If you are following this blog, the next chapter is located at:
www.paradigmwhitefield.blogspot.com
Thanks!!
Emily
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Monday, August 31, 2009
New House PIcs
Master Bedroom
Charis' room
Eythan's room
Back Yard
Patio and Screened Porch
There was a memosa tree in my yard growing up and I've always wanted one, but apparently they are a huge mess to take care of.....so I have the best of both worlds. Two or three branches hang over into our patio from the neithbors memosa tree!
Screened Porch
Living room
Living Room
Dining Room
Dining room
This is a fixer upper and the room with the most issues is the family room. I think someone started working on the house and then quite. I think they pulled up carpet that was in this room and never got around to cleaning the nasty caked on dirt underneath!
Family Room
Kitchen
Kitchen
Kitchen
Charis' room
Eythan's room
Back Yard
Patio and Screened Porch
There was a memosa tree in my yard growing up and I've always wanted one, but apparently they are a huge mess to take care of.....so I have the best of both worlds. Two or three branches hang over into our patio from the neithbors memosa tree!
Screened Porch
Living room
Living Room
Dining Room
Dining room
This is a fixer upper and the room with the most issues is the family room. I think someone started working on the house and then quite. I think they pulled up carpet that was in this room and never got around to cleaning the nasty caked on dirt underneath!
Family Room
Kitchen
Kitchen
Kitchen
The beginning of the end....or the end of the beginning?
I'm sitting here (but not where you think), just a year, almost to the day from the start of the big fish adventure. A lot has happened this last year. We have lost much. Family, friends, possessions, a little peace and sanity here or there. We have gained much too. Friends, perspective, cherished memories, and new outlook on life and ministry. Though grand as this adventure has been, there is a time and a season for everything, and this adventure has come to an end. Today we received final word, and Jon is now the proud staff employee of Shelter Ins. It is only fitting that his first day is September 2nd, the exact date we started our little adventure a year ago and left for Hurricane Ike. It is a good job, making good money, and it has great benefits. One of those benefits is that we can afford to have a brick and mortar home in a city we can afford....Oklahoma city. Oklahoma is where we left five years ago to come to Dallas, so it is only fitting that it is where we return after our long journey. Though we hadn't accomplished as much as we intended to this past year, I do believe none the less that it was a God appointed journey. Through the twist and turn, trials and triumphs of adventure, God taught us unwavering trust in his hand of providence; peace in our dependence on our loving creator, and He lead us to the little church in Atlanta where He began to stoke a new fire for our ministry and evangelism.
It is bitter sweet looking at a now empty "big fish" (yes, we bought a house already and have mostly moved in!). It was home for so long, but now it seems so small. I hate to see it go, but I'm so excited for our new home and plans. I'm also going to miss the travel, but again, having the kids back in their activities will be good for all of us.....oh and a yard for Caedon....he will be happy! I want to thank you all for praying for us. there were times just the knowledge that friends were lifting us up kept hope alive. and for me, having some sense of friendship and connection with someone outside my tiny home meant more to me than you will ever know. To our friends in Dallas.....You haven't heard the last from us!!! We still have family there, and for that matter you are our family too and we plan on visiting often; but still....we will miss you terribly. As for the big fish adventure.......well that may have come to an end, but another adventure awaits us. God has awakening in us again the desire to reach the lost. Paradigm: White Field. Jesus said just look and you will see that the fields are white for harvest....so that is what we plan to do here in OKC....look....and harvest!
Blessings to you All!!!!
Emily
It is bitter sweet looking at a now empty "big fish" (yes, we bought a house already and have mostly moved in!). It was home for so long, but now it seems so small. I hate to see it go, but I'm so excited for our new home and plans. I'm also going to miss the travel, but again, having the kids back in their activities will be good for all of us.....oh and a yard for Caedon....he will be happy! I want to thank you all for praying for us. there were times just the knowledge that friends were lifting us up kept hope alive. and for me, having some sense of friendship and connection with someone outside my tiny home meant more to me than you will ever know. To our friends in Dallas.....You haven't heard the last from us!!! We still have family there, and for that matter you are our family too and we plan on visiting often; but still....we will miss you terribly. As for the big fish adventure.......well that may have come to an end, but another adventure awaits us. God has awakening in us again the desire to reach the lost. Paradigm: White Field. Jesus said just look and you will see that the fields are white for harvest....so that is what we plan to do here in OKC....look....and harvest!
Blessings to you All!!!!
Emily
Thursday, July 16, 2009
In the mean time......
Well, we're waiting on the inevitable hurricane, but we need to make some money in the mean time. By the providence of God, Jon has a job working with his dad. Most of you know how great this will be for Jon. We will be staying in Oklahoma City either until this job runs out, or until there is a hurricane. We are really going to miss our friends and family in Dallas, but I know we will be seeing you soon. There is neither a Costco nor a Sprouts, so I will be making biweekly trips to Big D to shop!!! God is really stirring something in Jon and I right now. We are trying to put our finger on what He is up too, but it's like when you accidentally get an eggshell in your egg. You can see it, you know it's there, but no matter how hard you try and scoop it out, it evades your grasp. Please pray with us as we're making this omelet of life. We need to grasp God's direction and intent. But I know it's phenomenal, whatever it is!
Blessings,
Emily
Blessings,
Emily
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Adventures in Oklahoma
Our trip to Oklahoma City was uneventful. Nothing broke at least, and actually it seemed more like an hour than three to get there. Maybe everything will seem like a short drive after our trip to NY!
Yesterday we drove two hours to Altus, OK and met with a small church there to teach them about what we're calling Power Evangelism. I was so proud of Jon. It has been many years since I have seen him be able to teach with such abandon. He has been squashed and censored by so many he had lost the passion that made him so great a speaker. But he was back yesterday! Of course it helped that this church was crazy about God and reaching their community. These guys are going to turn Altus on their heads! They were so excited about what Jon had to teach them and they went after their neighborhood that afternoon with fervor. We sent out six teams for an hour and everyone of them came back with multiple stories of being able to pray for people with illness, financial crises, and other problems. If I told you all the stories you would be reading the rest of the night, so I'll just tell you mine. Pastor Marc and I started walking down the street not feeling any particular tug from the Lord on where we should go first. I saw a man far down the street standing outside and said we should head there. By the time we got there he had just walked in. Pastor Marc said we should knock anyway. A young woman answered the door and a little boy played in the background. We gave the schpeal. "The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand and we would like to pray for you if you have a need." And like more times than not when you ask a person this, she answered, "Yes, actually things are very difficult right now and I would like to have some prayer." After interviewing her a bit we find out that last year her husband was murdered. Not only that, but the trial is coming up and she has to testify. That coupled with now being a single mom, of course has lead to ongoing stress and trauma in her life. We were able to pray for her and she felt the presence of the Lord as she began to cry. She thanked us and we let her know that someone would be coming to check on her, but if she needed anything in the mean time, the church was right down the street.
How amazing is that!!!!
There are at least 10 other stories like that, from one hour of "work" done by 12 people. Imagine only 12 people changing an entire town for Jesus.......Oh wait....I think there might be a story about that already. Yep! I remember, it was 12 men that changed the WOLD! By doing what? Preaching "The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand! We are here to heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, and free the oppressed."
So Jon is out on the streets with another church tonight having taught them this afternoon the principles set out by Jesus about advancing the Kingdom. Me and the kids are resting from a long weekend in the heat. I'll let you know how tonight goes and also if there are any updates from the Altus church.
VRV folks: We looked at the future building for the church in Altus. You might consider a building there....as a stand alone building 3X the size of ours blocks from down town was being sold for $20,000. Their other possible site, a rented store front, a little smaller than our current space.....$50/month. Of course any savings might be eaten up in commuting....lol!
Blessings,
Emily
Yesterday we drove two hours to Altus, OK and met with a small church there to teach them about what we're calling Power Evangelism. I was so proud of Jon. It has been many years since I have seen him be able to teach with such abandon. He has been squashed and censored by so many he had lost the passion that made him so great a speaker. But he was back yesterday! Of course it helped that this church was crazy about God and reaching their community. These guys are going to turn Altus on their heads! They were so excited about what Jon had to teach them and they went after their neighborhood that afternoon with fervor. We sent out six teams for an hour and everyone of them came back with multiple stories of being able to pray for people with illness, financial crises, and other problems. If I told you all the stories you would be reading the rest of the night, so I'll just tell you mine. Pastor Marc and I started walking down the street not feeling any particular tug from the Lord on where we should go first. I saw a man far down the street standing outside and said we should head there. By the time we got there he had just walked in. Pastor Marc said we should knock anyway. A young woman answered the door and a little boy played in the background. We gave the schpeal. "The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand and we would like to pray for you if you have a need." And like more times than not when you ask a person this, she answered, "Yes, actually things are very difficult right now and I would like to have some prayer." After interviewing her a bit we find out that last year her husband was murdered. Not only that, but the trial is coming up and she has to testify. That coupled with now being a single mom, of course has lead to ongoing stress and trauma in her life. We were able to pray for her and she felt the presence of the Lord as she began to cry. She thanked us and we let her know that someone would be coming to check on her, but if she needed anything in the mean time, the church was right down the street.
How amazing is that!!!!
There are at least 10 other stories like that, from one hour of "work" done by 12 people. Imagine only 12 people changing an entire town for Jesus.......Oh wait....I think there might be a story about that already. Yep! I remember, it was 12 men that changed the WOLD! By doing what? Preaching "The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand! We are here to heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, and free the oppressed."
So Jon is out on the streets with another church tonight having taught them this afternoon the principles set out by Jesus about advancing the Kingdom. Me and the kids are resting from a long weekend in the heat. I'll let you know how tonight goes and also if there are any updates from the Altus church.
VRV folks: We looked at the future building for the church in Altus. You might consider a building there....as a stand alone building 3X the size of ours blocks from down town was being sold for $20,000. Their other possible site, a rented store front, a little smaller than our current space.....$50/month. Of course any savings might be eaten up in commuting....lol!
Blessings,
Emily
Friday, June 19, 2009
Please Pray
Hey Guys,
My Uncle John who was diagnosed with lung cancer right around the time my grandfather died, decided to refuse any more chemo last week. We got the call today that he has about 4 hours. Please pray for my mom. This is a lot for her. Please pray for Mikala, his wife of about 9 months who has been so awesome during this time, and her boys who were finally going to have a dad, but are now loosing one instead. Pray for John. He is completely aware of what is happening, and though he has given himself to our Lord, the fear of death is ever present. Pray that he can reconcile with loved ones and with God. He feels cheated, as he spent his whole life in sin, and when he finally gave it over to God, he finds out he has cancer. Pray for his complete healing; for either God's will to be done on earth as it is in heaven, or for John to be perfected in God's will IN heaven. Either way...God's will be done and that means no pain and no cancer and no anger and no fear. Amen.
Blessings,
Emily
My Uncle John who was diagnosed with lung cancer right around the time my grandfather died, decided to refuse any more chemo last week. We got the call today that he has about 4 hours. Please pray for my mom. This is a lot for her. Please pray for Mikala, his wife of about 9 months who has been so awesome during this time, and her boys who were finally going to have a dad, but are now loosing one instead. Pray for John. He is completely aware of what is happening, and though he has given himself to our Lord, the fear of death is ever present. Pray that he can reconcile with loved ones and with God. He feels cheated, as he spent his whole life in sin, and when he finally gave it over to God, he finds out he has cancer. Pray for his complete healing; for either God's will to be done on earth as it is in heaven, or for John to be perfected in God's will IN heaven. Either way...God's will be done and that means no pain and no cancer and no anger and no fear. Amen.
Blessings,
Emily
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Your Kingdom Come!
Ok..so we set it up to do "visitation" at our church like they are doing at North Gate. Our great friend Todd showed up to go with us. After an hour of soaking in worship we got a list of words of knowledge for the people we might meet that night. Here is the list
hearing loss
possible brain issue
Marriage with lots of conflict
Douglas
boy with glasses and dark hair that answers the door is thinking about suicide (I quietly wrote this one down because I thought it was to specific and I would be embarrassed to give it, but I wrote it on the pad just in case. hehehe!)
As we're walking out, a lady comes in. No one comes into the church on Tuesday evenings. She is actually there for a meeting for another church that is sharing our space, but she has the date wrong. We ask her while she's there if she would like prayer. We find out that she is the one with conflict in her marriage! We got to minister to her and we had several other words for her that seemed to bless her. Now were pumped. We hadn't even left the church yet and we've got one word down!
So we walk down the first street and we talk to a couple of people. We say that we are from the church around the corner and that God has sent us to tell them that His Kingdom is here and we have been given the ability to preach the Gospel, heal the sick and free the oppressed. Then we asked them if we could pray for them.
At first people answered the door, and seemed very glad that we were there, but did not ask for prayer. We decided to try another street, but we grabbed the last one on that block before we went another direction. The door opened and a teenage boy with glasses and dark hair answered the door! He was very uneasy with us being there and said he didn't need any prayer. The guys, not knowing about what I wrote were ready to turn and leave, but I had to say something. I stepped forward and said "God says to you that he has a plan for your life and purpose. He says you're worth it!" He seemed a little shocked and then promptly shut the door. I hope it was enough.
We went down the next street which was a row of duplexes on one side and apartments on the other. We came to one house where a man was sitting in his garage watching TV. We gave our schpeal and he said he didn't need prayer. When we turned to go we saw a man walk out on his balcony of the apartments across the street. We yelled up at him, could we pray for him. He said yes and came down. He was a new, brand new Christian and was really seeking fellowship and answers. He wanted prayer because he had lost his father. Todd was able to minister to him, having lost his father recently as well. We prayed for other areas in his life as well as offering to come back next week and answer any questions that he might have. He seemed very excited.
When we turned to go, the man watching TV was now at the street waiving us over. When we got there, he sat down with his back to us and said, "You guys are going to think I'm weird." We assured him we would not. "I just got back from the doctor and they have diagnosed me with Neuropathy. I've lost feeling in my feet and it's progressive. It's going to go to my brain. And I think it's really strange that I just got back and then you guys show up asking to pray for me." We prayed for healing and he received greater movement in his ankles which he didn't have. We said we could come back next week and pray again. Our new friend triple checked with us on several occasions before we left to confirm that we indeed would return.
It was getting late now, so we headed back to the church and there were two men walking toward us down the street. We ask them if we could pray for them and they seemed really blessed as we prayed for their family life and a jobs. They wanted to know when we would be coming back that way as well!
Whew! Praise you Jesus!
Can't wait for next week!
Blessings,
Emily
hearing loss
possible brain issue
Marriage with lots of conflict
Douglas
boy with glasses and dark hair that answers the door is thinking about suicide (I quietly wrote this one down because I thought it was to specific and I would be embarrassed to give it, but I wrote it on the pad just in case. hehehe!)
As we're walking out, a lady comes in. No one comes into the church on Tuesday evenings. She is actually there for a meeting for another church that is sharing our space, but she has the date wrong. We ask her while she's there if she would like prayer. We find out that she is the one with conflict in her marriage! We got to minister to her and we had several other words for her that seemed to bless her. Now were pumped. We hadn't even left the church yet and we've got one word down!
So we walk down the first street and we talk to a couple of people. We say that we are from the church around the corner and that God has sent us to tell them that His Kingdom is here and we have been given the ability to preach the Gospel, heal the sick and free the oppressed. Then we asked them if we could pray for them.
At first people answered the door, and seemed very glad that we were there, but did not ask for prayer. We decided to try another street, but we grabbed the last one on that block before we went another direction. The door opened and a teenage boy with glasses and dark hair answered the door! He was very uneasy with us being there and said he didn't need any prayer. The guys, not knowing about what I wrote were ready to turn and leave, but I had to say something. I stepped forward and said "God says to you that he has a plan for your life and purpose. He says you're worth it!" He seemed a little shocked and then promptly shut the door. I hope it was enough.
We went down the next street which was a row of duplexes on one side and apartments on the other. We came to one house where a man was sitting in his garage watching TV. We gave our schpeal and he said he didn't need prayer. When we turned to go we saw a man walk out on his balcony of the apartments across the street. We yelled up at him, could we pray for him. He said yes and came down. He was a new, brand new Christian and was really seeking fellowship and answers. He wanted prayer because he had lost his father. Todd was able to minister to him, having lost his father recently as well. We prayed for other areas in his life as well as offering to come back next week and answer any questions that he might have. He seemed very excited.
When we turned to go, the man watching TV was now at the street waiving us over. When we got there, he sat down with his back to us and said, "You guys are going to think I'm weird." We assured him we would not. "I just got back from the doctor and they have diagnosed me with Neuropathy. I've lost feeling in my feet and it's progressive. It's going to go to my brain. And I think it's really strange that I just got back and then you guys show up asking to pray for me." We prayed for healing and he received greater movement in his ankles which he didn't have. We said we could come back next week and pray again. Our new friend triple checked with us on several occasions before we left to confirm that we indeed would return.
It was getting late now, so we headed back to the church and there were two men walking toward us down the street. We ask them if we could pray for them and they seemed really blessed as we prayed for their family life and a jobs. They wanted to know when we would be coming back that way as well!
Whew! Praise you Jesus!
Can't wait for next week!
Blessings,
Emily
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Kingdom stuff...Let's Go
Dear Friends and Church Family,
Most of you know that Emily and I have been working in Atlanta for the last several months. During that time, we spent a lot of time at Northgate Church in Woodstock, GA. We have wanted to hang out with the leadership of this church for some time because of what we have seen and heard about their outreach ministry to the urban areas of Atlanta. Needless to say, this was a priceless blessing and opportunity for our family.
This church has several teams consisting of a majority of their church body literally going to the streets of the Atlanta metro area. Their Sunday Morning service is mainly for equipping, edifying, kingdom direction, and a send out. I have never seen a church so committed to the great call as this one. They believe and head the call of the disciples in Luke 10: 1-17 literally. Every week, 2 or 3 days a week, they GO, they declare God’s Kingdom when people answer the door, the present the gospel, they heal the sick, they deliver people from addictions and demons, and they lead people to Jesus.
Me and Emily came back home with a clear and obvious direction. We need to GO and do likewise. So let’s go.
Next Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday (June 16, 17, & 18th) we are going to be up at the church at 6pm. We will seek and soak in God’s presence for 30 minutes to an hour, and then we will go to a local neighborhood and knock on doors until the sun goes down or God tells us to stop. Emily wants to try and be available for childcare if needed for those who want to join us. Please let her know in advance. We are inviting and asking anyone and everyone we know that loves Jesus and is willing to step into this part of His Kingdom work to go with us.
Please pray for us and consider joining us on any or all of these days. Love you all and thanks again for your priceless prayers and support.
Most of you know that Emily and I have been working in Atlanta for the last several months. During that time, we spent a lot of time at Northgate Church in Woodstock, GA. We have wanted to hang out with the leadership of this church for some time because of what we have seen and heard about their outreach ministry to the urban areas of Atlanta. Needless to say, this was a priceless blessing and opportunity for our family.
This church has several teams consisting of a majority of their church body literally going to the streets of the Atlanta metro area. Their Sunday Morning service is mainly for equipping, edifying, kingdom direction, and a send out. I have never seen a church so committed to the great call as this one. They believe and head the call of the disciples in Luke 10: 1-17 literally. Every week, 2 or 3 days a week, they GO, they declare God’s Kingdom when people answer the door, the present the gospel, they heal the sick, they deliver people from addictions and demons, and they lead people to Jesus.
Me and Emily came back home with a clear and obvious direction. We need to GO and do likewise. So let’s go.
Next Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday (June 16, 17, & 18th) we are going to be up at the church at 6pm. We will seek and soak in God’s presence for 30 minutes to an hour, and then we will go to a local neighborhood and knock on doors until the sun goes down or God tells us to stop. Emily wants to try and be available for childcare if needed for those who want to join us. Please let her know in advance. We are inviting and asking anyone and everyone we know that loves Jesus and is willing to step into this part of His Kingdom work to go with us.
Please pray for us and consider joining us on any or all of these days. Love you all and thanks again for your priceless prayers and support.
Saturday, May 30, 2009
The long Journey Home
So we got the truck back and the next day we returned the rental car. I noticed that something was wrong with the brakes on the way, so before we could take off, we had to, yet again take the truck in to get looked out. The mechanics did a little adjustment and we finally got on the road in the late morning. I didn't want to stop for quite a while but Eythan decided he had to pee. I was going to make him pee in a cup, but all of the sudden we started hearing a clicking sound coming from the engine. We took the next exit and let the kids potty and eat lunch. When we turned the truck back on the clicking sound was still there. Jon checked it out and could see that the serpentine belt was coming undone and hitting the hood, thus making the clicking sound. He said he thought we could probably make it home, but we decided since we were at an exit we would just find a Firestone (the place that has fixed us up more than we care to recall). Just as I typed in the coordinates in the GPS and we pulled out of the gas station...BAP!! The air quite blowing, the radio went out, all of the gages go haywire and the truck starts over heating. The Firestone is just .9 miles away so we drive like crazy. The fire stone was right in front of a mall so we hung out there while they fixed the truck.....again. We made it home a day later with out any further problems, but we need a new truck. Please pray with us.
We will be staying at a KOA in Arlington while Jon is doing training. We hope to bring what we've learned at North Gate to ours and other's church. I can't wait!
Thanks for your prayers on our journey. See ya soon!
Blessings,
Emily
We will be staying at a KOA in Arlington while Jon is doing training. We hope to bring what we've learned at North Gate to ours and other's church. I can't wait!
Thanks for your prayers on our journey. See ya soon!
Blessings,
Emily
Friday, May 22, 2009
Really....You're Covered.
So we are excited to be coming home, but a little sad because we would like a little more time at North Gate to rest and learn. We pull out of our rv space and hear a squeaking.....we heard it a couple weeks ago when we changed spaces but didn't think much of it. After two speed bumps the squeaking stops, a couple blocks later our drive train falls out of the bottom of our truck.....but at least the squeaking stopped!!!
So, a really nice gentleman at the park came and towed our trailer back to it's spot and we called a tow truck for the truck. We already know some great mechanics down the road......from the LAST time our truck broke down and we towed it there. Thank GOODNESS I didn't put any money in savings or could have been much worse (a little sarcastic humor...if you didn't get it call me later and I'll explain!! :)).
So as I'm sitting in the middle of the road with my foot on the break because the parking break wasn't working and if you let off the whole shebang went backwards down the hill and I keep hearing "You're covered", over and over in my head and heart. I'm thinking "HOW exactly is this being covered, God?" But when I was finally able to get out and see the damage, and I realized what could have happened if we had made it to the freeway and were going 60 mph instead of 2 mph. I realized just how covered we were! Today the enemy had planned to kill my family. Not getting the results he wanted from simple harassment, he decided to just take us out. But Praise the ALL MIGHTY GOD WE'RE COVERED!!!
So I guess God wasn't finished with us in Atlanta yet. We really wanted a week to learn some logistics from the guys at North Gate anyway, and Jon was having second thoughts on Flood Training after talking to a couple guys who didn't have very good experiences. But we should be back for Eberls/State Farm training. The guy who helped us? From Eberals/State Farm.....ironic huh?
So.....we're at peace. Shouldn't be....but we are. We're covered.
As far as I know...we'll be back home next week....but that's what I said.....last week. So I guess I should say....I'll see you when God sends us back to Dallas!!!
Blessings,
Emily
So, a really nice gentleman at the park came and towed our trailer back to it's spot and we called a tow truck for the truck. We already know some great mechanics down the road......from the LAST time our truck broke down and we towed it there. Thank GOODNESS I didn't put any money in savings or could have been much worse (a little sarcastic humor...if you didn't get it call me later and I'll explain!! :)).
So as I'm sitting in the middle of the road with my foot on the break because the parking break wasn't working and if you let off the whole shebang went backwards down the hill and I keep hearing "You're covered", over and over in my head and heart. I'm thinking "HOW exactly is this being covered, God?" But when I was finally able to get out and see the damage, and I realized what could have happened if we had made it to the freeway and were going 60 mph instead of 2 mph. I realized just how covered we were! Today the enemy had planned to kill my family. Not getting the results he wanted from simple harassment, he decided to just take us out. But Praise the ALL MIGHTY GOD WE'RE COVERED!!!
So I guess God wasn't finished with us in Atlanta yet. We really wanted a week to learn some logistics from the guys at North Gate anyway, and Jon was having second thoughts on Flood Training after talking to a couple guys who didn't have very good experiences. But we should be back for Eberls/State Farm training. The guy who helped us? From Eberals/State Farm.....ironic huh?
So.....we're at peace. Shouldn't be....but we are. We're covered.
As far as I know...we'll be back home next week....but that's what I said.....last week. So I guess I should say....I'll see you when God sends us back to Dallas!!!
Blessings,
Emily
Monday, May 18, 2009
Worship Reloaded
Remember in Matrix reloaded? The people of Zion are all gathered. The last remnants of humanity living their dreary lives caved up with the enemy consistently at the gate. Then in a release of passion and freedom they dance to the rhythm of drums and hope.
I love that scene, I always have. It's hot. It's passionate. It's the essence of the desire of a people to live and truly live in the midst of desperation.
I've always wondered why worshiping God couldn't be like that, but this Sunday it was.
The Spirit of God lit on his people at this little church in Atlanta. We were singing of how God spins over us and is pleased when we spend ourselves for him and dance. Then it happened. Here we were, living our dreary lives, the enemy consistently at the gate and we danced. Men women, children, old, young, white, black, Hispanic. In passion we danced for the Glory of God, and it released freedom. Freedom like I've never witnessed. We danced to the drums that echoed the hope of our Salvation for today, and tomorrow and the next. Hope in our Creator's goodness.
It was hot. Hot, sweaty, passionate, spinning worship. People were healed of pain, men and women were healed of the fear of man and God the Creator of dance and music was glorified.
This was worship reloaded, a piece of the heavenly worship here on earth. Man I can't wait to see how they do it there without the limitations of the flesh; we could only go for about two hours. But I have a pretty clear picture after yesterday.
I love that scene, I always have. It's hot. It's passionate. It's the essence of the desire of a people to live and truly live in the midst of desperation.
I've always wondered why worshiping God couldn't be like that, but this Sunday it was.
The Spirit of God lit on his people at this little church in Atlanta. We were singing of how God spins over us and is pleased when we spend ourselves for him and dance. Then it happened. Here we were, living our dreary lives, the enemy consistently at the gate and we danced. Men women, children, old, young, white, black, Hispanic. In passion we danced for the Glory of God, and it released freedom. Freedom like I've never witnessed. We danced to the drums that echoed the hope of our Salvation for today, and tomorrow and the next. Hope in our Creator's goodness.
It was hot. Hot, sweaty, passionate, spinning worship. People were healed of pain, men and women were healed of the fear of man and God the Creator of dance and music was glorified.
This was worship reloaded, a piece of the heavenly worship here on earth. Man I can't wait to see how they do it there without the limitations of the flesh; we could only go for about two hours. But I have a pretty clear picture after yesterday.
Friday, May 15, 2009
Discovering Atlanta
Whew! We are finally out and about now that Jon has a little (and I mean little) time free. The first thing we did was go to the Mall of Georgia, which is like the Galleria and Frisco Mall smooshed together....then doubled! They had a bungee jump there that we let the kids do, and Jon had the brilliant idea that Caedon should try. Against my better judgement he convinced me...and well judge for yourself......
(if you can't view the video from the email go to the blog spot and you can see it there)
Eythan and Charis Bungee Jumping:
Caedon Bungee Jumping....a.k.a Baby slingshot torture:
Yesterday we went to the worlds largest aquarium. Yes...the WORLDS LARGEST aquarium is in Atlanta, GA. It was amazing! Pardon the quality of the pictures, we left the camera at home and had to use our cell phones.
Here are the kids "petting" rays and bonnethead sharks.
This is a two story slide. Notice there is no pictures of Caedon. Apparently the dim bowls of the beast were a little to realistic for him and I had to rescue him when he came out instead of getting a picture.
Jelly Fish Room.
Kids being attacked by Jelly Fish.
Tropical Reef Room. The aquarium extended to over our heads and every couple of minutes a wave would crash in timed to music. It was pretty awesome. Jon thought it would make a very relaxing bedroom. I thought it would cost millions of dollars.
(if you can't view the video from the email go to the blog spot and you can see it there)
Eythan and Charis Bungee Jumping:
Caedon Bungee Jumping....a.k.a Baby slingshot torture:
Yesterday we went to the worlds largest aquarium. Yes...the WORLDS LARGEST aquarium is in Atlanta, GA. It was amazing! Pardon the quality of the pictures, we left the camera at home and had to use our cell phones.
Here are the kids "petting" rays and bonnethead sharks.
This is a two story slide. Notice there is no pictures of Caedon. Apparently the dim bowls of the beast were a little to realistic for him and I had to rescue him when he came out instead of getting a picture.
Jelly Fish Room.
Kids being attacked by Jelly Fish.
Tropical Reef Room. The aquarium extended to over our heads and every couple of minutes a wave would crash in timed to music. It was pretty awesome. Jon thought it would make a very relaxing bedroom. I thought it would cost millions of dollars.
This is the largest aquarium. It can be viewed from all sides and in the tunnel below. There were whale sharks, sand tiger sharks, giant grouper, and a giant Manta ray, which is the only one in captivity! She is 13 ft across right now and is expected to exceed 20 feet across, which makes this the only aquarium to be able to house an animal of that size.
This is an alligator. .. Or so I'm told. I taught the kids months ago the difference between the two when we were studying reptiles. If felt good to know they remembered something, because Charis was correcting everyone and laying out the ways to tell the difference. I hope she remembered it right, because I sure don't remember the difference!!!!
So when we got home from the mall the other day, Jon had 3 more claims in his inbox. He called his admin director and asked what was up. He said that is was fluke, don't expect anymore work. Jon got off the phone and checked his in box and *DING* there was another claim. A few minutes later *DING*, *DING*, *DING*, three more claims. As of today they are still coming. So as this is great and money is still flowing, we have a decision to make..well we've made it already but prayer would still be appreciated. Jon has signed up for Flood training a week from this coming Monday. He will cut himself off from work next week, and any SURE possibility of making money to take this training. BUT once he is Flood certified, he will most likely be busy year round. So just pray for wisdom and blessing, that would be the best thing we could receive right now.
Also Jon just called and he was able to minister to an insured today. She lost her husband last month and had a 4 year old son. It was really a divine appointment and it is great to see God still putting us where HE needs us most.
We will be back next week and we can't wait to see those of you in Dallas!
Blessings,
Emily
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Your Covered
So here I am a week after melt down and I'm feelin' pretty fine. I'm having a lot of faith right now, a lot of trust. Thank you God for the gift of Prophecy!!
We went to the "Prophetic Discovery" at North Gate on Friday and it was AWESOME!
After a bit of worship, when it was our turn we were called into a room with three people; a man, a woman, and a teenage boy; who we didn't know from Adam....well we had met the pastor once before and he happened to be one of our guys. After waiting for them to hear from the Lord here are some things they had to say:
*Jon is like an oil well exploding from the top. This is anointing and/or financial blessing. But the man didn't feel like it was in a financial sense. (my response was "Oh shoot!")
*Havens means a safe place and God says He has made it safe for us. God says no matter what you perceive your circumstances "Your Covered". The teenager says he feels like God is saying, you have the tendency to freak out when something happens, but you need to rest in that covering. (seriously! You don't say! Have you been reading my blog?! is what I wanted to ask)
*The boy saw Jon with callouses on his hands and said God says you are a hard worker, with work and with the Kingdom. You will be blessed both spiritually and financially for hard work.
*Also the oil well is a picture of that covering and as long as we rest in the "haven" God has created for us, the anointing to reach God's people will be there and if we move in the anointing to reach the lost then the "covering" the "haven" will be there...does that make sense.
*For Eythan, he is mechanical and has a good imagination. Practically, they told him to write his ideas down and keep writing!
*For Charis, the man saw Charis writing and drawing, that she should continue to do that.
*The family, we should have music playing all the time. There is a creative bent that needs that.
*Me....and this is exactly what I was expecting because it is the one thing I struggle with more than anything. I need to cherish my ministry as a mother. I need to think of it as my primary ministry instead of the thing I'm doing right now while I'm waiting to do the good stuff. The man said I'm a person that needs down time in order to process this job and that if I don't get it, I can't be good at it. This is exactly what Jon and I have been discussing in recent weeks. So very confirming.
*The boy said there is also something else I'm doing that is reaching many people and that it is showing them the reality of Christianity. I can't remember is exact words the transcript is in the truck and I don't want to get it now....but his wording made it obvious to both Jon and I that he meant my blog. That is the hope that I have for it, that somewhere someone is saying "I thought I was the only one!" and then they know their not and that their normal......well as normal as can be and still think comparing themselves to me is a sane idea.
So there you have it, Prophecy in action, God's word for His people. It was very encouraging and very uplifting to know God has us covered and that He was verifying everything we were confronting. Yes some of them were very vague.....so what....they said them to us....right at the time we needed to hear them. They said it in love and blessing. Prophecy ROCKS!!! Thank you "guys I can't remember your names from two nights ago", you spoke God's words into our lives and blessed our family.
Until next time!
Blessings (and I really mean it)
Emily
We went to the "Prophetic Discovery" at North Gate on Friday and it was AWESOME!
After a bit of worship, when it was our turn we were called into a room with three people; a man, a woman, and a teenage boy; who we didn't know from Adam....well we had met the pastor once before and he happened to be one of our guys. After waiting for them to hear from the Lord here are some things they had to say:
*Jon is like an oil well exploding from the top. This is anointing and/or financial blessing. But the man didn't feel like it was in a financial sense. (my response was "Oh shoot!")
*Havens means a safe place and God says He has made it safe for us. God says no matter what you perceive your circumstances "Your Covered". The teenager says he feels like God is saying, you have the tendency to freak out when something happens, but you need to rest in that covering. (seriously! You don't say! Have you been reading my blog?! is what I wanted to ask)
*The boy saw Jon with callouses on his hands and said God says you are a hard worker, with work and with the Kingdom. You will be blessed both spiritually and financially for hard work.
*Also the oil well is a picture of that covering and as long as we rest in the "haven" God has created for us, the anointing to reach God's people will be there and if we move in the anointing to reach the lost then the "covering" the "haven" will be there...does that make sense.
*For Eythan, he is mechanical and has a good imagination. Practically, they told him to write his ideas down and keep writing!
*For Charis, the man saw Charis writing and drawing, that she should continue to do that.
*The family, we should have music playing all the time. There is a creative bent that needs that.
*Me....and this is exactly what I was expecting because it is the one thing I struggle with more than anything. I need to cherish my ministry as a mother. I need to think of it as my primary ministry instead of the thing I'm doing right now while I'm waiting to do the good stuff. The man said I'm a person that needs down time in order to process this job and that if I don't get it, I can't be good at it. This is exactly what Jon and I have been discussing in recent weeks. So very confirming.
*The boy said there is also something else I'm doing that is reaching many people and that it is showing them the reality of Christianity. I can't remember is exact words the transcript is in the truck and I don't want to get it now....but his wording made it obvious to both Jon and I that he meant my blog. That is the hope that I have for it, that somewhere someone is saying "I thought I was the only one!" and then they know their not and that their normal......well as normal as can be and still think comparing themselves to me is a sane idea.
So there you have it, Prophecy in action, God's word for His people. It was very encouraging and very uplifting to know God has us covered and that He was verifying everything we were confronting. Yes some of them were very vague.....so what....they said them to us....right at the time we needed to hear them. They said it in love and blessing. Prophecy ROCKS!!! Thank you "guys I can't remember your names from two nights ago", you spoke God's words into our lives and blessed our family.
Until next time!
Blessings (and I really mean it)
Emily
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
The Verdict
Fixing the truck?
Only going to cost us everything we have in savings. Not as bad as we thought.
Blessings,
Emily
Only going to cost us everything we have in savings. Not as bad as we thought.
Blessings,
Emily
What the @#$% !
(before you read this understand I'm going to be as honest as possible....if you don't like honesty, real emotion, and all that implies, or if you would rather live in an imaginary world of Happy Christendom, then do not proceed. Also you probably shouldn't let young children read it.....)
Do you really want to know?
Here it is....
I'm going to blow the top off the inner workings of a REAL Christian.
You know me. I've been a Christian forever. I've had my struggles and doubts, triumphs and faith. Some people even look up to me. They either think "Hey...she really LOVES the Lord and has it all together." or they might think "Wow, she has such a genuine relationship with God."
Here's the real me.....
Sunday was AWESOME. We visited our friends church, North Gate, near Atlanta. The people were nice, the service was awesome, the message was "in-your-face-motivational" and the worship was incredible. I even got healed of a sore throat and ear ache during worship. But you know what I'm thinking? Do you really want to know?
"Oh God, if I only could sing like the worship leader. If I could only have her voice and her confidence. Then I could really do some amazing things for you. Oh God, if only I could play the keyboard like that guy, he's amazing. I could really usher in your presence if I was like that. I'm just not good enough."
So I spent most of worship repenting.
After church the kids start telling us what happened in their class. First of all, Charis has made instant friends with a little girl there, who is one month younger than she is. We found out later when we met her parents that they home school and we had lunch with them. We have a lot in common and hope to spend more time with them while we're here.
So in their class they had the kids do ministry and Eythan, while praying, feels a breeze and then falls to the ground and starts speaking in tongues. Charis also feel a manifestation of the Holy Spirit in her arms and falls down "a little" I'm not sure how that works...falling down a little? Anyway! We're super excited, we've always wanted for our kids to be involved in minstry this way. Also we're going to get to be involved in their outreach ministries while we're here, and we were going to go to a prophetic discovery night (that's what they call it) where you can just be prophesied over. We've met some new friends and Jon has the day off on Monday. Awesome stuff.
So on the way to get groceries.......
The truck breaks down again.
WTF God!?!?!?
YOU are supposed to protect us! YOU said your plans were for good! You are supposed to give me rest!
REST?!? I'm tired....tired of trying to find you in the little things. Tired of being hopeful. Tired of having faith. I live in a freakin' TRAVEL TRAILER! Your WILL sucks!
In the words of King David.....Did you bring us here to kill us?
Because it sure feels that way. I feel beaten and abandoned. I feel insignificant and loathed.
Again King David Said it best:
Psalm 13
For the director of music. A psalm of David.
1 How long, O LORD ? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me?
2 How long must I wrestle with my thoughts and every day have sorrow in my heart? How long will my enemy triumph over me?
3 Look on me and answer, O LORD my God. Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in death;
4 my enemy will say, "I have overcome him," and my foes will rejoice when I fall.
Yeah that about sums it up!.....oh wait.....there's more.
5 But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation.
6 I will sing to the LORD, for he has been good to me.
God's spirit is water to my soul, his word, the bread of life. When my feelings tell me different, his Word is Truth.
Jeremiah 29:11
11 For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
No fear, no worry
Matthew 6
25"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? 26Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life[b]?
28"And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' 32For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
And when I can no longer stand on my own, my church....that is my family (and my family family) are there to see me through.
Jesus help me.
Jon's getting the truck diagnosed right now. Just pray it's easy and that he will be able to go to work tomorrow. Pray for protection over our stuff and our family. We really feel this an attack of the enemy to keep us from participating in Kingdom stuff. Pray for my spiritual schizophrenia and I'll pray for yours! (hey...if it was good enough for David!)
Blessings,
Emily
Do you really want to know?
Here it is....
I'm going to blow the top off the inner workings of a REAL Christian.
You know me. I've been a Christian forever. I've had my struggles and doubts, triumphs and faith. Some people even look up to me. They either think "Hey...she really LOVES the Lord and has it all together." or they might think "Wow, she has such a genuine relationship with God."
Here's the real me.....
Sunday was AWESOME. We visited our friends church, North Gate, near Atlanta. The people were nice, the service was awesome, the message was "in-your-face-motivational" and the worship was incredible. I even got healed of a sore throat and ear ache during worship. But you know what I'm thinking? Do you really want to know?
"Oh God, if I only could sing like the worship leader. If I could only have her voice and her confidence. Then I could really do some amazing things for you. Oh God, if only I could play the keyboard like that guy, he's amazing. I could really usher in your presence if I was like that. I'm just not good enough."
So I spent most of worship repenting.
After church the kids start telling us what happened in their class. First of all, Charis has made instant friends with a little girl there, who is one month younger than she is. We found out later when we met her parents that they home school and we had lunch with them. We have a lot in common and hope to spend more time with them while we're here.
So in their class they had the kids do ministry and Eythan, while praying, feels a breeze and then falls to the ground and starts speaking in tongues. Charis also feel a manifestation of the Holy Spirit in her arms and falls down "a little" I'm not sure how that works...falling down a little? Anyway! We're super excited, we've always wanted for our kids to be involved in minstry this way. Also we're going to get to be involved in their outreach ministries while we're here, and we were going to go to a prophetic discovery night (that's what they call it) where you can just be prophesied over. We've met some new friends and Jon has the day off on Monday. Awesome stuff.
So on the way to get groceries.......
The truck breaks down again.
WTF God!?!?!?
YOU are supposed to protect us! YOU said your plans were for good! You are supposed to give me rest!
REST?!? I'm tired....tired of trying to find you in the little things. Tired of being hopeful. Tired of having faith. I live in a freakin' TRAVEL TRAILER! Your WILL sucks!
In the words of King David.....Did you bring us here to kill us?
Because it sure feels that way. I feel beaten and abandoned. I feel insignificant and loathed.
Again King David Said it best:
Psalm 13
For the director of music. A psalm of David.
1 How long, O LORD ? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me?
2 How long must I wrestle with my thoughts and every day have sorrow in my heart? How long will my enemy triumph over me?
3 Look on me and answer, O LORD my God. Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in death;
4 my enemy will say, "I have overcome him," and my foes will rejoice when I fall.
Yeah that about sums it up!.....oh wait.....there's more.
5 But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation.
6 I will sing to the LORD, for he has been good to me.
God's spirit is water to my soul, his word, the bread of life. When my feelings tell me different, his Word is Truth.
Jeremiah 29:11
11 For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
No fear, no worry
Matthew 6
25"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? 26Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life[b]?
28"And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' 32For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
And when I can no longer stand on my own, my church....that is my family (and my family family) are there to see me through.
Jesus help me.
Jon's getting the truck diagnosed right now. Just pray it's easy and that he will be able to go to work tomorrow. Pray for protection over our stuff and our family. We really feel this an attack of the enemy to keep us from participating in Kingdom stuff. Pray for my spiritual schizophrenia and I'll pray for yours! (hey...if it was good enough for David!)
Blessings,
Emily
Saturday, May 2, 2009
The Conference
First let me tell you the purpose of the conference. Susan, my new friend, felt God calling her to go to the four corners of Oklahoma and "open the Gates". The first stop was Altus, OK in the southwest corner of OK. The first night, there were several women and several other women came from the correctional facility. After a bit of worship, Susan felt God telling her someone needed to be healed of rape. Now, everyone knows you don't ask for women to come up for something so personal in the first thirty minutes of a conference. But a lot of times God doesn't know our rules. Susan was faithful and two beautiful young women stepped forward and began the road of healing. We all agreed they looked physically different; younger, lighter, happier. It was an amazing work of God. The entire weekend was full of healings like this, God opening hearts to forgiveness of others and self; releasing of past and stepping into the future, the destiny God has placed on our lives. One of the most remarkable moments for me was when Susan said she felt like God was saying to release a sound into the atmosphere, like a shofar (ram's horn used in worship and battle). We had a shofar there, but she felt like it needed to be women's voices. Jeanine and I awkwardly began, but the rest of the women took it up. Though there were only 20 or so women there, the sound was incredible. After a while it sounded like there were hundreds of women in the room, and the overtones became unearthly.....angelic if you will.
We heard some awesome teachings by some awesome women. I could go on and on about what they said but you get board and quite reading because I could never do them justice! The last night was incredible for many reasons. First, we sang "new songs", or spontaneous songs for about 30 minutes just asking God to open the gates. It was a very powerful time. The we started worship. It was a little difficult to break through at first, but then the sweet, sweet presence of the Lord filled the room. I haven't felt anything like that in a long time. It was just a precious time of soaking in the Lord's love for his girls. As we just sat there in the glory, Susan got up and said to everyone, "I think if you lick your lips you will taste honey." Sure enough, I licked my lips and they were sweet. A second later they were wet again, and I licked them again and there was more honey on them. This lasted the rest of the night, and didn't go away until I went to bed!! Pretty cool! That was a first for me.
I think God's purposes there were accomplished and I can't wait for the next "gate opening"! Many lives were changed and something was released into the atmosphere of Altus, OK that will make it more conducive to the work of the Holy Spirit. I myself was touched and something was released in me. Freedom in worship, prophetic worship, locked inside now free. I just need more practice!
Please pray for Altus, OK as with any freedom gained, the enemy will redouble it's efforts for bondage. Pray for Susan as she seeks the Lord for OK, as the enemy has no qualms about singling out officers. Why am I passionate about the battle for Oklahoma? Oklahoma is the heart of the heartland, of the United States of America! It's dead center. If God can bring revival to OK, revival will be injected into the bloodstream of America. Funny, the heart has four chambers. In these times there is little hope, and we feel America is too far gone. But God doesn't always know our rules. Let's see what he's about to do!!!!
Blessings,
Emily
We heard some awesome teachings by some awesome women. I could go on and on about what they said but you get board and quite reading because I could never do them justice! The last night was incredible for many reasons. First, we sang "new songs", or spontaneous songs for about 30 minutes just asking God to open the gates. It was a very powerful time. The we started worship. It was a little difficult to break through at first, but then the sweet, sweet presence of the Lord filled the room. I haven't felt anything like that in a long time. It was just a precious time of soaking in the Lord's love for his girls. As we just sat there in the glory, Susan got up and said to everyone, "I think if you lick your lips you will taste honey." Sure enough, I licked my lips and they were sweet. A second later they were wet again, and I licked them again and there was more honey on them. This lasted the rest of the night, and didn't go away until I went to bed!! Pretty cool! That was a first for me.
I think God's purposes there were accomplished and I can't wait for the next "gate opening"! Many lives were changed and something was released into the atmosphere of Altus, OK that will make it more conducive to the work of the Holy Spirit. I myself was touched and something was released in me. Freedom in worship, prophetic worship, locked inside now free. I just need more practice!
Please pray for Altus, OK as with any freedom gained, the enemy will redouble it's efforts for bondage. Pray for Susan as she seeks the Lord for OK, as the enemy has no qualms about singling out officers. Why am I passionate about the battle for Oklahoma? Oklahoma is the heart of the heartland, of the United States of America! It's dead center. If God can bring revival to OK, revival will be injected into the bloodstream of America. Funny, the heart has four chambers. In these times there is little hope, and we feel America is too far gone. But God doesn't always know our rules. Let's see what he's about to do!!!!
Blessings,
Emily
Friday, May 1, 2009
Why the shower head broke
I was scrubbing the shower (my favorite job in the entire world...not) and I must have gotten to zealous because; now covered in comet and sweat; I turn on the shower and....it doesn't work. Water is just spewing out the bottom of the fixture. After and hour of doing, we figure out that it's flat broken and there ain't no fixin it. At least there are bath houses here and I could get cleaned up.
So on Jon's day off we have to travel across Atlanta and go get the part we need to fix it. Of course this is an RV so you can't just go down to Lowe's and pick it up. We had to find an RV specialty store.
An hour and a half in traffic later we get to the RV part store and get our part. While we're there we decide to look at some of their RVs for sale. As we're walking back to the office to pay for our part a car pulls in and is overheating. Jon sees if he can help. After he's talked to them for a while (the woman gets out and it's obvious she's about to pop out a baby any day), and we've paid for our part. Jon offers to tow them with the truck to their mechanic.
It's a horrible drive but the whole way Jon is praying for some word of knowledge or wisdom from God to speak into their lives. He says he thinks something about singing. He asks me if I have anything. I don't. So he asks the kids if they have anything. Charis says "No, but right before you asked me that, I had a picture of a lion in my head." I got the interpretation. If she is a singer, the Lion is the symbol of the tribe of Judah, and God has anointed her singing for his worship.
So the awkward moment approaches (for me anyway....no one else ever seems bothered by this but me) where Jon shares the words. She is entirely blessed by what he has to say and then he turns to the man. Jon's only word for him was "purpose". It really meant something to the guy and what Jon told him was right on. Then Jon says out of the blue "the purpose God has for you will be inherited by your son" and points to the pregnant girl. The girls squeals and says "He just kicked! He just kicked! When you said that he kicked!" It was a really neat moment and then Jon was able to encourage them to get into a church and be in fellowship.
It was amazing for our family to participate together in evangelism and a perfect pictures of "see in part, hear in part". I didn't even care anymore that I broke the shower!
Blessings,
Emily
So on Jon's day off we have to travel across Atlanta and go get the part we need to fix it. Of course this is an RV so you can't just go down to Lowe's and pick it up. We had to find an RV specialty store.
An hour and a half in traffic later we get to the RV part store and get our part. While we're there we decide to look at some of their RVs for sale. As we're walking back to the office to pay for our part a car pulls in and is overheating. Jon sees if he can help. After he's talked to them for a while (the woman gets out and it's obvious she's about to pop out a baby any day), and we've paid for our part. Jon offers to tow them with the truck to their mechanic.
It's a horrible drive but the whole way Jon is praying for some word of knowledge or wisdom from God to speak into their lives. He says he thinks something about singing. He asks me if I have anything. I don't. So he asks the kids if they have anything. Charis says "No, but right before you asked me that, I had a picture of a lion in my head." I got the interpretation. If she is a singer, the Lion is the symbol of the tribe of Judah, and God has anointed her singing for his worship.
So the awkward moment approaches (for me anyway....no one else ever seems bothered by this but me) where Jon shares the words. She is entirely blessed by what he has to say and then he turns to the man. Jon's only word for him was "purpose". It really meant something to the guy and what Jon told him was right on. Then Jon says out of the blue "the purpose God has for you will be inherited by your son" and points to the pregnant girl. The girls squeals and says "He just kicked! He just kicked! When you said that he kicked!" It was a really neat moment and then Jon was able to encourage them to get into a church and be in fellowship.
It was amazing for our family to participate together in evangelism and a perfect pictures of "see in part, hear in part". I didn't even care anymore that I broke the shower!
Blessings,
Emily
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Divine Appointments
Ok....as promised
What happened with Jon!
So the first time Jon went out, during IKE he was able to minister to people left and right. Almost every insured he saw he either had a word of knowledge for them and was able to pray for them or was able to minster in some other way. New York was hard. The only word of knowledge he got was for the policeman who pulled him over. Kentucky out right sucked. He wasn't able to minister to anyone. So this time around he was praying for the opportunity to do God's work. Well.....God's favor seems to be on roofers this time. If a roofer shows up to an appointment Jon almost always gets a word of knowledge for them and is able to minister in some way. But Jon had been hanging out with a new friend, a fellow adjuster, and wanted to be able to speak into his life. He could feel that God had something for him but wasn't quite sure how to go about it. The opportunity came when they decided to have dinner together. Now if you've ever gone out to eat with Jon, you know that he is going to start witnessing to the waitress....I guess you could call it a special gift....I call it it "time to go to the bathroom"...but I'm getting much better at not being embarrassed! Anyway, the waitress asks if they need anything else and Jon says "Actually yes, do you work in Hospice?" She told him no. So Jon says "Well, the reason I ask is because I'm a Christian, and God loves to talk to his kids. I feel like God is speaking to me about you and I see this picture of you by a hospital bed caring for a man who is very ill or dying. Does that mean anything to you?" This touches the woman deeply and through her tears she is able to tell Jon that her husband has just died of brain cancer and she had been caring for him in his illness for three years. She was very curious about what God had to say about that. It was definitely God's timing because this conversation could have gone either way. But Jon was able to speak into her life about the love of God and how God never wanted sickness and death in the world, and that God hurt when she hurt, and cried when she cried and that he loves her and wants to know her more. He was also able to explain The Comforter...ie...the Holy Spirit.
Needless to say this opened a door for God to speak into Jon's friends life as well.
It never ceases to amaze me, just by being available, what God will and can do!
God Rocks!!!
Emily
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Where to begin
There is so much I'd like to share with you I'm afraid that one post would be overwhelming. So I'm going to start with our pane trip. I'll save the conference and the awesome works God is doing for Jon for another time!
Well, traveling in an air plane with three kids, one of them two years old, went about as well as could be expected. We got to the air port early in case it took me a while to get all four of us through security. It actually went pretty smoothly until we had all gone through and a man says "We're going to have to check one of your bags." Having nothing to hide, I went to where they directed me and a woman appeared. "Is there anything sharp that could poke me before I open this?" "I couldn't guarantee it, it's our school bag. I checked it for scissors before we left, but I'm not entirely positive." She dug around for a minute and then pulled out a zip lock baggie. It was then that I remembered the clay tablet project I had done a couple months ago with my sisters kids. I had wondered what happened to all that clay! Well apparently it's not a preferred substance to have in a carry on, especially in a wade, in a zip lock baggie, along with the chargers for your computer and cell phone! I told them they could trash it, but they said they couldn't and had to do some testing on it. So I stood there for a while while they rubbed this on it and sampled that. Eventually they gave it back and said they were sorry to have detained me. I completely understood.
So after killing an hour at the gate we get all lined up to board and then they tell us we're delayed another 20 minutes. Once we get on the plane, and I'm trying to get the kids settled in their seats, a man gets on board and decides to sit at the emergency exit. The problem is.....he only has one hand! Ok....I'm all for equal opportunity, and not discriminating....But seriously....you need two hands to open the emergency exit. So he gets all offended and won't change seats. They have to bring in two big wig guys to talk him down and I'm not sure how they finally resolved it but I think the words "free" and "sue" were tossed around a bit. Ok, now that we've sat on the plane an extra twenty minutes for that little outburst we finally get in the air. It was a little rough with turbulence, but not too scary and Caedon had a blast, along with Eythan and Charis. The poor people in front of us hated us though. All Caedon wanted to do was put the tray down, put the tray up, put the tray down, put the tray up.....ahhhh! He had finally had enough by our decent and pretty much screamed for the last 20 minutes.
It was sooooo good to see Jon and the kids flipped when they saw him.. It's awesome to be together as a family again. No matter how small our house, or how crazy our life. We're a family and just being together is the thing that makes it all worth it.
We love you all and we'll keep you updated on our progressing adventure. Jon just got some more claims here in Georgia, so we may be here for a while, but we would also like to be sent to Oklahoma city area.
I'll check in tomorrow and let you know the awesome God stuff happening with Jon!!!
Blessings!
Emily
Well, traveling in an air plane with three kids, one of them two years old, went about as well as could be expected. We got to the air port early in case it took me a while to get all four of us through security. It actually went pretty smoothly until we had all gone through and a man says "We're going to have to check one of your bags." Having nothing to hide, I went to where they directed me and a woman appeared. "Is there anything sharp that could poke me before I open this?" "I couldn't guarantee it, it's our school bag. I checked it for scissors before we left, but I'm not entirely positive." She dug around for a minute and then pulled out a zip lock baggie. It was then that I remembered the clay tablet project I had done a couple months ago with my sisters kids. I had wondered what happened to all that clay! Well apparently it's not a preferred substance to have in a carry on, especially in a wade, in a zip lock baggie, along with the chargers for your computer and cell phone! I told them they could trash it, but they said they couldn't and had to do some testing on it. So I stood there for a while while they rubbed this on it and sampled that. Eventually they gave it back and said they were sorry to have detained me. I completely understood.
So after killing an hour at the gate we get all lined up to board and then they tell us we're delayed another 20 minutes. Once we get on the plane, and I'm trying to get the kids settled in their seats, a man gets on board and decides to sit at the emergency exit. The problem is.....he only has one hand! Ok....I'm all for equal opportunity, and not discriminating....But seriously....you need two hands to open the emergency exit. So he gets all offended and won't change seats. They have to bring in two big wig guys to talk him down and I'm not sure how they finally resolved it but I think the words "free" and "sue" were tossed around a bit. Ok, now that we've sat on the plane an extra twenty minutes for that little outburst we finally get in the air. It was a little rough with turbulence, but not too scary and Caedon had a blast, along with Eythan and Charis. The poor people in front of us hated us though. All Caedon wanted to do was put the tray down, put the tray up, put the tray down, put the tray up.....ahhhh! He had finally had enough by our decent and pretty much screamed for the last 20 minutes.
It was sooooo good to see Jon and the kids flipped when they saw him.. It's awesome to be together as a family again. No matter how small our house, or how crazy our life. We're a family and just being together is the thing that makes it all worth it.
We love you all and we'll keep you updated on our progressing adventure. Jon just got some more claims here in Georgia, so we may be here for a while, but we would also like to be sent to Oklahoma city area.
I'll check in tomorrow and let you know the awesome God stuff happening with Jon!!!
Blessings!
Emily
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