Blogging is one of those things that I'm either on or off, and lately I've been off. I was looking back the other day at the posts that I've written since being at the ranch and realized that I haven't posted since October!
So much has happened since then there is no possible way to explain everything.
September was a crazy month! Jon and I found out we were expecting our first baby. We didn't tell anyone until October. October came with some warm weather but had more cold days than not. We planned a quick last minute camping trip to Sulpher, OK. It was a ton of fun the first day, but by the second and third days it had rained so hard our campsite practically floated away. The boys didn't know how to properly pack so most of them had no dry clothes for the ride home. It was a lot of fun, but Jon and I learned that it might be best to plan a little better in the prep for rain department. Overall, October was a great month!
November was upon us quickly and with it morning sickness for me. My birthday was a ton of fun, Jon bought me a beautiful teapot, and took me to the castle for dinner. We both had a great time amidst the morning sickness and adjusting to the pregnant lifestyle. We celebrated Thanksgiving with Jon's family early in November at the Hills cabin. It was a wonderful time of fellowship and all of our boys got to see how a family functions. By the time Thanksgiving day rolled around we only had two boys to drag with us to my side of the family gathering. I think they enjoyed it for the most part.
December brought with it three birthdays in our house. It made for lots of special birthday dinners and baking of some interesting desserts upon request of the birthday boys. I had a lot of fun, playing mom and making them feel special. We celebrated Christmas on the 8th of December with some close ranch family members that greatly blessed our boys with many wonderful gifts. On December 20th Jon and I did our Christmas for the boys. We gave them each a 10$ gift that we specifically picked out based on each boys personality. It was so much fun! We also took them to see a movie and spent some time as a family before most of them left for the holidays. Jon and I also bought our first cruise tickets this month. We were so excited to go on a decent vacation, it was scheduled for the first week of February!
January had many, many, many, snow days! We thought everyone would for sure go crazy, but God brought us through and everyone was still intact. Other than snow days and school days January was pretty uneventful.
February on the other hand.... The best way for me to describe February was a disastrous month. You know when you look back and you just think, eh, I don't want to repeat that ever again. That was us this month. Jon and I had a blast on our cruise! It was everything we thought it would be and so much more! We got to see some beautiful beaches and I even snorkeled for the first time while pregnant! When we got home, there weren't beautiful beaches or peaceful moments. Unfortunately the week after our vacation we were met with the most difficult days we had ever had up to that point. Jon and I were at our wits end! We had so many attitudes flair that week, we thought we were going to go crazy. With all that had happened we thought for sure the next week would be better, but we were wrong. One of our boys ran away from home, told us he was done, didn't want to follow our rules. It felt like the biggest slap in the face. I don't find my significance in whether these boys love me or not and I know Jon doesn't either, but that night I called into question what we had done to make him hate us so. We came to find out after four days of trying to get him to think about what he had done that he really just made a stupid, impulsive decision and that we really hadn't done anything at all. It was later all resolved and February ended! Thank you God!
March wasn't a bad month. It was somewhat like January. We just went about our normal routine, had some struggles with one of our boys, almost sent him home but out of the graciousness of the ranch we managed to work together to figure out how to work with this particular young man.
April, the month we just came out of. For Jon and I personally, it was a month of spiritual awakening and life choice ponderings. We felt it was time to ask our bosses for permission to attend WHC on Sundays permanently. They said yes! We felt this was the best move for us as a family. The boys still attend FBC on Wednesday nights and will continue to be a part of that family as well. For WHC April is a month of missions and refocus. It was so exciting to be with our family as we saw God move on a weekly basis in those that attended. We didn't see any drastic change in our boys, but I do believe seeds were planted and that they are definitely becoming softer to the work of the Holy Spirit. Jon also took all the guys to the Men's Rewired retreat at falls creek. It was so good for them, and very exciting to hear that God worked in at least one of their lives. If that was all God did that weekend it was totally worth it! I would say to sum up April, it was a month of awakening and renewal, refreshment and refocus.
May, the month I've been waiting for for nine months now! This baby boy's due date is May 28th! I really have no expectation that that's when he will come, but just the reality as a whole, that we are now down to less than 4 weeks gets me very excited! The boys will also finish their first school semester with us on the 22nd, our two year anniversary is the 25th and then baby boy! As you can see this month is proving to be quite eventful for the Mac house and it's only the first day!
I am truly grateful for all God has taught us through this last year, I look forward with great anticipation to the next year as we approach our one year mark at the ranch. God is definitely moving and I expect He will continue to move. The one thing I am learning more and more to hold onto is, God has us right where He wants us and He will take care of the future!
Please keep us in your prayers! Summer is right around the corner and with it the challenge of having boys at home on a regular basis and the wonderful experience and adventure a new life will bring out here. God will bring us through much stronger I know that, but that doesn't mean it won't be difficult. Please pray for us!
In Christ Always,
Whitney
