Skeeter's Job, Anne's Five Night Stay and Adia's birthday

Wow!  We have a few things to update you on!  First of all, this week we asked you to pray for a job interview that Skeeter was having in McPherson.  Although the interview went well, we won't likely hear the results until next week.  There are four other people they are considering for this position as well.  Skeeter had applied at this location about a year ago, and was offered a different position.  At that time, that position was not what we felt like God was leading us to take.  The company kept Skeeter's application and called him again for another position, which is what he interviewed for on Tuesday.  Why are we considering another job?  Skeeter's current job has been very unsteady lately.  Several of the top company leaders at this site have "jumped ship" and is making everyone pretty nervous.  They are having mandatory plant wide shut downs, which has limited work to sometimes 2 or 3 days on the weeks they have the shut downs.  The shut downs are becoming more frequent to where Skeeter has had to file for unemployment so that the days he doesn't work, he can at least get something.  We are praying for clear direction as to whether or not now is the time to leave and if it is time to leave, if this job in McPherson is where he is to go.  Thanks for continuing to pray!  We will update you once the final decisions have been made.

We were so excited to find out that Anne was going to get to come home and stay for 5 nights!  This is the longest she has been home since she left.  It was amazing time!  We had fun shopping, talking, playing games, getting ready for Adia's birthday party, etc.

How is Anne doing?  She continues to do very well in her progression!  Each day that passes without self harm is a huge celebration.  She is doing pretty well in learning how to use her coping skills.  The situation with her roommate has somewhat settled.  However, Anne is trying to keep on her good side, so sometimes she gives things up that maybe she shouldn't so she can keep peace.  If this continues, I will probably re-visit with the staff to see if there is something else that can be done.

Anne is being given the chance to "study" and debate what she believes and why.  Before she left, she struggled like most teens do, with why she believed the way she did.  She was trying to find her place and figure out who she is.  The church that the house parents attend, do not believe the same way about certain areas that are important to believers.  They add in works to being saved.  This has been good for Anne to learn how to share what she believes and why.  This has also been good as she has learned to speak up and to do so respectfully.  Good life skills!!  When she was home this past weekend, she was doing some further research on some of the church's teachings.  That excites me so very much!  I look forward to seeing how God continues to stretch her in her faith!

While Anne was here, we were able to celebrate Adia's birthday.  Adia had a party with her classmates and teachers at school, and were given a pillow with her name sewn on it.  Adia chose the theme of Charlie Brown so the cupcakes had that theme.  Adia then was thrilled to be able to have one of her friends come over for a sleepover.  There were a lot of girly giggles heard that night!

Love the teachers and how they love my kiddos!!

While at the school, Anne took the opportunity to walk around and see some of her friends and teachers.  That day and the next was emotional for Anne as the next day was the high school banquet.  This banquet was the first one Anne was going to be able to attend and had been looking forward to it...and now she couldn't go.  That was hard for her to hear about it and then look at the pictures afterwards.

We were able to have Adia's birthday party on Sunday with extended family.

On her actual birthday, Adia was so excited to be able to go and pick out her birthday present.  She had been asking for quite awhile for a fish, so we decided to go ahead and give it a try.  Here she is with her new baby.....Buster!

Buster is a Double Tale Male Beta

Before we took Anne back, we went out to eat as family for Adia's birthday.  She chose to go to IHOP.

Our family selfie attempt was not very successful.  Jaydon didn't want to look and poor Adia got hidden by Jonathan's head.  Oh well!

Thanks for continuing to pray for our family!  Your support has been so encouraging!

Second Parent Meeting with Anne

Yesterday, we had our second parent meeting.  In the first meeting, we established some goals for Anne (some of the goals were for us to work on at home as well) and so the purpose of this meeting was to touch base and see how everyone was doing in reaching those goal.  The meeting overall went very well.  There was quite a bit of time spent addressing the situation of Anne with her roommate, Lexi.  I left very encouraged that now that they have a better idea as to how Anne is being treated, that they will be putting forth more of an effort to make sure Anne is being treated better.   They came up with some code words so that the house parents will know if Anne is struggling and needs to talk with them.  Part of the frustration has been that every time Anne talks with the host parents, Lexi will "grill" her to see what she talked to them about, thinking that its about her.  Often times it is, but having the code words, will hopefully help with Lexi not knowing when Anne will talk with the host parents.  In other words, the code words will only indicate to the host parents that Anne is not ok and needs to talk with them, and they will work on finding a time to talk with her.  Does this make sense? :)

One of the highlights of last week for Anne, was receiving a donated, handmade quilt.  Some ladies from the church associated with the home will periodically donate these special items for the girls.  This was extra special for Anne as it reminded her of her great grandma.  She had enjoyed making homemade quilts for others and had made one for Anne while she was alive.  This act of love from these ladies was touching to me as well!  So thankful for all the people who volunteer of their time to show these hurting girls love!  Getting to see her quilt in person was on my list of things to do when we saw Anne.... and it really is beautiful!

Anne has officially finished all of her freshman classes!  She is now mainly taking electives.  Since she finished all of her classwork, she has picked up Spanish 1 and is enjoying that.  She continues to love sign language and taking guitar lessons.  She has told us that instead of wanting a car like so many teens want when they turn 16 (which she wouldn't get anyway :) ), she would like a guitar.  So....I guess we need to start saving and doing some research on what a good guitar would be for her.  She also participates in basketball, music, art and other activities to help keep her busy.

Following the meeting, we were able to spend some time with Anne.  We went to a park to have a picnic lunch, and to let Jaydon run off some of his energy.  The wind was pretty crazy, but we were still able to have some quality time to talk.  We then took Anne to the store to get something she needed and then headed back to campus, to just hang out for awhile.  Anne enjoyed laughing at me as we played tether ball. She wondered if she looked like I did when she plays? :)  Jaydon got bored watching us play so we then started climbing on the play equipment with him.  Once he found the sand and shovel, he entertained himself so Anne and I could talk some more before she went to her guitar lesson.  Besides the wind, the weather was really beautiful!

One of Anne's coping strategies is to write and listen to music.  While there yesterday, she wanted me to read two of her most recent writings.  She gave me permission to share one of them with you, but she is wanting to personally share the other one when she comes back home.  So, I will let "Anne" close this post off for us today.  Thanks again for praying!  She wrote this one on April 2, 2016.

Finally Free 

I'm finally free,
Or so I thought.
I've spent my whole life wanting to just be,
But now I'm ready to be taught.

Taught how to live,
So I can stop just surviving.
Taught how to give,
Then I can start thriving.

Thrive.
To bloom, to grow,
To be free.

Freedom.
Free.  Not Bound to something.
The thought of Freedom is like the satisfying sensation of a spring breeze.

Something yet unattainable to me.
I dream of it at night.
What is freedom?

We think we know what freedom is.
Freedom of speech.
Freedom of the press.
But those aren't lasting.
Sooner or later, someone will take them away.

What is lasting Freedom?
We can gain Freedom from an addiction.
We can gain Freedom from abusive relationships.
But it doesn't always last.

Freedom is something so much more than that.
Freedom isn't always tangible.
Freedom can be given.
Freedom from jail, or an accusation.

This still isn't true Freedom.
True Freedom is something so much more.
True Freedom can only be found in Jesus.
And it starts by admitting that we cannot control our tendency to do the wrong thing.