An update from Jacke (Mom)…

Greetings Family & Friends,

Found a little time to give you an update on the family since many of you have been praying and loving on us since this horrific landslide. All of us, Larry, me, Ryan, Mitch, Jim, Marcai and the boys, daily continue to establish our new normal despite the effects of our own individual levels of PTSD and sorrow. There are many many layers to mentally and physically work through in order to recover from this.

I’d like to provide you with a better explanation of what PTSD is, so that you may better understand the difference in how we may relate to all of you.
Post-traumatic Stress Disorder: A condition of persistent mental and emotional stress occurring as a result of injury or severe psychological shock, typically involving disturbance of sleep and constant vivid recall of the experience, with dulled responses to others and to the outside world.

This message is to continue to provide you “HOPE” in whatever circumstances you face and to keep this real. You see all the posts of us surrounded by the love of others and our equine friends, but truly every day presents its own struggles, but we know that there are many examples in God’s Word where beauty is brought from the ashes.

“Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own”. Matthew 6:34
Yesterday, I asked each family member to provide me with one or more words that describes where they are and then what gives them strength and HOPE to counter that.

Marcai: Text me a photo depicting God holding her in His hands filling the holes in her heart. She said, “He has me!”
Jim: “Uncertainty”. “Right now, all I have to cling to is hope. As we cry and weep, mourning our losses, when that season ends we will all be on the road to recovery.”

Larry: “faith and courage”

Ryan: “Bewildered, but still trusts”.

Jacke: “Suffocation at times, but God breathes air into me and I press on”!

Mitch: “Hurting, but finding ways to be strong for Randy and our family”.

Noah and Jack are in school and doing well. Their little hearts are still trying to express the loss of their daddy and embrace the many changes and guidance being under the roof of many family members who love them. They have a room of their own with bunk beds that were gifted to us, a plethora of new toys and stuffed animals and today, after a trip to IKEA, we are making cubbies to organize things and a small table for them to do homework and games. They are slowly learning to care for the mini horses “Cowgirl” and “Buddy” and they’re naturally experiencing the therapy that comes from the equine family.

We are so very very grateful to all of you, our church family and the many professionals that have been chosen to help us seek light and oxygen after being buried in this landslide. Please pray for these church leaders, counselors and teachers that are seeking God’s guidance to bring a healing unto us all.

I want to close by saying, part of our healing is ministering to all of you. For me, this has been a natural response. We’re not asking for sympathy, but to again, keep this real by saying, it truly is the heaviest burden we’ve ever experienced, yet what would we do without knowing that God continues to carry us through. He didn’t do this! We were given Free Will and when we choose a plan that is not of His, the consequences of our own sin harm us and often times others. You can choose to be a “victim” of horrific circumstances or you can look up and have “victory”. Keep digging if you’re buried in a landslide!

~Jacke Van Woerkom
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This is a clip from The Lord of the Rings that depicts the feeling of this landslide we’ve experienced and at the end demonstrates that everyone has a different reaction to disaster. We are all re-surfacing, yet at times gasping for air…however, HOPE in the Lord gives us the tenacity and courage to conquer!