We Now Have Five Kiddos Added to Our Family
First, we would like to thank each of you for your love, support, and prayers for all of us Shiloh. It is a true blessing to have supporters come alongside our families investing your time, talent, and sweat!
Our family has settled in well to life at Shiloh over the past six months. We have experienced our first summer work group season on the side of houseparents instead of a part of the Broadway work group. It was a busy month filled with lots of cooking, dishes, projects, swimming, fishing, fellowshipping, and devotions. We were so excited to have our home church of Broadway here for the first week and get to spend time with our friends and family sharing meals, working on projects, and visiting in the evenings.
We enjoyed meeting so many people from the various churches that support Shiloh. I (Hannah) loved making meals and desserts for the work groups. Some of the projects accomplished at our house were the back decks/ stairs, retaining walls, ceiling fan installation on the porch, various electrical work inside, and some organizing and cleaning in the kitchen and pantry. Our kiddos also helped with cleaning out and organizing the big barn and relocating the Kolars’ swing set. We have been able to do so many fun activities with the kids such as frog gigging, kayaking on the river, fishing, horse activities, and more!
Speaking of children, we now have five kiddos added to our family! Evie, 14 years old, came to us in April. Some of her interests include fishing, soccer, reading, spending time with Mom, and swimming. She has turned into quite the little fish at the pond. She is also currently in the lead of our family baking contest.
Reese was the next addition to our family at the end of May. He came to us from Arkansas and is 12 years old. He loves to fish and has enjoyed doing so at the Shiloh Pond as well as on catfishing adventures on the river. I (Brian) was able to take several kids on a few different catfishing adventures and then were able to have a Shiloh family fish fry with the great catches! Reese has been learning and improving upon his work ethic with tasks like weed-eating and working on food plots with Dad.
Ronnie quickly followed Reese, being placed just a couple days later in May. He is a 14-year-old boy from northeast Missouri. Ronnie loves fishing even more than Reese and would absolutely live at the pond if that was an option. He enjoys drawing, tinkering, building things, and shows great interest learning new skills like welding. He has helped Brian with several projects and has earned money through acts of service that he used to purchase several new fishing lures at Bass Pro Shop.
Riley, Reese’s older sister, joined our family in July. She is 13 years old and has had a lot of fun swimming and fishing at the pond as well as frog gigging! We’re excited for her to be a part of our family.
Xavier just joined us at the end of July. He is 8 years old and loves hot wheels and legos. He and Paxton are turning into great buddies.
Hunter is now 16 and officially licensed and purchased a truck. He is a hard worker around the ranch which helps him earn money for gas. We are also so grateful to see him become a part of the worship team at church with a mix of playing guitar, bass, cajon, and singing. Hope is doing an excellent job caring for all the animals. Her meat rabbit operation is in full swing with 4 bunnies born right before work groups and we’re in the middle of building some more rabbit cages. Emmalee and Paxton know no strangers and are having a blast with all the kids at Shiloh. Emmalee loves to craft and has the sweetest care for others. Paxton is a ball of energy that never stops from the time he gets up until he goes to bed. They both also love swimming at the pond and Paxton and Ronnie have a great time fishing and organizing their tackle boxes.
We were able to go on an adventure day to a horse camp with the Starks and a few of the Moore kids the day after work groups ended. We enjoyed horseback riding, cooking over the fire, bike-riding, trekking through a creek, and swimming at their pond that included a water trampoline and walk-the-plank inflatable. Everyone had a blast and was ready for bed by the time we got home. Other summer activities have included going to the movies, kayaking on the river, summer camp and NYR for some, VBS, and back to school shopping.
All the kids are excited for the upcoming hunting season as they’ve been working hard with Brian on food plots, hanging trail cameras, putting up deer stands, scoping out the deer in the morning and evenings, and getting in some target practice.
We are humbled to be able to show these children the love of Jesus, explain the Gospel, and disciple them on the journey of faith. The kids have had some really great questions that have sparked even better conversations about salvation and a life of sanctification.
We cannot say thank you enough to all who love and support Shiloh and make what we are doing possible.
When I (Hannah) look back over our life so far, I can confidently say I would have never planned this path for our life. Praise God for His sovereign plan working out in our lives – for giving us desires to serve Him by serving children and for granting those desires by bringing us to Shiloh. Please continue to pray for salvation for every child that enters our home, plus grace, patience, love, joy, safety, energy and stamina, wisdom, and guidance.
“For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.” Ephesians 2:8-10 (LSB)
Brian and Hannah Ellermets