Thea Tells Her Story

This is a reposting from December 2012 that just goes along so well with a news story about child advocacy that was aired today on KPAX 8 (KAJ18) where our daughter Thea was interviewed and featured. I felt that since only part of her letter was aired, it would be fair show the rest of it even though we have previously posted this:

---

Nate with Evan and Thea soon after they
came to live with us the first time.

There are lots of statistics. The numbers can look over whelming. There are so many kids that need to be adopted and so many abused children and there are just not enough places to help all these children. Yet we can do our part. This is not always a rewarding job. These kids are so hurt they can’t love you back because they simply do not know how. But then you get the joy like we did today when Thea brought her paper home that she turned in for English class this week. We want to share it with you. Her letter is an example of why we do what we do, and why we still want to help more kids.

If we get nothing else, but we get a letter like this after helping a child through Harmony Acres, it will be worth it all... 

Through the Past

by Thea Horton

age 11

Imagine this! A girl in middle school with sad and horrible memories. That would be me. I went through lots of horrible things, with my brother. I want to walk those feet back in the past and tell you…

Way back when I was born, I was born to my mom Heather Coughlin. She took care of me for a long time. My dad did not. He spent most of his time in jail. He got out of jail for three months and that’s all he took care of me.

Four and a half years after that I got a new brother. His name is Evan. When he was two we found out he was deaf. We had to learn sign language. My mom took very good care of Evan. I got beat up very severely. After I would get beaten up my mom would hug me. My brother and I got taken away for that.

On our way to providence home I got a headache. The providence home was close to a bowling alley. I didn’t care that much because I wanted my mom to hold me as she did before. We arrived. I got nervous. It was a giant white house. I went inside. There were other kids there to play with. Evan got settled in right away. I didn’t cause I was NOT in the mood.

We had to do chores the next day. We got money off it though. Every Friday we went to the Dollar Tree and spent our money. Well, that continued for three months. I went back with my mom. I was very excited!

When I was eight I got taken away from my mom again to a foster family. I cried again. This time I came to a brown house. It did not look big but it was medium sized. When I went inside I got a tour of the house. I also got to see who lived there. There is Nate, Tamara, Florie, T.K., Daniel, Alex, and Jasmine. I found out that they were very kind and generous. I stayed with them for a day then went camping with them. I had lots of fun. When we went camping it was July 4th, 2009. I enjoyed being with them.

They put my brother and I into Russell Elementary School. I met lots of new people. The people I hung out with the most was Kayla, Dani, Maddie, Kieana, and Brooklin. They were nice and kind, too! I got to go back with my mom a couple of times and got taken away again. It was a long journey.

On September 20, 2012 I got adopted to the Horton’s. The same people that fostered me. When I went to the courthouse I was very nervous. When I went upstairs I saw lots of people there ready for my adoption. I got to see a very amazing friend of mine. Sophie Thurston. Sophie is always there when I need it.

As we walked into the courtroom I felt shivers run up and down my back. I sat down with my almost adopted mom and dad. As Judge Stadler was saying random things, he started saying my brother’s and my name. Evan Jacob Coughlin and Thea Marie Pool your new names are Evan James Horton and Thea Marie Horton. RIght as Judge Stadler walked over to take a picture of the new family he said, “This is a good day!”

Now that I’m adopted I feel cared, loved, adored, and safe. Normally I do not feel safe. I do now because I start to tell my dad the old things that used to happen to me. I am looking forward to the future. I want my children to have a better life than I did.

You never know if you adopt a kid you might change their life. It sure changed mine.

This is the sign we made for our adoption of Evan and Thea in Sept. 2012

Evan and Thea in their new family, after more than three long years
of being in limbo not knowing what was going to happen to them.

You never know if you adopt a kid you might change their life. It sure changed mine. —Thea (age 11)

Thea with her Daddy

Evan with his Mommy

Preparing for Rain

The previous post was about a movie we watched that seemed to have many connections to what is happening in the process of getting things rolling with Harmony Acres. Well, we had a get together Friday evening with some of our friends who have expressed a particular interest in being involved in Harmony Acres. We decided to show them Facing the Giants because it seemed so pertinent and also very encouraging through the tough times as it reminds us of the hope that God will always follow through and do his part...

...but we have responsibility also to do our part!

One of the things we were reminded of during the movie this time was the importance of preparing for rain. If there were two guys who had a field and because there was no rain in the forecast, one decided not to plant his field and the other one did, which one was ready for the rain when it came? Which one trusted God to provide rain? "The one who prepared for rain is the one who trusted God."

"God will send the rain. You just need to prepare your field to receive it!"

When people ask us how things are going, we share with them that we are in the middle of doing the non profit profit paperwork which is proving to be a very involved and tedious process. Another thing I've shared with them, even before seeing this movie is that we are preparing for rain. We don't know anything more about the property we are looking at and things seem slow sometimes, but I am constantly asked. We are trusting God to put the big pieces together in His timing, but in the meantime, we are preparing for rain.

We are busy. We have been very focused at getting job descriptions, applications, and the list goes on. If we sit around, nothing is going to happen, because we'd be like the guy who didn't expect rain to come, so why bother, right? NO! 

God will send the rain...He always does. 

We just have to prepare the field and sow the seeds.  It is only then that the rain will be effective to wake up the dormant seeds and allow them to grow. Do we know when the rain will come? Do we know exactly how the rain will come or what it will look like? No. 

But we do trust God to send rain, and we just want to be ready for it when it gets here!  

Please pray for us as we do our best to prep our field and plant our seeds that our field would be ready for rain when it comes. 


A few more notable quotes to share from the movie:

• Your actions will always follow your beliefs. If you accept defeat, that is what you are going to get.
• You are not doing anybody any favors sitting on the fence. You decide what side you are going to be on and then stay on it.
• God's blessings will follow a team that honors God.
• It's easy to lead when you are strong, but now is when it really counts.
• Don't quit!  Don't quit! Don't you quit on me!
• Tell me, what is impossible with God?

Facing our Giants

So many great quotables from the movie, Facing the Giants, that we watched last night. 

I can relate to this statement by coach Grant Taylor when I relate it to what God has done for Harmony Acres recently.... 

"We weren't supposed to have a winning season, but we do. We weren't supposed to advance to the playoffs, but we did. We're not supposed to be here, but we are."

This team went on to win the state championship game.

We at Harmony Acres feel like we are in the playoffs, and we are preparing hard for the championship game. We are making progress as we work through much paperwork and writing of documents, but we need your continued prayer for strength and tenacity to do the hard work that is required...and face our giants...

...but the reward is worth it.  

This game is won when we are prepared and equipped to care for kids that are hurting and hopeless, and able to welcome them through our doors!

We are a team and we will win as we work together and trust God with all our hearts and like the coach said to his team:

"I want God to bless this team so much people will talk about what He did. But that means we gotta give Him our best in every area. And if we win, we praise Him. And if we lose, we praise Him. Either way we honor Him with our actions and our attitudes. So I'm askin' you... What are you living for? I resolve to give God everything I've got, then I'll leave the results to Him. I want to know if you'll join me."


We want you to join us on this adventure. This is a ministry faith and our perspective is like the Coach's wife after the championship game was won:


"Now you tell me Coach Taylor...What is impossible when God is on your side?"


Our resounding answer is NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE WITH GOD!

As we prepare, we think often of the dream of rescuing hurting kids and bringing them into a safe place where they can heal, and we can relate to the words of Coach Taylor's wife in the movie when she was longing to have children of her own, but was not able to at that time:

"Grant, I'm still clinging to a hope that one day we'll have children. I imagine them running in this house. I hear them playing in the backyard. Or running to our bed in a thunderstorm. And I think about reading them stories and teaching them songs. And I just keep thinking...

...how can I miss someone so much that I have never met?"


We are passionate about what we are doing more than anything we've ever been involved with. We are just begging God to let this dream come together soon and help us with the mountain of things that looks so daunting, so we can help these kids as soon as possible. We can't believe how much our hearts are hurting to help these kids we don't even know yet.

Sometimes we feel like there is a team of Giants in our way, at least a giant hill to climb before us and in our small insignificance we relate to yet another quote from the movie:

Assistant Coach: So basically we got the toughest schedule we ever had. And less talent we ever had...
Coach Grant Taylor: I'm so sick of average seasons.


We have determined not to be satisfied with average or normal anymore.

We do not expect anything average from God, but something EXCEPTIONAL!!

Riding HUGE Waves

In 2012, Garrett McNamara, rode the largest recorded wave anyone had ever ridden with this monster off the coast of Portugal. The wave measured 78 feet tall. This wave was very dangerous, and if Garrett had fallen off his board, he likely would have not survived and been hammered into rocks that the wave was driving him towards.  But he hung with it and ended up breaking a world record!

What does a wave have to do with Harmony Acres?

The Bible compares our lives sometimes to waves. We aren't supposed to be driven and tossed around by waves even though that's obviously what typically happens when someone is in the ocean. But, even with the warning, the implication is that there are waves all around. 

What are we to do when there is the sheer terror of massive, crashing waves around? 

We are to have grit, commitment, stick-to-itiveness, and be all-in, dedicated 100% to what God has put before us. We are not to be driven and tossed by the waves around us. But when there are waves, what are we supposed to do with them? I think we should learn to ride them!

There are so many children that need to be rescued from lives wracked with abuse, abandonment, and neglect. 

We could throw our hands up in despair and hopelessness and let yet another wave crash over us and toss us around, endangering us and those around us, but that is CLEARLY not what God wants us to do.

We are going to learn to ride this wave, even though it is HUGE and gives cause for human fear.

The immensity of what is before us reminds us of how small and insignificant we really are. We have felt the swell underneath us and caught some feeling of the enormity and momentum of the coming wave, as we have been drawn into its tide. We have also felt in the past few weeks like things are moving slower than they were before when we started paddling out into the surf.  Yes, we are still paddling, and we are patiently waiting for the big wave that is coming.  

We may have to let some smaller swells go by as we try to focus and not get sidetracked by things that are not as important. 

As the tide ebbs and swells underneath us, you may have felt in the past month like we have. We have gone through highs and lows, and there has been a lot of sickness and trials that have met many of our team, including our family has gone through. These are just life happening and distractions that remind us that the Evil One does not want us to be successful. He is NOT interested in us finding the right wave to ride. 

The Enemy would prefer that we try to ride a smaller wave, or just get off track all-together. 

But we are as committed as ever to persevere and hang on and keep paddling till we are sure it is time to stand up on our board and take the Big One.  We know it will be frightening if we look at our surroundings, but we also know it will be the greatest ride of our lives if we stay focused, and in the meantime prepare to meet the challenge God has before us.

Will you pray with us for wisdom, commitment, dedication, patience, faithfulness, and resolve as we wait for the next big step God has for Harmony Acres?

Are you all-in and fully committed to whatever it is that God has called you to do? 

If you feel called to be part of what God is doing at Harmony Acres through prayer or any other way, please let us know. We would like to add you to our Harmony Acres Team Facebook page so you can keep in touch.

Is it worth while?

Nate with Evan and Thea soon after they
came to live with us the first time.

There are lots of statistics. The numbers can look over whelming. There are so many kids that need to be adopted and so many abused children and there are just not enough places to help all these children. Yet we can do our part. This is not always a rewarding job. These kids are so hurt they can’t love you back because they simply do not know how. But then you get the joy like we did today when Thea brought her paper home that she turned in for English class this week. We want to share it with you. Her letter is an example of why we do what we do, and why we still want to help more kids.

If we get nothing else, but we get a letter like this after helping a child through Harmony Acres, it will be worth it all... 

Through the Past

by Thea Horton

age 11

Imagine this! A girl in middle school with sad and horrible memories. That would be me. I went through lots of horrible things, with my brother. I want to walk those feet back in the past and tell you…

Way back when I was born, I was born to my mom Heather Coughlin. She took care of me for a long time. My dad did not. He spent most of his time in jail. He got out of jail for three months and that’s all he took care of me.

Four and a half years after that I got a new brother. His name is Evan. When he was two we found out he was deaf. We had to learn sign language. My mom took very good care of Evan. I got beat up very severely. After I would get beaten up my mom would hug me. My brother and I got taken away for that.

On our way to providence home I got a headache. The providence home was close to a bowling alley. I didn’t care that much because I wanted my mom to hold me as she did before. We arrived. I got nervous. It was a giant white house. I went inside. There were other kids there to play with. Evan got settled in right away. I didn’t cause I was NOT in the mood.

We had to do chores the next day. We got money off it though. Every Friday we went to the Dollar Tree and spent our money. Well, that continued for three months. I went back with my mom. I was very excited!

When I was eight I got taken away from my mom again to a foster family. I cried again. This time I came to a brown house. It did not look big but it was medium sized. When I went inside I got a tour of the house. I also got to see who lived there. There is Nate, Tamara, Florie, T.K., Daniel, Alex, and Jasmine. I found out that they were very kind and generous. I stayed with them for a day then went camping with them. I had lots of fun. When we went camping it was July 4th, 2009. I enjoyed being with them.

They put my brother and I into Russell Elementary School. I met lots of new people. The people I hung out with the most was Kayla, Dani, Maddie, Kieana, and Brooklin. They were nice and kind, too! I got to go back with my mom a couple of times and got taken away again. It was a long journey.

On September 20, 2012 I got adopted to the Horton’s. The same people that fostered me. When I went to the courthouse I was very nervous. When I went upstairs I saw lots of people there ready for my adoption. I got to see a very amazing friend of mine. Sophie Thurston. Sophie is always there when I need it.

As we walked into the courtroom I felt shivers run up and down my back. I sat down with my almost adopted mom and dad. As Judge Stadler was saying random things, he started saying my brother’s and my name. Evan Jacob Coughlin and Thea Marie Pool your new names are Evan James Horton and Thea Marie Horton. RIght as Judge Stadler walked over to take a picture of the new family he said, “This is a good day!”

Now that I’m adopted I feel cared, loved, adored, and safe. Normally I do not feel safe. I do now because I start to tell my dad the old things that used to happen to me. I am looking forward to the future. I want my children to have a better life than I did.

You never know if you adopt a kid you might change their life. It sure changed mine.

This is the sign we made for our adoption of Evan and Thea in Sept. 2012

Evan and Thea in their new family, after more than three long years
of being in limbo not knowing what was going to happen to them.

You never know if you adopt a kid you might change their life. It sure changed mine. —Thea (age 11)

Thea with her Daddy

Evan with his Mommy

48 Hours of Praises!

Over the past 48 hours, more has happened than we can recount, but among those things are several things God has provided for which we want to point all praise to God... 

• Continued open doors, even though the property was sold back to the orignal lender! As it works, out, there is a Right of Redemption on the property owned by the previous owner, which if we can acquire, we would have the right of purchase within 365 days and would be able to start using the property as soon as the paper is acquired. Please pray that the current owner would be willing to sell it. Typically transfer of this redemption option costs $1000, which God has already provided for through a generous donor.

• Potential part time/fill in house parents with previous burden for similar theraputic children's home, horses and building experience, nursing/special ed teacher skills

• Architect to draft building plans

• Builders with engineered building resource...a perfect system for volunteer labor-powered construction

• Access to haying equipment and information that we can potentially get as much hay as we need to feed horses.

• Access to other heavy farming equipment, hay trailer, and semi for moving things as needed

• Contacts who know potential donors who are looking for this type of organization to fund or support.

• A Christian financial advisor who knows the property well and is offering advice to assist in helping us structure resources available to make the physical property earn money and move towards being self-supporting.

• Continued advice and professional recommendations from a social worker supervisor working for the state who was very impressed with the paperwork we presented to her for review and feedback and is amazed with how fast things are developing. We need to pray for her salvation. She is witnessing this process just like the rest of us.  

• A generous donation that would allow us to be able to purchase the Right of Redemption, turn utility services on once we are able to move onto the property, provide resources for our staff team training, cover required CPR class fees for our staff, and other needed items.

• $200 monthly support has been promised!

Praise God with us for all He has done, is doing, and will do as we trust Him by faith to meet all our needs as we proceed through the doors He opens for Harmony Acres!

God Provides Again!

Exciting update! 

God just provided another voluntary ranch hand. After a knock on our door, I stood out on the porch in my socks for a half hour freezing my feet as I caught up with an old friend and we recounted to each other how God is working in each of our lives leading us to this point. I found out that my guest has been wondering what God wants him to do and has been available and waiting for direction. 

God has a place of service using the talents He's given when the one with those talents desires to serve God with the talents he has. 

I asked my friend what he pictured himself doing and he told me he just wanted to do whatever we needed help with. He could even bring his camper and he'd stay in that and just work for us. His experience is with ranching, horses, cattle, etc. He's pretty much done it all. 

He went on to tell me he is 100% behind what we are doing, thinks the property is amazing and believes somehow God is going to provide. We added him to the "list" of encouragers that are able to see the vision God has put before us and urge us to keep at it and not give up. I was just amazed once again, how God keeps bringing pieces together before we even knew what we needed. 

Isn't God awesome?

Oh, if you are wondering who this character is, he's the third from the right in the picture above that was taken yesterday at our prayer meeting on the property! Speaking of yesterday, we just had a wonderful time in prayer giving everything to God and asking Him together to provide in whatever way He sees fit a place for Harmony Acres to start helping children as soon as He wants to. It was a very encouraging and moving time, and brought tears to our eyes as we acknowledge God—how good He has been to us, and how united our hearts were as we cried out to Him—to let us help these children that are so broken and in need of not only physical and emotional rescue, but spiritual salvation as well. 

And of some have compassion, making a difference. 

—Jude 22