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.