors to be able to join Cliff at BJJ. He is such a hard working, dedicated young man and we are happy for him to have this amazing opportunity.

Campbell with his new "toy" the Eureka. He saved up his own money to be able to buy it second hand at a thrift store.

Campbell got to enjoy some of the perks of being a homeschooled kid as he gets to tag along with mom and the girls for mani/pedis. We were able to take our friend out who lost her husband for a special day of pampering before the funeral.

Our sweet Brandie who celebrated the end of her on-campus job as an assistant receptionist. She started last summer as part of her internship here on campus and did so well that they kept her! She will soon be starting at Kroger! So proud of her.

It feels like we have been at the ballpark almost everyday this month but it sure has been fun. I love this sweet pic of Campbell and some of his team as they watch some the big kids play.

And now some looking back at the last four years that stand out as faves!