First is the worst by Meredith Peters

There is a saying that my siblings and I use to say all the time and because I am the middle child I thought it was the best saying... "first is the worst, second is the best, and third is the one with the hairy chest." 

What does that saying have to do with Soaring Wings you may ask. Well as I sit here typing this blog I can say that we have been hit by the stomach bug in our house! Normally by now everyone would be awake, making coffee, having breakfast, getting ready for a full day, dogs barking, coffee making- yes we really love our coffee maker! But today it is quiet. 

Everyone is either still sleeping, staying in bed for the day or sadly in the bathroom. It is strange how quiet it is and how none life like today feels being that Christmas is only 2 days away. My last blog was about going to Montana. We went and we kept saying when we get back we will get our Christmas tree and now we have been back for over a week, we have the tree, I can see it laying on the porch but that is as far as we have made it. Maybe today or tomorrow we can muster enough energy to at least get the tree standing up with some lights on it. 

I am not surprised that this is going to be a bumpy first Christmas in this house. We use to say that the first missions trips were always the bumpiest. I can recall my very first missions trip (I have now been on 13 or more) but the first missions trip still stands out as a bumpy one. My parents were the youth leaders and we were going to North Dakota from New Hampshire.

There were 12 of us in a 12 passenger van towing a UHaul. I remember the van very well as we DROVE for 4 days to get to North Dakota. The van was not the best to put it nicely, it's brakes would come and go as they pleased and the floor of the van got so hot that we couldn't put anything on it. I remember someone put a bag on the floor forgetting they had chocolate in it and it was a mess. We made it to North Dakota and had a very good trip but on the way home I was so sick and the first night we were camping. I remember thinking is there anything worst then being sick to your stomach on a missions trip while camping, oh yes that we still had 2 full and long days to drive home! 


This is our first Christmas at the Soaring Wings Ranch and I don't know why we weren't fully prepared for the bumps. We have hit them, literally- had a minor car accident- everyone is safe and the car is fine, and continue to push through this virus knowing that God has better things for us in the near and distant future. The first may be the worst but God is better than any worst. We continue to lean on God and look forward to the day that we laugh at this Christmas. We continued to do missions trips even with the bumps and we will continue to work and live and do Christmases as Soaring Wings even with the bumps. 

We serve a mighty God who has given us strength to continue on serving and loving because he came to this world as a baby- and like most babies He had to learn to walk and have bumps but continue on with His calling to save us and I am grateful for that gift and that reminder daily!

John 3:16-17
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.


Merry Christmas from All of us here at Soaring Wings Ranch