Update

As many of you know, our family has been on an amazing journey. I wanted to take this time to update everyone on what is going on. I am finally at a place where I feel like I can bring you up to speed. Before now, I didn’t have enough of an understanding to do so. Believe it or not, this is the short version:

When we first got here, we were expecting something big to happen. We knew that acting in obedience to the Lord would break something open for us, but what that was, we had no clue. We just knew God was good and had a plan. After arriving, we were a bit discouraged. There was no great “thing” that happened. We had felt a sense of urgency, yet we got here and there was nothing to do. We went by the church, eager to meet people, and met only the receptionist and her husband. There was no great connection there, although they were very nice, but not the connection we were hoping for. The soonest chance we would have to “plug in” would be Saturday, when there would be a brunch for the women in the church. This was Tuesday. The church was open for prayer in the evenings, however, if we wanted to go there. We showed up to this open prayer time, hoping to meet someone that would say, “Wow! The Lord has been telling me about you. This is what he says to do next.” When we got there, no one else was there. So, we prayed and the Lord showed us a picture of wheat blowing dry in the wind and a title wave rising up behind it. He said we were like this wheat, feeling dried out and in want, and we have no idea God has been preparing a title wave to wash over us. Then he said, “Just wait for it.”

Wait? Not the answer we were hoping for. What were we going to do now? We didn’t know anything outside of “move,” so we didn’t want to look for a house or place to rent, because we knew the Lord had a plan. So, we were stuck in the waiting. Dan couldn’t even start working because of some technical difficulties with his transfer.

 It was so frustrating! We were so eager to connect and there was no one to be found! We were so eager to move forward, and there was no direction to go. We were just sitting in this big fat void!

So, we went exploring and got to know the area. One of the days we went up and visited my mom about two hours north of where we are.

On Saturday I went to the woman’s meeting and I could feel something starting to spark in my mind, but I wasn’t quite sure what it was. I did, however, start to feel my confidence and strength replacing my timidity.

Sunday was the day that things really started to happen. We went to church, again hoping to have some miraculous breakthrough and word form the Lord. We were hoping to meet some people that would immediately take us under their wing and minister to us. We met up with the people that had prophesied over us last month, and figured out where everyone would be going to lunch. We went to lunch and introduced ourselves to a bunch of people. One of the guys came over to pray for us. “The Lord sent me over here to pray for you, “ he said.

“Great! I thought. This is where the Lord reveals his plan!”

When he prayed he said, “I pray for a sense of home.”

We felt an incredible peace and the presence of the Spirit. But, still no direction.

We decided that there wasn’t a magical person waiting for us that was going to say, “I have a place for you to stay.” Or, “The Lord says…”

So, we set out looking for furnished places to rent. That didn’t last long as there weren’t any. I guess it’s too far from a big city for there to be a demand for something like that.

Sunday night we went to a special healing service. This is where they lay hands on the sick and heal them. While we were there praying for people, one of the guys comes up to us and says, “Where is your youngest daughter? I want to see her.” We went and got her and he said, “The Lord showed me that you are a healer and a prophet. Sometimes he shows me things like that about children. I am going to pray that you receive that gifting now, and, if you feel like it, you can lay hands on this girl with me.” He prayed and they laid hands  on the girl, and she was healed. It was great! (The girl had a broken knuckle, if you were curious.)

When we left there, The Lord started talking to Danny. As we were driving, Danny suddenly turned. He didn’t say anything, but I could tell he was hearing from the Lord, because he gets a distinct look. He slowed down and made another turn. Then, we pulled up to an adorable yellow house with a “for rent” sign in front of it. Danny said, “The Lord told me to turn here and pay attention.” We jotted down the number and vowed to call the next day.

The next day we called the number, but there was no answer, so we went to drive by the house. The owner happened to be out front and we had a great conversation with him. He showed us the house and it was perfect. Very simple, perfect location. We filled out an application and hoped for the best.

That night I panicked. “Why would you have us sell everything we own just to have us buy it all again? I don’t want to just start over in a new place. Are we doing the right thing? Did we really hear from you? Etc…” Well, the Lord met me.

He expanded on the vision he gave me way back in December. I had been working from a very small window of this vision, but knowing the Lord would reveal more when it was time. He had shown me that we would be going from place to place visiting people and preparing the way for him. But, in the vision, I knew the people. They were great friends. This had always confused me because I don’t know people all over the world. Yet, I knew the Lord would work it all out. He showed me that at first the visiting would be a longer term, like two years at a time. It would be a “living there.” Then, we would go back and visit the places we had been. He showed me that he already has done that with a few other places in our lives. We will have “bride pods” all over the world. So, right now, we will be living here, establishing relationships. He said that he had us sell everything, because it doesn’t matter. The “stuff” holds you back from being flexible. He said that every time we leave a place, he wants us to sell everything we have and go, then get new things there.

On Wednesday I went to the woman’s group and there were two women that spoke words from the Lord over me. One was a great prophetic word that affirmed everything the Lord has been telling us, along with saying that she believed we were here for equipping and training. That was a huge blessing!

The other conversation was with a woman sitting at my table. She told me some great things. She asked me if I’d found a place to live yet. I said we were still looking. She said, “There’s a house down the street from me that just went up for rent. I’ve been praying over it that Godly people would move in. I live in downtown.”

I looked at her and said, “Is it a yellow house?”  

She said, “YES!”

I said, “We just put in an application for that house!”

Today, we sign a lease for that yellow house! The funny thing is, he tried to offer it to two other people before us and for some reason or another, they fell through. It’s amazing what the Lord is doing.

There are pages more that I could tell you. This really is the short version. It is just this incredible weaving of the Lord’s will that astonishes me. It’s the amazing fact that God is real! He really does have a plan. And he really will be there to see it through!

Until next time,

Tara