Our God is a big God and He has given us big dreams for Elijah’s Retreat. What started out as a goal to build a few cabins that families could use to vacation with their special needs kids, has grown in both vision and scope. Let me give you just a peek at some of our hopes and dreams.
First of all, we will build six two-bedroom cabins, each nestled in the woods with plenty of privacy, peace and quiet. Each cabin will have a full kitchen and washer and dryer.
Second, we will build a great playground (we’ve only just begun), so the kids have a great outdoor place to play.
Third, we will build a large recreational building and fill it with sensory toys and equipment, so the kids have a great indoor place to play.
Fourth, we will build a small water park, so that on hot summer days the kids can enjoy playing in the water, without the fear and liability of having a swimming pool. Faulkner Park in Tyler has one that we will try to model after in some ways. It’s only 50 or 60 feet in diameter, but the kids just love it. We are really excited about this addition to our vision for Elijah’s Retreat!
We envision Saturday night chuck wagon dinners, eating marshmallows around a campfire, and occasional hay rides. Of course there will always be pony rides for the kids.
Are you starting to see it? It’s becoming clearer and clearer to us all the time. As this first cabin nears completion, we are filled with excitement in anticipation of finally having guests here at the ranch. We long to meet all of your wonderful families and watch your kids enjoy the great outdoors.
Yes, our God is a big God – a VERY big God. Praise you, Father, for your provision and for the big dreams you give us. You are faithful, Lord, and we trust you to see this vision through to completion.
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
The Generosity of Strangers
Nothing about Elijah’s Retreat has amazed or encouraged us more than the generosity of strangers. We never dreamed that so many people would extend a hand of help to people they don’t know and a place they’ve never seen.
Since we published the “Needs and Praise” page on our website, we have been inundated with supplies and furnishings for the cabins we are building. Our barn now looks kind of like a thrift store. We have washers, dryers, a stove, a refrigerator, kitchen cabinets, beds, mattresses, a sleeper sofa, tables, chairs, shower curtains, bedspreads, bicycles, books, toys – all donated by generous people, most of whom we’ve never met.
Besides the furnishings for the cabins, there have been wonderful donations of hay (we’re talking months worth piled to the ceiling of our barn), horses, and our beautiful collie, Gentle. An awesome couple in Nacogdoches, Roger & Rhonda Mills (same ones who donated the hay), are now busy making a sign for Elijah’s Retreat that will reside at the entrance to the ranch.
There have also been extremely generous donations of building materials. One of our dear board members, Dwight Omenson, donated a lot of the electrical and plumbing materials. He also donated his time to doing the electrical and plumbing installation for the cabin.
A wonderful gentleman named Michael Ridgley donated a central air conditioning unit for the cabin. We had planned to put a window unit in the cabin as we couldn’t afford central air, but Michael heard about the need and donated a central unit. He was going to come back and install it once the electricity was hooked up, but he died of a massive heart attack a few weeks later. He was only 48 years old. We plan to name this first cabin the Ridgley Cabin in Michael’s memory.
Then there are all the laborers who have joined us in this quest to build Elijah’s Retreat. The wonderful folks from 911 Air Charter who sent a team in April and again in May to help us for a weekend. The folks from our church, Fellowship Bible Church, who have helped out on many occasions. The great folks from Mercy Ships who are helping us with the pile of documents required to be filed for 501(c)(3) status, and who have hooked us up with an awesome couple in Rusk, Jeff and Sandy Carroll, who are helping with lots and lots of things. They have gotten their church involved, too (First Baptist in Rusk), so whole teams of people are coming out to help now.
A year ago we didn’t know any of these people. They were strangers. Now we are all working together to complete the vision for Elijah’s Retreat. The generosity of strangers – a most amazing and heart warming phenomenon.
Since we published the “Needs and Praise” page on our website, we have been inundated with supplies and furnishings for the cabins we are building. Our barn now looks kind of like a thrift store. We have washers, dryers, a stove, a refrigerator, kitchen cabinets, beds, mattresses, a sleeper sofa, tables, chairs, shower curtains, bedspreads, bicycles, books, toys – all donated by generous people, most of whom we’ve never met.
Besides the furnishings for the cabins, there have been wonderful donations of hay (we’re talking months worth piled to the ceiling of our barn), horses, and our beautiful collie, Gentle. An awesome couple in Nacogdoches, Roger & Rhonda Mills (same ones who donated the hay), are now busy making a sign for Elijah’s Retreat that will reside at the entrance to the ranch.
There have also been extremely generous donations of building materials. One of our dear board members, Dwight Omenson, donated a lot of the electrical and plumbing materials. He also donated his time to doing the electrical and plumbing installation for the cabin.
A wonderful gentleman named Michael Ridgley donated a central air conditioning unit for the cabin. We had planned to put a window unit in the cabin as we couldn’t afford central air, but Michael heard about the need and donated a central unit. He was going to come back and install it once the electricity was hooked up, but he died of a massive heart attack a few weeks later. He was only 48 years old. We plan to name this first cabin the Ridgley Cabin in Michael’s memory.
Then there are all the laborers who have joined us in this quest to build Elijah’s Retreat. The wonderful folks from 911 Air Charter who sent a team in April and again in May to help us for a weekend. The folks from our church, Fellowship Bible Church, who have helped out on many occasions. The great folks from Mercy Ships who are helping us with the pile of documents required to be filed for 501(c)(3) status, and who have hooked us up with an awesome couple in Rusk, Jeff and Sandy Carroll, who are helping with lots and lots of things. They have gotten their church involved, too (First Baptist in Rusk), so whole teams of people are coming out to help now.
A year ago we didn’t know any of these people. They were strangers. Now we are all working together to complete the vision for Elijah’s Retreat. The generosity of strangers – a most amazing and heart warming phenomenon.
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