An Update on Dylan

We just wanted to give you guys a brief update on Taylor's little brother, Dylan. We should have wrote this sooner but got caught in flying out to Texas (which we will write more about later). Anyhow, Dylan's surgery lasted 7 hours but everything went very smoothly. When the surgery was over he slept the rest of the night and then had to stay in the hospital for 5 days. We never saw him in the hospital because Taylor's mom suggested that we not go in there because of how Dylan was acting when people came to see him. And then we left for Texas at about 6:30 in the morning on Sunday, June 22, which is the day that Dylan came home from the hospital. But since we had already left early we didn't get to see him. So, now we are still in Texas and have not seen Dylan at all since the surgery. But Taylor's mom has been very good about giving us updates while we were here and Dylan has been doing very well in his recovery. He is in a lot of pain but everything is looking good. We really appreciate all of your prayers and we hope that you continue to pray for him as this will be a long and grueling recovery for both him and the family. Dylan is not a very good patient so he can be very draining. So please pray for both a good recovery and for strength for his family during this demanding time. Thank you all so much for your prayers!

PRAISE GOD!!!

About a month ago we extended a request to lend a helping hand for a homeless couple that we have opened our home to. Well, as of yesterday they have acquired enough money to move back in to their home so that they no longer have to worry about living on the streets. God has so graciously provided the funds for them through so many different sources. For those of you that have been praying for this couple (Rick and Cassandra), please do keep them in their prayers as they still have quite a journey ahead of them. They now are able to move back in to their. But in order to keep it that way, they will need to acquire steady employment, especially since they have a baby girl on the way. So, please keep them in your prayers as they continue to work towards getting back on their feet. Thank you all for your support!!

An Unexpected Day At Work

This past Saturday was an unexpected bad day at work. I went in to work thinking that it was going to be one of the best days of work for so many reasons.

1) One of our most time consuming children was being discharged and moving back with his parents.
2) Two residents were on home passes until next weekend.
3) Four residents were going on an outing for almost the whole day. So...
4) That only left FOUR residents behind with three staff!!

This could have very easily been one of the best and easiest days I've had since I've worked there. The staff were all ready to order pizza for our lunch and have cake in the afternoon. But that wonderful day immediately turned bad.

I was left in charge of some belongings to the resident (Billy) that was supposed to be discharged. My supervisor gave me his Game Boy, 5 games to his Game Boy, His Nintendo DS with one game, his mix max (kinda like an mp3), and his allowance ($103). Within a 3-hour period, someone stole everything but the GameBoy out of the staff office. I orginally thought some staff was playing some trick but it never showed back up. Then I thought that maybe a staff accidentally left the door unlocked and somehow, one of the residents got in to the office. So, I searched the whole cottage, every kid's drawers, closets, night stands, beds, cubbies, and I found nothing. When I finally called my supervisor to tell him what happened, he told me that I should have called as soon as I noticed that it was missing because he would have had the police come out. I wish I would have known that because I would have done that way earlier. So much time had gone by and someone could have easily slipped the stuff out of the cottage.

So, now at this point my suspicion is that a staff member off of my floor is the person that stole these things. I have been stressing about this ever since Saturday because I really hate to think that one of the people that I directly work with would actually do this. So, on Wednesday, I have to go back to work knowing that there is somebody there that I can no longer trust and somebody that obviously does not care about my future at this place or that I will probably have to pay for the missing items. At the same time, I am sure that the people in administration are probably thinking that they can no longer trust me. In addition to all of this, the child that was discharged does not have his stuff.

Anyhow, I really just had to vent about this because it has been turning my stomach all day today and yesterday. Please keep me in your prayers about this situation and especially if you remember me when I return to work tomorrow.

A Prayer Request

Taylor has a younger brother, Dylan, who is going to be having surgery on June 17th. For those of you that don't know, Dylan has scoliosis and has had to wear a back brace everyday for 23 hours of the day. He was supposed to wear it until he stops growing. Well, now Dylan has an opportunity to no longer be required to wear that brace through this surgery. Dylan is very excited about this surgery so he doesn't have to wear the brace any more but there are high risks in this surgery. Dylan already has a heart problem which could greatly effect the surgery and the surgery itself is very dangerous. Dylan will have to get metal rods put into his back to help keep it straight. There is a chance that he may not survive the surgery. And then, if he does survive, this will be guaranteed to be a long, painful recovery. So, as the June 17 approaches, I ask that you all would remember Dylan in your prayers and please do pray for the surgery on the 17th that it will go smoothly and please for the family as this will be highly stressful.

Here is a picture of Dylan with Taylor. We went fishing at Jenks Lake and Dylan was actually the only one that caught a fish. He is wearing his full back brace in the picture but you probably can't really tell since it's under his shirt, He is the only one that caught one but he didn't want to touch it. :-)

Here's a picture of Dylan with three of his other brothers after having some familiy fun time in the front yard. From left to right is Davis, Jason, Bailey, and Dylan.

Truly Encouraged

Tonight Taylor & I went to the evening service at the Packinghouse for the first time since we started attending there (2 years!!). We actually weren't even intending on going to attend the service but God works in amazing ways. We were actually thinking that we would just walk in at the tail end of the service and try to talk to the pastor but the service actually started later than we thought. Ha ha...God is so funny.

So, during the service, I really took home a lot that I could use with the children at my work. I didn't expect it but I learned a lot about the authority that all of us staff have over these children... which is absolutely none...unless they give it to us. It was crazy. I also learned a lesson or two on how easily we show them that we have no authority. So, hopefully I will be able to have a whole new attitude when I go in to work this week.

In addition, after service, we ran in to a wonderful friend that we haven't seen in such a long time, Roxi. We just got to have a cheerful and uplifting conversation with her. We talked about her leaving for a mission trip and how much we love being at this church and we just did a little bit of catching up. In addition Roxi, was full of praises for the pastor that spoke tonight. So, from there...

We then went to speak to the pastor for the evening services, Greg O., who was just so warm and welcoming. We had come to talk to him about the couple, Rick and Cassandra, that we wrote about earlier who are staying with us. We were asking for insight and possibly any resources that he could point us towards to help them. He was genuinely interested in helping. He has also only been a pastor at the Packinghouse for 10 months. Before that he and his family were missionaries in Hungary for 17 years!! And in Hungary, he worked with the homeless so I truly believe that God really is working for this couple. So, on Tuesday we are going to meet with Pastor Greg to work on some ways to get this couple back on their feet.

And even as we are making arrangements at the church, I am sure that any assistance that you can provide will also be well appreciate...but truly do only give as God leads. And even more importantly, if you remember this couple in your prayers, that would be tremendously beneficial!