Homer Family Newsletter for
May/June/July
When I began
working on this newsletter, I would like to note that it was still June and I
had all the intentions of getting our updates out to you before the end of the
month. Obviously, that didn’t happen!
Let me start
with the end of April and move forward. First
of all, the closing on our house in VA was April 27th!!!! We are so thankful that this particular detail
of our move out here is finalized and although there were a number of hiccups
at the end, God worked each one out and we are happy to give Him all the glory
for taking care of it!
Also at the end
of April and during the first week of May, we were blessed by a visit from
Amber and Elise Dean, Jess’s college roommate and her daughter. Shannan,
Amberlyn, and Elizabeth were delighted to spend time with their Auntie and
cousin.
That first week
in May, during her visit, we spent a lot of time in prayer, first for a family
who lost their young daughter to suicide, and then, just after Mother’s Day,
several young men from the community went missing. One of the young men was a
grandson/nephew to some ladies in our church. More than a week later, that
search ended with the unhappy discovery of their car accident. Josh and I have spent so much time talking
about how precious life is, and cried for the families who had to unexpectedly
say goodbye. How often has that happened
lately in our lives? As I type this, the
news headlines are covering the deaths of the officers in Dallas. Life is not a guarantee and each moment is a
gift. In the book of James, our lives
are referred to as a mist that appears for a time and then vanishes. Life
is beautiful and precious, and I know lately I’ve been thinking about making
the most of the time that I am given.
Also in May,
we were blessed with the news that our new little bundle is expected to be a boy!
We are all so very excited to meet him in September. The girls are all thrilled, but I think
Shannan is especially. She has been praying for a baby brother for years (and
yes, I have video to back it up) and her prayers have finally been answered.
During the
last week of May, Josh took and passed his Praxis test that he needed in order
for his teaching license to transfer officially to South Dakota. We greatly
rejoiced at that, especially since his teaching contract for the fall was
offered at the same time! Also, camp began that last week of May! We knew that life would be busy, but it was
hard to know what to expect ahead of time or how the days would be scheduled.
That first week of camp (the last week in May) was a bit more awkward for me as
Josh was still working at the school. Teachers were required to stay until June
3rd.
On June 5th,
we were privileged to rejoice with a sweet friend at church as she and three of
her sons were baptized! Her youngest son
and Shannan get along well and Shannan was super excited to witness this. God is moving here, and witnessing the
baptisms taking place at our church this Spring and Summer has brought great
joy to our hearts.
June 5th/6th
also began the second week of camp, and this time Josh joined us. We also celebrated Elizabeth’s 2nd
birthday on the 6th.
Our routine began to fall into place
and here is how a typical camp day now begins for us. On Monday and Tuesday, Josh arrives around
7:30 to drive one of the camp vans and show the visiting church team where to
pick up the kids. The other days of the week, the visiting church team usually
supplies a driver. Each day, the girls and I arrive around 8:45 in anticipation
of the kids’ arrival around 9am. We help
oversee the check-in and file any new registration forms while the day’s
program begins around 9:30. Shannan and
Amberlyn participate in the camp program.
I leave with Elizabeth around 11am to take her home for a nap (and
usually sneak in a load or two of laundry and dishes) and then return to camp
between 1:30 and 2pm. At 3pm we oversee
the kids boarding the buses and vans for their ride home. Some evenings are
spent at the camp with the visiting church teams, although Wednesday nights we
still have service at the church.
Now to
answer some questions you may have about camp.
Each week we have a different visiting church team (these can be
anywhere from 12-60 people, depending on the church) and they supply the
program content for the age groups. Kids
are usually divided by age: 6 and under,
7-10, 11-14, and 15+. That division can change slightly by week and we usually
adjust it for numbers as they change from week to week. Every day the kids are picked up and returned
home. The first week of camp, we
averaged over 100 kids each day. Since
then, our numbers have stayed consistently in the 60s or 70s, which is still an
increase from previous years. Matt and
Amanda, and Josh and I function like administrative staff, for lack of a better
term. Our job is to make sure the day runs smoothly, filling in if there is a
need, contacting parents as needed, assisting with injuries (unless a church
team happens to bring a doctor or nurse), etc.
Josh and Matt take care of physical labor that needs to be done as well,
like mowing or in the case of last week, dealing with the septic system. Each day is packed from beginning to
end. Our kids (and we) go to bed
exhausted at the end of the day.
In working
with the food pantry ministry, some changes have been made over the past couple
months. We changed a form that is filled out and now deliveries and pick-ups
are being done the last Saturday of each month. There is the allowance, of
course, for emergencies, but in general, for those who receive regular support
from the church, we have agreed on a once-a-month delivery. We first implemented this in May and it wound
up being a really neat Saturday. Some
members from our church joined us to help fill the requested bags. We spent
time praying for each recipient and the church members helped us deliver
them. It felt so good to work alongside
others in our church as we worked to take care of one another.
Now we are
into July. As you can imagine, camp
pretty much takes up most of the week. I am still squeezing in some schoolwork
with Shannan each day in anticipation of needing a break after the baby
arrives.
At the
beginning of the year, we received a surprise phone call from Pastor Mike,
letting us know that a supporter of the YES ministry would like to offer our
family the use of their condo in Jackson Hole, WY,
for a week during the summer. He gave me the number to
call and make arrangements with this couple for the use of their place. I’m
happy to say that the arrangements worked out and I am typing up this
newsletter from the condo! We arrived
here on the 2nd and will be leaving on Sunday, the 10th. (There is no camp this week for the Independence
Day holiday.) Shannan has already begun
her 4th grade year, and we were able to make use of the Every Child
in a Park program to gain free entrance to Yellowstone and the Grand Teton
National Parks. We watched fireworks
from the back of the pickup truck, took the girls on a stagecoach ride through
downtown Jackson Hole, played for hours in the river, and took at gondola ride
to the top of the mountains in Teton Village.
Today, the 8th, we celebrated Amberlyn’s fourth birthday. After a little more exploring tomorrow, we
will head back home on Sunday and prepare to jump back into camp on Monday
morning. Camp ends after the first week
of August. We will have a clean-up week, and then a week or so to breathe
before Josh jumps back into teaching and I begin tutoring again for the
Classical Conversations homeschool group that we are a part of. This will be Shannan’s third year in the
program, Amberlyn’s first year, and my second year tutoring.
As I close,
please be praying for the kids that we work with at the camp. We have had
several make decisions to follow Christ, and a couple express interest in
baptism. And in between, a whole lot of
questions being asked by kids of all ages, asking how Jesus fits into their
culture.
We thank you
for your prayers, and thank you for hanging in with my long update!
Much love, Jess
and Family
