Another great year at the Lighthouse! We had such a great time serving and are so thankful to Melinda for following God's calling to start the Lighthouse 10 years ago! This is our 5th year serving so it is hard to believe that we have been around for half of the organizations life! Wow - things have definitely changed since our first time to serve back in the summer of 2005. Serving at the Lighthouse gives us a glimpse of God's love for us and really changes our perspective on life. We are reminded that regardless of our circumstances, God is good, God cares, God is in control, and God wants us to know him. A few highlights of the week include:
*When we left the house on Saturday to drive down to Destin, Ryan said we couldn't have any more kids because we couldn't fit anything else in the back of the Pilot! I told him we would just have to buy a Suburban.
*We came to One Water Place and spent the night with the McSwains & Madison Claire. She was great in her pack-n-play and has slept through the night now for 3 straight weeks! WOO HOO!!!
*We headed over to Rosemary on Sunday to help with the final preparations. We were really supposed to be there on Saturday to help with the unloading from the warehouse. Thanks to the FABULOUS Green family for stepping in for us. We had such fun serving with them this week on the Production team and they were so gracious to us even though we weren't there on Saturday.
*We stayed in a house with my parents and for the first time at Rosemary it wasn't a house that we would die to have! Let's just say the decorating taste was a little odd...and very different than our own! It was super modern and had some scary paintings!! The bathroom in our room had the toilet in the shower - seriously...check out the picture below. Regardless of the crazy house - we are thankful to the owners for donating it to the Lighthouse for the week - so generous!
*It was a great group of volunteers and my parents did a great job as Family Partner Coordinators. We were excited to see all of the people we had volunteered with in the past: Don & Debbie Willison, George & Sandy Kaufman, Shannon Neuber, Rachel & Craig Maulden, and Troy & Stacey Fountain. It was also great to meet all of the first time volunteers and look forward to serving with everyone again in the future!
*Thanks to the Lighthouse staff - Melinda, Colleen, Elizabeth, Katie, Trisha, Teri and Buck & Eleanor for a great trip!
*There were 14 families this year which is the most in Lighthouse history. We ask for your prayers for the sweet kids: Riley Philpot, Will Asbell, Zachary Mashburn, Gavin Quinn, Katie Seaman, Bayleigh Phillips, Taylor Hendrix, Andrew Robinson Faith Howie, Abigail Kelley, Brody Blades, Ethan Jones, Andrew Petrea & Jackson Austin.
*I was in charge of the older girls (14 years or older) each day and Ryan was in charge of the boys ages 7-11. It was so sweet to see Ryan with all of those boys. He played football on the lawn with them most days and it was just awesome. I had a glimpse of him down the road with a little boy and it just warmed my heart!
*I got sick on Friday and missed most of the day in bed - BUMMER!
*This is the first time we have been at the Lighthouse without the whole family. Meredith was working, Patrick was in summer school, and Sarah & Ryan had some Fetz family obligations so it was just us & my parents. It gave me a glimpse of what it would be like to be an only child and I didn't like it one bit! We missed my sibilings big time. We also missed the Morgan family as it was our first time at the Lighthouse without them there as well. Please continue to pray for Missy and Ryan as they are both very sick and in a lot of pain.
*The McSwains kept Madison at One Water Place in Destin and were in HEAVEN!! They brought her out to visit with us on Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. She stayed for about 2 hours on Tuesday & Friday and for about 4 hours on Wednesday. Of course we missed her but we did pretty well considering it was our first time away from her for that long. The worst part was having to pump every 3 hours - it was the most frustrating, exhausting thing....it was such a bummer but worth it to be able to continue to breastfeed her now! She was a little fussy when we would see her...we aren't sure if she was mad at us for leaving her or if the ride out to Rosemary just got her in a funk. The McSwains had such a great time with her and said she was her normal angel baby self here at the Condo. Thank you Cheryl & Gary for keeping her for us this week so we could serve at the Lighthouse!! This picture about sums up how they felt about the week:
Thank you to everyone who has supported us financially to volunteer at the Lighthouse over the years and for your prayers while we are there. To learn more about the Lighthouse, check out their website at http://www.lighthousefamilyretreat.org. We'd love to have you serve with us next year!
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