Fishers of Men Blog: A Walk Down Memory Lane

Thankfully life has hit somewhat of a "normal" plateau! No guarantee how long this will last, so we will enjoy it while we can! What is a "normal" plateau at Refuge Ranch and with Fishers of Men? It means we get to do a regular school schedule complete with Brain Breakfast each morning (activities to get our brains going at the beginning of the school day), daily reading time, regular bookwork and extra classes like swimming, piano and art. It means I get to do my one-on-one time with each of the kids at their scheduled time throughout the week. It means we have a break (for three weeks) from any EMMC's, which means Victor is more readily available to help out around the ranch, run errands and jump in with parenting, rather than preparing for, recuperating from or being on an EMMC. It means we don't have any major church events, meetings or other events breaking up our schedule.

What is a "normal plateau"? It means that "all" we have to deal with is trying to parent 12 children in a way that honors the Lord and that can help them restore their pasts into the glorious futures that God has prepared for them. (In case you haven't thought it through, this is no small task. Just last week, while Victor was on a three day crusade, I dealt with one child who no longer felt life was worth living, one child caught taking something that belonged to someone else and lying about it and one child who refused to talk to me for three days for fear that I would abandon that individual like his/her birth family did. This is "normal" for us.) A "normal plateau" means that "all" we have to deal with is continuously working towards balancing ministry needs and responsibilities with family needs and responsibilities, as well as working towards greater unity among a staff that crosses cultural and language barriers.

While we may be enjoying a stroll across the "normal plateau", I can assure you that God continues to work. Especially in the lives of the children at Refuge Ranch, this sense of normalcy is what helps them to be restored to a life of stability, rather than the roller coaster life caused by abandonment, alcoholism and abuse. Even learning the lesson of living each day, of keep on keeping on in the midst of routine and responsibility, can be a difficult lesson to learn when they are used to depending on extreme emotions to survive. While we may be enjoying a stroll across the "normal plateau", I can assure you that we need your daily prayers to have the wisdom to handle even "normal" life. I can assure you that we need your continued faithful and generous financial support to continue "normal" daily life on the mission field, so that the Lord can continue to make an extraordinary difference even in the midst of "normal" days.

So, while we enjoy a stroll across the "normal plateau", I thought it would be a good chance to take a walk down memory lane and share some of my favorite pictures from the past. Enjoy!

Ruth - June 2006-seven months old

Fidel - our budding soccer player - July 2006 - soon after joining our family.

Josiah and Martha -July 2004 -two months after Martha became a part of our family.

Grandma Claassen and Ana - October 2006

Martita and Lolis - this is our oldest picture of Lolis because it was taken the day we met her for the first time and the day that she and Martita were reunited after a two year separation! December 2009