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Tuesday, December 6, 2011
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
Let Us Run With Perseverance...
"Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. - Hebrews 12:1-2
King's Ranch , A Home For Children In Need...A vision given to us by God in 2004. What a journey it has been. Had we known the struggles, the heartaches, the grueling paths we would walk, would we have obeyed the Lord's call? I hope so... because we would never have seen His glory the way we have or grown in our faith as we have without the struggles. It's funny how God works. He truly does refine us in the fire.
He has taught us so much through this journey. He has taught us to rely totally on Him, to be content with only His approval, to cling to Him when everything else fails. He taught us to trust His timing, to let Him be our defender, to believe Him even when circumstances don't make sense...
While we've been waiting, He's taught us about loving the unlovable, about helping them learn to trust us and Him, about heart healing...We are watching Him bind up the brokenhearted, and He is allowing us to be a part of it. What a miracle! What a privilege!
His ways are so far above our ways. The Bible says that, but we have truly experienced it these past 3 years. What we could not see all this time was a greater victory that God had in mind. He must have been saying all along the way..."Just wait and see what I am going to do. It is so much better than what you want right now." We can see now that 3 years ago, we were not ready for this mission. He knew what He was doing all along!
The Lord gave us Psalm 37 at the beginning of this journey. He confirmed the purchase of this land to us through verse 3, "Trust in the Lord and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture. Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart." The middle of this Psalm talks about opposition rising up...we were hoping that didn't apply to us...but as most of you know, it did! The Lord kept promising victory throughout the Psalm... and in June of this year, victory finally came. His victory! We are now rejoicing in Psalm 37: 40, "The Lord helps them and delivers them; he delivers them...and saves them, because they take refuge in him."
We would like to thank the tireless efforts of attorney Noyl Houston from the Houston Law Firm, attorney Jim Gramling from Marshall and Owens Law Firm, and attorney Abby Southerland from The American Center for Law and Justice. They poured their heart and soul into helping King's Ranch fulfill its mission. We thank each of them for believing in the ministry of King's Ranch even amidst opposition. We know they took on our cause at great personal and professional risk. We are forever grateful and know they will be greatly blessed by the Lord! I know they join us in giving all the glory to God! We are all humbled by the awesome privilege of serving the King!
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
Crowning Ceremony
I will extol you, my God, O King, And I will bless your name forever and ever. - Psalm 145:1
And on His robe and on His thigh He has a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS. - Revelation 19:16
Because Cheyenne confessed with her mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believed in her heart that God raised Him from the dead, she is saved (Romans 10:9). She was crowned "His princess" because she is a child of the King!
God says in Proverbs 22:6, "Train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it."
We crowned the little girls "princesses-in-training" and committed to train them up to know God through His word and through the example of our lives. We look forward to the day they will come to know Jesus as their Savior!
But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, - John 1:12
Monday, February 7, 2011
The Lord Provides
I've always known and believed that the Lord provides. He's done it countless times during this journey of King's Ranch, yet each time I am amazed to see His hand at work! He blows me away!
Recently several events came together to produce the "perfect storm for King's Ranch". We had been planning for months for Matthew and Fawn Bradley, our attachment therapists, to visit the Ranch. Fawn would be having major surgery and recovering at our home for three weeks, while they also would be doing therapy with our kids and training for our staff. As the time was arriving for their visit, our then house parents let us know that they would be leaving King's Ranch. Our house mom felt led by the Lord to return to school to become an attachment therapist herself, so that would require them to resign their position. That would mean that all the ranch kids would be at our house until the time new house parents were found. The clouds were looming. I began to realized that we would have 7 kids and 2 therapists at our home at the same time with 1 recovering from major surgery for three weeks. What's more, I would be mom, wife, house parent, relief house parent, nurse, teacher, cook, secretary and administrator of King's Ranch all at the same time. The perfect storm...
I was overcome by anxiety. I did not know how I would make it through! One night I went to my room crying, I got on my knees and all I could do was cry out to God, "Help me Lord! Please help me!" in sheer desperation... I didn't use fancy words. I couldn't muster them up. The Lord knew my heart and heard my simple and desperate plea! I was amazed to see Him go to work and provide through many precious friends! People brought food and fed us for three weeks, they volunteered as teachers and babysitters, they helped us do some household repairs, and we even had a temporary house parent for some of the time. Every need we had the Lord provided! He never ceases to amaze me by His grace!
Yesterday, we put the Bradley's back on a plane to North Carolina. Fawn's surgery was a success and the therapy and training they provided the ranch was invaluable! These last three weeks were not only manageable, but a true blessing! And as the Lord would have it, the training we received wouldn't have been near as successful had the ranch kids not been at our house some of that time. The Lord did amazing work in the hearts of many people during the Bradley's visit! Thank you Jesus that you always know what is best and you always provide just what we need! You are faithful!
"Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus, throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen" Ephesians 3:20
Recently several events came together to produce the "perfect storm for King's Ranch". We had been planning for months for Matthew and Fawn Bradley, our attachment therapists, to visit the Ranch. Fawn would be having major surgery and recovering at our home for three weeks, while they also would be doing therapy with our kids and training for our staff. As the time was arriving for their visit, our then house parents let us know that they would be leaving King's Ranch. Our house mom felt led by the Lord to return to school to become an attachment therapist herself, so that would require them to resign their position. That would mean that all the ranch kids would be at our house until the time new house parents were found. The clouds were looming. I began to realized that we would have 7 kids and 2 therapists at our home at the same time with 1 recovering from major surgery for three weeks. What's more, I would be mom, wife, house parent, relief house parent, nurse, teacher, cook, secretary and administrator of King's Ranch all at the same time. The perfect storm...
I was overcome by anxiety. I did not know how I would make it through! One night I went to my room crying, I got on my knees and all I could do was cry out to God, "Help me Lord! Please help me!" in sheer desperation... I didn't use fancy words. I couldn't muster them up. The Lord knew my heart and heard my simple and desperate plea! I was amazed to see Him go to work and provide through many precious friends! People brought food and fed us for three weeks, they volunteered as teachers and babysitters, they helped us do some household repairs, and we even had a temporary house parent for some of the time. Every need we had the Lord provided! He never ceases to amaze me by His grace!
Yesterday, we put the Bradley's back on a plane to North Carolina. Fawn's surgery was a success and the therapy and training they provided the ranch was invaluable! These last three weeks were not only manageable, but a true blessing! And as the Lord would have it, the training we received wouldn't have been near as successful had the ranch kids not been at our house some of that time. The Lord did amazing work in the hearts of many people during the Bradley's visit! Thank you Jesus that you always know what is best and you always provide just what we need! You are faithful!
"Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus, throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen" Ephesians 3:20
Friday, October 29, 2010
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Welcome to the newest member of the King's Ranch Family!
We are so excited that Cheyenne has come to King's Ranch! We know that God will do miraculous things in her little heart! Please be praying for her!Saturday, July 10, 2010
God Is On The Move!
King's Ranch is pleased to announce that John and Kimberly James have officially been hired as house parents for the ranch. They and their two daughters have relocated to Jonesboro from Monette, AR. this summer. John, a former police officer, left the police force in search of more family-friendly hours and is currently employed with the Arkansas Highway Department. Kimberly has been the director of Discovery Island for the past 8 years where she received extensive training in working with children from many diverse backgrounds. Kimberly has left her job to stay home full-time with the ranch kids.We believe they are the ones God has chosen for this job, and they also feel that God has placed a calling on this season of their lives to serve in this capacity at King's Ranch.
Also joining our team is Shelly Horton,LAC from Families, Inc. who has valuable experience counseling children, and social worker Jessica McClendon who has had experience working with children from City Youth, DCFS, and orphans in Bagiuo City, Philippines. We are so thankful that the Lord has led each of them to us. His timing is perfect!
We have been busy putting the finishing touches on the home in anticipation of the children who will soon arrive. We have several leads on children in desperate need and are checking into these situations currently.
Prayer:
Please pray for the James family as they transition to Jonesboro. Pray that God would empower them to minister to the children who will be in their care. Pray that God would lead us to the children He wants to bring to the ranch. He knows who they are and where they are. Pray for us as we implement training we received in Reactive Attachment Disorder in North Carolina recently. Please pray about becoming a monthly donor to the ranch as our expenses will increase significantly with these recent developments. If you would like to become a donor, please contact us at information@kingsranchar.com.
We are thankful for all that God is doing and how He is going to work in the lives of children in need! Only He can bind up broken hearts! We are privileged to get to be a part of it! Thank you for joining us!
Also joining our team is Shelly Horton,LAC from Families, Inc. who has valuable experience counseling children, and social worker Jessica McClendon who has had experience working with children from City Youth, DCFS, and orphans in Bagiuo City, Philippines. We are so thankful that the Lord has led each of them to us. His timing is perfect!
We have been busy putting the finishing touches on the home in anticipation of the children who will soon arrive. We have several leads on children in desperate need and are checking into these situations currently.
Prayer:
Please pray for the James family as they transition to Jonesboro. Pray that God would empower them to minister to the children who will be in their care. Pray that God would lead us to the children He wants to bring to the ranch. He knows who they are and where they are. Pray for us as we implement training we received in Reactive Attachment Disorder in North Carolina recently. Please pray about becoming a monthly donor to the ranch as our expenses will increase significantly with these recent developments. If you would like to become a donor, please contact us at information@kingsranchar.com.
We are thankful for all that God is doing and how He is going to work in the lives of children in need! Only He can bind up broken hearts! We are privileged to get to be a part of it! Thank you for joining us!
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