Clint and Lawana McGuffey and
their six children live in a 100-year-old house in Montana, near Lolo
National Forest. Hosanna Ranch is a wonderful place to raise
children.
2008
Family Portrait - Back, left to right: Mary-Hannah, Isaiah, Clint, Ezra;
front,
David, Lawana, Grace-Marie, Jesse.
The Road to the Ranch
May 2004 |
Nestled
under cottonwood trees, their home looks like the "Little House
on the Prairie." |
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Have you almost
stopped sending greeting cards because of the cost of the
cards, not to mention the cost of gas to get to the store?
I can offer you a less expensive alternative: |
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I have a new home business! I can send
professional greeting cards from my PC. I make money by
selling memberships and I get a small bonus on each card
people send. The cards end up being
less than $1.00 per
card, plus postage, and I never leave my home. If you
know of anyone who might either be interested in using
the cards or a small home business (you literally never
have to leave your home), please contact me. I have a
website where I can walk them through how to send a card
and allow them to send a couple of cards for free. It is
a very beneficial concept for realtors and folks who
need to touch base with clientèle as well.
Lawana McGuffey
mcfamily@blackfoot.net
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Updated 12-Apr-10
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The music attachment, "Medal of Courage," is a rough
recording of a song that was written by a lady named Shawna Fox about our family
and Ezra's story. We hope to send out the finished studio version when it comes out.
"Medal of Courage" ©Shawna R. Fox
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Note from Lawana
May 2010 News:
Wedding plans are being made:
Isaiah and Rebekah have announced their engagement.
Stay tuned for details!
I hope the new year is
finding you well and blessed. The McGuffey household has
been greatly blessed this year. As for everyone it has
been a challenge financially, but with the challenge
comes those intangible blessings of forbearance,
longsuffering, diligence, temperance and self control
that are necessary to make the smaller budget stretch to
meet the larger need. You already know all about that
though.
In the health category, we
have only had 2 surgeries this year (far better that the
5 surgeries and 1 stroke from 2008). Grace-Marie has had
one more surgery on her left foot to get it in a better
standing position. I (Lawana) had a surgery in Jan. of
09 to remove a segment of bowel that had stopped
functioning, probably due to autoimmune activity.
Everyone else has been well and strong save the usual
sniffles etc. We are very grateful for a healthier year.
The education front is as
usual, constantly changing. Everyone except Isaiah, who
graduated last year, is working hard to learn the next
thing. I think the biggest lessons are to be self
motivated, to be diligent and to honestly evaluate our
own abilities and progress. It is exciting to see
everyone making progress. Jesse has learned to read well
enough to read from the Bible. Of course this excites
him considerably. He also loves math and anything with a
screen. Ezra is focusing on consumer and lifeskill type
lessons. He has reached a plateau in his academic
studies and is now working to apply the academic work to
his real life. He hopes to some day have his own
business. His interests at the moment are lawn care and
automotive detailing. David is really challenging
himself to be a self starter and to be independent with
his studies. He is focusing on diligence and trying to
become known for his hard work and dependability.
Mary-Hannah is doing the same while also following more
of a college prep road. She thinks she would like to
study to be a teacher. Grace-Marie is doing a relaxed
preschool curriculum and mostly just enjoying her
childhood. She sure keeps the rest of us on our toes.
Clint is looking toward
mandatory retirement in 2014. That brings about a lot of
conversation and ideas, but nothing concrete. One thing
is for sure, our lives will be different after Clint
retires. We are praying for guidance and direction from
the Lord about what to do when that time comes. For now,
though, Clint is still enjoying his work and grateful
for all the years the Lord has allowed him to have a
stable career.I
have had the opportunity to help some friends from time
to time in order to bring in a little extra cash. I am
thankful for this very part time opportunity and friends
who are very kind and understanding to work for.
Isaiah gave Becky Simmons
an engagement ring on October 5th. They plan to marry on
Sept.4th 2010. It has been a blessing and a privilege to
watch them get to know each other and each other's
families in the context of pure, chaste friendship. They
are very much in love and very eager to start their
lives as husband and wife, but they are also submitted
to the Headship of the Lord Jesus Christ and seeking His
will at every turn. Please pray that they will continue
to walk humbly with God and glorify Him with their
courtship and subsequent marriage.
Isaiah is teaching an 8
and 9 year old boy's Sunday school class at church.
He had the privilege to go commercial fishing during the
Summer and he plans to go back for the same skipper this
summer. He is also working for H&R Block as well as
building a house and working on a website about Alaska.
He is one busy guy.
Mary-Hannah and David are
active in 4-H and are both officers in our local club.
Mary-Hannah was able to get a really good horse for the
4-H season. They competed and did well and one week
later, the mare, Cutie presented us with a brand new
baby! Cutie was not supposed to be in the family way,
and we were wondering why she was so round!
David is in shooting
sports, air pistol. He is really enjoying it and doing
quite well. David is also trying his hand at some
European style taxidermy. He hopes to be able to set up
a place in an outside building to house Dermestid
Beetles which are carrion eaters that taxidermists use
to clean skulls. We will see. They need quite a lot of
heat in winter and I am not sure how to provide that for
them.
Ezra has set a goal this
year to talk to 50 people about Jesus and share his
favorite tract called "How to Get to Heaven From
Montana."
This spring if the Lord
provides, we will have 3 young people in Driver's Ed. A
very generous person gave Ezra the money to pay for his
course and Mary-Hannah and David are saving toward their
tuition. Please pray that we will be able to get an easy
on set of pedal extensions for David before the class
starts. Also, starting about in
May, you might want to stay off the roads if you are in
Montana!
We have been greatly
blessed this last year and we praise the Lord, Jesus
Christ for it. We pray that you too are enjoying the
blessings of the Lord. Please update us about your life.
God bless you!
Lawana
Pansey |
Goat
fencing |
Dodge |
A Tribute
to Trooper,
04/02/95-11/17/08
There are dogs and there are DOGS.
Trooper was definitely one of those
capital D Dogs. He was born into my
hands, still, blue and lifeless in
the early morning hours. As I
focused upon his mother who was
having a very stressful birth I
tossed this blue pup gently to the
owner of the mother and asked her to
rub him and blow in his face. I told
her, "If that one makes it, he will
be a real trooper." Thus began
Trooper's life on a rainy morning on
an island in Southeast Alaska.
From the beginning, Trooper was
remarkable. He was remarkably
destructive, remarkably stubborn,
remarkably able to get the neighbors
angry with us. I spent most of the
first 2 years of his life begging
forgiveness for his transgressions
and prophesying to folks "He will be
a good dog when he outgrows the
puppy stage." This was absolutely
true. At the age of 2 he grew up and
began to take his responsibilities
seriously. For the remainder of his
life he protected us, our home and
our livestock from harm. In all
those years we had only one loss and
that was when he was not allowed out
one night. He proudly stood at the
prow of our boat in southeast Alaska
as we crossed the water daily to get
back and forth to land from our
float house. He chased away bears so
berries could be safely picked. He
calmly allowed all visitors except
one who for some reason he would not
allow on our property. (Not knowing
this fellow, we decided to take
Trooper's word for it that he
shouldn't be there and never worried
that he would dare try to come
back.)
Trooper has patiently taught many of
our children to walk while holding
to his mane, or an ear or his tail.
Trooper was always trustworthy with
our children though he would give
them a deep rumble of correction if
they fell on him or climbed on as he
got older and arthritic, he never
showed anything but concern and love
for them. Trooper had the blessing
of being able to be free most of his
life. Either in the wilds of Alaska
or on our property in Montana he was
rarely confined. He was a working
dog and in order to do what he
needed to do, he needed freedom. He
ran the risk of injury but it was a
risk we had to take to allow him to
lead the life he loved. In his 12
years of life, he was never sick. He
was blessed with excellent genetics
and a hardy active lifestyle. He was
a beautiful vibrant animal until the
last few weeks when age began to
slow him down and bewilder him. It
was mostly that bewilderment that
helped us make the decision to
euthanize him. He could have lived a
little longer in the house with help
from us, but he didn't do well with
that lifestyle. We felt that he
needed to go out with his boots on.
So this morning he made the trip to
the vet, after a stop for a bagel
dog, (In his aged state, he had an
insatiable appetite and seemed to
think mostly of food, so we indulged
him with something really yummy and
gross.) At the vet, he was sedated
and Clint held him while he went to
sleep. When the vet was certain he
was totally asleep, the injection
was given to stop his grand old
heart. Thus ends the life and begins
the legend of a remarkable dog.
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