Goodbye Summer 2011

Well, our 2011 camp season has officially ended. That means we get a couple of weeks to rest and recuperate and we also get to settle back into our Colorado Springs home. Overall, it was a great summer. We were blessed with a wonderful staff of 14 college students and we didn't have to deal with any big emergencies. Lots of kids came to know the Lord for the first time this summer, and we continue to feel very blessed to be part of such an impactful ministry.

Now that we are home again, things will be getting back to a normal routine around here. Since I'm a person who enjoys routine, I am looking forward to a more calm pace. Shaun gets to enjoy a week off over the next several days and then we are headed to Grand Teton National Park and Yellowstone National Park for our annual National Park vacation. I've checked the weather and it looks like we will have highs in the 60's and lows in the 30's next week. That is a nice change from our trip last summer to the Grand Canyon when we sweltered in 105 degree heat! Shaun has never experienced the beauty of the Teton's or Yellowstone so I am really excited to share this experience with him. I will be sure to post pictures of our trip when we return home.

The only hard part about taking this trip is that the twins will not be able to join us, so they will be going to stay with another foster family for the week. I am not looking forward to leaving them behind, but I also know that the trip will be a good chance for Shaun and I to connect after a long and busy summer and especially now that my time is so consumed by caring for the girls everyday. I pray that we will truly be blessed by eachother's company as well as God's magnificent creation!

Long days of waiting...

The last few days have been long ones. Long days of waiting for the phone to ring and feeling like I can't leave our apartment up at camp just in case the phone does ring. On Tuesday we missed a call from our agency for a potential placement. I was really bummed! But then I remembered that God is in control so if we missed that placement it was because we weren't meant to be that child's foster mom and dad.

I am anxious to have the sound of children in our home again. It has been good to have a break this past month so that we could do things like climb Mt. Harvard, celebrate our anniversary at Glen Eyrie castle, and go on a trip to Door County. Now that I'm home it will be good to be a mommy again, I just hope I won't have too many more days waiting by the phone before that happens.

On a different note, Shaun hasn't been feeling the absence of children nearly as much as I have because he's been staying very busy with camp stuff. We have been blessed with a college staff who do a great job, but there are always things to take care of, programs to check up on, and staff members to meet with. He's really enjoying the summer and comes home very tired each evening. It's hard to believe we are already into the 6th week of camp. We only have 4 more weeks before it's all over once again!

Door County, Wisconsin

I (Larae) recently spent a week with my family in Door County while Shaun stayed behind at Eagle Lake Camp because he can't leave during the summer. The trip was fun and relaxing. I enjoyed good conversation with my sister, sister-in-law, and mom. I snuggled my 2 baby nephews A LOT and ate lots of Door County cherries! Here are some pictures from the week.

My two oldest and two youngest nieces and nephews

Evan and I

The kids enjoying the lake

Summer birthday boys

My dad (Opa) with 3 of his grandsons

Fish Boil!

My mom (Oma) with 5 of her grandkids, checking out the fish before it goes into the boiling pot

Boil over!

STAFF-X

Staff-X is the culmination of staff training for our excursions staff. Shaun and I are blessed each summer to lead 14 college aged students as they minister to youth at Eagle Lake Camp through the Excursions Program. Excursions takes kids out into the wilderness to experience God's creation in a way that most of them have never done before. Some of the activities that our staff must be trained on each summer include mountain biking, rock climbing, backpacking, kayaking, rappelling, and orienteering.

Training our staff on each of those skills takes four weeks and then at the end of that time we get to enjoy some awesome time in God's creation on Staff-X. We pick a fourteener (a 14,000 ft peak) in Colorado to summit and then spend a few nights at a base camp in order to give our staff time for a 24 hour SOLO in the wilderness. Our time on Staff-X always proves to be such a refreshing and beneficial time for everyone and this year was no different.

We chose to summit Mt. Harvard this year and were surprised to find out that there was still A LOT of snow left from some late spring storms. We backpacked up from the trailhead for about 4 miles to our basecamp to discover that dry land was incredibly difficult to come by. Luckily we found one large dry spot where we decided to make camp. At least that way we could all gather together on dry land for meals and hang out time. Shaun and I ended up pitching our tent on snow. That was a first for us!

We successfully summitted Mt. Harvard on our second day. It was a very steep climb up with lots of snow. Then on the way down we got to enjoy some glisading which is basically sledding without a sled (rain pants make it much easier:-) Once we reached our basecamp again it was time to put the staff out on their SOLO's. Each person was placed out of sight of anyone else but within earshot and they remained alone in the wilderness for 24 hours in order to allow them time to rest and meditate on the Lord.

Once everyone got back together again after SOLO's it was a great time of fellowship together. Four weeks ago all of us were strangers but now to see the bonding that had taken place was such a blessing. Staff-X is a sweet time for us to enjoy God's beauty and build relationships with our staff. I was so glad to be able to join the excursions staff once again this summer. Here are some pictures to give you a better visual of what we experienced.

At the trailhead getting ready to hike.....no snow yet!

Our little oasis in the midst of lots of snow and moisture:-)

One of our summer staff women, Jen, trying to keep warm with the help of Zorro

What an awesome God we serve!

The hardest part of the summit was climbing up this steep face

All of the Excursions staff (or X-Unit) at the top of Mt. Harvard

All of the ladies- love these girls!

Eagle Lake 2011!

The crazy summer has officially begun for us here. Shaun moved up to Eagle Lake last Friday, and I just moved up with the 2 little boys on Tuesday. We have been incredibly blessed by the new staff housing building already! What a transformation from the 30 some year old trailers!! I will post some pictures soon of our beautiful new home up in the mountains.

Tomorrow our 14 college staff arrive and thus begins a very busy summer of full time ministry. Shaun and I are really praying that God would use us this summer, especially relationally with our staff. I look forward to leading the women's Bible study again this summer each Saturday evening with the 6 female staff. I know that my role will be different this summer as I step out of much of my involvement with the programming of camp and into the role of full time mom to foster kids. Shaun is excited that this being his 3rd summer as Excursions Director he will have a much better grasp of everything involved with leading this important ministry. We would covet your prayers for our marriage, family, and ministry this summer.

Life with 2 little boys has certainly kept us busy for the past couple of weeks. It's been an adjustment to have a 2 year old running around the house. The boys keep me on my toes and I've found that my time is not my own anymore. Lately I've realized how little I've been getting in God's Word since welcoming the boys into our home. As we get into more of a routine up here at Eagle Lake I know I need to start making that a priority in my day again. I understand so much better now why it's difficult for moms of young children to find good quality time to do Bible Study:-)

We have found out that our time with the 2 boys will most likely be short. Things in foster care are always somewhat uncertain until the final moments, but from all appearances we won't be keeping these boys forever. It's proven to be a difficult road once again to travel. We have had to work through the emotions of loving and caring for 2 sweet boys with the realization that they won't be ours forever. Although it's very difficult sometimes we still know that we want to keep taking kids for as long as it takes for God to give us our very own little ones to raise and nurture forever.

Instant parenthood again!

Two days ago we were called by our foster care agency. We weren't supposed to get any more calls until July because we didn't want to have too much on our plates as we move up to Eagle Lake in a couple of weeks, start staff training and enter into a busy summer of camp ministry. So, needless to say, I was surprised when we got a call asking us if we'd be willing to take 2 boys, brothers ages 2 and 5 months. The woman on the other line explained that they were having a hard time finding a place for the boys to go and they might have to split them up to find homes for them. I asked her if she could give me 15 minutes to call Shaun and discuss it before giving a final answer.

After talking it over, we decided that it wouldn't be the best decision to take the boys so I called back and told her that with everything going on in the next couple of months we just couldn't take the boys. She was very nice and didn't make me feel bad about it at all.

But, I did feel bad. I kept thinking about those boys and how they don't have a safe place to go. I thought about how we have a home and love to give and all of the reasons we decided not to take them were really selfish reasons. I called Shaun back just to talk to him more and explain how I was feeling. He agreed that the right thing to do would be to take the boys if they still hadn't found a home for them even though we weren't completely thrilled about it at that moment. The thought of 2 boys seemed very overwhelming to both of us!

I called our agency back and told them we'd had a change of heart and that if the boys were still available we'd take them. She said, "It's not too late, in fact, they haven't even been able to find 2 seperate homes for the boys at this point. I will call DHS and let them know you'll take them."

And that was that. About 3 hours later we were loading up the boys into our minivan (good thing we got that minivan when we did!) and driving home. The 2 year old seemed very scared at first. He had just been taken from the only people he knew and put into a van with complete strangers. He was shaking and clinging to the DHS caseworker. He didn't shed a tear, but looked terrified.

It's been 2 days now and they've both really warmed up to us. It's challenging to parent 2 active little boys, but I just pray each day that God will give us the wisdom and stamina to do this ministry well. We still miss our little Jeremiah very much but we know that our time with him is done and now we must move onto parenting these little guys. I hope that my heart will only grow larger as we welcome each new little one into our home because it is not easy to love and let go.

Looking to the Future

This has been a tough week. There hasn't been a day without tears shed. We've been told that our first foster placement was an especially difficult one. I don't know if that makes me feel better or worse. I find myself wondering why God would allow us to feel the pain of losing Jeremiah after experiencing a year and a half of infertility. Then, in the same breath I realize that our pain is nothing compared to some of the stories I've read from women who have experienced many more years of infertility, then many miscarriages, failed adoptions and failed IVF, only to finally find joy at the end of a very long and difficult road with the blessing of a child whether through adoption or conception of a biological baby. When I think about these things, the Holy Spirit always reminds me that each of us has been given a cross to bear and that cross is perfect for each individual. There are people in this life who will suffer far greater pain than me, and there are people who will seem to have such an easy and peaceful life. I may not understand why, but I do have to trust that the cross God has given me is perfect and is a blessing. It is growing me closer to Him, and that's the purpose of a cross. I am learning obedience and that is a marvelous thing.
Even through the pain of losing Jeremiah, Shaun and I are looking to the future with anticipation. As strange as it seems, this experience has only been a reaffirmation of our calling into foster care. People ask us if we're willing to do it again, and the answer is "YES". It's painful yes, but we've been given a glimpse into the awful lives of these children and God has called us to care for them, to give them a loving home for as long as we can. I pray that He will sooner than later bring a child to us who will be ours forever, but until then, we want to love the child we haven't met yet. I trust that God will give us the strength for the task ahead. I think I'm beginning to have a much better understanding of the verse that says, "when I am weak, then HE is strong".