Laniecha and Ja'Marion

Through my relationship with Laniecha and her son Ja'Marion God has taught me a lot about ministry and relationships and has also shown me that my relationship with them is soundly embeded in the greater Body of Christ. You all have been so faithful to pray and to meet needs, which is so meaningful to me, and not entirely lost on Laniecha. The summer was confusing, in which it felt like Laniecha pulled back from wanting to be connected with us, but we are now feeling out where she's at and easing back into their lives. Her family moved much closer to us and so it is a lot easier to just drop in and see how things are going!

As many struggles as she has and as many things as she does the wrong way, I can see in her eyes that she loves that baby boy of hers and she's definitely determined that she will make it to college. Currently she is at one of the local high schools that has a bad reputation; it even has a day care, which speaks to the issues of the neighborhood but is a wonderful blessing for her. She is determined to not get caught up in all the drama and fights at school, and so, between classes and on her lunch she goes down to the day care and spends time with Ja'Marion. And, Ja'Marion, he is the sweetest, most mellow baby I think I have ever seen. God blessed her with an extremely happy baby. He has smiles and little baby chuckles for everyone, but when he sees his momma he lights up and laughs with more excitement. Praise God for giving her a baby who goes to sleep on his own and stays asleep and who is content to just be with his mom. It would be so much more difficult for her to get through school if this wasn't the case

Please continue to pray for them. It is so hard to stay strong in her surroundings. And please continue to pray for Andrew and I as we seek to know the best way to minister to their family. We appreciate you all so much and are grateful that we are never "on our own," because God has given us such a great support system!