To: Thorn Creek Youth Ranch email newsletter list
Sent: Monday, April 10, 2006 5:22 PM
Subject: children's ranch update and tim's musings - long
overdue
4-10-2006
Dear Friends,
How are you? :-)
I am overwhelmed, but I am still
hanging in
there.... Can anyone identify?
This is a longer letter, simply because
it has been
over a month since my last note, and a lot has been
happening.
Let me tell you about lots of cool God
things
first, relay to you some specific personal and ranch needs and
requests,
then talk about some thoughts I had recently.
God's
fingerprints:
A biggee first. We have our
nonprofit tax
ID number now, and can start taking tax deductible donations as
a
nonprofit organization. Some of the paperwork is still unfinished, but
the
official word from the IRS is that we can start taking donations and
giving out
receipts - "Big House Ministries Inc", also doing business as
"Thorn
Creek Youth Ranch and Conference Center". Checks can be made out
to either
one, or donations can still go to the timbenedict@peoplepc.com
paypal
account as well, as long as they are tagged or earmarked for the
ranch.
Lots of other fingerprints of God
:-)
1. Todd, a friend, has continued to
come up to the
ranch on his spare weekends and help out with projects around here. He
has been
a blessing and an encouragement from the Lord.
2. Joshua, who visited in January, move
up here
three weeks ago, and is now living in one of the bedrooms in the
upstairs area
of the lodge. He too has been a true blessing and encouragement, and
together,
we have been getting some projects done that have been long
overdue.
3. Cheryl, another friend from Boise,
has also been
coming up in some of her free time, along with her kids (single mom), to
help
out on projects around here. She too is a blessing and encouragement
from the
Lord and someone whose friendship I highly value.
4. I had prayed and asked God for an
electric hot
water heater back in February. We are out of propane, and none of the
propane
companies in Boise will refill our tanks (3x1000 gallons) because there
is a
minor leak somewhere in the system. So I asked God for an electric hot
water
tank that we could run off the generator and solar banks. Within a week
or two,
I happened to notice several that an apartment complex had pulled out of
several
units, and were throwing away. 2 of them. They let me have them,
and when I
brought them up here and checked them out, the first one we tried
worked
perfectly. I am not sure why they were pulled out of the complex, but
for
whatever the reason, the one I tried worked perfectly. Total answer
to
prayer. Now if we can just track down the propane leak too, we'll have a
back up
source of hot water as well. :-)
5. Several weekends ago, Josh, Todd,
myself, and
Cheryl, all spent a Saturday up here working on the plumbing in the
lodge. Most
of the sinks and toilets had plugged up water lines due to sediment in
the
community system, so we installed several sediment filters, installed
the
electric hot water heater, and cleaned the sediment out of the lines,
sinks, and toilets so that almost everything works again. What a
change to
have it all functional (most of it anyway, still some work left), and to
have
hot showers again. A hot shower is such a simple thing, but something
very
easily taken for granted and sorely missed when it can't be
had.
6. Heidi, a single mom that lives
in Caldwell,
who also loves the Lord, has expressed deep interest in helping the
youth
ranch out with paperwork needs. She is still getting her feet under her
(just
moved back to town), and I am not sure how our coordination will
look/work, but
I am looking forward to her involvement as well.
7. God has used me several times
recently to speak
growth, healing, and encouragement into the lives of several people
around me. I
enjoy being used by Him that way.
8. Due to the severity of this past
winter, and the
fact that I didn't get enough wood squirreled away last fall before the
snow, we
ran out of firewood a month ago. But somehow, we always seemed to find
just the
right dead trees, and just enough time to cut them down between the snow
and
rain falls, to keep the house warm enough for everyone through these
last few
weeks. Josh and me cut down, cut into rounds, loaded and transported
three good
sized trees the other evening before dark, in between rain showers,
in about an hour. We were moving *chuckle*. And God seemed to be
making it
go very very smoothly. And even more importantly, in spite of ALL the
rain/snow
we have had, the wood was dry and is burning well. Currently, we have
enough to
last through to next week at which point we will again pray, then head
out with
our chainsaws to find more firewood.
9. I continue to have enough manuscript
work (am
actually behind on it there is so much), to continue to pay off my
personal
debts from my previous marriage and divorce, and also have a little bit
left
over to add to what people have donated to help pay for ranch things. I
am
behind on ranch rent right at the moment, but that should be
covered by my
next paycheck. It's just irritating to me to have to split my focus
between
paying my personal bills (working for a living) and building the
ranch.But I am
also truly thankful to God that I have an online internet job so that I
do not
have to be tied to a commute and daily schedule in Boise, so that I CAN
work on
ranch stuff and be somewhat flexible with my time.
10. On the weekend that everyone was
working up
here, one of the sink drains "mysteriously" unclogged itself. I have
been
dealing with that sink for 2 years now, and suddenly, it just started
working
again (after 2 years), and no one had touched, or even worked near, it.
We
didn't do any drain plumbing that day, just supply lines. I figure it
was a God
fingerprint, with Him just helping out that day on a little portion of
the
plumbing that the rest of us didn't get to. He made Himself a part of
our
plumbing repair team, and that was truly a cool moment when I realized
that. (I
thank you God. Thanks).
11. With sediment filters in place and
all the
sediment cleared from the system, we were able to then install (Joshua
and
myself) laundry drains. I used to earn a living for awhile
as an
appliance repairman, and between units I had left over, and donations,
we have 6
laundry washers up here. I had no idea why. But I figured that if God
gave them
to us, there must be a reason, so we installed drains enough to run 5 of
them
concurrently. It was only several days later, as I was brainstorming and
being
educated by a foster family on foster home needs, that I was told that
laundry
in a foster home is a huge issue (dirty clothes coming with the kids,
bedwetting
issues, etc and so forth). I had to laugh. God knows what He is doing,
which is
a good thing, because as the ranch gets going, I find myself feeling
lost and
overwhelmed more and more often. Now we just have to get the propane
system
functional again so that we can hook up the three propane
dryers.....
12. With all the rain and snow and
snowmelt
happening, there has been some pretty major flooding happening up here
in the
last 2 weeks. The ranch chaplain's driveway washed out (a driveway
that
also served 3 or 4 other households as well), along with 3 or 4 other
bridges in
the area. Phone service to our valley up here was also out for about 10
hours
before Quest could fix some damaged lines. There were a bunch of rock
slides
along both Thorn Creek road and Hwy 21 that were quickly cleared before
anyone
was seriously hurt. Mores Creek itself was also up over Hwy 21 in
quite a
number of places. It was a little scary there for awhile, and I stayed
glued to
the fire-radio in case we were called out for any emergency rescues
(none). Even
one of the minor driveways and playing fields here at the ranch here
began to
wash out, but Joshua and I got out there with our shovels and played
like little
boys having fun in the mud, damming up the overflow from the creek and
redirecting the water back into safer channels. Both of our access
bridges to
the property were damaged though, and we will need to repair them this
summer.
But I am just thankful that our bridges did not wash out, no one was
hurt or
stranded when the chaplain's bridge washed out (they managed to get one
vehicle
to the other side before the road went so that they could still have
transportation), and that things are still holding with the
foundation of
the conference center (although it has standing water backed up behind
it -
SCAREY).
13. Joshua and I have been able to sit
down and
actually work out some lists and priorities for our time as we get the
ranch
back up and functional. He brings a lot of organizational skills to the
table
that I lack. God knew what He was doing when He told Joshua to move
here.
14. I was able to buy a second used
railroad
battery (one of the 1200 pound ones) for cheap, and between them
and others
that have been donated, we have over (if my math is correct) 50
kilowatt
hours of battery storage capability now. This is VERY cool. Now we just
need the
solar panels to charge them.... *chuckle* - but one thing at a
time...
15. As part of our ministry here, we
want to also
be sponsoring youth to go on missions trips. We can do this now. So
there is a
young lady in Boise that is collecting cell phones to help fund her
mission trip
to Dallas, TX, to work on several projects down there this summer. If
you have
any extra unused cell phones that are collecting dust around your place,
we are
collecting them for this young lady Amanda (who incidentally I was told
in a
dream at Christmas time, prior to meeting her, that I would be
meeting her
- by name).
16. We are apparently on a national
database of
children's homes already, and we had a call and ongoing conversation
with a
retired couple back east who was looking for a children's home to be a
part of.
Since we do not have a stable cash flow yet, and have not started
accepting
children yet, I had to (unhappily) tell them that I could not hire them
yet. I
believe that they have since found another home somewhere to work at,
but just
the fact that God is stirring people's hearts already about coming and
being
houseparents here, was encouraging to me.
17. Some of you will laugh at this one,
while some
of you will cringe and chew me out *good natured shrug*. Ce'st lie vie.
God
protected me, and I am grateful to Him. The story? The propane water
heater
pilot light quit working one weekend (using a little five gallon propane
tank
for it since the big onsite tanks can't be filled right now). I lit the
pilot
light (it was burning very low, almost not even burning, but I didn't
realize at
that point that that was unusual), and then turned on the burner.
Nothing
happened. I waited, and still nothing happened. After about 30 seconds,
still
nothing had happened, and I bent down to see what was going on. About
that time,
it lit. Actually, it exploded, and shot a two foot flame out from under
the
heater, directly into my face, wrapping itself around my head. It
singed
off pretty much all of my eyelashes and most of my eyebrow on the right
side of
my face, and singed my moustache, left eyelashes, left
eyebrow, sideburns,
and ducktail (I need a haircut) on the back of my head pretty good. It
left my
face feeling badly sunburnt, and I had trouble opening my eyes because
all the
singed eyelashes acted like velcro to keep my eyes closed. I had to
laugh. But
then I got Cheryl to get scissors out and trim it all off (leaving me
with
essentially no eyelashes), and then I could blink again. But God totally
protected me. I could have lost my eyesight. And yes, my eyelashes ARE
growing
back.
18. I think that we have found someone
who will fix
the diesel generator here that seized up in January when an oil seal
blew out.
The diesel generator is much more efficient, and costs less to run, than
the
backup gasoline generator that we are using right now does.
19. I had a long meeting with a
local foster
family last week, that has committed to helping put together the ranch
foster
program. They are genuine people, and they love the Lord deeply. I am
truly
looking forward to working with them.
20. The man
that had told me he wanted to be our ranch cook two years ago, got into
trouble
with the law and I have no idea where he is now. But that's ok. God has
challenged the heart of a neat Christian woman who goes to church with
us at the
new Clear Creek Fellowship church I am a part of. He challenged her to
be our cook. I am praying that we will have the funding to
hire her
full time, as I am also praying that when that time comes, she is ready.
She is
a relatively new Christian, and her enthusiasm and simple love
of her
savior Jesus Christ is a precious thing to behold.
21. We have a commitment from a
professional
commercial kitchen designing company to help us design a commercial
quality
kitchen up here for free. I just have to find the time to meet with them
now. I
am also following up on leads with several different commercial kitchen
supply
companies to maybe get some used equipment donated. Pray for that one
too.
22. I have often expressed to God the
desire to
have some ponies or horses up here for the kids that eventually come
here. I
think God heard me. Someone has offered us a miniature pony for up here,
for
$400. This is very cheap I am told. My personal money is all tied up
with paying
off my debts and paying for other more critical ranch needs (like rent),
but if
anyone out there would like to help with this and hay for it, it would
be pretty
awesome....
23. Along the same animal lines,
someone donated a
miniature momma bunny with three adorable babies, so that we can have
them here
for the kids. I thought that was pretty cool.
24. We have had some very good services
at the new
Clear Creek Fellowship church that I lead worship at. I enjoy that. And
God is
touching people through it. It is very cool.
25. Several weeks ago, we were praying
for some
hymnals and song books for use at the new Clear Creek Fellowship Church
in Clear
Creek. After calling a number of churches and asking about hand-me-down
hymnals,
a church in Meridian donated 14 to us, and we are using them at both the
Clear
Creek Church and the Youth Ranch. They help tremendously.
26. A good friend of mine in Star,
that has
helped out with lots of ranch brainstorming, and who also works with
youth and
has commited to helping out with the ranch, had someone try to clean her
carpets
several weeks ago in the evening. They inadvertantly mixed some cleaning
chemicals in the process though, and the resulting toxic fumes nearly
killed her
and part of her family overnight. By morning, one of her children was
unconscious and suffered severe chemical burns to her lungs, but lived.
My
friend, in getting the rest of the children out of the house and trying
to
shopvac up the mess and neutralize it with water, also suffered severe
chemical
burns to her voice box and lungs. No one died, though they did spend a
fair bit
of time with the doctors getting treated. One doctor said that the
damage
to their lungs could be permanent, but my friend does have her
voice
back now, and is back to nearly full functionality, as is her daughter.
Thank
you God for protecting them.
27. One of the ranch board members,
Suzanne, just
got engaged to a Godly man. Congratulations to her :-). Keep them in
your
thoughts and prayers.
Ranch needs and prayer
requests:
1. Pray that Pastor Ambrosio has
success putting
together his financing package to buy the ranch for us and his church
(so that
we can operate Hispanic youth camps for them). He is getting stonewalled
at
nearly every turn (spiritual battle?) He is meeting with someone this
week again
about financing so that we can move forward, so pray for him and the
meeting.
And any financial help that other friends, partners and supporters
can help
with, would also be much appreciated, so that the burden of the entire
price of
the ranch ($475,000) does not fall solely and squarely upon his
shoulders alone.
2. Pray that God gives me focus and
wisdom and
direction as we move forward. There are lots and lots of critical
decisions that
have to be made in the weeks to come.
3. There are already some problems on
the ranch
board that I had selected to help me run the ranch, that I need wisdom
concerning. Pray first that the problems get resolved, and that if they
don't
get resolved, I know how to deal constructively with the fallout.
4. Pray that God continues to
send the right
people to the ranch to be staff members.
5. Pray that I can juggle my own
personal bills and
working for a living, with what I need to be doing for/with the ranch.
6. Pray for each person I mentioned
above, that has
been helping out with moving things forward.
7. Pray that somehow we get some earth
moving
equipment up here to fix things.
8. Because of my ignorance, I have run
afoul of
Boise County and some of their zoning requirements. Pray that it all can
be
resolved in a constructive way. We are now under deadline to get the
remainder
of our county-related paperwork filed, and I am stressing some over it.
I made
some less that wonderful decisions early on that I am now paying
for. But I
am learning as I go. And the paperwork is getting done too finally.
Which is
good.....
9. Pray for the people that God will be
touching
through being here at the ranch.
10. Pray that the conference center
foundation can
be repaired safely and quickly.
11. Pray that the fundraising that we
will be
embarking on will be successful. If anything is to happen, money has to
come in.
Joshua is making this one of his focuses while here - fundraising. Pray
for him
in this too.
12. Pray that I can get caught up on
everything
that I am behind on. I am making progress, but with things (both
personal and
ranch) hanging over my head, it is easy to stress out and forget my
calling, and
forget that God is still in control and that everything will work out ok
if I
just keep Him in the center of it.
13. Pray for Suzanne, the board member
who just got
engaged, who has been having severe asthma attacks, and the doctors
can't figure
out why. She has some pretty awesome ministries that God is bringing
about
through her, but the asthma is forcing her to potentially give up her
job, but
she doesn't know what God has next for her.
14. Pray that we can get the new
website up with a
minimum of hassle (the web-server where we are using donated space
is
having problems, in case you can't get to the site).
15. Now that the snow has begun to
melt, a lot of
damage to the ranch and the grounds, from the hard freezes and deep snow
we had,
has come to light. God knows though. Just pray that He resolves it all
in His
time, and to His glory....
15. Pray that God just keeps His
hand on all things ranch
related.
Tim's
thoughts:
It was a sad day for me recently to
realize that
some of my own vices and personality quirks had hindered the work of the
Lord
and His ability to move the ranch forward. It was a bitter pill to
swallow, and
one that I begged His forgiveness for. I wonder just how often this is
true for
all of us though. I don't want to hinder the Lord, can I say that? I
must
decrease, He must increase. Have you ever simply just asked yourself if
you
have hindered the Lord and His work, or helped Him and
His work,
with your life and actions?
I have fought off and on with deep
discouragement,
a wounded heart, and distraction over the last 2 months, yet when I
come
right back down to it, I have a job to do, and no one else is going to
do it for
me, and unless I forget who I am, offer myself up to God, and let Him
use me to
accomplish cool things, this ranch and what God desires to do here, will
not
happen like it could. So even in the midst of FEELING bad (and
physically
sick again too - grrr), I have to make a choice to obey and move
on, in
spite of how I feel. I have to suck it up, set my eyes on the goal, cry
out to
my beautiful savior, and just keep putting one foot in front of
the other.
I am excited to be a part of the
ranch... I am
excited to be able to serve a living and real God (I want to know Him
better and
better). I am excited to be alive *thankful smile*
God is good.
And I am opening up the opportunity to
anyone else
to be a part of this adventure, whether through prayer support,
financial
support, work support, or even possibly as a staff member. Pray just one
thing
about the ranch tonight, if nothing else. Ask God if there is just one
thing,
big or small, that He would like you to contribute to this
project.
God is good, He is still
on His throne,
and I am content.
In Him,
-Tim