My creative side

Some fellow cottage parents and I have been a little "crafty" lately. And I mean that in the literal sense of the word- we have started making crafts. Here are a few of our projects.

"Leafy Garland"- inspired by Pottery Barn, but out of my price range.

Our "Thankful Tree"- the guys put their thankful statements in the leaves that correspond with each day of November. This was $90 at Pottery Barn, but this version was only $20!

Our First Visitors!

We had our first guest to visit while the boys are here a few weeks ago. Tim's sister, Tiffany, and our niece, Karlee, came out in October for a few days. We had the opportunity to visit the Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, and the beach. Our guys loved hanging out with Karlee. They were very sad to see her go. We were so glad they flew out and we look forward to seeing them at Christmas. Here are a few pics of the trip.

Karlee in the petting zoo at Animal Kingdom

Karlee with Lilo and Stitch

Tiffany and Karlee at the aquarium in Animal Kingdom

Carmel-by-the-Sea

Isn't that a romantic name? Carmel-by-the-Sea? We went to this amazing city last weekend to celebrate a friend's wedding. It has to be one of the most beautiful places on Earth. It was breathtaking. Here are a few pictures to showcase God's creation. We are already planning our next trip the California coast.

Our Adventures

We have had the opportunity to take a few adventures lately. At the beginning of September, we were able to meet my family at Hilton Head Island for a weekend getaway. The island is beautiful and we had a great time.

We were able to take our guys to a Tampa Bay Rays game in September. We had a great time and our guys enjoyed the experience. They even got to pet the Sting Rays in the tank (the fish not the players).

And this weekend we are going to celebrate a wedding in California. It will be our first trip to California and we are excited to be a part of the joining of two lives as we celebrate our anniversary. October 9th will mark 6 years of wedded bliss, and we are excited to get to witness Jeff and Tricia's nuptials as we reflect on our own vows. Please pray for our guys while we are away for the weekend. I tend to worry when I am away for so long.

Fabulous Fall

After months of unbearable heat, Fall has finally arrived in central Florida. We have enjoyed nice, breezy days over the past week and I am ecstatic. My thoughts on Florida heat is that it is not hotter than home (Oklahoma or Georgia), but it is hotter longer. When we moved here in May it was in the upper 90's and it remained there until a few weeks ago. In honor of the cooler temperatures, I invested in a hammock and have thoroughly enjoyed spending my afternoons curled up with a good book on my new toy. It also means the guys can play outside for longer periods of time without being drenched in sweat or dying of heat exhaustion. And I can lie in my hammock and supervise basketball games. I am looking forward to the next months- everyone tells me this is when it is a pleasure to be a Floridian.

What a week...

It has been an interesting week at McNeill Cottage. One of our boys had to leave the ranch due to behavior. His departure has been an emotional roller coaster for me and our boys. I am angry that he could not follow the rules, disappointed that we could not reach him, relieved to have some peace in our home, and so sad to know he is returning to a broken world. I don't know what the next step in his journey is and I am fearful for his future. I can only pray that God continues to work in his life. Please pray that he finds a school where he can be successful and that he chooses friends who will not lead him into trouble.

I never expected to feel such heartbreak when boys leave our home, but I am realizing that there will be alot of disappointment in this work. I have always been driven by success. As a teacher, I felt like succeeded when my kids performed well on projects, tests, etc. It will be a challenge to work in a field where success is not as easily measured. How do you measure the impact on a child's heart? I will keep you updated on these feelings as the year progresses.

New Treats

By moving to a new city, you get the opportunity to explore new restaurants, new stores, new parks, etc. I wanted to share a few of my new loves in the city of Orlando.

1) Heavenly D'Lites- a low fat, low calorie frozen treat. It has no artificial sweeteners and only 50 calories a serving.

2) Mama Nems- a local soul food restaurant that supports a homeless ministry. They serve delicious mac and cheese, yams, fried chicken, etc.

3) Pei Wei Asian Diner- the smaller, but just as delicious version of P.F. Chang's. It is owned by the same company and serves the same food, but at lower prices.

Finishing Touches

We spent the summer finalizing our decorations in the dayroom and boys' bedroom. We do not have a budget for decorations, but we do get to browse the ranch's thrift store for couches, pictures, televisions, etc. I am very proud of the final outcome. I really wanted to create a home for our boys and God provided the resources needed to complete the house by the time the boys arrived. Here is a picture of the bedroom and dayroom.

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Exploring Florida

We have begun to explore our new home including several of the beautiful beaches that surround us. We recently spent the weekend in St. Pete Beach and soaked up the beautiful sunsets and sparkling white sand. Here are a few pictures of our trip.

They're back!

I cannot believe today is August 1st. The summer has flown by and our boys have returned. They came back last Sunday and the past week has been nonstop action. We go from the swimming pool to the basketball gym to the weight room to the fishing pond and so on. It has worn me out, but it has been a lot of fun. They do not start back to school until next Monday, so we have had them pretty much all day, every day.

Although we have only had them for a week, they have taught me so much already. They have shown me how to serve with a willing spirit and joyful heart. We are required to do one hour of work detail every day on the ranch. In the heat, it is tough to get excited about trimming weeds or raking leaves. But our guys do these tough tasks without complaining. They volunteer to do extra tasks other than their chores and they help each other without being asked. They have embraced the policies of the ranch and understand that God has placed them here for a purpose. I pray we continue to learn from each other and learn about each other as we work, play, and live together for the next year.

Family

Over the past month, we have had our families come visit us at the ranch. We are so glad they came to visit and thoroughly enjoyed showing them our new home. We also had the opportunity to explore alot of the local attractions. We went to several beaches, explored St. Augustine, visited Kennedy Space Center and Universal's Islands of Adventure, and ate at a lot of yummy restaurants. Sometimes I get anxious to visit all of the sights, but have to remind myself that I have plenty of time to explore.

The boys are returning in 10 days and we are so excited. We cannot wait to welcome them to their new home and begin our year together. However, it is a bit scary. Tim and I have no parenting experience and we will be in charge of 8 teenage boys. When I stop to think of the task before us, I tend to get overwhelmed. But I know God called us to this position and He will equip us with the tools we need to accomplish the work. He will work in spite of my shortcomings and failures to do amazing things in the lives of these young men. Please pray for us and our boys as we begin this journey together.

Forward Thinking

This week we had our first visitors! It was wonderful to show family around and have them see the things God is doing here at the Ranch.

This week Natalie and I have really started to focus our hearts towards next year. The shadowing phase and learning stage is over. We now must look forward and begin to prepare for our guys and open our hearts to what God wants to do within our cottage. As next year gets closer, we hope that our hearts, thoughts, and feelings continue to align with God's plans and vision for our cottage. As you can tell, the mentoring, guiding, and shepherding of our guys will be centered around God's plans and ideas. Natalie and I just hope we don't get in the way of what God wants to do.

We have a couple of thoughts about what next years plans, ideas, and visions are starting to look like, but continue to pray through the "planning stages". If you are praying for us, we are wholeheartedly seeking vision right now. As always we hope everyone is doing well.

Blessed...

The beginning of this week allowed us to have a cottage to ourselves. While a couple was on vacation we were asked to fill in their place for a couple days. So there we were, with a group of young teenage boys, with no help to be found. Natalie and I survived and we enjoyed the time spent with the boys. The experience over those few days was valuable. We were also asked to take a group to Wet'n Wild, which is one of the water parks, on Tuesday. Again, it was a time to gain experience, but most importantly enjoy time with the boys.

We are currently on our summer schedule. The ranchers went home Thursday night. Natalie and I already find times where we miss the boys, but we are also taking this time to rest up and get refreshed. We are also excited about all the family that is coming to visit in the coming weeks. Our summer schedule has worked out nicely for visitors and we will be able to spend plenty of time with those who visit.

All in all what I am saying is simply, God continues to bless us. It is amazing that every day He continues to simplify life for us while we are here. Moving was difficult, but God has blessed us with people who have treated us like family and taken us in like we have been here for years. Everyday Natalie and I know we are exactly where God wants us in our lives and there is amazing peace in that.

Again we look forward to seeing some of you soon. We are excited to share and show you everything here at the Ranch. We hope all family and friends are doing well. God bless.

Pictures of the Ranch

Our kitchen. Yep, that's it. Luckily, we have a cafeteria with delicious home-cooked meals where we can eat.

Our living room in the cottage.

Our beautiful lake, but beware of gators.

Our New Home

Hello friends. We are approaching the one-month mark at our new home. I have enjoyed decorating our new home and am attaching a few pictures to help you visualize the ranch. We joke that we live on a "country club" with the tennis court, gym, swimming pool, and lake front property.

Florida has proved to be as beautiful as we imagined. The weather has been perfect with sunny days filled with soft breezes. We have also encountered many of the local creatures: bugs, spiders, snakes, frogs, etc. It has been a new adventure that we have truly enjoyed. We feel blessed that He has led us into such a fun and exciting ministry.

Home Sweet Home...

We have arrived, settled, and started to make Orlando home. We have now been here for about three weeks and things are starting to become familiar. The first few weeks were a little hectic, hence the reason no new blog posts. We have unpacked, started work, rested, and become familiar with our surroundings. After a few weeks we still feel like this is definitely where God wants us and are more and more excited about what the future holds.

Everyday has been a learning experience, as far as what happens here at the Ranch, but we have had the time to process everything. We are soaking in the “shadowing” period knowing it will help us gain experience for next year, but we are eager to have boys of our own. So many small things have happened in the past few weeks that I can’t write them all down, but I wanted to update the blog. To catch you up: we have seen a rocket launch, played in the mud with the boys, fished, visited Tampa, shared our testimony, Natalie attended a kickboxing class with the boys, learned some new board games, and hopefully shaped some thoughts and behaviors of young men’s lives.

Orlando is starting to feel more and more like home, from the small things like everything having a place to go in our apartment to feeling comfortable here at the Ranch. Everyone, from staff to youth, has made us feel welcome. Now that everyone is caught up, we will start writing more consistently (once a week) to update on all the happenings. We hope everyone is doing well.

"Hello World"

I can’t believe I just started our blog with a famous Tiger Woods quote, but I think it fits. Second, I never imagined myself writing in a blog, but here we are. The intentions from the future writings here will be to update everyone about all the happenings in our new lifestyle. As many of you know we will soon be taking a role as house parents and want a way to keep family and friends up to date with everything. We know there will be many experiences that are just too difficult to mass email everyone about, so we will let you at your time, come here and see what is going on in our lives. It is our hope that this will allow everyone to stay informed on everything. Natalie and I know many challenges, difficulties, excitements, rewarding times, and blessings lie ahead and we want to have an avenue to share them. We also know we will not have time to personally contact every friend or family member with every update so we will try to write at least once a week. Hopefully this adequately suffices.

We intend for this blog to uplifting, challenging, fun, introspective, thoughtful, and even a little silly at times. There will be times when we want to share what God is doing in our lives, or at the Ranch, and there will be times when we just want to share a funny story. Hopefully we will be able to have a nice mix of writings, never knowing what is coming next. But, God is the center of everything possible with this move and ministry, and we hope that continues through this blog.

So how did we get here? The beginning of our marriage was a time where Natalie and I tried to do things our way. We got away from our spiritual foundation and tried to write the story for our lives. We wanted control over friendships, other relationships, careers, services, ministering chances, churches, finances, hopes, wants, desires, and dreams. The past two years there has been a change in our hearts as we have run back to our Creator. We have realized that our plans never bring about fulfillment, complete satisfaction, or glory to God. So we decided we would surrender our stories and let God be the author. The Bible tells us in many places that He knows us, leads us, and guides us often when we don’t realize it. So essentially here we are, taking a role as house parents because we know it is exactly what God has planned for us. We can see the winding road he has taken us on to get us to this point, where we can accept this position. We are excited about mentoring, serving, and ministering to the children at the Ranch (you will hear much more about this in the future).

We look forward to sharing the stories, happenings, and reflections of our new journey. Hopefully you find this blog both entertaining and challenging. Natalie or I will attempt to update the blog with something at least once a week. Thanks to everyone for your support, prayers, and positive thoughts as we start this new journey. God bless.