It's A Wonderful Life: A Look Back at 2014

All I can say is WE ARE BLESSED!  We've had such an incredible year ministering to law enforcement far and wide - from Maine to Florida to Texas and everywhere in between.

February began with our first Law Enforcement Marriage Seminar in our area.  We had around 47 officers/spouses attend with much positive feedback.

March was busy as we traveled to Chattanooga, Tennessee where I led a Spouse Academy put on by the FCPO (Fellowship of Christian Peace Officers).  Little did we know at that time, it would be the last opportunity to serve and fellowship with our dear friend, Lamar Moore, past Executive Director of FCPO.  Shortly after our conference, Lamar took ill and passed away in June.  We know, however, that he is celebrating this first Christmas with Jesus and all his loved ones who have gone before.

At the end of March, we were invited to come to Kentucky for a one-day conference for law enforcement/first responders.  Again, I led a class specifically for the spouses of law enforcement.  Though we were a small group, we were mighty! :)

We also met some other great folks on the front lines helping LEOs.


April and May were busy as I flew to Florida for a Spouse Academy at the Pasco County Sheriff's Department.  We had a room full of attendees and a number of Chaplains from the area.  I was treated to a wonderful tour of the area as well as the opportunity to share our ministry with an African-American church on Sunday.

In May, Rick and I flew to Washington DC for National Police Week.  We met up again with CODE3 Ministries and handed out Bibles, tracts and basically found ways to talk with officers and their families about the hope we have.  What an awesome opportunity.

Later that week we flew on to Bangor, Maine, where we stayed with a wonderful family who showed us awesome hospitality.  We presented a day-long marriage seminar for law enforcement on that Saturday and met some new friends.  What incredible people and exquisite beauty of God's creation.  We left on such a high.

As a side note, did I mention that in the midst of all of this running around, our daughter celebrated her last prom and graduated high school?!

 

June took us to Ft. Worth, Texas and the National Sheriff's Association Convention. We were invited to do a break-out session there - one of only two addressing marriage out of several pages of choices.  Quite an honor.  P.S.  Everything is bigger in Texas, including their hat display.

July we got a little break....sort of.  Our middle son got married and we celebrated our 26th wedding anniversary!  Yay us.  August as kiddos went back to school, we took a breath and prepared for September! The first weekend in September we went to Arkansas where I taught another Spouse Academy.  This seemed to be the theme for the year. :)  Great bunch of Game Warden wives. Might I add that August was also the beginning of a great divide not only in Ferguson, MO, but in this nation.  I wrote a blog that received over a 1/2 million hits about the perspective of a police wife in light of the Michael Brown shooting.  I was also on CNN....my 4 minutes of fame. October came and went.  Rick attended the Breaching the Barricade Conference in Elkhart, Indiana along with another officer from Illinois.  They also stopped by and visited an officer in an Indiana hospital recovering from his 20th surgery after a line-of-duty accident. Rick and I were asked (and accepted) to serve on the Board of Directors for FCPO, and we attended (I spoke) at the FCPO National Conference in Chattanooga, TN.  It was a HUGE blessing to be with those folks again. During this month  I also hosted a retreat for the women of our church, and had our first board meeting for Badge of Hope!  Busy, busy.

November we hosted our second law enforcement marriage seminar in our area.  We brought in Jonathan Parker from Chattanooga (Covered Law Enforcement), Kim Smith, Financial Coach, and both of us.  Had a great turnout with about 49. One marriage (if not more) was saved from divorce, and many were challenged about their faith.  Great, great time!! Also, raffled off an AR-15 to help raise funds for our ministry. Finally, December has come in with all its winter glory.   Rick has already been down to Ferguson to meet with the head of the Billy Graham Rapid Response Team.  We plan to go back as Badge of Hope in the coming days to share Christ's love and encouragement where we can. As we look back on this year, we are grateful to God that He has given us so many wonderful opportunities.  We are also thankful for all those who have helped us, encouraged us, prayed for us, given financially, and invited us to come.  We could NOT do this without you! Please continue to pray for us as we minister.  If you would like to make an end-of-year donation to Badge of Hope, we would appreciate that as well. God bless and may He reveal Himself in miraculous ways this Christmas season. Rick and Kristi Badge of Hope Ministries