Houseparent Blog

We have been keeping ourselves, and our kiddo’s busy! Now that school is officially out things are both a little more relaxed, and a little more hectic than usual. Here is a look at some of the things we have been up to over the past couple months: Picking and eating wild onions: We “grew”…

Joy. This is a word we’re all too familiar with at Joy Ranch. Although we’ve understood the power of joy, it has come to have a much deeper meaning during this time of isolation and restrictions. Happiness is different from joy. It is based upon circumstances, but joy comes only from God and gives us…

Homeschooling, ready or not, here we come, here we are, here we go, etc. The following is an idea to help motivate those who don’t love to read and reward any who do. One thing we try to teach our kids is that what you focus on, grows. An area our kids needed to “grow”…

“The goat came back!” As odd as this may sound, this was a common phrase heard around campus all last week, and it was said with much excitement and more than a hint of shock and awe. We have a new Pygmy billy goat on campus. Everyone calls him something different, from Smoke to Reese…

With all this free time due to the quarantine, it has become a trend that people are doing projects and then posting about them online. Whether home-improvements, building bird houses or doing landscaping everyone finally has time to get to those “to-do” lists. However, it has been the opposite for us here at Joy Ranch.…

Like people all across the world, Joy Ranch has been thrown into a time of uncertainty and social distancing. When this pandemic first started, we weren’t sure what to expect. Since learning schools were closing for the remainder of the current school year, staff at the Ranch have continually prayed one thing: “Lord, use this…

By: Dan Austin, Director As we approach the Easter celebration, it is going to be different this year because of the COVID-19 pandemic. There will not be the traditional Easter worship services or cantatas. While I’m grateful for the virtual worship services, they just have a different feel than gathering with other believers/family. There will…

There has been some confusion during the COVID-19 pandemic about whether Joy Ranch has remained open or not. In short, we are open. We have no choice. Don’t get me wrong. It’s not that we don’t want to be here, it’s just that we literally have no choice. We have kids who have nowhere else…

We are officially on Day 8 of isolation. Although Virginia isn’t as strict as some states in this time of containment, it does have more stringent requirements than neighboring states. The Wellness Center and libraries are closed. Football conditioning and basketball season are officially over. For the safety of our children, they are no longer…