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    If you could see me right now, you’d probably notice the big smile on my face. I am a happy dad! My oldest son has just arrived home from his first year of college.  We are all back together, like it used to be. He left our home last August, we drove him all the way to Virginia for school, and except for a few weeks at Christmas, for the last 9 months he has been a world away.

    It feels like one of those moments that seem to come more often as I get older. It seems like something happened yesterday and years ago at the same time. Take, for example, those moments when your child turns sixteen, (which happened with our middle son this week). You look at them as if just yesterday they were a baby, and at the same time it seems you can’t even remember when they were young! If your kids are too young for you to have experienced many of these moments, they will come soon enough.

    Moments like these make me a little nostalgic; perhaps a better word would be reflective. I think back on all the work that went into such a monumental day.  The idea of sending my child off to college is scary; add to that the fact that he has cerebral palsy, and I’m sure you can understand the anxiety we felt. A lot of preparation went into our decision. This was no overnight success. This idea started years ago.

    Marriage has been in the news more than usual lately.From defining its definition to analyzing its popularity, impact and stability, it’s been a popular topic of conversation.My son even jumped into the fray with a poignant question for me and my wife.

    “Why do you and mom stay married?” he recently asked me.

    It’s a good question – not just for me, but also for the millions of others legally wed.

    My wife and I have been married for over eighteen years.I love my wife!But as the old joke goes, we don’t have a perfect marriage – because my wife isn’t perfect.

    In all sincerity, any honest person will admit that not every moment of married life is bliss.We’ve had our moments and our seasons of struggle.But we’ve always taken our vows seriously.Indeed, the phrase “for better or worse” is interpreted quite literally within the walls of our home.

    I don't know if it has been that kind of year for you and your family, but we have had a busy year. With our second son going off to college and our home barely being saved from a fire that destroyed almost 500 homes just to name a few, this year has been like no other. It truly has been a year of change for our household and the same can be said for Need Project. We started with a goal to redesign of our website to make it much easier to get to our resources. We worked with a design firm to come up with a site we loved and allowed us the platform to create brand new resources. Second we used this new design to add features to our site to support our church partner. Those partners now have a full featured portal which allows them to have all the resources we do on there own site, helping them connect with their local community in new ways. We then moved on to connecting our resource to our partners but also connecting them and us to Facebook. Earlier this month we added our resource database to our Facebook page so individuals can search for local resources without leaving Facebook. This also allows others to have the same resource on their Facebook page. We are so excited about these new resources and a few more that we are working feverishly to bring out in the next few months.

    All of our programs and the new ones ahead have only been possible by the generous support of people like you! We are a 501c3 Non-profit which means all of the donations we receive are tax deductible, but more importantly all donations we receive go to our mission, serving those with special needs and their families. As we come to the end of the year we ask that you to consider supporting Need Project. It is critical we hear from you to able to continue our mission. Your support will ensure that families with special needs get the support they need.

    As we come to the end of the year we pray your Thanksgiving and Christmas are blessed times with family and friends and we thank you for your support of those families and friends we work to serve.

     

    Please click on the donation link at the top of our site to see the options for giving!

    I am feeling a little scared right now. A few years ago, I was overweight, obese really, and I decided to do something about it. So I set a goal to get back to my weight in high school. I worked hard, and started to get into running; as I approached my fiftieth birthday I had a crazy idea. We have a marathon in our town, not just a normal marathon, but the Pike’s Peak Marathon. This marathon not only goes on for 26.2 miles, it also features the added bonus of running straight up Pike’s Peak, the summit of which is at 14,115 feet. As if that wasn’t bad enough, competitors then turn around and run down the mountain. The total elevation gain during the race is 7,815 feet. I decided that I would set this race as my goal.

    I have one little problem; that goal is more or less insane. Three years ago, I had never run further than maybe a few miles. I played sports as a kid, but running was never my thing. Sure I ran short distances, but never anywhere very far. How do I expect to get this done? The truly frightening thing right now is that I just looked at the race’s website, and there in the list of runners is my name. It’s official. I paid the money, and I am expecting to run the race in August, except right now I don’t feel like I can do it!

    Do you have one of these crazy dreams? Maybe it is something you have long hoped for your child, or a life skill you are hoping they can one day master. Do you ever find yourself in the mood I am in right now, telling yourself, “There is no way this is going to happen?”

    I’ve heard it before. If you have to evacuate your home what should you take?  One year ago we had a devastating fire in our town. While I was concerned, and the direct impact on our family was fairly limited because the fire was “on the other side of town” I really didn’t think much about what I would do in a similar situation. One thing I did do was register for reverse 911 service on my cell phone. My wife and I talked about what we should take if we were ever evacuated, but soon after we had moved back into the rhythm of everyday life. Well, Tuesday of this week we were shaken out of our rhythm by a fire in our neighborhood. Within two hours we were out of our house with what we could take in our cars. This morning I was able to take a look at our home, which is one of the few, still standing on our street.  We lost the barn, shed, garage, and our chickens but I am feeling very blessed right now! 

    I’ve also begun to think a lot about what matters most. When we spent the last few days not knowing the status of our house, it really did become clear; none of the “stuff” in our home mattered. Yes it will be a pain to replace lost things, but they are just that: things. 

    As I waited in a long line of cars to get to our house for the first time since the fire broke out, I got to talk to a few people who were also waiting. Some talked about those in charge and how they were not doing anything right.  The officials are doing a good job; they may not be doing what everybody wants, but I know they can’t. Some are angry because not all the available information is correct.  The fire covers 15,000 acres; they are not going to be able to get 100% of the information about every single home right.  Some are not happy that they cannot get back into their homes, even though the fire is still burning. I understand the inconvenience that comes with not being able to be in my own home, but I also know that if one of these people were injured in the fire area they would be the first to file a lawsuit. 

    The bottom line is all of us are safe, my children and wife are unharmed. I don’t know any other way to say it. I do feel blessed that our home still stands, but to have my kids and wife safe makes me fall to my knees and thank God. As we celebrate Father’s Day, let us give thanks for the blessings we have and help others remember those blessings as well!

     

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