ANOTHER YEAR.....ANOTHER RESOLUTION

It's the start of 2011. I can't believe how fast the past year has flown by. This past year Gary and I have really been down some rough roads, but God has always seen us through. January 2010 I picked a word that I hoped to be able to live by for the year. My word was "serenity." I can't tell you how many times I found serenity this year or how many times I read it on something. I found serenity in places I went and seen God's beautiful creation. I found serenity in a elderly woman's smile. It seems like serenity was every where for me this past year. This year I thought about what I wanted to do. I want to make a New Year resolution. You may want to quit smoking, lose weight or read the Bible all the way through. You may want to become closer to God or buy a new home by the end of the year. All those are fine and good. I'm sure you all have a goal that you would like to set and meet. I want to be all that I can be for God. I want people to look at me and say; I want what shes got. I want to be different, the one that stands out in the crowd. And I want to be the one to get up and go when God says go! I want to be God's soldier, no questions asked. I want to be his worker bee. And I want my Lord to be pleased with me and the work I do for him. I was thinking about God putting me here at ABC Homes. I thought; he must have a lot of faith in me. (More than I have in myself that's for sure)I want to show my God that I can be a faithful servant. A servant smiling from ear to ear because I'm working for my father. I am going to pray daily for the Lord to help me reach my goal and prayerfully I will. What is your New Year resolution? Whatever it may be, pray about it and pray for God to help you with it. Type it in the comment box below. I would love to read them and I will pray for you to be able to reach your goal if that is God's will. Have a Happy New Year. God loves you and we do too!


NOW TO HIM WHO IS ABLE TO DO IMMEASURABLY MORE THAN ALL WE ASK OR IMAGINE, ACCORDING TO HIS POWER THAT IS AT WORK WITHIN US,
                                                                            EPHESIANS 3:20

Tomorrow is New Years Eve! We are going to have the IB and Senior boys so we are all going to the gym for a New Years Eve blast!!! Popcorn, pizza and Nerf wars. Can't wait! Should be exciting and lots of fun. I will let you know how it turns out. Everyone have a safe and happy New Years Eve. God bless you and we love you.

A VISIT TO THE BOYS RANCH IN HARRISON, AR

BEAUTIFUL CHAPEL

We went yesterday and had a visit at The Boys Ranch in Harrison. It is a beautiful place! When you drive in you see a big welcome sign and then you pull up a little farther and you see an iron cowboy kneeling at a cross with his horse behind him. I have that same logo on a plate on the front of my truck with the exception of where the horse is I have written, "Forgiven." When you get on the top of the hill you see the cottages up on a larger hill. We got settled in to our guest quarters, which by the way was extremely nice and felt like home, and then off we went to visit cottages. The first cottage we went to the boys were playing video games. Surprise! Yep, their favorite thing to do here to. The fireplace was crackling and dinner was cooking. I looked out the window of the home and as far as you could see, it was just mountains. God's country. We visited a little while and then headed for the next cottage. The kids were really awesome kids. This morning we got up and visited the chapel. It was beautiful. Again, windows everywhere and mountains as far as you could see. I just sat on the pew and looked at the mountains. God created such an awesome earth. We visited their recreational room and their gym. It was very nice and reminded me a lot of ours. There's something about kids running all over the place in kayos that just puts a smile on my face. Yea, I know. Weird. But a blessing that God has given me. We went back up to one of the cottages and spoke with the house parents. They all were so nice. I told one of them that I was so pleased to see that the cottage felt so much like "home". She said; If there's one thing that these kids remember when their gone, I want them to remember that at one time, they had a real family.  God Bless you and have a great night.

First thing you see when you drive up to the Boys Ranch

                                                 Chapel

                                         Entrance to The Boys Ranch

                                      Cottages on the hill

                                     Guest quarters where we stayed

                                  Beautiful Chapel with Awesome view

                                                   Gym

                                          HP Relief quarters

We had a great trip and are so blessed that we were able to visit at The Boys Ranch

Today is a new day. We will rejoice and be glad in it. We are so excited. We are going to see what the boys do at the boys ranch in Harrison. I can't wait to see their campus. New experience for us. Our family is doing well and we made it through the Christmas Season with the boys and no nervous breakdowns. We really enjoyed spending Christmas with the kids. I can't think of any other way I would have rather spent my Christmas. I hope you had a great Christmas with your family to. I hope you got something you really wanted but even more I hope you received a blessing from God this Christmas season. I enjoyed spending time with my mom and sister on Sunday. Both of my nephews stayed with us to hang out with the boys for a couple of days. We are taking them home on the way to Harrison today. My nephews had a great time and enjoyed playing guitars with all the other boys. The boys here really made them feel welcomed. That's the way these kids are. They are great kids with big hearts! Love these guys and love you. Praying that you all have a blessed day!

IT'S REAL..........AND IT'S YOUR CHOICE!

We try and tell the boys that they need to make better choices for their lives. It's hard for them to do when they are wanting things of the world instead of what God wants them to have. We have one who's heart aches for someone and one who just makes bad choices on life. We try to tell them that they need to start making better choices for their lives. That one day there is not going to be someone there telling them to make a good choice. One day they will have to rely upon what they have learned and hope that they make a good choice when presented with the option. Kind of like God letting us make our own mistakes. He gives us the choice and its up to us to decide how we handle what he gives us. God shows us so much and depends on us to make good choices. God will show you your options, you choose your way of life and God will deal with you as he feels necessary. Some choose early in life to follow the Lord and ask him to be their personal Savior. Some people choose to live of the world and never learn what Christ can do for them. I hurt for those people. God says the people who reject him are enemies of his. That should make them enemies of ours I suppose. You still try and witness to them but in the end the choice is theirs. What choice have you made? God has given you the choice. He will only knock on your door so many times. If you keep rejecting him, he will let the Devil deal with you. I hope you are making wise chooses for your life. I want to see all my friends and family in Heaven with me. I pray I leave no one behind. I hope your choice was a wise one.

THIS DAY I CALL HEAVEN AND EARTH AS WITNESSES AGAINST YOU THAT I HAVE SET BEFORE YOU LIFE AND DEATH, BLESSINGS AND CURSES. NOW CHOOSE LIFE, SO THAT YOU AND YOUR CHILDREN MAY LIVE AND THAT YOU MAY LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD, LISTEN TO HIS VOICE, AND HOLD FAST TO HIM. FOR THE LORD IS YOUR LIFE,..
                                                                                         DEUTERONOMY 30:19-20

                              I PRAY YOU HAVE MADE A GOOD CHOICE

My mom and sister came to visit me today at the home. I took a picture of them on the sofa. Notice what the sun cast on the wall behind them? Maybe they should visit more often uh. :) I had a great visit with them. We went shopping with one of the boys that wanted to go and then we just hung out. The boys really enjoyed having them here and devoured about 60 cookies they brought. Look how beautiful my mom is. I really miss her and I was so glad  that I got to spend some time with her. (And you too Karen) Hope they get to come back soon. Gary and I are going to visit the Boys Ranch in Harrison, AR on Tuesday. We are going to spend the night there and just hang out with some of the boys and see what they do. I am really looking forward to meeting the boys and seeing how they do things. This is a great ministry and you get to meet so many great kids. I would love to visit every campus that a Baptist Home represents. I think it would be awesome! Helping God's children brings a blessing to your heart, even when it hurts. Gary preached at 2nd Baptist Church tonight and I really received a blessing from that as well. It is so nice being married to a man that is so in love with his God. Thank you Jesus for all of my many blessings and for all the trials that make me appreciate my blessings. God Bless you! I love each and every one of you.

CAN WE KEEP THE GIVING SPIRIT YEAR ROUND??

Can you believe that Christmas came and went so fast. Still doesn't even feel possible. My prayer is that I can keep the Christmas giving spirit all year long. It's an awesome feeling knowing that you made someones day with such a small gesture. It's so easy to do yet sometimes so hard for us to continue. It's sometimes easier just saying; "I just don't have enough time in the day." I'm guilty of that all day long! Be in prayer of that for me. I would love to change that about myself. Gary is preaching at 2nd baptist tonight. Please be in prayer that God is able to use him as he needs to so that someone might come to know him as their personal savior. Continue to pray for the kids. Some of them had a hard time not being with their family for the holidays. We tried to make it as much like home as possible, but it's just not the same if your moms not there with you. There's this slogan; 'Home is where your heart is'. I think it should be 'Home is where you mom is.' Mom's seem to make everything better. I know my mom does. My mom is coming to see us and the boys today. We are all so excited. We heard through the grapevine that there were cookies coming. Yea! We had a great Christmas with the boys and had a wonderful Christmas dinner. We had a Nerf gun war in the gym, played the Wii and watched movies. It was so cold outside but it didn't seem to bother the kids. Especially Ethan.  He rode his 4 wheeler all day! That little man has already gone through 2 tanks of gas since yesterday morning. I'm just glad he likes it and is having some fun. I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas and I hope the New Year is a great one for all. God bless you and thank you for your much needed prayers!

                                                                  

CHRISTMAS WITH THE BOYS

        M
           E
             R
           CHRISTMAS
                  Y 

FOR TO US A CHILD IS BORN, TO US A SON IS GIVEN, AND THE GOVERNMENT WILL BE ON HIS SHOULDERS. AND HE WILL BE CALLED WONDERFUL COUNSELOR, MIGHTY GOD, EVERLASTING FATHER, PRINCE OF PEACE.          ISAIAH 9:6

We had a wonderful Christmas with the boys this morning. It was so much fun having a bunch of teenage boys yelling for you to get up so they can open presents! It's nice to see that they are excited about gifts, but we reminded them to be thankful that God gave his son so that we could spend eternity with our Lord and Savior in Heaven. We hope you and yours has a very Merry Christmas and rejoice in knowing that JESUS LIVES!

The aftermath of Christmas with the boys!

CHRISTMAS WITHOUT DADDY

Those of you who know me, know that I lost my daddy to cancer 4 years ago. I miss him so much. He was the kind of man that I hope the boys we are with, will strive to be. He was gentle yet knew when to be Stern. I can truly say that my daddy walked Christ like. I never heard him say a curse word or talk bad about anyone. His walk was the walk of a Christian man. My daddy is spending Christmas with his daddy this year. They are rejoicing with Jesus. I know that one day I will see my daddy again, and Oh how I can't wait for that day!

                                               CHRISTMAS WITHOUT YOU

                          Another Christmas eve that we're spending without you,
                         We miss you Oh so much and I'm feeling kinda blue.
                         I know that your happy when you hug your mom and dad,
                         and if I could have just one minute, I'd give you a hug back.
                         I just can't imagine everything you must see,
                         or just how awesome Heaven must really be.
                         And I wonder day to day just what you and Jesus do,
                         and wish I could have just one glimpse, so I could see you.
                         Your spending Christmas with your daddy and I'm missing mine.
                         But they say that I will heal, all I need is time.
                         I don't really believe that, unless time is forever,
                         because I think I will miss you daddy, until we are together.
                         Oh I miss you daddy and I love you so.
                         and I get so lonely because you had to go.
                         When the day comes that God calls for us to meet him in the sky,
                         What a day of rejoicing that will be, because there will be no sad goodbyes.
                         I know that your happy celebrating Christmas with your friends,
                         and I know I'll see you soon when God greets us in.
                         I just give thanks to Jesus that he let me have you so long,
                         and I know we will be together soon, when God calls us home.
                         When you are celebrating with Jesus and see a tear fall from face,
                         Just know that I am happy that one day, you will take that tear's place.
                         And while you talk with Noah and listen to the stories told,
                         if Jesus happen's to pass by, tell him I said; Hello.                   
                                                                                 By: Denise Rochester

IF YOU HAVE YOUR DADDY TO SPEND CHRISTMAS WITH, BE THANKFUL FOR HIM. THERE ARE SO MANY OF US, INCLUDING THE CHILDREN HERE, THAT ARE NOT GETTING TO SPEND CHRISTMAS WITH THEIR DADDY'S THIS YEAR. GOD BLESS YOU AND MERRY CHRISTMAS!












                       

OUR FAMILY CHRISTMAS

 We had our family Christmas this morning. It was a blast! Maggie (our dog) got doggie cookies, clothes and toys. I know, sounds silly but shes one of our family members. Lyndsie got a toy Pomeranian, silverware for college, Elf and Eclipse movie and an IPhone. She was so excited about the phone. Ethan got a Xbox controller with games, DS games, toy cars and motorcycles and his favorite gift, a 4-wheeler. He so so excited. He said; Thank you for the 4-wheeler. I know you must have worked hard for it. We gave Ethan clues to find his big gift. We put an envelope on the tree that said he had to go to one of the cottages to find his next clue. After he found that one he had to go to the gym and then to the park for more clues. He eventually ended up at the garage with an envelope on the door that contained a key. He had to unlock the door to see what his gift was. It was so much fun. Finding all the clues to get to the gift was a blast! Lyndsie and me were freezing by the time we got to the gift though. We will spend Christmas morning with the Senior Boys and they will get to open their gifts. We are looking forward to that as well. I have posted some pictures of our family Christmas. You can go to the album to see them all. Hope you all have a beautiful Christmas and a wonderful New Year. Love you all!

WE HAD OUR FAMILY CHRISTMAS THIS MORNING. WE HAD SUCH A GREAT TIME. LYNDSIE LOVED HER I-PHONE AND ETHAN LOVED HIS FOUR WHEELER. GARY GOT A FISHING POLE TO GO FISHING WITH ETHAN AND I CAN'T A CAMERA TO MAKE IT EASIER TO KEEP EVERYONE UPDATED ON WHATS GOING ON. :) I WILL HAVE PICTURES POSTED THIS AFTERNOON SO BE SURE AND DROP BACK BY. MERRY CHRISTMAS!
LOVE, THE ROCHESTER'S

....THE GREATEST GIFT OF ALL!

My family is celebrating the Christmas holiday in the morning because we will be on duty with the boys for Christmas. Traditionally we let the kids open one gift on Christmas eve. Since today is "our" Christmas eve we let Lyndsie and Ethan open one gift. The gift Ethan picked out to open turned out to be a new Bible with his name on it. He is very proud of it. The gift Lyndsie opened is one that we picked for her to open because it was a toy Pomeranian puppy and I didn't know where to hide it for the night. Lyndsie loves her! (Name yet to be determined. She is taking suggestions.) She has been begging for a pom for two years. Tomorrow we will get up and have Christmas with our kids and then Saturday we will have Christmas with the Senior Boys. I know the kids will be grateful for everything they get. I just wanted to say Thank you Lord. I am so thankful for the greatest gift of all. I know that I will love everything my husband and kids got me for Christmas, but my salvation is the gift that I will cherish the forever. I am so thankful that God gave me an eternal gift. The gift of going to heaven for eternity. You don't have to beg for it and you don't have to wish that you had it. All you have to do is ask God, believe and it will be given to you. Such an easy way to get the greatest gift of all. Thank you Lord for loving me enough to hang on that cross and suffer for my sins so that I may spend eternity with my Heavenly Father.

I HAVE BEEN CRUCIFIED WITH CHRIST AND I NO LONGER LIVE, BUT CHRIST LIVES IN ME. THE LIFE I LIVE IN THE BODY, I LIVE BY FAITH IN THE SON OF GOD, WHO LOVED ME AND GAVE HIMSELF FOR ME. I DO NOT SET ASIDE THE GRACE OF GOD, FOR IF RIGHTEOUSNESS COULD BE GAINED THROUGH THE LAW, CHRIST DIED FOR NOTHING.  
                                                        GALATIANS 2:20-21

                                                                   

I HAVE A DADDY......

 I have a daddy who loves me so,

who holds my hand and helps me grow.

I have a daddy who sees me cry,

and teaches me when I ask why.

I have a daddy who sees all my faults,

and yet he loves me at all costs.

I have a daddy who lives in my soul,

I carry him where ever I go.

But when I'm unable to stand and on bended knees,

that's when I know my daddy is carrying me.

I have a daddy who will never abandon me,

because my daddy died for my eternity.
                                                               By: Denise Rochester

                                      

Gary and I have had some struggles recently. We prayed for clear guidance on what God wants for us. Without a doubt, we know that he wants us in this ministry. We pray daily for God to take the Devil out of the way and bring unity to all of those who are taking care of the kids. We are here for the kids and here to serve God. When I prayed and did my Bible study I knew God was speaking directly to me. He was telling me this is what he wants for my life. I know that God's work is not always supposed to be easy. I just pray that we are able to focus only on what God wants for our lives, for his children and how we can please him. I know that my father is always going to guide me along the way. I know that my father will never give up on me. He has promised that to me. He is one daddy that will never leave his children.

                   

But He said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power will rest in me. That is why for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

                                                                       2 Corinthians 12:9-10

                                            (...Then is Christ revealed in my life!)

Think about this abbreviation: A.S.A.P.
A new meaning..Always Say A Prayer!