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Letter from Earnest – January 2015

I want to start the New Year off by saying thank you. Thank you to those of you who volunteer, to the paid staff, for the people who pray and thank you to the people who give.

It is always amazing to me when we are at the first of a new year and we can stand back and see the end of an old. You don’t really think about your progress when you are in the middle of stress and strife. Somehow we lose sight of the advancing of the kingdom of God and I know I personally, will frequently wake up in the middle of the night filled with anxiety and stress.

But I think about it as I sit here and write this note. All of those moments of panic and anxiety say a lot about my focus and it indicates my lack of trust. Can you believe I am telling you this? If you would ask me, “do you believe?” I would say “yes.” If you would ask me if I truly trust God, I would say, “yes.” And to some degree that is true. But I am a leaking vessel, filled with faith and trust one minute and before you know it something needs to happen to help me remember how big God is and how small life issues are.

So as I sit here, counting my blessings through the year of 2014, thinking about all that you have given, the tremendous sacrifices you have made, the tremendous number of children who have learned to love and trust us and are making life decisions for good – I am truly humbled and my faith meter is pushing, “full.”

Pray that I will keep my eyes on Jesus and His word. Pray that I will know how to love the staff and know how to serve them as they love the kids. Pray with us as we very shortly start the construction of Houses 3 and 4. Celebrate with us that in essence last year the organization raised over 2 million dollars – $1,100,000 for general budget and $1,200,000 for the construction of the new homes. For those of you who have been a part of this work for many years, you know that is a banner year! And there are greater things to come.

If you want to play a part in what God is doing here, we invite you to come alongside us. I want to close by reminding you that there are other great organizations in this community that you could lend your support to – if you don’t feel compelled to come alongside us. Please remember the Wichita Children’s home, LIF Inc. Residential Program for Boys, Carpenter Place Residential Program for Girls, Boys and Girls Club of Wichita and Big Brothers Big Sisters. This is just to name a few of the loyal organizations, along with Youth Horizons doing their part to rescue a tremendous number of worthy young people in need in our community. There are more than the ones we’ve named, so find one and plug in and help.

You have my love and gratitude,

 

 

Earnest