Ok so we left the last on a bit of a cliff hanger....
In the fall of 2016, Bethany and I got married and we decided that it would be best for me to go back to school. I still wanted to finish my degree and we wanted to be done with it before we started a family, and the best way to do that was to head back to Alaska Bible College. At that time we told the board at Good News Camp that we were planning on leaving at the end of the summer of 2017. They all agreed that that was a good plan, as it would help with the transition to new staff that hopefully would be coming in to replace Jeff and I (as Jeff was leaving as well).
All was well and good until early 2017 when my paychecks just... stopped. Long story short camp had run out of money and so the financial support that I had raised for my own pay was going to keep heating buildings and electricity going. Camp had begun bringing in more money under Jeff and I, but it had been too little too late.
Spring of 2017, not having the incoming money that we were expecting in order to move to Alaska in the fall and having decided that we could not run camp at Good News for the summer without being able to guarantee paychecks for summer staff, we found ourselves up a creek without a paddle. So that May I turned in my resignation letter to the camp and we ended up "walking down the road with our hobo packs asking for a job" (at least that is what Dan, the Director of The Springs liked to say). We ended up heading to The Springs, another camp that we had built a good relationship with over the past 3 years that was just 3.7 miles up the road. Our original plan was just going to be for the summer, then heading off to school, but God had better plans in mind. In our conversations with Dan and Martha, the director and his wife, we found out that they were re-doing the internship program at The Springs for the next year. They were working with different colleges to allow you to do practical learning courses at the camp for college credit. This sounded like a waaaaay better plan for my ADD brain than going back to a traditional college. They also had an office manager position that had been budgeted, but had yet to be filled. So lo and behold Bethany and I stayed at The Springs, I started as an intern and transitioned into the program director position after a year and Bethany as the office manager. I graduated through the internship after a few years with a bachelors in Bible and Theology.
Everything was going pretty good honestly until 2020 hit. On February 16th Talia Emery decided that she wanted to appear right in the middle of camp's Marriage Retreat. Everything went without a hitch and Bethany and I found ourselves the parents of an adorable little girl right before the covid shutdown started. However, something just didn't seem right, but our concerns were dismissed as us just being new parents and not important in the scheme of things...until they tracked her losing weight at around 4 months. The next 2 year was spent going to lots of specialists ranging from GIs to dietitians to allergists. After having to avoid a ton of food (Bethany then eventually Talia) we were finally able to pin down that she is severly allergic to dairy and eggs (possible anaphylaxis). This whole process was (and continues to be) extremely stressful for both Bethany and I, but it truly helped us learn to rely on God with our kids. So much that they go through and experience is truly out of our control, but not out of God's control. It also helped me realize just how much God truly does love us. As soon as Talia was born the love both Bethany and I felt for her was immense. She hadn't done anything to earn or deserve that love, but it was there. Through all of her health struggles and injuries there have been countless times that I wish I could have taken the pain and struggle for her. It is incredible to think that our Heavenly Father loves us so much more than that...
A couple years later Barrett was born! The ridiculous love for that new little infant was there, but there was also something else. Both Bethany and I didn't realize just how much our experiences with Talia had left us with some PTSD that led to a lot of stress and anxiety around Barrett's health as an infant. We would over analyze everything trying to make sure none of the things that happened with Talia happened to him.
The Springs was an amazing place, we loved (and still love) the staff there, and they are like a second family to us. But after 6 summers it was time for us to leave. In 2022 we were still trying to figure out Talias diet as, on top of her allergies, she also has multiple food intolerances as well that were causing other health issues as well as her quirky personality that just requires a little extra. At the time I was also struggling with some extreme anxiety and depression. The last few years had really piled up on me and I had never really found a healthy outlet for it. Over the course of our vacation in the spring of 2022 Bethany and I both decided that, as hard as it would be, we needed to step away from The Springs for the sake of my mental health, and also to help us take the time we needed to figure out Talia's health. With everything that was going on we didn't feel like we could give ourselves and our kids what they needed while still living the crazy life that is camp. So in October of 2022 we packed all of our belongings into the back of a truck and a trailer and moved to Arizona!
