Remember Me…Yeah I Am A Total Slacker!

A lot of changes have taken place since my last post, and I will try to spend the next few days updating you. I know, many of you follow me on Facebook, so some of these won’t come as a shock to you.

First, I will start by apologizing for flaking out on this blog. My site was hacked and given a nasty virus. It took forever to deal with it because I kept telling myself I will deal with it tomorrow, but then tomorrow bacame more like next year.

I’m going to begin a cliff note version of what has happened in our crazy, chaotic family with a Jerilyn update.  She did end up spending about a year at the treatment center in Texas, coming back to Arizona after making some vast improvements and with a better handle on her coping skills. We decided on a step down program, which means she is in a therapeutic group home (TGH), and coming home here on most weekends.

Getting her into the TGH was an overwhelming task, as we received denials from almost all of them and were down to one last one, which is of course where God wanted her all along. The place is wonderful, we had a few hiccups in the beginning, but let’s face it, if a transition were to go smoothly for us it would shock the pants right off all of us.

She is blossoming and doing well at the TGH. The staff there truly sees this as their ministry, not a business, and it shows. Last weekend when I went to drop Jerilyn off, she wanted me to come in, pray, and anoint her and her room with oil, like we do at our home. I asked the staff if it would be okay, and the director’s response was, “Please, go right ahead…I do it every week while the girls are at school.” Praise God for this place and the girls they show Jesus’ love to. I once heard, “The hardest-to-love people are usually the ones who need to be loved the most.” So true with these girls, and I try to pour love into them any chance I get as well.

Jerilyn is going to be fifteen in January and I can hardly believe it. She is about to be taller than me. She is excelling in school right now and is starting to make a friend….BIG deal for a kiddo with autism. We were also able to get her back into the behavior-based private school she was in before she left for Texas and the school district is still footing the bill.

For right now, she is content where she is, connecting with other girls in her home who feel marginalized by society as well. This is a great environment for her to explore how to develop and maintain friendships. All in all, a lot of praises. Continue to lift her up in prayer whenever God brings her to mind because there always seems to be a new challenge right around the corner.

I promise to keep you better updated from here on out. There is still so much to tell so I will keep the posts coming. Love you all!!