Do It Again!

Both Hudson and Josiah are attending an amazing, private, Christian school where each week they have a chapel service.  If you are want to worship with spiritual giants show up at 10:25am on Tuesday morning and get rocked by these amazing kids!  Every week students from each class get up and share testimonies about what the Lord is doing in their lives.  After each kid shares a testimony all the kids shout “do it again God, do it again!”  I’ve recently learned that the Hebrew word for “Testimony” literally means “do again!

This week a second grade boy got up front to share his testimony.  “Next month, I get to get a new dad!  I haven’t had a dad in a long time and I’m so happy.” 

We live in a fatherless generation and there are so, so many young men without a father.  So Lord, we just declare the testimony of this boy for those without fathers.  We also pray that the fatherless would enter into relationship with their true Father by the work of Jesus Christ on the cross and the power of His resurrection. 

Do it again God, do it again!

This is what's it's like for me sometimes going into class... little kiddos lined up blessing us and praying for us as we enter!  Is that awesome or what?!

Amazing Gift Givers

Do you know who is absolutely amazing at giving? We have a large and growing list of the Lord's amazing provision that he has given to us through all of you. Gearing up for the Thanksgiving holiday, I turn my heart to express the gratitude that has been welling up in me for quite some time.
We have been here in Cali for three months now and it has been such a blessing to hear from so many of you on a regular basis. Some of you have sent a timely text or card saying that you are praying for us or just thinking of us. Many have encouraged us in support of this adventure the Lord given. Some days trusting him feels like slipping on ice. Other days I am soaring on his unbelievable tangible presence.

A big part of living as the body of Christ is really a dance of tying hearts, a unity, a togetherness that I guess leaving has made me feel even more aware of. So thank you to so many that have made it possible for us to make the transition. For Joben to be even more equipped in the calling God has placed on his life.  For Hudson and Josiah to go to an amazing school that teaches them to dream with God, thank Jesus daily and to recognize what the Holy Spirit is up to.  We have all benefitted from this time devoted to knowing our Lord in a deeper way.
Thanks to our parents: Mike & Susan and Jack & Desie for your amazing support of us practically, financially, and with your love and prayers daily.

Thanks to the following for your support.  Your reward is eternal as you sow into the Kingdom of Heaven.  Your support has been made all the difference to us!

Changing Seasons

The temperature here finally dropped enough to feel like the season has changed. It's been mid-seventies up til a few days ago. Until today the California fall feels more like and Oregon summer. We woke up to an overcast sky, very strange not to see the sun filtering through the trees on the horizon. I worked outside trimming some trees and stringing up a rope swing until lunch time when we took the kids to the $1.50 movies.  When we emerge from the theater the rains had come and fall was here. 


The cool temperature, the moisture in the air and the fragrance of the neighbor chimneys made us all miss home today.  I’ve never been away from Oregon, or Springfield for that matter, for this long ever. 


Everyone has their favorite season, but for me I truly love the changing of the seasons.  Each new transition holds anticipation for the coming holidays, hunting trips, camping trips, yard projects, bundled next to the fire with your favorite hot drink... you get the idea.  The changes are marked with the signposts of budded sticks, bright-green leaves, vibrant color displays and piles of debris piled into to compost for the season ahead. 

 Life, growth and death come naturally and sometimes expectedly amidst these changing seasons.  The perpetual summer weather up to November would spoil any Oregonian as it has us.  Our family has experienced so much life and growth in our short season here, but the familiar feel of the cold, wet weather makes us miss home in a way we haven’t experienced until now.

Helmet Cam Zipline

Nothing's ever boring in our backyard.

Picnic Table

We had some really high winds come sweep through here a few weeks ago. When I looked outside I saw that our umbrella to our patio set was laying on the other side of the back yard. After retrieving it I walked back over to our table to find the glass top shattered into four billion pieces (approximately). We love sitting and dining outside and to be without a table has stirred Mica to appoint me as project manager. 

We looked for patio furniture that might be on sale with the changing seasons but we were a bit too late to get in on some of that action. We decided a picnic table would be cool and I set myself to build one. I landed on some plans on found online, wrote down the shopping list and headed to the Home Depot. Now, if you're from Eugene/Springfield you are incredibly spoiled. I guess I've just taken advantage of the fact that our "Jerry's" is the largest privately owned home improvement shopping center in the country! They not only have everything you could possibly want they also have an incredibly well-trained staff with years of field experience, and they do customer service like non-other.  So I'm down at "The De-pot" looking for lumber for my picnic table and they don't even sell cedar deck boards! Ha!  Therefore I resorted to Doug Fir while the boys and I proceeded to sift through two units of lumber until we obtained all the best-looking boards.

I spent the next day cutting and sanding in preparation for the application of some kind of wood treatment (stain, sealer, etc.), which I wanted to apply prior to assembling. So I'm back down at "The De-pot" in the paint department talking to a surprisingly knowledgeable sells guy who told me that I had plenty of options, that is until I told him my table was being constructed of Doug Fir.  Shaking his head he told me that it was unfortunate I had not gone with Cedar, for now I would have to go with a full-color stain because Doug Fir does not take stain very well.  I call this “The De-pot Paradox.”  I miss you Jerry’s.

Swedish Fashion Is Here!

I’ll try to introduce you to some of the amazing people we’ve met here and share their incredible stories with you.  Right now I’d like you to meet Bijörn (as in the Swedish “Baby Bijörn” front pack), Nina and Lewis (pronounced Luisz).  They are such an incredibly fun, young couple with such an awesome story!

Nina has always had a dream to transform the fashion industry for the Lord.  They decided they were going to do this through jeans.  Through a series of unbelievable stories that reveal the supernatural favor of God on their lives they have started their own line of jeans called “Ninaqui” (pronounced Nina-key”).  A generous chunk of all their proceeds go to charity and each pair of jeans is personally numbered and individually prayed over.  The anointing of the Lord over their endeavor has brought international attention and unprecedented advertisement without costing them a dime.  One such story showcased of the winner of “Swedish Idol” (similar to American Idol) who wore their jeans at the final round of the show and which flashed several images of their design logo continuously over national television in Sweden. 

Check out their website and if you’re feeling spicy order your own pair of Ninaqui’s!

www.ninaqui.com

School Overview

October is just around the corner but summer is very much alive and “hot” down here in Redding with temperatures remaining in the upper nineties.  As you can see from the picture we’re still rocking the pool in the backyard (I’m so glad we brought it!).

I realize I have yet to write anything about my schooling other than “it’s begun.”  I’m two-and-a-half weeks into it now and this experience has been so much to take in.  The Lord is doing such a powerful work in me through the gentle moving of his Holy Spirit in my life.  He is affirming so many things in me through so many different ways through so many different people. 

Picture of the main building from across the parking lost 

The school is comprised of first, second and third-year students (interns).  There is over nine-hundred first-year students, over one-third of which are internationals.  First-year students all have the same lecture sequence and course-work curriculum, but get to choose “Activation Groups,” where first-year students are combined with second and third-year students who facilitate a variety of weekly, community-wide outreach programs that integrate the classwork with hands-on experience to see God release the supernatural in the lives of people through ministry in the marketplace.  There are over five-hundred second-year students and a hundred-some interns who have separate classes but work directly with the first-year students as part of their leadership development training.  Bethel has a discipleship school over on the coast, but the school we are a part of here is specifically designed for leader development for ministry deployment.

We meet corporately, all nine-hundred first year students for general sessions four days a week, Monday through Thursday.  We always start with worship, which every time is the most incredible concerts you’ve ever experienced!  Imagine nine-hundred people, whom most have sold and left everything to travel half-way around the world, who are desperately hungry to see the Lord move in power ways all gathered together praising the God of the universe, all led by some of the most talented musicians you’ve ever heard… it’s worth the tuition right there!

The general sessions are lecture style classes with time allocated questions at the end.  We have a rich variety of really top-notch teachers including senior leaders Bill Johnson,Kris Vallotton, Danny Silk, Paul Manwaring and many others (you can google their names to learn more about them).

We also are assigned to “Revival Groups” of about sixty to seventy people who are overseen by a Revival Group Pastor and an intern.  We meet with our revival group twice a week.  Even in the short amount of time we’ve been together we’ve got to know each other really well. 

I hope to “unpack” some of what I’m learning along the way through this blog. 

This is a picture of the "Alabaster House" which is a 24 hour prayer chapel on the property