big news!!

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"Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!!"
2 Corinthians 9:15

Friends and faithful prayer warriors,

You've seen me through a lot of trials and hard times over the past several years, now I want to ask you rejoice with me as I begin a new journey! I was reminded of myself recently as I was reading through Song of Solomon and came across this passage:

All night long I looked for the one my heart loves;
I looked for him but did not find him.

I will get up now and go about the city,
through its streets and squares;
I will search for the one my heart loves.
So I looked for him but did not find him.

The watchmen found me
as they made their rounds in the city.
"Have you seen the one my heart loves?"

Song of Solomon 3:1-3


For my whole life I wondered around searching for the one my heart would love forever. About a year and a couple months ago I found contentment as I rested in the comfort that Jesus Christ was and is the one my heart loves, and that He would sustain me through all things. There never would be and never will be anyone else who will love me and pursue me the way He always has. The discovery that His love was enough for me astounded me and changed me; I no longer looked for "the one" everyday everywhere, I already had "the one!" I no longer felt lonely or unwanted, because I was never alone, and I was certainly never unwanted! I was finally able to truly be myself!!

Scarcely had I passed them
when I found the one my heart loves.
I held him and would not let him go.

Song of Solomon 3:4


No more than a month or two later, the Lord gave me a gift; He introduced me to an amazing and Godly man named Chris Ellzey who, unbeknownst to me, was the earthly "one" that God set apart for me to meet whenever my heart was ready. At first, I thought I was being tested, but the closer and closer Chris and I got, the more and more I learned from him, and I came to this great awareness that the Lord brought the two of us together.

This past November 4, the Lord gave me another gift, and so did Chris, as he asked me to be his wife, and put a beautiful ring on my finger!! I couldn't be more excited or grateful for this amazing and indescribable gift from God!! I couldn't wait to share my great joy with all of you, and thank you so much for being part of my journey through this life that has brought me where I am today!!


Please continue to pray for us as our seperate journeys join as one this May! We're very excited to find out where the Lord will lead our future! Pray that our eyes and ears will be wide open as He guides us along the way!! We know He holds our future together in the palm of His hand, please pray that we continue to trust Him with unfailing patience as He makes His path clear to us! Y'all are so amazingly wonderful, and I thank you so much for praying for me over the years!! This is gonna be fun! I'm sure there are lots more lessons to be learned in the coming years!!


I love y'all!!


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

it works!

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I got to the hospital at 3:00 yesterday, about 5 minutes after our girl's left lung collapsed... things were looking really bad.... REALLY bad.... she had been doing great, her temperature was back to normal, and they had taken her off the ventilator, but all of the sudden, everything went down hill fast.... Her temp spiked again and she was back on the vent... I went in to see her while she was sleeping and it was a scary thing... I held her hand and it felt so lifeless in mine, I just prayed and prayed for peace in her heart with whatever would happen....

There were several staff members from the Ranch at the hospital, her house dad being one of them... He got a call that one of his other girls gave their house mom this passage, she said God gave it to her:

'Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army. For the battle is not yours, but God's. Tomorrow march down against them. They will be climbing up by the Pass of Ziz , and you will find them at the end of the gorge in the Desert of Jeruel . You will not have to fight this battle. Take up your positions; stand firm and see the deliverance the LORD will give you, O Judah and Jerusalem . Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Go out to face them tomorrow, and the LORD will be with you.'

2 Chronicles 20:15-17


We all went in when she finally woke and laid hands on her and prayed over her bed that God would give her, her family and all of us the strength to give the battle to Him, to stand firm and see the deliverance the Lord would give her... Yesterday, we didn't know what tomorrow would bring, but I am telling y'all, talking to God is an amazing thing, He really does hear us! That girl is so amazing, she's breathing on her own today, talking up a storm, smiling... The comfort I felt just seeing her beautiful smile today was amazing, and I truly thank God and all of her prayer warriors for that! That includes each of y'all, you're awesome! She knows she's not out of the woods yet and asked today for continued prayer, but in her written words yesterday when things were looking really down, she told us she's accepted Jesus into her heart, so she knows she'll be ok one way or the other... I appreciate y'all! Don't ever doubt the power and effectiveness of your prayers, He hears every one of them! Please keep praying, there's one more surgery on Thursday, and after that they're hoping to have her home in about a week but there are definitely still opportunities for things to go downhill again, I told her today that every second of the day there are people praying for her, so let's keep that up!

I love y'all a lot!

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

keep praying!!

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Our girl took a turn for the worse last night... Surgery went really well, she was in for 3 1/2 hours yesterday morning.... Somehow contracted an infection and was taken to ICU last night with 105.5 degree temp... I know she's made some really positive choices for herself during this time... Please pray that she keeps doing that and that the Lord heals her; I know He can, but I don't know if He's going to, and I'm not gonna lie, that scares me and I'm so worried about her... Before I knew any of this yesterday, I wrote her a letter yesterday about healing, I hope when I take it to her today that she understands there are two kinds of healing, earthly and eternal... I hope I understand that too...
Thanks for your prayers, we really appreciate them!
His,
Anna Kathryn

prayer need!

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Read this please:


The female passenger in the Ford Focus was one of our students... I can't give names because of confidentiality, but please please please be in prayer for her! She had one surgery (on her lower intestine) right after the wreck. She has a 4-way fracture on L-2 (lower spine) and has her first surgery for that tomorrow at 7:30 am and the second on Monday. I haven't gotten to go see her yet because I'm sick, but I'm dying to get out to the hospital, I'm so worried about her, and I fear for these kids to leave this place now... This girl is a true testament to why we do what we do here, she has done so much in her life since she came here last year! My biggest prayer is that she understands that she was saved for a reason, and that she continues to make positive and life-changing decisions. Please join me in praying for her, especially tomorrow as she undergoes her second of three surgeries since the accident last week.

I thank God so much that these kids have such faithful prayer warriors in each of you!

I love y'all! Thanks for your thoughts and 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&4

new tires come with warranties!!

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You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.
Ephesians 4:22-24

What an amazing summer I've had! This was the first summer since I was in middle school that I haven't worked, and you better believe I took full advantage of it! Just about every minute of it was filled, whether I was traveling or making jewelry for the business! My time in Tennessee was outstanding, Kiawah Island was beautiful, and our visit with family in New Jeresy couldn't have been better! Through it all, I knew there was a big lesson coming, I know the Lord never fails at that! This one, I've actually been expecting and searching for since April, so I'm excited to write about it! And it just happens to come at the perfect time: the beginning of a new school year!!! Doesn't the Lord have such perfect timing!

For those of you who have been privy to my life's journey since last April, you'll be excited to hear, the tires are doing well!! Haha, won't last long probably, the tire guy said, "With your luck, you may wanna invest in some kind of road hazard insurance..." It's a good thing I don't believe in luck! However, since I do believe in the Lord using 5 totally destroyed tires in 3 months to teach me something important, I may want to invest in that anyways!

Did you know that the original tires that come on new cars have no warranty from the tire company? That's craziness! I just learned that last week, as I purchased my 5th tire since April... Well, I guess that's ok because the warranty wouldn't have covered the curb and brick run-ins anyways... My car seems to have an attraction to those type things, it just steers its way right up on them, haha, any way possible to get us a thumb sized puncture in the side wall... But it sure could have helped out on the two tires that just wore out 14,000 miles early! Well anyways, it's all good, cause now all four of my tires are covered under warranty, and so will be every tire I get for my little Honda from now on...

So this is great, we start a brand new school year Thursday morning, we have A LOT of new kids, and plenty who were with us last year as well... I absolutely can't wait to get started on this new year, I think it's gonna be a really great and exciting time! Here's what I want y'all to pray for us: That those kids, everyone of them will run over a brick, hit a curb, or just get worn out on this life they're used to. Just like new tires come with warranties, so do new lives!! And as soon as they get rid of that old life they were born into, and replace it with Christ, they'll have a lifetime and eternal warranty from their Creator! And you know what's so great about God's warranty? It covers the bricks and curbs we hit everyday, and there's no prorating involved, plus, He comes to us, we don't have to wait on the side of the road, all stranded and out of options, He's already there! He forgives us and makes us totally new absolutely free of charge! No road hazard needed!

Gosh, everytime I look at my tires, I'm reminded to praise God for replacing my life, all ripped up and worn out, with a brand new life, great tread, no chance of being left stranded on the side of the road after I hit another curb! Wow! Suddenly I don't fear those things anymore! God is so good! I'm then reminded to pray for the same life change in these great kids during their time at the ranch with us!

I can't wait to be a part of this year and see the Lord's hand at work! Thinking about it right now gets me so excited about seeing how He does His thing this year! Please pray with us that these kids open their hearts to His beautiful voice and that they "put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness." I'll keep y'all updated!

Thanks, y'all, so much! I love each of you for your prayers and your thoughts! I already feel them for the start of the year! I think of you all so often and I look forward to hearing from y'all soon! Thanks again 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 1:3-4