Years ago, in the poor Appalachia area, there was a small orphan boy who was struggling to survive. One night as he lay hidden in a cave, hunted by a mountain lion, he made a promise to God. ” If I survive and ever get to the place where I can financially- I will help children like me.” Well he survived and went on to become a very successful businessman in the logging industry. Years later, He was reminded of his promise by a young boy crying on the courthouse steps, begging for someone to give him supper and He invested everything he had in the founding of Mountain Mission Home in 1921. God has blessed the Mission tremendously, and they currently provide housing and schooling for 250 needy children. One requirement is that the children have some sort of a legal guardian. Just recently they were licensed to bring in children from all over the world, so they are very excited to experience “The Great Commission in reverse”.

In the 70s farmers from our area started donating cows for hamburger for the home.  Friday found me and my van pulling a trailer loaded down with 3,000 lbs of hamburger and 8 cases of turkey heading for the mountains in Southern Va..

This is the parking lot at ” Toddler Hall” The Home is set up with the Toddler Hall, and then a boys and girls dorm. Each dorm has 3 floors. Each floor has 36 children- 4 per room.. Two sets of houseparents per floor. I had to marvel at how the staff could teach school, meet the needs of the children under their care, and take care of their own families. Incredible! We ate supper with them.. Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, grapes, and chips.. And leftover potato soup from lunch. 🙂

Mia (the little girl) was 2 and 1/2. She was from Bolivia. As we enjoyed interacting with these lively kids, I had to wonder at their stories.. How much sadness had they seen?

It is a beautiful time of year to travel! The trees are coming out with color.. Redbuds, dogwoods, etc in full bloom.. I love springtime!

We spent the night at Breaks Interstate Park. This was the view from our balcony. There were 4 youth girls along on the load and we had a grand time.

Along the bottom of the canyon runs a river. In 1915, they ran a track beside that, and cut 2 tunnels through the mountain. Breaks has 4 overlooks were you can watch the train run below.. Apparently the coal companies mine all week and then ship during the weekend. Shortly after we arrived at our room we heard that lonely whistle echo up from the valley, So we ran for the van. We came across 2 of the couples that were with us, so we told them what we were doing and 9 of us piled in. I had only been to Breaks overlooks one other time-last Nov- So I guessed at which overlook would be best, and apparently chose the one that was farthest from the road 😦 So there we ran for a quarter of a mi- down steps, over tree roots, spinning through fresh mud, and made it JUST in time to see the last of the train disappearing from view.. At least we all got to see it and Praise the Lord no one broke a neck by catching a toe on a root as we ran 1,000 mi/hr 🙂

These are violets along the trail.. I saw my first Trilliums. They were along the road, beside a waterfall. We stopped and I grabbed a tree root attempting to scale up the bank for a better look.. The root gave way, and although I did some mighty fancy stepping, it wasn’t fancy enough.. I drove home with a dripping wet shoe. IF I get pneumonia..

Another very fun educational experience.. That just inspires me to use the resources I’ve been given to bless others.. The sacrifices that the staff at the Home have made is just.. Wow..

Bonus pics:

The boyfriend and his comrades.. Sherman was air traffic control, and his buddies sailed in with their fancy flying fan contraptions.. You can imagine what the dogs thought of that!

She’s back! Valient- our fawn from ’11 has randomly started revisiting! And although she is disappointed with the change in brands of dogfood we’ve made since her visits previous to hunting season.. Apparently the games of tag with Detriot, and the hugs from Julia make her visits worthwhile 🙂