The last time I wrote anything, it was about my toddler's ER trip. I can say (thankfully) that nothing quite that eventful has happened since then, but there are some things I feel the need to address.
Many of you who know our family and know Willow Springs are aware that we have three boys instead of four now. One of our guys has taken residence with another family in Chandler. Sometimes boys leave well, and sometimes they don't; but, we love them wherever they live. We still hope and pray for their success, and pray for God to follow them where we can't. I could go into more detail, but for the sake of his privacy as well as for the sake of me honestly being tired of peeling the scab off of the wound, I'm going to leave the explanation at that. Please, keep praying for him.
Now that I have the heaviness out of the way, I want to move on to an issue that has suddenly crept up on me today: how quickly the holiday season is approaching. Y'all, don't roll your eyes at me. If you're like me and need a physical planner with your own handwriting and not the fancy Googly Cloud calendar or whatever, just flip through it and you'll see exactly what I mean. I was writing in some things we have coming up in the next couple of weeks and I couldn't believe how few pages away Thanksgiving and Christmas are. I mean, good grief, yesterday school had just started and I was begging for colder weather to get here. And, while cold weather still proves to be an elusive mistress, the month that brings it has arrived so quickly I still have whiplash. One of our boys keeps talking about how much he can't wait for Christmas and I'm like, "Bro, don't put that on me. DO YOU UNDERSTAND WHAT HOLIDAYS ARE LIKE FOR ADULTS?" Not that I don't love Christmas or any other holidays, craziness and all, I am just still trying to figure out what happened to September. So, I'm going to try and remember.
In September, Blake, Adeline, and I got to go on a week long vacation to Boulder, CO. While I would NEVER EVER IN A MILLION YEARS trade our days of watching Adeline grow alongside our guys, as a mommy to a toddler, I loved having the time to slow down and appreciate every moment with her being this little, especially after the scariness and adrenaline-pumping of the ER trip finally leaving my bloodstream. I am so thankful to have our relief houseparents, Jamey and Stephanie, who are so great at their job and so committed to our guys and to Willow Springs, so that we can go on a week-long vacation and know that nothing is going to derail while we are gone. All of my coworkers and co-laborers are unbelievably amazing. I wonder often if anyone else could possibly love, appreciate, and admire their coworkers as much as I do. I'm not exaggerating.
I promise that at some point I am going to write more, but for now I am doing a lot of work for the Women's Retreat put on by FBC Chandler (if you're a female, please consider attending. Ages 16+ welcome. Go to http://examinemeretreat.com for FAQ's and in order to register), and obviously, four kids we're raising. If you've been praying for Willow Springs, or would like to, here are some things you can be praying for:
Many of you who know our family and know Willow Springs are aware that we have three boys instead of four now. One of our guys has taken residence with another family in Chandler. Sometimes boys leave well, and sometimes they don't; but, we love them wherever they live. We still hope and pray for their success, and pray for God to follow them where we can't. I could go into more detail, but for the sake of his privacy as well as for the sake of me honestly being tired of peeling the scab off of the wound, I'm going to leave the explanation at that. Please, keep praying for him.
Now that I have the heaviness out of the way, I want to move on to an issue that has suddenly crept up on me today: how quickly the holiday season is approaching. Y'all, don't roll your eyes at me. If you're like me and need a physical planner with your own handwriting and not the fancy Googly Cloud calendar or whatever, just flip through it and you'll see exactly what I mean. I was writing in some things we have coming up in the next couple of weeks and I couldn't believe how few pages away Thanksgiving and Christmas are. I mean, good grief, yesterday school had just started and I was begging for colder weather to get here. And, while cold weather still proves to be an elusive mistress, the month that brings it has arrived so quickly I still have whiplash. One of our boys keeps talking about how much he can't wait for Christmas and I'm like, "Bro, don't put that on me. DO YOU UNDERSTAND WHAT HOLIDAYS ARE LIKE FOR ADULTS?" Not that I don't love Christmas or any other holidays, craziness and all, I am just still trying to figure out what happened to September. So, I'm going to try and remember.
In September, Blake, Adeline, and I got to go on a week long vacation to Boulder, CO. While I would NEVER EVER IN A MILLION YEARS trade our days of watching Adeline grow alongside our guys, as a mommy to a toddler, I loved having the time to slow down and appreciate every moment with her being this little, especially after the scariness and adrenaline-pumping of the ER trip finally leaving my bloodstream. I am so thankful to have our relief houseparents, Jamey and Stephanie, who are so great at their job and so committed to our guys and to Willow Springs, so that we can go on a week-long vacation and know that nothing is going to derail while we are gone. All of my coworkers and co-laborers are unbelievably amazing. I wonder often if anyone else could possibly love, appreciate, and admire their coworkers as much as I do. I'm not exaggerating.
I promise that at some point I am going to write more, but for now I am doing a lot of work for the Women's Retreat put on by FBC Chandler (if you're a female, please consider attending. Ages 16+ welcome. Go to http://examinemeretreat.com for FAQ's and in order to register), and obviously, four kids we're raising. If you've been praying for Willow Springs, or would like to, here are some things you can be praying for:
- Applicants for Willow Springs: i.e., which boys we take in and when. Be in prayer for those out there who visit our website every day and wonder if this is a valid option for their family; who keep dialing the number but debating on whether or not to hit "call;" and who may be holding the application and wrestling with a choice to make.
- The McClendon house is in final stages of renovation. Thank you to those who have donated money, time, and sweat to give this house its awesome facelift. Please be in prayer for it to be a house of peace when it opens, where boys find a home in which they can thrive.
- SPEAKING of holidays, please be in prayer for our guys as the holidays roll around. Considering our guys backgrounds, the holidays can be a very painful time for them. Pray for them to feel God's love and nearness especially this time of year, and to have a chance to feel all of the warm fuzzies within our Willow Springs family context.
Thank you all for your prayers and support. We especially feel it in the broken times, and in the healing times.
