I have now been writing this blog for approximately three years. I know that (besides looking at the dates on earlier posts) because I remember that my very first post was about the petting zoo at the Greene County Fair. Yesterday, the girls in our home went with me to work a shift at the petting zoo, an annual tradition now. There were puppies large (great Danes) and small (mixed-breed cuties). There were two ponies, one of whom had a poor disposition (a candidate for Equine’s Homes, Inc.) There were pygmy goats, about six weeks old, a cow and two pigs that were probably a month or so old. There were ducklings, chicks, a fawn and some bunnies. This year, the exhibit had a truck backed up to the tent which housed a simulator for people to experience what it’s like to harvest corn with a combine. There were displays all around the tent from different 4-H clubs (who sponsor the petting zoo each year), with pictures and information about their clubs and the activities that members can enjoy. But the best thing in the tent this year was the cool breeze and the lovely temperatures. We had perfectly beautiful weather this Labor Day weekend and this was the first time in the four times I’ve helped with the exhibit that we weren’t sweating and miserable. It was a great day and we met lots of nice people.
Another event coming up also is something of a marker for me. Two weeks from this Saturday will be Homecoming on the CHI campus. We’ll be able to host so many of our donors and other friends who will come from all over to visit and enjoy the day with us. As always, it will include a program in the gym, our famous fish fry, and desserts in the Family Homes for some extra time to fellowship and get to know one another better. I’m always reminded of the first time Mark and I were able to attend Homecoming. We were totally unfamiliar with the campus and the events that would take place that day. But we were very eager to become familiar with it all because we were to join the Children’s Homes family just two weeks later.
Next month will be our fourth anniversary as houseparents for CHI. It’s not something we ever expected to be doing and we never could’ve dreamed what it would be like. As parents of two sons, both now adults, we probably would have told you that we’d experienced most of what parenting holds, although we’ve always been grateful to have been spared much of the heartache that many parents suffer. We’d even hosted “summer sons”- an exchange student from Thailand and two different youth interns – so we had a feel for sharing our home with someone who wasn’t part of our family. But we had never faced the issues that many of the residents here bring with them when they come to live at CHI.
We’ve learned so much in our four years here. We’ve become familiar with an “alphabet soup” of problems and disorders that many of these kids must live with. We’ve spent sleepless nights with girls who are sick, afraid, miserable or have even run away. But we’ve also learned how much we can love someone who was a stranger to us a few weeks or months ago. We’ve had challenges and frustrations but we’ve also had joys and triumphs. And we’ve shared our home with 21 young people who’ve impacted our lives in ways we’ll never forget. Each one of those kids is precious to God and precious to us. We pray that something someone here said or did made the impact on them that will help them turn their lives around from what they were to what God envisions for them.
We hope you’ll visit us for Homecoming in a couple of weeks and get to know some of the young people we serve. And we thank you for whatever role you play in helping us to serve them.
See you soon?
