Salem, Diversity, and the Kingdom of God

January 28, 2008
When we think of reaching others for Christ, do we truly consider those who do not look like us, or talk like us, or live the same way as us?  How often do we default to only taking the Gospel to those who are like the person in the mirror?  Those can be [...]

One Grateful Family

January 22, 2008
Today I received an email from a parent of a former youth.  Read what she wrote to us.  We have received permission from her to share this with you:
‘I could write a novel on the folks at Salem.  Everyone brought such positive energy from so many different perspectives…my whole family feels very blessed [...]

Speech, Debate, and Sean

January 18, 2008
One of the challenges we face here at the ranch is what to do with a young man who has completed his high school education, and yet for whatever reason, is not quite ready to go home.  How do we keep him busy during the day when the others are in class?  We [...]

Bulls and Broncs

January 13, 2008
What is the one thing you can imagine would be a great thing to do if you lived on a horse ranch?  If you said, ‘go to a rodeo,’ you would be right.  Due to the generosity of some gracious people, we were able to secure free tickets to The World’s Toughest Rodeo, [...]

On Being a Parent

January 9, 2008
The following ad was recently placed in a Des Moines, IA newspaper.  It reads:
“OLDS 1999 Intrigue. Totally uncool parents who obviously don’t love teenage son, selling his car. Only driven for three weeks before snoopy mom who needs to get a life found booze under front seat. $3,700/offer. Call meanest mom on the [...]

Routine

January 5, 2008
After a long break for Christmas and the New Year, we are now back to normal operations here at the ranch.  If you are anything like us, it can be challenging to get back into a routine after an extended period of time off.  The return to normal operations though provides an opportunity to [...]

A New Year and New Hope

January 1, 2008
Happy New Year!  The new year here at the ranch has come in like a bear.  A snowstorm New Year’s Eve brought 4 inches of snow.  Along with the snow came frigid temperatures and 40 mile per hour winds.  It was a good day to just hunker down and watch college football!  Most [...]