Update

All is well from the home front at New Life Ranch. We are enjoying the fall colors and cooler weather. A cold front came through and temps dropped to 40ish – testing just how ready for cooler weather we really are!

Russ is staying very busy with all the “business” planning that goes on in the fall. He is excited about leading the staff in purposeful planning but is also looking forward to some down time this winter. Of course, you know his down time is spent in the workshop or out cutting wood.

Deedra is enjoying another good school year. It is tons of work, but very rewarding – especially as the kids get older. The Lord has blessed us again with help from others: Kendra Jackson, a wife of an NLR staffer, is a JBU student majoring in biochemistry and is teaching our girls chemistry!

All of the kids read independently now. Another big milestone in our “getting older” process – none of our kids want us to read to them anymore…after 20 years of not-always-wanting-to bedtime stories…I miss it already.

The boys are playing soccer and both are enjoying a good season. We enjoy watching them and seeing their personalities come out on the field. Jon is a technician with excellent skills and loves to make that great pass while Joe is ever the entertainer and is all over the field then quickly looking for accolades!

All three girls are teenagers – Ally 17, Maddy 15, and Shelby 13. When Shelby was born, Ryan figured out that one day, when he was 21, all three of his little sisters would be teenagers together! He knew he would probably not be living at home anymore and told his dad that he could come live with him. Well, Ryan, how about it?

Actually, life with three teenage girls is great. I am very proud of our girls and each is blessed with God-given gifts that I see developing within each. Ally is a great leader. She is very involved in her youth group and has many good friends. She continues to positively influence her friends and has a great time in the process. She is good to her sisters and often includes them, which I recognize as wise, selfless leadership!

Maddy and I work together on math. She is doing very well in school and is as close to a natural scholar as we have so far. She enjoys learning and rarely sees it as a chore. She is also active in the youth group and developing a network of friends. It’s really fun to see them “spread their wings.”

Shelby is still mostly a little girl. Although she has physically outgrown her mom, her heart still wants to play in her room. She enjoys playing outside with her brothers. She is also involved in the youth group and is beginning to develop relationships with friends outside of our family and close friends.

Ryan is now in Costa Rica. After a full summer in Slovakia leading a team conducting English camps in Czech, Slovakia, Poland, and Serbia; Ryan is finishing up a semester abroad in Latin America. He is having a great semester and quickly adding to his “world traveler” experiences. I’ll let him update you on his adventures. We miss him very much and find our “frequent email” relationship lacking. He will be finishing up at JBU this spring, so we are excited about being close to him, even if only for a few months. He is still praying and seeking the Lord on what’s next, but is pretty sure he will continue his adventures in serving Him. Join us in praying with him.

After almost 4 years at NLR, we still find much joy and peace about our place here. The “business” side of our ministry is going well. Russ has a lot of responsibility but seems to manage it well and mostly has a good balance between work and home. The other dimension of his job is the balance between ministry and work. Most of his big struggles are with people (no surprise here, right?) and he gets to exercise ministry on a daily basis.

Other ministry opportunities continue to unfold in front of us – we have worked with two more couples in premarital counseling and have had some great opportunities to help a few couples with specific crisis-type issues. Grace continues to flow freely from the River of Life – Christ Jesus.

We love the fact that we get to do what we do – but we couldn’t do it without you! Thank you for your support – financially, emotionally, and prayerfully – through the years. We are grateful that the Lord has called us, together, to this work. As always, if you are in the area, or want to be in the area, give us a call. We would love to show you around, hang out for a weekend, share a meal together, or whatever … just to spend time with you.