December was a busy month for us all. I had finals in my three college classes (got all A’s, by the way), my husband started a new job, Nick came home for a short visit before Christmas then headed to Klawock to spend Christmas with his new girlfriend and her family, and, of course, the younger kids are running amuck around the house driving me crazy–when does school start again?

Our eldest son, Josh, has flown the coop–again. He moved back to Haines on January 3rd yesterday) and plans to attend school in Anchorage to work toward his goal of becoming Christian Psychologist. He is also planning on doing more book signings for his book “A Half-Husband’s Journey” that came out in August in Haines, Anchorage, and other cities in the upper part of our great state. We wish him the best in reaching his future goals.

So, yesterday was Josh’s big move day, and yesterday morning our 14-year-old daughter, Cristina, ran off. She was throwing her teenager attitude at her dad while we were in the car, he kept telling her to stop, she didn’t (sound familiar?) so he said, “OK. You just lost all your communications again. No phone, no computer.” Oh my gosh, it was the end of her world! When we stopped at a local store, she bolted. We have not seen her since.

Cristina had just gotten her communications back the week prior. She has made some bad choices in the past couple of months and she got caught up with the wrong crowd, tried drugs, and ended up in the ER for eight hours. It was a horrible experience for us all. She has been on restriction since and slowly gaining back some of her freedoms little by little.

So, in the midst of helping Josh finish packing, getting his stuff to the barge and him to the ferry, we are reporting our daughter as a runaway, searching the mall, the rec center, anywhere she could go, calling her friends, family, praying constantly, etc. in hopes to find her. No such luck, just yet.

So, the busy month of December has spilled over into January causing us even more stress than the holidays brought us. Nick is back home in Juneau, Josh moved away, and Cristina ran away, plus, Zack and Christerpher are so wrapped up their new video games, they seem oblivious to it all. Oblivion must be nice, especially compared to what has been smacking me in the face lately. Thankfully, I know that whatever God brings you to, He helps you through. I just wish He wouldn’t bring me to so much all at once.