Homeward Bound

  We have some very exciting-- and sudden-- news to share! In just 8 days (July 5), we will be getting on a plane and making the 20+ hour trip back to the States! 

As you know, our newest addition to the family is due to arrive around August 25. We have tried and tried to find a hospital that has a private labor room (as opposed to a group of women all laboring in the same room) or that will allow John or my mother to be with me during the labor.  Unfortunately, the hospitals here simply don’t allow either of these circumstances, and a home birth is considered risky due to my previous Caesarean delivery with Lincoln. (Sorry men for boring you, but I know the ladies here will understand!)  After exhausting every option, we have finally decided that it makes the most sense for us to return to the States a few months early (we were scheduled to fly back in December). 

  Here’s another surprise: We are going to return to the Philippines for another 2 year term! This was a very big decision for us, and we spent a lot of time in prayer. We really had to count the cost, because our kids are getting older and we will be sacrificing even more time with our precious, patient family members in America. But John and I both feel that God isn’t finished with us here. We’ve already spent one year and seven months building relationships with the children at Happy Horizons, and they have become a part of us. We know that we will never take the place of their “real” parents, but if God can use us to care for them and love them, we are willing to be used. The kids are thrilled that we are coming back!!

  While we are in America, we will be living in Olive Branch, Mississippi (just outside of Memphis, Tennessee) and renting a house from my parents.  We will spend our time building up the financial support needed to spend another 2 years here. Some of our monthly supporters have had to stop or reduce their giving, and we also need to raise some cash to pay for plane tickets back to the Philippines. Our house right now is about 800 square feet with one bathroom and one bedroom, split in half with a makeshift plywood wall. We are hoping to raise enough cash to add on another bedroom and bathroom (5 people and one bathroom gets a little crowded!). 

  If you would like to be a part of the ministry that God has entrusted us with, please let me know! And if you already are giving, would you mind sending me a message to let us know if you plan on continuing your financial support? We are going to have to move fast to raise the money we need before January, but we know that God is our Provider. So I am not going to worry... too much! :)
   Also, while we are in the States we will still be living off of the monthly support that we currently receive.  So if you are already giving towards our current 2 year term, please DON’T STOP! Thank you guys, and we hope to see you very SOON!

I Don't Belong Here!

Hi everyone! Hope you all are doing well. We are staying busy at the Ranch, enjoying summertime!


A few days ago Clara came home with another itchy rash (this would be like the third time in the last 2 months).  As I was applying anti-itch cream, I was kind of thinking out-loud and I said, "I wonder why you are Linc get these rashes, but the other Ranch kids don't.  They play where you play, and eat what you eat.  That's weird." To that Clara responded:


 "It's because I don't belong here." 


I stopped and looked at her and asked what she meant, and she explained that the other Filipino kids belong in the Philippines, but she is American and therefore does not belong. 


Honestly, this made me kind of sad. No one wants to be the kid who "doesn't belong", right? I already doubt our choice to live here sometimes, simply because no matter how much language we learn, or how "culturally adapted" we become, we'll always be "the white people". The foreigners. The ones who don't belong. 


Then the words to a Switchfoot song popped into my head. "Beautiful Letdown". Here are some of the lyrics:

It was a beautiful let down 
When you found me here
Yeah for once in a rare blue moon I see everything clear

I don't belong here
I don't belong here
I'm gonna set sight and set sail for the kingdom come
I will carry a cross and a song where I don't belong
But i don't belong
I don't belong here
I don't belong here
Kingdom come



This was a timely reminder for me that no matter where we live here on earth, we will never really belong.

Dear friends, I warn you as "temporary residents and foreigners" to keep away from worldly desires that wage war against your very souls. 1 Peter 2:11

Have you ever felt like an outsider, like you are "different"? The next time you feel that way, remember, that's because you ARE!! We weren't meant to live in this world and feel satisfaction, feel complete.  This is our temporary home, and God has a MUCH better one for us in Heaven. Where we will dwell with Him. Forever! Isn't that awesome?! 


Hope you have a great day! :)

Broken-hearted

I'm sure you've heard the prayer "God, break my heart for the things that break Your heart."  Maybe you've prayed it yourself. I know I have.  We want to be passionate for the things that our God is passionate about, right?

But do you realize that means we're praying for a broken heart? I hate to sound like some Christian super-woman, because I am certainly not, but I think God has answered this prayer for me. And let me tell you, it is no fun!

God has a very hard job.  He knows everything, every tiny detail about each one of us, where our choices will lead us, and yet He gives us the freedom to choose.  We can choose to love Him, to live for Him, or...not.  He won't force us to make the right choice.  But watching someone make bad choices is heartbreaking.

Teaching my class each day, I see my students' choices.  I see when they choose to be lazy and sleep, or work hard and succeed.  And most of the time, I want to "force" them to make the right choice!  "Sit properly! Stop talking! Get that eraser out of your nose!"  I see their really hard-headed, bad attitude sides, and their sweet, obedient sides.  And I have to be honest, it's difficult to show patience and love to certain kids who, most of the time, will not give me the time of day.  I want to treat them with the same disrespect that they show to me.  Sometimes I want to say hurtful words to them like they do to me.  And yet, I continue to go back to school each day, try to start fresh with grace and forgiveness, even though I know that my students probably haven't had an overnight personality transformation. :)

The point is: I feel like I am starting to understand a tiny bit of what God feels every day. His mercies are new every morning! But how about the people that He is granting that mercy to? Every day there are people all over the world who proudly proclaim their disbelief in God, take His name is vain, disobey His commandments, "sleep" instead of doing the work He's asked them to do.  And every day God is faithful to His promises, even while His heart is breaking for us.

Aren't you glad God doesn't give up on us? "Ok, no more mercy, I'm sick of your attitude.  You're a lost cause."  But instead God says, "I know the plans I have for you... plans for a hope and a future!" He won't force His plans on any of us... He just keeps waiting patiently.

It's so heartbreaking to see a kid who's been hurt, and is still wounded.  I try my best to give love and encouragement, but in the end it is their own personal choice, to accept the help or reject it.  I can't force them to choose God, to change their attitude towards life.  I just think about all of the people who are rejecting God's love, His help.  It's like my tiny heartbreak magnified by a billion... and I cry for the pain He must feel.

 I just want to tell God thank you. Thank you for loving us even when we are really hard to love. When we break your heart. Thank you for your love that endures forever.