the crashing waves

Oh what I would do to have
The kind of faith it takes to climb out of this boat I'm in
Onto the crashing waves
To step out of my comfort zone
Into the realm of the unknown where Jesus is
And He's holdin out His hand
But the waves are callin out my name and they laugh at me
Reminding me of all the times I've tried before and failed
The waves they keep on tellin me
Time and time again, "Boy, You'll never win!"
"You'll never win!"

Last year at WVR, one of my sweet girls who I love dearly said to me, "Listen to the lyrics of this song, it's amazing" and she played The Voice of Truth by Casting Crowns.... I was like "Yeah, that's great..." This is a girl who I watched grow and who I grew with all year, and those words rung so true to her time at the ranch, and how God was working in her life as she listened to the truth that God always revealed to her... At 13 years old, she was able to hear that song in a way that I didn't hear it until recently... Now I'm convinced they wrote it about me, except I'm a girl...

I'm reminded of the time I went to the Bahamas with Young Life... We were on this 52 foot sailboat for 7 days and nights, just floating around the caribbean... It was great, amazing, really.... until we drifted upon a tropical depression... not quite a hurricane, but that's what we liked to call it, Hurricane Cristobal.... anyways, one gusty night, after everyone was asleep except for me, my cousin (Emily), Hollis (then Matthew), the deckhand (Ryan) and Tall One (Zach Belcher), the wind and rain grew so strong that we weren't sure we would make it through the night... all we knew was that we had to save that boat, and it's crew, from certain destruction! the five of us, in the pitch black of that stormy night, through the wind and the rain, put the tarp up over the deck of the boat and saved it's life and our lives forever! Now, maybe it wasn't quite that dramatic, but I remember looking over the side of that rocking boat, and thinking "If one of us fell over, we would be gone in an instant in those waves!" It really was terrifying, but the Lord kept us safe, and both the boat and it's crew made it through the night!

Oh what I would do to have the kind of faith it would have taken to step out of that boat towards Jesus' open arms if He had been standing out there in those waves that night... Now, I'm not gonna lie... I've been struggling, and I'm pretty certain that if I were put in that scenario today, I would hold onto those sails for dear life!

Everyday I wake up and ask God for a "good day" and every day I leave school worn out answering the question "how was your day?" with "not so great..." I've been extremely succeptible to hearing and believing the lies that satan whispers in my ear every moment of my time at Eagle Ranch... "Please... you can't do that job.... you'll never make a difference in those kids lives... you're not a good communicator... you don't know how to teach... you're like a 13 year old, those kids see you as a peer, not someone to look up to and learn from... quit, give up, you're wasting your time...." those words have flooded my mind for weeks and have left me discouraged, upset, annoyed, FRUSTRATED... any negative feeling, that's how I've felt recently...

Those thoughts and feelings are so unlike me, really the opposite of who I am, how I live my life, and how I feel 99% of the time.... I am so typically an extremely positive and excited person.... That's why the people at the Honda dealership enjoy me so much, they're just not used to seeing somebody who smiles ALL THE TIME, especially selling cars all day... that seems crazy to them, but that's me, and I like that about myself... God's given me so much, why waste my time not rejoicing in Him always? So when I start feeling down and discouraged, and can't seem to pull myself up, it's really torturous to me! But that's where I've been the last few weeks... I've been hearing these things that are so far from true, and I know they're lies, I know I'm at the ranch because God has me there, and there's some reason, He will use me, and I can do ALL things through Him... but I've started to forget the truth and believe the lies, and I'm allowing satan this grip of fear and discouragement over me... Even at the very point that I thought I had control and was convinced of the truth, they started coming at me faster and harder, and I've wondered if they're lies at all, maybe they're true, maybe I should leave this place... wow, I don't recall a time in my life that I've felt so discouraged and confused about what the Lord's will for me is! Even through the ups and downs during my time at WVR last year, I knew the Lord had me there, and I knew I was in His will... Here's a quote from an e-mail I sent that December during those hard times: "Proverbs says "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding..." so that's what i'll do....... i'm gonna walk blindly with Him, and trust Him..... He's given me such strength the last two weeks... more strength than i thought was possible for this weak body to ever encompass....but He makes me walk on water in raging storms.... all i have to do is keep my eyes focused on Him and not on the storms surrounding me.... pray that i have continued strength to do this..." Where is that faith and that trust today? I don't know... but that's life, we struggle and we overcome.... We overcame those storms together and we'll overcome this one too... so that's where we're at, me and Jesus.... this "overcome" stage...

...but the Voice of Truth tells me a different story
The Voice of Truth says "Do not be afraid"
The Voice of Truth says "This is for my glory"
Out of all the voices callin out to me
I will choose to listen and believe
The Voice of Truth

Thankfully I serve this amazingly wonderful God who loves me and sees me through these misunderstood times.... I cannot overcome these lies on my own.... Please, if it were me on my own, I would give up, shut down and quit.... I would hold onto those sails for dear life and never let go... That would be really easy for me to do... But the Lord, who always steers me in the right direction, combats all of those lies every day! And because of Him, I am encouraged! Because of Him, I can step out into the raging waters at Eagle Ranch every day that I'm given the opportunity to, and every day I will praise God for that! And because I know the Holy Spirit is constantly moving through that place, I don't have to ask for a "good day" or tell anyone ever that it wasn't such a good day, because everyday the Lord gives us there, whether one kid opens his heart to what Jesus can do in his life or 33 do, it will always be a GOOD day, simply because Jesus brought them to the ranch and they have the opportunity to learn about Him and to make life changes... and it will always be a good day for me, because Jesus put those great kids in my life and I get to hang out with them every day... And Jesus will always be standing in the midst of it all holding out His hand, waiting for me, all of those kids, and for all of us to listen to the Voice of Truth... Because of those things, I don't ask God for a "good day" anymore, but I thank Him for the GREAT day that He's set before me!

I am convinced now, through much discussion with my God, that I have a great purpose at Eagle Ranch, and I know that, no matter how incompetent I feel, as long as I make the consious decision not just every day, but every moment of every day to step out into the crashing waves, Jesus will be there... He has made me very aware of His constant presence and guidance, and of His sovereignty over my being at Eagle Ranch for another year, and I praise Him so much for that, because I have been very ready to say "goodbye" these past few weeks... But, thankfully, now is not the time! My life wouldn't be nearly as exciting or humorous, or filled with the wonders of Christ if these kids weren't in it, and I'm very pleased to be spending another year with them!

Please pray for me as I'm sure I'll continue to hear these lies every day, but maybe I just won't be quite so succeptible, and pray that I'll be constantly encouraged by the Lord's great work at the ranch and in my life! And also, this is moving week!! We're moving all week into our new beautiful school, so pray for us that all goes smoothly... This is the week we've been waiting for since, well just since August 5th for me and the students, but for years for the rest of the staff!! Y'all are wonderful and I love you very much! Thanks for being so faithful in your prayers for me and this ministry I've been given the opportunity to be a part of!

His,
Anna Kathryn

"I thank my God everytime I remember you!
In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy!"
Philippians 1:3&4

Signs that they're listening:

Man, the other day in class, Mr. Millwood was talking about what 'listening' looks like, and one of my 'gangsta' boys said, "I have James 1:12 written down here where Miss Buffington told it to me the beginning of the year, 'Dear brothers, everyone should be quick to listen slow to speak and slow to become angry.'"
WOW! That is huge to me!

I don't even remember this happening, but apparently I mentioned at some point that atomic fireballs are my favorite candy... well, last monday, one of my 7th grade boys came in and gave me what appeared to be a jar wrapped in a cracker barrel bag... I opened it and it was a jar full of atomic fireballs! I have never been more surprised! I was like "this is my favorite candy!!" and he said "I know, I saw them last Thursday and thought about you!" Hey, maybe if they hear the things that aren't so important, they hear the ones that are important too...

About a week after I told all my classes about Arissa, I was at the gym watching some of our kids play in these big basketball championship games against each other, and one of them walked by me and says "Blu Blu, Miss Buffington." I said "Blu blu tibed," and he got the biggest smile on his face!

leaky ceilings

"...if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation;

the old has gone and the new has come!"

2 Corinthians 5:17

Well... last year I wrote all those e-mails on the changes the Lord was making in my life up at Wears Valley Ranch, and all the growth that was happening, which, let me remind you, was HUGE! This year... now don't get me wrong, there's still A LOT of changing and growing happening for me, and I'm sure you'll continue to get books about those things as well (in fact, I've already started the next one!! haha)... but in addition to the changes in my life, my eyes have been opened WIDE to the changing power that KNOWING GOD has in the lives of these kids I work with, and how necessary it is that we show them how God can change their lives COMPLETELY! hmmm... and the same thing, really for all of us, actually.....

Our students memorized and discussed that passage from 2 Corinthians for several weeks last semester... It's so neat to watch them start to live out that verse and let go of their past behaviors to seek the life that God has planned for each of them... These kids are so wonderful... Every day we have issues, and every day some kids take steps back and some take steps forward... For instance, the last two weeks have not been the easiest, the majority of the kids have been out of control and moody... However, this week has so far been loads of fun, and those same kids have been ready to learn, open minded and happy to be here.... You can't expect or look forward to excellence everyday from kids who haven't experienced anything of an excellent life... What you learn to expect is, step by step, each kid to slowly allow the Lord to work in them and through them... then, eventually they start to decide for themselves that they want to change... it doesn't always stick, and sometimes they return to their old ways of doing things... but more often than not, they come back, and reopen their minds and their hearts to what the Lord can do for them! I'm everyday reminded of my time at Laurel Ridge with Arissa... during those few months, I repeatedly said in these e-mails that she consistently was the most difficult and the most joyful part of every day for me... in fact, I continue to say that to this day, and I probably will forever, but that's without a doubt the most congruent comparison to my time here... some days are so hard, I could go home and cry for hours, but I don't, because I love these kids so much, and no matter what they say or do, or how they try to hurt me, I will never stop loving them, and I would never trade even the most difficult minute of my time here for anyting else, and just a smile, a pat on the back, or a silly comment wipes away all the "hard" about this job... These kids keep me laughing so much that I'm rarely put back for more than a minute or two... hahaha, just thinking about them right now makes me laugh... they are so funny!

That was totally off topic... well, kind of... anyways, the changes I've seen here in these great kids are so often minute, but every miniscule change for the better is HUGE, because it means that these kids are seeing what they've never seen before and that they like it and wanna see more of it... and that's a total God thing, because eventually they'll see that the difference in their old lives and the lives they're learning about and living at Eagle Ranch is that God is here and God is moving... whether they recognize it now or not!

Right now our school consists of two trailors... they are old and inconvenient... and when it rains outside... it rains inside... BUT the great thing about these trailors is that everytime we look out the windows of our history classroom, we see the wonders of this incredible, beautiful new building that's going up behind us! In about a month, we'll leave these leaky trailors and move into this beautiful brand new school that the Lord has provided for us! Wow, I just went in there today, and it's the most absolutely beautiful building, inside and out! What a wonderful and gracious God we serve! He has truly blessed this place, financially and with an amazing staff to love these kids and amazing kids to love this staff! And what a beautiful illustration He's given us of what we're trying to teach these kids... Throughout this school year, we have literally watched this new school be built from the ground up... we cancelled our first classes one day so we could go out and watch them put the roof up... it's been a long process, but this new creation is almost complete, and when we move in, we will all find GREAT joy in watching them tear these trailors down! it's gonna be the coolest... and here we are, with these kids... it's been a looong process, and it will continue to be a long process, but what joy we will find in seeing the Lord tear down the trailors in these kids, and fix the daily leaks in their ceilings for the rest of their lives! That will be even cooler!

Man, I love these kids so much, they make my job so enjoyable and easy! My prayer is that the Lord will continue to tear down the trailors in these kids, and fix the leaks that have damaged them and continue to damage them emotionally, physically and spiritually... God can create in them what He's created in our backyard here, and it's a great adventure to watch greatness be built in them from the ground up! Wow! The Lord continues to blow my mind as He teaches me about myself through these kids He's so graciously put in my life!! My other prayer is that we as a staff and myself as an individual always recognize when we daily "spring a leak" and constantly praise God for patching our ceilings... hahaha, is that too much metaphorical talk for one e-mail? you get it, right?

Well, anyways.... Thanks for all your prayers, I love you guys so so so much, you're wonderful!! Thanks for sticking around through all of the joys and the trials of my life, and the Lord's constant guidance and grace! Keep in touch!!!

His,

Anna Kathryn

"I thank my God everytime I remember you;

in all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy!"

Philippians 1:3-4

Here are some random stories/whatever for your reading enjoyment:

I've attached a picture of the new school, with a little edge of our trailors in it... I wanted a good full picture of the trailors with the new building in the background, but I couldn't get far away enough... I'm sure you can see where I was going with it...

David, one of my 7th graders: "I hope we do this tomorrow too... you're my best friend... or, one of them.... you're my favorite teacher... I mean, second favorite... well... you're my favorite parapro..."

Richard, one of my 8th graders: "I'm having a bad day, I'm in a bad mood... but I'll probably be in a good mood now... you always put me in a good mood... I don't know why... maybe it's cause you're always in a good mood..."

a note from one of my students:

"Ms. Buffington, U R a madd sweet teacher. ur fav student, Kyle"

Talking in history about who will be the next president:

Ravon: "Do you think it'll be a woman?"

Cameron: "Miss Buffington!!!"

Sean: "Yeah!! Miss Buffington, you should be president!!"

hahaha, can you imagine??

"Will you spin the frog?"

-many of my students, many times a week.......

Today was a good day.... I realized one reason why I love my job so much as I'm driving back from getting ice cream (instead of going to class) with 4 of my students in my car, and we're listening to Hilary Duff as loud as possible and then old school Puff Daddy tribute to Notorious B-I-G comes on, and of course I remember all the words, and the kids are like "I bet people think you're crazy when they see you driving down the road and it looks like you're talking to yourself, but you're really talking to your car!!" ...if they only knew...... This is a great place... God is good.....

I did some organizing of my email lists the other day, and here's what I found out: I've been sending these emails since the night before I moved to Tennessee, August 15, 2004... that first email went to 34 people... It's been a year and a half and here's what's changed: Now I send these emails to three different email lists... There are 41 people on each list... That's 123 people! That is crazy!! I didn't know I knew that many people!!

...in the ghetto

“...the image is one thing and the human being is another...it’s very hard to live up to an image.”

-Elvis Presley

Well... yesterday was Elvis’s 71^st birthday... it also was my little cousin JD’s 7^thbirthday... now, for the last 4 years, I’ve tortured my friends in whichever community I was living (Mercer or WVR) by throwing a birthday party for Elvis on January 8^th, and I’ve brought my life-size stand up of the king himself, however, this year my community consists of my immediate family members, and, obviously, we were planning on having a birthday party for JD, not Elvis... but he tagged along, and we had a good time, so tradition not broken! That is fantastic! You guys know how I am about traditions and anything sentimental... hahaha!

Anyways, in the twenty words I began this email with, the king of rock and roll fully expresses a feeling I’ve experienced a lot of recently... how convenient that I found a quote from ELVIS to start this email off with! That’s amazing! Here’s a question: Do y’all ever start to feel like you “over” making mistakes? Like you’re past that... maybe all those things the car salesmen say are true a little bit... Yeah, you tell them you’re not at all perfect, you’re a sinner just like the rest of us, but maybe a little part of you starts to believe them more and more everyday... and slowly, but not too slowly, you start feeling like you’re pretty much “over” making mistakes... Congratulations! YOU, and you alone, are the one and only person since Jesus Christ to accomplish living a perfect life... That’s incredible... You must be very proud! Be assured, you will do great things!

And then........... You make a big one! And then you make another one, and several more...... And then, suddenly, you become astonishingly aware of the daily mistakes you’ve been making all this time, and that you’re still making... whether it’s “internal mistakes” like distrust, or anger and hatefulness, or the easily identifiable “external mistakes...” they’re all there, making it impossible to live up to that Christ-like image you and the salesmen have created of yourself... oh well.... It’s useless... why even try?

Thankfully, we ARE human beings, and we ARE all sin filled, and we’re not expected to be perfect, because it’s an impossible goal to reach completely... the Lord is quick to remind us of this fact when we start feeling a little (or a lot) arrogant... He used circumstances and my own sinfulness to remind me, and then He backed it with Romans 3... however, being an unreachable goal by no means makes it a useless goal! %100 of the time our top goal should be to become more and more like Christ everyday! THAT is something we can accomplish and thrive at through enlisting the Lord’s help! The good news in all of this is that while we, being human and sinful by nature, make mistakes daily, God, being God and gracious by nature, loves us without compromise and is ready and willing to forgive our continual sinfulness... and when asked, He will undoubtedly assist us in becoming Christ-like and even though we make mistakes He will use us each to do great things FOR HIS GLORY! There’s no other way really...

Well... that’s where I’m at... it’s a pretty easy thing to jump back into reality when you work with at risk youth, because you’re constantly making mistakes in the way you handle situations and the way you don’t handle them... the moment you feel like you’ve got it, you quickly realize that you don’t at all, and it’s abnormally easy to recognize when that has happened... but I think and I hope that God is using me in some of these kids lives! They are fantastic and so much fun! I am very very blessed to know them all! The steps that we have seen some of our students take in the couple of weeks before Christmas break and this past week after are huge, and remind me of why I’m here! God is alive and at work in all of them and in each of us who work with them!

Thanks for praying for us, you’re a huge part of the success we see in these kids and a huge part of the reason we make it through each day! Y’all are wonderful! My most current prayer need is these two new students we have and their transition... and as always, the school and ranch as a whole, staff and students alike, that we represent God well and glorify Him everyday!

Keep in touch! I love y’all, really!

His,

Anna Kathryn

“I thank my God everytime I remember you;

in all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy!”

-Philippians 1:3

I’ll leave you with this:

“As the snow flies
On a cold and gray Chicago mornin’
A poor little baby child is born
In the ghetto
And his mama cries
’cause if there’s one thing that she don’t need
It’s another hungry mouth to feed
In the ghetto

People, don’t you understand
The child needs a helping hand
Or he’ll grow to be an angry young man some day
Take a look at you and me,
Are we too blind to see,
Or do we simply turn our heads
And look the other way?”

-Elvis Aron Presley, In the Ghetto

haha, wow, a lot of you just laughed I’m sure, that song holds a lot of ridiculously funny memories for me and most people who know me... but it really is pretty telling...

at JD's party, his little sister, elise, 4, looks at Elvis and asks me: "Why isn't that the real Elvis?"

me: "Well... we're not sure he's really still alive..."

elise: "He's alive...."

me: "why do you think that?"

elise: "well I hear him singing on the radio..."

faith that can move mountains

Sunny days seem to hurt the most.
I wear the pain like a heavy coat.
I feel you everywhere I go.
I see your smile, I see your face,
I hear you laughin' in the rain.
I still can't believe you're gone.

The first time I heard this song, every line made me think of Arissa more... Obviously it applies, but every new line took me back to a single moment or a hundred different moments that I spent with her... Let's talk about my friend Arissa... I literally can still close my eyes and see her sweet face smiling at me... The face she made right after she said "I love you" or "blu blu."** Her eyes a little squinchy, her head tilted... It's a picture I'll never forget. Then her sweet face turns into her scary face, and , wow, there are no words... at that point, her laughter echos in my head... both her normal laughter, and her eyes crossed, fanning her face funny laughter... I still can't believe she's gone....

It ain't fair, you died too young,
Like a story that had just begun,
But death tore the pages all away.
God knows how I miss you,
All the pain I've been through,
Just knowin' no-one could take your place.
Sometimes I wonder,
Who'd you be today...

One year ago today Arissa left her home in Indiana to return to her home in Tennessee, but ended up at her home with Jesus... Today is her first birthday in Heaven! I am celebrating for her today and I hope you'll join me! I don't know what Arissa would be like if she were still with us today, but I imagine she would be an 11 year old version of the same kid she was a year ago... smiling, laughing, making us laugh, but tormented emotionally... She'd still have that knubbie, and I'm sure she'd still spend a lot of time in that corner... But, just as she grew every day that I knew her, I imagine she would still be growing closer to the Lord, and healing more and more all the time... That's who I imagine Arissa would be today, if she were still alive... Now let's talk about who Arissa is today! I'm certain that she's smiling, laughing, and making everyone around her laugh all the time... She has five perfect fingers on her hand, she's never in the corner, and she hasn't experienced any emotional torment for a year! She's closer to the Lord than she ever was or could be here, in fact, I bet she's holding His hand and saying "blu blu"** to Him right this very moment, and as of a year ago, she's completely healed of all emotional and physical harm that she ever experienced. That is amazing and the greatest picture imaginable of the incredible grace of God!

Man, I miss her so much... everyone who knew her does... we've all cried, we've all felt like it's not fair, she was too young... Her story was just beginning... The truth is, God had something better for Arissa.... It's completely fair, she is an amazing child! Her life here was not fair, but the Lord took her away from that life early on... Her story had just begun, ten short years prior... death tore all of those hard and sad pages away, and filled her new story with great things and the incredible reality of being in God's amazing presence! That is a wonderful story... a best-seller! and even better, God wants to fill our stories with those same pages, and one day our new pages and Arissa's new pages will intertwine! I cannot even fathom greatness to that extent, but one day I'll live it, and then I'll understand...

Sunny days seem to hurt the most.

I wear the pain like a heavy coat.

The only thing that gives me hope

Is I know I'll see you again someday.

I praise God for that little girl every day, and will continue to until the day we're reunited... In the 81 days I knew her, she taught me more about life, the changing and renewing power of God, and death than I could have learned in a lifetime...

Arissa's death marks the start of the most difficult few weeks of my life... When I think about it like that, I know I would never never willingly relive those few weeks... never.... But Arissa's death also marks the start of huge growth in my life... When I look at the way the Lord used that tragedy and the hard times that followed to strengthen me and bring me closer to Him, I would relive those weeks as many times as I needed to... I'm learning to make sure I don't just praise God and recognize His grace in really great times, but to dig deeper to see how God's grace is continual, as He constantly floods us with His love and guidance through the hard times that He let's us experience... They're not times to feel angry at God or cheated, but they're times to experience closeness to God like you've never known!

Please keep Arissa's family in your prayers today and this week, and keep Arissa's friends and housemates up in TN in your prayers also... It's a hard time for us, but praise God that it's a time of celebration for her!

Friends... Family... Students... haha, that's how I address the classroom.... Speaking of the classroom, please, please, please keep these ER kids in your thoughts and prayers as they return from Thanksgiving break today, and as they go home for Christmas break in a few weeks... and praise God for revealing His grace in their lives by bringing them to the ranch! I love all of you so much! Keep in touch, and thanks for your prayers!

His,

Anna Kathryn

"I thank my God everytime I remember you;

in all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy!"

-Philippians 1:3

**"blu blu" is our secret language for "I love you!"

Then the disciples came to Jesus in private and asked, "Why couldn't we drive it out?"

He replied, "Because you have so little faith. I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you."

Matthew 17:19-21

thousands elsewhere...

"It's not that it's not grand enough... there's just something easy goin that I love about you and Tennessee..........

Part of me's in Tennessee, and deep down in my heart I miss my Smokey Mountain home, and I miss your lovin too,

and it's deep inside of me, and it's always gonna be,

cause this ain't Tennessee, and she ain't you...."

Wow! Garth captured my very heart when he sang those lyrics to me as I was driving home from an amazing three day visit to see my friends in East Tennessee and at WVR last weekend... Man, those kids are at the center of my heart and I feel so blessed that they are part of my life forever! Beautiful blue clear skies both days, an amazing full moon and a sky full of stars each night... That place is a vision of the power of God, and I pray that He takes me back there to live one day... That trip couldn't have come at a better time for me! I get so caught up in the discouragement I face daily at my jobs, and I tend to forget that God has the power to work in all situations and to change lives, and WVR is such a breath of fresh air and a reminder of what God does everyday!

I start to feel hopeless at ER, cause I don't see a lot of change in those kids lives... I see a lot of potential, but I also see A LOT of reluctancy on their parts to want to change, and that is the hardest part for me... My heart breaks every day, because I want them to succeed so badly, and, I mean really, it's been two and a half months, isn't that enough time to heal what 13+ years of trauma and emotional damage has done to these kids? Of course it's not... That is a completely ridiculous thought process..... Seeing my friends at WVR reminds me of what God can do in lives, it reminds me of what He's done in my life, and it restores my hope of what He is capable of doing in these ER kid's lives, in His own time frame... it took 22 years to get me where I am, and I definitely still have a long way to go!

A second thought I've had is that, while this isn't Tennessee, and none of these kids are those kids, Georgia is great, and these kids are fantastic... They put the biggest smile on my face every day, and I love them each so much... These middle schoolers are definitely some of the all time greatest people I know, they make me laugh so much and they are just each so precious to me.... I know that I am where the Lord wants me right now, and I believe that when you are following God and living in His will and not your own, He can and absolutely will use you to make an eternal difference in people's lives, as well as your own... At WVR on Tuesday morning, Brian and Maralee led us in worship, and as we stood singing "Better is one day in your courts than thousands elsewhere" I praised God for revealing His will to me, and bringing me to Georgia and Eagle Ranch... I could spend thousands of days in Tennessee, outside of the Lord's will, but surrounded by those kids and my friends up there who I love so much, and I would probably be very happy.... but better is ONE day in His courts!

Well... I have 28 praises and prayer requests for y'all... one for each of these kids I hang out with every day.... I'm so thankful for them and so truly blessed, and my prayer is that they open their hearts and their eyes to who God is and what He can do in their lives.... And pray that we, as a staff, are used in a mighty way, and that these kids see the love of God in and through us....

And praise God for giving me the internet, a phone line, and transporation so I can can keep in touch and visit WVR often!

I am so grateful for each of you and that God has provided me with a means to keep in touch with all of you as well! Thanks for always reading my babbling novels about my redundant struggles, and the Lord's continual grace... You're all in my prayers and I love you all very much!

His,

Anna Kathryn

"I thank my God everytime I remember you;

in all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy!"

Philippians 1:3&4

The best commentary I get these days are the one's that age me back to middle school.... They never cease to make my day....

"I feel comfortable talking to Miss Buffington, because it's like she's our age..."

-Amanda, 13

Talking to a 7th grader I hung out with while her parents were buying a car at the dealership... We're talking about visiting her church and youth group...

"Aww man! It's too bad you're not in middle school! Cause then you could come to our church service, and we get a live band!"

Cameron: "Miss Buffington looks like one of us today..."

Cody: "Yeah! Miss Buffington, you look like a pigtailed middle schooler!!"

"Awww, you look like a little school girl..."

-Ron, an adult...

hahaha, music to my ears....