After a long hiatus from blogging, (on both this site and my personal blog, although, I’ve begun blogging there again) I’ve determined that there is a need for me to start this blog back up again. I’ve given it a new look, and now it’s time to give it some fresh posts.

First, let me catch you up to speed from where I left off. Out of the six girls that went with us on our beach trip last year, we don’t have any of them still living in our cottage. All have moved on either back to their home or somewhere else, which is hopefully a good thing. I am sure some of them went back home unprepared for the tempations and pressures of “normal” teenage life, but I hope most of them are doing well.

In the month that followed my last blog posts, we got a group of girls that we basically had until December. There were lots of ups and downs during those five months. We had some good moments, but I’d say probably more troubling, trying times than good. Looking back, there seems to have been a lot of unrest in our cottage. We had girls with very deep issues and enough baggage to fill an airport baggage claim receptor. Put all of those girls together in one house, and you get pure chaos at times. I don’t think I’ve ever grown so much when it comes to ministry. Dealing with serious issues of deception, manipulation, PTSD, OCD, gossip and even one major fist fight, and sometimes just plain teenage hormonal and/or rebellion issues will definitely change you! I tell David that by the time we have teenagers of our own, we will be experts in all their tricks. I sincerely hope that somewhere in there, I was able to make a difference in their lives. I remember having moments where I know the Lord was using me while in a one on one conversation with them. And we did have some laughs and good times…

In early December, David and I took 3 weeks off, and spent time in England with his family. It was the best trip I’ve ever been on since it had been four long years since we had seen his family! We celebrated our 5 year anniversary there and even went to Poland and the Ukraine to visit some distant relatives as well. Coming back from that trip (and straight into a shift with the girls) was one of the most difficult things for me. Our number had gotten down to just four, which certainly made our work load easier, and the girls were still out on Christmas break. But I was in a sort of depressed, mopey mood for a few days once we returned. It only lasted until the start of the new year, because I decided it was time to get with the program. I was feeling like my life was still in England, sorry that I was back here at home. But I realized a new year meant new things for me, and in the end, my life is actually here, and I have to embrace that.

Once school started again, the new girls started flowing in. We got three within a week, another one about a week later, and yet another one a couple weeks after that. Our cottage has literally changed tone and atmosphere. For the most part, these girls are mostly trustworthy (I won’t ever trust any of them 100%). They are fun and love to laugh. They can be quite needy and sensitive, and it does seem to be that everyday something new has made one of the mad. But they will work out their differences quite maturely in time, and they generally respect David and I much better than our last group of girls did.

It’s nice that I’m starting my shifts these days feeling good and confident. I believe that is partly to do with the fact that we have been doing this work for almost a year now. That’s pretty hard to believe. I’m happy to know, though, that for the past year, my life has been spent pouring into the lives of such beautiful and heart-broken girls.