J. Todd Vinson is the Founder and Executive Director of Willow Springs Boys' Ranch and
Jacob's Ladder Camps and Retreats in Chandler, OK.
Willow Springs Boys' Ranch provides a long-term home for boys who are displaced or whose families are in crisis. WSBR serves boys from across Oklahoma and the United States.
Jacob's Ladder Camps and Retreats strives to strengthen inter-personal relationships, develop character, leadership, and introduce the importance of a relationship with Jesus Christ.
Jacob's Ladder facilitates groups for high school and college athletics, youth groups, service groups, prepares mission teams, couples and families retreats, rites of passage retreats, and corporate retreats.
Jacob's Ladders function is to help fund the mission of Willow Springs Boys Ranch.
Todd holds a B.A in Psychology and a Masters in Human Relations from the University of Oklahoma. Todd is a former Young Life staffer in Norman, OK. He also is a former Kanakuk Kamp counselor. Both of these organizations have had a profound influence on his life as he works with youth and families.
Todd and his wife, Jeannie, have been married for fourteen years and have four girls: Mattie, Ellie, Avery and Murphy. They are active members of Henderson Hills Baptist Church in Edmond, OK.
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It has been a few weeks since I have posted an entry. Not because there hasn't been anything going on. Life has been full at the ranch. We have had two boys graduate and move into the Nichols Graduate House. Three guys are now in the Nichols House. Miguel is in his second year in our grad program and continues to amaze us. Both of the new guys will be going to college: one to OSU and one to UCO. We are very proud of these guys. We have had these guys 7 and 8 years at the ranch.
Six of our older guys will be working at Deep Fork Tree Farm this summer. WSBR will have taken four new guys over a four week period. Two are twins from OKC, one from Tulsa, and one from southern Louisiana. We look forward to the opportunity of accepting new boys this summer/fall and sharing new success stories.
We are humbled by how people continue to help meet needs at the ranch. For example, here is what happened today:
Hiland Dairy donated dairy products to help feed our boys. Two men volunteered to come tomorrow to help us get caught up with all the mowing from the past rains. Friends helped outfit some of our new boys in clothes.
Also this past week donations have been made that help repair mowing equipment. Provisions came in to cover major repairs on one of our vans. Regardless of the economy, God continues to show up to meet the needs of the ranch.
I have been reminded of a phrase that my friend, Skip, shared with me as I see all the things that are needed at the ranch. Skip shared, "Is God worried?" The obvious answer is NO. I often am, but God is not. He is more that able to accomplish what concerns me today. And God uses amazing people, situations and circumstances to make that happen.
Thank you to all of you who help make Willow Springs Boys Ranch happen. Thank you for your prayers as well. Please pray for Camp Pharos that is coming up June 8th-12th. Jacob's Ladder is partnering with LIghthouse Ministries to love on 80 children of incarcerated parents. To use Joe Spear's phrase, "We will love them like Jesus" that week. If you are in the area, we would love for you to see Jacob's Ladder in action that week. Thanks again for all you do to help us serve others. Come see us this summer and see God's handiwork!
I don't read Oswald Chambers everyday, but when I do, his devotional writings seem to speak directly to me. Today is no exception. It is a funny thing in life. You see the things that you look at. I challenge you to look at Jesus and discover what you will see.
THE GLORY THAT EXCELS
The Lord ... hath sent me that thou mightest receive thy
sight. Acts 9:17
When Paul received his sight, he received spiritually an insight into
the Person of Jesus Christ, and the whole of his subsequent life and
preaching was nothing but Jesus Christ - "I determined not to know
anything among you, save Jesus Christ, and Him crucified." No
attraction was ever allowed to hold the mind and soul of Paul save
the face of Jesus Christ.
We have to learn to maintain an unimpaired state of character up to
the last notch revealed in the vision of Jesus Christ.
The abiding characteristic of a spiritual man is the interpretation
of the Lord Jesus Christ to himself, and the interpretation to others
of the purposes of God. The one concentrated passion of the life is
Jesus Christ. Whenever you meet this note in a man, you feel he is a
man after God's own heart.
Never allow anything to deflect you from insight into Jesus Christ.
It is the test of whether you are spiritual or not. To be unspiritual
means that other things have a growing fascination for you.
"Since mine eyes have looked on Jesus,
I've lost sight of all beside,
So enchained my spirit's vision,
Gazing on the Crucified."
In case you haven't heard the news lately, our country is in a bit of an economic crisis. Crisis sounds like a terrible word. However, a crisis is merely a life changing event. The economic crisis is changing how many of us live our lives. My friend, Marcia, sent me a great quote today from Andy Biddy. Andy left Bridgeway Church in OKC to start a church plant in NYC.
All change is not bad as noted by this quote below from Henri Nouwen.
"More and more, the desire grows in me simply to walk around, greet people, enter their homes, sit on their doorsteps, play ball, throw water and be known as someone who wants to live with them. It is a privilege to have the time to practice this simple ministry of presence. Still, it is not as simple as it seems.
My own desire to be useful, to do something significant, or to be part of some impressive project is so strong that soon my time is taken up by meetings, conferences, study groups and workshops that prevent me from walking the streets. It is difficult not to have plans, not to organize people around an urgent cause and not to feel that you are working directly for social progress.
But I wonder more and more if the first thing shouldn't be to know people by name, to eat and drink with them, to listen to their stories and tell your own and to let them know with words, handshakes and hugs that you do not simply like them--but truly love them."
~Henri Nouwen
Compassion, Justice and the Christian Life: Rethinking Ministry to the Poor. I am reading this book for my Joshua Men's group that I attend each month in Tulsa. Robert D. Lupton challenges many of the ways that people provide compassionate ministry. Here is a sample of some of his thought-provoking quotes:
"But good can sometimes become the enemy of best. When our one-way giving becomes comfortable and our spirits are no longer stirred to find the deeper, more costly solutions, good has become the enemy of best. When feeding programs value order and efficiency over the messiness of personal involvement, good has become the enemy of best. When recipients remain recipients and givers are content to remain givers, good has become the enemy of best.
Perhaps the best giving is the kind that enables the poor to know the blessedness of being givers."
Compassion, Justice and the Christian Life: Rethinking the Ministry to the Poor
~Robert D. Lupton
I received this quote from a friend today. Though written years ago, it seem relevant to current events. We see the effects of this mentality day in and day out as we serve at the boys ranch. The frightening thing is that that way of thinking seems to now been embraced by not just a section of society, but now also our government. I would welcome your thoughts. Click the link at the bottom of today's blog to comment.
The Quote of the Day Is:
"You cannot legislate the poor into freedom by legislating the wealthy out of freedom. What one person receives without working for, another person must work for without receiving. The government cannot give to anybody anything that the government does not first take from somebody else. When half of the people get the idea that they do not have to work because the other half is going to take care of them, and when the other half gets the idea that it does no good to work because somebody else is going to get what they work for, that my dear friend, is about the end of any nation. You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it."
- Adrian Rogers
(1931-2005)
American pastor
It is no surprise to any of you who know me that I like coffee. As a good ole boy from Oklahoma, It is my favorite drink, even more that Dr. Pepper. Today is a rare Saturday with no one at Jacob's Ladder. I was able to get up early with a cup of Sumatra coffee that I roasted yesterday. I bought a coffee roaster this winter. With that I am getting an education on coffee. I am learning about where the best coffee comes from, what is the best roast for a particular coffee, and alot of factors that make for good coffe. As my wife, Jeannie says, blah, blah, blah. She just likes drinking what I make. She doesn't care about the details. She just knows that it is good!
I was also able sit alone, read my Bible, and listen uninterrupted this morning. That is rare. What is even more rare is that I made a point to get up early at all and intentionally spend it alone listening to God. Or maybe even for God. It has been a long time since that has been a part of my day. I opened my Bible to some of the verses on prayer that Kim Swyden shared on Wednesday night. I read through five of them before I stopped.
Psalms 34 got my attention. The Chapter title read: Taste and See that the Lord is Good. That got my attention. I took a sampling this morning. And guess what! The Lord is good! I don't miss my cup of coffee in the morning. EVER. Sometimes I have 2, 3, 4 cups of coffee. Why because I am passionate about it. Passionate to the point that I enjoying learning all the things about it that make Jeannie go...blah, blah, blah!
The Lord is good! Taste and See. When I seek Him, He is found. When I look to Him it says that I will be radiant and my face will never be ashamed. I will be blessed if I take refuge in Him (not refuge in myself). Those who fear him have no lack.
Sound good? Well, I am trying to help you drink your own coffee. Pour up a cup of Psalms 34. Sit down by yourself where it is quite. Sip slowly. Listen. Enjoy. And repeat!
I have the whole pot of Psalms 34 ready for you. Click on the link. Taste and See that the Lord is Good.
I just got off the phone this evening with my friend, Matthew Wright. The Missionary School in Albania is seeking teachers for the 2008-2009 school year. The school is seeking certified teachers for grades K-5. The school is looking for a one year minimum commitment. Please contact me if you are interested in more information. I willl connect you with the school. Please pass this note along.
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