Looking Back Over 2009

As hard as it is to realize, it is nearly Christmas, 2009. When I think back over the year, we’ve crawled (sometimes kicking and screaming) over many challenging hurdles, but we’ve enjoyed a lot of positive change, too. We live in a house again. Last year we swept up the living room and put the couch in there and brought a kerosene heater to warm us so we could all sit in one room for Christmas. It was a blast, despite the chill in the air and the ugly, torn apart house. Now we’re comfortable in this house. We have a new stove (the old one was pretty scary—especially when we cooked the Thanksgiving turkey). The furnace works well for overnight and the woodstove makes us toasty whenever we need it! Dana just finished installing electric lights in the shop. And we just got the office finished so we can move our desks and things in there. We have an abundance of new friends. We have an abundance of tried and true old friends, too. Life isn’t always what we envisioned it would be, but we thank God for our lives. He is faithful, through thick and thin.

Our biggest challenges this year involved our kids. We have learned that raising kids isn’t easy and we have had a big serving of humble pie as we try to be the parents they need us to be!

Cody now lives with cousins George and Theresa 300 miles from home. We thank them for taking in our son when he wanted to be on his own. He simply hates being a minor and wants the privileges of adulthood. Hopefully, a month from now he’ll be in the Army at boot camp. That’s a hard fact for me to swallow, but it seems like the best choice for him right now.

It became increasingly obvious this year that we needed to find help for Shane. He was more troubled and more rebellious as the days passed. We were not making any progress in helping him straighten things out. He enrolled at New Horizons Christian Academy in Flagstaff, Arizona, in June. It is a Teen Challenge facility. Like Eli, the only reason he agreed to go was because he wanted to get away from us. He’s still struggling and it is likely that will continue for a while yet. He is being asked to make big changes. It isn’t easy. We thank faithful friends for helping us afford putting another boy in treatment. Shane will be home for a week over Christmas.

Eli continues to excel at Teen Challenge in New Mexico. To complete his program there, he must finish four phases, followed by a re-entry phase. He has taken longer than any other student on each of his four phases, but he got serious and worked hard this past year. He finished his fourth phase on Thanksgiving Day at 2:00 p.m. It was one happy young man that we talked to that evening on our regular weekly phone visit. Eli hasn’t spent a Christmas at home in two years. We’re happy that this year he will be here for two full weeks! Despite the fact that he enrolled at Teen Challenge to leave us, he now is very homesick and wants nothing more than to be home—what a blessing!

Amy lives, eats and breathes horses. She would live in the barn with them if we had a barn. If you manage a conversation with her without talking about horses, it would be a rare kind of conversation indeed. But then if she gets on that topic, it takes nearly an act of Congress to change the subject with her! She enrolled in the local public high school this year, too. That’s been a big change and one that I struggle with. But she’s happy there and she’s starting to love playing her clarinet. Band has been good for her.

Abby is the only one left at home during the day. She’s homeschooling her way through third grade and doing a fine job of it. Recently we realized she wasn’t seeing well and today she had her eye appointment. She is a very discriminating shopper, let me tell you! The clerk that was helping us said things like, “Here’s a pretty pair of red frames. I think they’d look awesome on you.” Abby would reply, “Well, yeah, but think of this. If I want to wear a purple shirt, they won’t look so awesome at ALL! They don’t match. We need to think black or brown—those colors go with anything.” She looks cute in the black frames she chose. And, unlike a week ago, the idea of having to wear glasses isn’t producing tears any more—that’s good progress.

Abby has a big heart. We’re very proud of her for her fundraising efforts this year. A young man from church went to Uganda and told about his trip when he came home. Abby’s heart went out to the orphans in Uganda and she’s been crocheting coasters and making necklaces to sell to make money to send to the orphans. She wants to help with every good cause that comes along.

We were very happy to have Mom visit us twice this year—ten days in June and for two weeks in October. We had such fun both times! In March Mom and I are taking a trip to Ohio together to visit relatives. We are both looking forward to that as well. She’ll take off from Phoenix and I’ll leave from Denver. We meet up in Atlanta and get to travel together from there.

Dana left us at the end of September to spend six months working in Phoenix. We were ecstatic and blessed when he got to come home after just a month. Unfortunately, the reason he got to come home was because business wasn’t good, but we were glad to get him back with us. And he was equally glad to come home. He got to enjoy some hot Phoenix weather and then come home in time for snow!

I continue to try to get Hope House up and running. We’ve been raising money and seeking monthly pledges for a few months now. We’re a long way from the goal, but we’re still trying. If it is meant to be, God will see us through. If not, it won’t be for lack of trying. And I certainly won’t be bored—I am also working with Women’s Resource Center and could give more time there if I had any to give.

The year has been hard on pets, too. Abby has lost chickens to a storm, to accidents, and to coyotes. We’re back down to just six again. We like them running free, but need to get a fenced yard for them for times when the predators are hungry. The coyotes have been showing up each afternoon for the last week. And Maddie died on Labor Day, too. We miss her—she was a very sweet, very cuddly lap dog, despite the fact she was much too big for my lap! We don’t know what killed her. She was sick on Sunday afternoon and dead 24 hours later. I’m thinking we’ll wait until April or May for another dog since no one really relishes the idea of housebreaking a puppy in the middle of winter.

That’s life from this Custer’s perspective just before Christmas. I am so blessed—beyond anything I deserve. I love my Lord more than I ever have and I am truly looking forward to eternity in Heaven, even though I love my life here and now, too. As the years pass, though, we have more and more people waiting for us there. Doesn’t a reunion with loved ones in Heaven sound wonderful? And it is all possible because Christ came to earth . . . don’t forget to thank HIM for His gift this Christmas season. We send our love and best wishes to you for a very Merry Christmas and a great new year to come, too!

Four Burners, Snotty Noses and Cool Air

Amy brought home the family's first cold of the season. Colds just aren't fun and I wish we could have held off a bit longer. Unfortunately, by yesterday afternoon it was obvious that Abby was getting a cold, too. She just got up at 10:45 this morning after sleeping nearly 13 hours. We need rotor rooter for her sinuses!

The end of last week brought another change to my life. My stove is hooked up! I can cook in two pans at one time. Seems like a small thing, but it has been awhile since I've cooked in more than one pan at a time. Such fun possibilities come to mind though . . .

And today is the last day of summer. We've had snow on Mount Blanca several times already, but the weather has been beautiful. Fall being here is more obvious with the cool air this morning. It was 39 degrees when we got up at 6:30. Brrr, but the woodstove is ready when we need it. Nothing like a good fire to chase away the day's chill. My good friend Lori loves Fall the best. Today is Lori day!

Enough for now. Time to fill my littlest sweetie with hot tea and oatmeal. The oatmeal to come brought a big smile to her face!

Enjoy God's creation today and remember YOU are part of that creation. He made you special!

Almost Fall in the Mountains

The leaves are turning yellow. The nights and early mornings are cooler. The sun sets earlier and rises later. Fall is nearly upon us. Doesn't seem possible. Seems I spend a lot of time these days wondering where time goes. Does this mean I'm getting old? Possibly. I don't feel like it most days though.

It is a time of change in our family, too. Dana is getting ready to go back to Phoenix to work for a while. For the first time in her life, Amy is attending public school. Cody feels like he's a man and wants to be on his own; he's preparing to leave the nest for a transitional home where he can live independently under some supervision. While he's there, he will earn his GED. And a good friend--our dog Maddie--died yesterday. Why is it so hard to lose a pet? I don't know that our pets will be in Heaven, but if they are, I look forward to that pack coming to meet me! All in all, that's enough change for this family for a while.

The ministry I'm involved with--Valley Horizons--is at a critical point, too. We've been struggling to figure out how to raise some substantial funds when we don't really have a ministry in operation yet. But we have the challenge that it is difficult to get a maternity home up and running with very little money in the bank, too. We've got a unique opportunity right now though. We have a home available to us in November sometime. We need to raise the funds prior to November 1 to be able to pay the monthly bills. Guess who is going to be doing a lot of public speaking in the next several weeks? Yeah, you're right. Would you believe I never got above a "D" on my speeches in speech class in college? It's true. Speaking comes easier these days when I have passion behind me. We'll see how it goes.

On the good news front, son Eli is very nearly finished with his treatment program. He will be eligible to come home soon, but he is showing great maturity by choosing to stay where he is until he earns his high school diploma. This boy has walked a long, hard road. We're proud of his progress and look forward to seeing how God chooses to use him in the coming years.

Guess that's all for now. Best wishes and God's blessings to one and all of you. Let me hear from you one of these days.

Winter Weather Alert

Don't know what happened with the formatting on last blog. Whatever . . . !

A weather alert just popped up on my screen. The National Weather Service says we'll get 5-10" today. I bet we already have 7".

Easter . . . Cold? Snow? YES!

Okay, I'll start over. Sometimes I hate technology. I've been sitting here for 45 minutes. I had a nice message all typed, complete with photos. I don't know what I did, but a little message came up. I hit "cancel" because that was the choice I was supposedly to make if I didn't want to go somewhere else. And guess what . . . my post was gone! Oh, well. This post will probably be much better anyway. Here goes.

I serve a RISEN Savior

He's in the world today

I KNOW that He is LIVING,

Whatever men may say . . .

We celebrate that RISEN Savior today. Isn't God good to love us SO MUCH? I marvel. You simply can't put God in human terms. If God were human, He'd have washed His hands of the rest of us a long time ago. As a parent sometimes I am so disappointed in the choices my kids make. I know they know better. I've told them how it will hurt them. Yet they do it anyway. God has millions of us and we all disappoint him every day. We don't learn from our mistakes. How much more we disappoint him and yet he continues to shower us with love and blessings!

I got a great e-mail with good news from Brandy this morning. Brandy is my cousin. She is Uncle Denny's daughter. I'm sure you all have heard of Uncle Denny even if you never knew about Brandy. Brandy's mom, Clara, has been in the hospital for three weeks. The doctors told the family to say their goodbyes. Brandy asked Pastor Bill to go visit her mom so that Clara would hear the message of the Gospel one last time. Guess what?!?!? Clara LISTENED! AND RESPONDED! Isn't that great? An answer to prayer, for sure. (If any of you readers don't know what the Gospel is all about, I'd love to share it with you. Let me know.)

We elected not to go to church this morning. Here was the scene at just a bit after 7:00 this morning. There was 2-3" of snow on the ground and it was falling fast. Abby was really disappointed because the kids were to perform in an Easter program this morning. I felt badly for her, but it wasn't worth taking a chance on getting stuck somewhere. Look at the darkness of the sky, too. We haven't seen any sign of the sun yet today. Wonder if anyone showed up for the sunrise services at Stillings Ranch? (Maurice Stillings is a man that attends our church. He's in his 80s and he has the most wonderful ranch. Perfect place for church picnics and a sunrise service. Different churches in town use his ranch at different times. The sunrise service this year was to be led by Living Water Bible Fellowship.)

Had a big pan of cinnamon rolls ready to take for the church breakfast this morning. Abby's sadness went away when she realized we got to eat those! Colored eggs, too. It was yummy!

After breakfast, we decided to watch a movie I've had here to watch for a while. It is called Magdalena: Released from Shame. It was quite good. It tells the story of Jesus' life, narrated by Mary Magdalene. Ever seen it?

After the movie, the kids decided to go to the dunes (an area on our property with small hills) to go sledding. Here's what it looked like outside at that time--about 10:15 a.m. Notice how the chico bushes are more covered than before? It is still snowing now at noon. I am really glad now that we stayed home. Dana just reminded me that earlier this week when I was looking at the weather forecast, I commented "Wouldn't it be crazy to be snowed in on Easter?"

Kitchen is smelling mighty good! The ham is done. We are waiting for the kids to get back and for the potatoes to finish baking. Sweet potatoes (for the kids) are already done. The others are in the oven now. Going to finish out the meal with corn, biscuits, and pistachio pie.

Hope you all are having a Happy Easter!

Love from all the Custers

Blustery!

Here it is Friday again and a whole week since I wrote anything. I actually had a post nearly finished the other day, but one of the computer gremlins came and wiped it right away.

This morning was beautiful. Clear and calm. Now the winds are strong and the dust is blowing. We are expecting some rain or snow later today and there's a 40% chance for snow tomorrow, too. This is definitely NOT the type of weather I am used to! Except the wind. Phoenix always had a lot of wind in March, too.

Shane is busy finding all the kitchen cabinet doors over in the shop. Time to scrub them all up and get them painted. I am thoroughly enjoying being in the kitchen these days, but it is time to put doors on the cabinets. My family will remember how I always hated not having cabinet doors in the houses Dad built when I was young. It is crazy how long it takes to get things done sometimes though.

A friend from church asked Cody and Amy to help sort potatoes today. We are very thankful that Gilbert was finally able to sell the rest of his potato harvest--he's been concerned. It isn't fun to take a loss, but it would be worse to have to trash the whole cellar load of potatoes. Cody and Amy have done potato sorting periodically over the last few months. Gives them a few extra dollars.

While they were working, I went to the office. I spent the morning making phone calls. We're trying to determine whether it makes sense to offer a shepherding home (similar to a foster home) for girls who need a place to stay while they are pregnant. It doesn't seem like that's going to be a good answer. In the meantime though, we're still raising money so that we'll be able to rent or buy a home. I talked to several people from local Social Services offices to let them know about our services. One of the six counties that we serve wants me to come speak to their group of employees who work with the public. That's cool!

In two more weeks we're having a big yard sale. Last year I organized a yard sale to benefit the Women's Resource Center and Valley Horizons combined. We netted nearly $1,000. Hopefully we'll do as well or even better this year.

We also have a good deal right now on Elitch Gardens tickets if you have friends or family in the Denver area. We get to keep $5 from each ticket we sell and the tickets are just $20. Pretty good deal.

Okay. Enough about Valley Horizons and my work there. Most of you want to know about the family anyway. Dana and Abby are building a chicken coop right now. Actually a chicken ark. Funny name, but it is actually a clever idea. There are handles on each end of a rectangular structure so the ark can be moved around. The ark will have nests on each end and a small "yard" in the middle. The roof can be opened on either end to gather eggs, plus you open the "yard" section during the day so the chickens can range free. Makes for healthy eggs!

Funny thing happened this morning. Abby woke me up. She was worried because Blackie (one of the roosters) had a thread wrapped around his tongue! Funny kid.

Cody dropped a bombshell on the family this week. I won't bore you with the details of what led up to this decision, but he has decided he wants to join the Army when he turns 17. That upsets me greatly for lots of reasons, but it might be a good thing for him. I've told him I will sign the papers but asked for him to show he's the man he thinks he is and get some things done in the next six months. Yeah, less than six months. He turns 17 in late September. I never dreamed I'd be asked to send a 17-year-old to the Army. He will get his GED in the Army before basic training. I never dreamed one of my kids would choose to drop out of high school either. I guess that just means that Mom doesn't know everything, right?

By the way, I told you about mice being in my kitchen--remember? The day I wrote that post, I bought mouse traps. Set them and caught one mouse. No more issues. I'm SO THANKFUL! I HATE the idea of mice in my house.

That's all for now. Have a wonderful, blessed, great and happy day!

Snow!

Today was one of the most beautiful days of the whole winter. I spoiled myself today and stayed inside my cozy little house and just enjoyed looking out on all the snow. I had intended to get all the laundry done, but we haven't had more than a drip of water out of the pipes all day, so that didn't happen. Do I care? Not really.

I attended a nearly four hour training session at Women's Resource Center yesterday afternoon. When we (Amy met me there after her boss dropped her off) left there at 6:00, the van was still covered with snow but the roads were clear. As I was driving home on the highway, the traffic was stopped. Monday night there was a bad four car accident in nearly the same spot and I was hoping no one was injured again. This morning we learned that they closed the highway simply because of the heavy winds and blowing snow. We turned around and came home on Road 6 instead. The weather didn't seem all that bad, but started snowing hard after we got home--and didn't quit. We awoke this morning to about 7" of snow. Talk about beautiful!

Our helpful neighbor Don came over first thing and drove his truck around so that we could get our vehicles out if we wanted. He didn't want us to have to shovel through the drifts. Isn't that nice? Don and Lillian are great neighbors.

I intended to do a lot of cooking today, but with no water, I decided not to dirty so many dishes. I hauled water again--didn't think I'd be doing that again so soon--and heated it on the woodstove. That is a nice reason to have a wood burning stove.

I'm going to figure out how to post some photos on this site. Enjoy them when they show up. I'll try to put captions with them, too. We'll see.