Settling into the Shiloh rhythm

Newsletters are supposed to be quarterly, what has happened in the last 90ish days… 62 days into being at Shiloh, The Starks’ have experienced so much of God’s peace and goodness it will be difficult to put into words, but we’ll try…

Early April we announced to many of our church friends over lunch that we were moving to Shiloh, one wise friend of ours, we call her our adultier adult, Darlene said “Have you started packing yet?”  I, Ryan, thought she was crazy, but Kimber gladly took her up on her offer to help us start packing.  I’m glad we did!  Packing up a house to move is an insurmountable task to do on your own, let alone with an 18-month-old and 4 year old trying to help.  Darlene, Jeanne, and Dianna were our “God sends” during the month of April bringing us boxes, labeling and packing, and helping us decide what needed to stay or go.  April 29th and 30th the crews came and packed our trailer, moved us, helped settle in, and said their farewells. 

Then May came, our first official 30 days of being at Shiloh getting settled in.  There was still some construction cleanup to do, deciding where furniture would go, mandatory training to complete, and still figuring out what we needed to purchase to outfit a brand-new house, something neither Kimber nor I would have ever dreamed of moving into.  Those 30 days flew by as we were stocking our pantry, unpacking our things, doing office paperwork and meetings, and setting up the placed kids rooms.  One really neat idea that Kimber came up with was having 10 unique colors of sheets, blankets, and towels.  This way if there was a green washcloth left in a shower, that no one would claim, we would know it was boy room number four!  We hosted family time (the homeparent staff meeting) at our house that month and provided the food and devotional which was a neat time to connect with the other home parents more and make plans for June. 


Creek Field Day

June was the first month we had kids in our home for time off coupled with four weeks of work groups. It was a whirlwind, but in a good way!  We hosted the Cohns, Kolars, and then the Moores and learned a few valuable things:  Meatloaf is best cooked in two long skinny loaves in a hotel pan (thanks Denice!), Kids will walk as far as you let them and get as muddy as you let them in the creek, side by side rides are the best in the early evening, and holy moly it takes a village to clean up after 10 kids and 2 adults all make and eat a meal together.  Our time spent with kids consisted of creek trips, devotional time, some golf simulator, cooking food, building bike ramps, helping with work groups, going to a parade, swimming in the pond, side by side rides, attending a South Shelby basketball game, and lots of playing at the house. 

July looks to be about the same, although less work groups.  We are excited to deepen our relationships with kids, and continue to learn from the other Homeparents, while pursuing Jesus and reorienting our lives to follow Him.

Although sometimes ministry can be overwhelming, we take comfort knowing that God has us right where he wants us.  Between running kids to events, cooking meals for workgroups, editing videos from work groups, building relationships with kids and other Homeparents we rest in the fact that just like so many of the Bible stories, God doesn’t call the equipped, he equips those that he calls. 

In Christ,

Ryan, Kimber, Harvey, & Gibson

Ryan & Kimber Stark