Insightful article on sexual abuse

Completely encouraged and thankful for this post here today.

May you be educated, encouraged and thankful as well.

(Disclaimer: My re-posting of this article does not in any way mean that our children have been sexually abused. I am not re-posting it for that reason. However, I find this article extremely valuable and insightful, and it encourages me, as I learn and heal from wounds in my own past and for that reason I share it).

February 2013 Prayer Letter

Living, Loving, and Learning

There is so much the Lord is teaching us in our time living here on the mountain in Montana. I wrote in the last post about how no one comes to this place without a direct call from God. That truth has been re-playing itself over and over in my hear this past week. We've been here a little over a month now, living life day by day. We are finding our way, carving out our place, and fitting into the routine. We feel like we 'fit' despite the days when it is hard to make sense of it all. We've been assured that we fit and welcomed in as part of the family here. That makes a world of difference.

That thought struck me this early morning. How being assured we 'fit' helped ease our anxieties about being in this new place...when all along our heavenly Father has assured us that this is where we 'fit' best. We have always felt the Lord's unmistakable peace about coming to Montana to the ranch. We have always felt that this was His perfect plan. We have always felt that He was divinely directing our paths, even though we could not even begin to understand why,

So, why, I ask myself this morning, did I need the reassurance of those here once we got here?

In my flesh, I wanted to hear it...and, in His grace, the Lord responded.

But, He also has continued to speak. Over and over since we have arrived, we have heard the phrase "for such a time as this." You may recognize this as the very words Mordecai spoke to Queen Esther, encouraging her to use her position and power as Queen to fight for her people. We truly believe that we are here in this place for such a time as this. The Lord continues to confirm this in our hearts. We have no position or power, but we are part of a tight knit group of believers who are sold out for Jesus. They are followers of Jesus who count the cost daily and follow Him wherever He leads. We can see the hand of God in bringing us here for such a time as this. He is revealing His plan to us little by little and it is undeniable that we are here at this time for a very specific purpose.

We are confident that even before time began, the God of heaven, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, knew and PLANNED that we would be here in this very place at this very time.

Stop and reflect on that for a moment..do you truly believe in God's sovereignty in your life?

This has become more real to me than ever before in my life. Hearing the stories of how people came to arrive here at PFM, reveals this truth more and more to me. Each week, listening to the teaching of Pastor Bob Coy from Calvary Chapel Ft. Lauderdale, pieces begin to seemingly fit together and we become more and more aware of how chance or accident or happenstance just cannot be the answer to the way life works out like it does.

The TRUTH is that God has know from the beginning of time and He works out His plan in our lives day by day. He is sovereign and He is faithful to those who are faithful to Him. We believe that more than ever in these days. We still find ourselves wondering "Why me, Lord?" yet we trust in Him and believe His ways are perfect and so we press on.

We know God is preparing us in our time here on the mountain. We are beginning to understand the details. But in these days, He has given both of us the clear message to wait on Him as He works. That is often the hardest thing. Yet, I am reminded of the song we sang often at Capilla del Calvario in Villarreal, and now sing often here, that reminds us that there is strength when we wait upon the Lord. I'm reminded that we as humans often grow weak and weary as we wait, but the Lord never does. I'm reminded that we are a people who are weak, fail, are without hope and eventually all die. But our God never fails, is strong and mighty, He alone is our hope, our Strong Deliverer and he reigns forever!

I am so thankful today for the Lord's grace and mercy and hand upon my life. We are learning to love in these days. We are learning to die to ourselves and to  our desires and to our wants. We are learning to be servants, and to die to the desire to be served. We are learning more and more about just how much our Great God loves us and cares for us, and in turn we are learning how to love more freely, more openly, and more lavishly.

Thank you for your continued prayers for our family. We thank each one of you who continues to support our family through love and prayers and giving!

May the Lord bless each and every one of you today!

Olney, Montana...Only God!

Olney, Montana...That's the name of our new home...Where is that? you ask. Well, follow Highway 93 North almost to Canada and you'll find it...go on to Mile Marker 148 and make a left and you'll find the Potter's Field ranch nestled into the Montana mountains, the thick green evergreens, and lots and lots of powdery white snow...

See, the thing is...nobody really comes to Olney, Montana...unless directed here by God. One former Potter's Field Intern named his blog 'Olney, Montana...Only God' for that very reason. No one makes their way to Mile Marker 148 and 0.7 miles unless they are being lead by Jesus himself.

We are exactly 24 miles from the nearest town- Whitefish, Montana. So, if you think about that statement- we are 48 miles round trip from the nearest grocery store, gas station, civilization!!! Have you ever heard stories about grizzly mountain men...only coming into town every so often for supplies...and when they do they have this wide-eyed, stir-crazy look about them?

Yeah...that is SO true! And so our life now! Hahahaha...

I'm painting you a picture of real Montana life...but it isn't really our life :) But we do only go into 'town' about once a week for shopping purposes. We have chapel services once a week and church once a week. Other than that, we live at the ranch, surrounded by twelve Ignite program interns and a handful of on-site staff. When we all do get into town, we all do probably have that wide-eyed look about us, though...hahaha...

We moved from Costa Rica back to the United States about 3 months ago. WOW! It has gone by so fast! We lived in Indiana for about a month visiting with family and ministry partners. then we began a three-week road trip across the United States, visiting family and ministry partners along the way! It was an amazing three-weeks! We have memories that none of us will ever forget! We saw parts of the United States and God's creation that are absolutely amazing!

We arrived in Montana on December 20th, 2012. Just in time for Christmas! Our first White Christmas in about 6 years! Our first Christmas spent with family in about that long! Our parents were able to be with us this year in Montana to celebrate! It was wonderful!

And, now we are happy to say that we are settled in here at the Ranch and enjoying the abundant joyful life the Lord has blessed us with. We have so much to be thankful for. The Lord has given us so many amazing blessings. I thought I'd highlight a few with you today...

~We have the amazing privilege of serving with Potter's Field Ministries. If you've never looked into this ministry that the Lord is using to transform lives, please do so right now! Click here to go to there website and read more about them...Because we serve with PFM, we serve under a leadership team who are grace-filled, passionate about Jesus, lovers of the TRUTH, and dedicated to sharing the gospel with the lost, wherever and with whomever the Lord leads them, and also dedicated to making disciples of the nations...all of this with the purpose of transforming lives forever. They are the real deal. WE ARE BLESSED!
~We have the amazing opportunity of learning the stateside process of the ministry we've served with for the past two and half years. This has proven to be an incredible blessing! We could never have imagined the blessing this was going to be. We see more and more of God's providential plan in bringing us here each day!
~We have the amazing blessing of doing life with young adults who have chosen to deny themselves of their desires, who have chosen to take up their cross, and who have chosen God's way over their own. These kids are amazing!!  We call them around here 'IGNITE 1.0-ers.'They have chosen that for the next year- their everything belongs to Jesus! They are on a crazy journey that is just beginning. We are thrilled beyond belief to have the opportunity to invest in them at a stage that is so so key to their futures. Right now, many of them are just lumps of clay. Some are hard and dry and brittle. Some have been washed with water and come ready to be placed on the Potter's wheel. Some find themselves already on the wheel, clay in the Potter's hands, waiting for the Lord to being molding and shaping them into a masterpiece. Then there are a very few who find themselves a beautiful vessel, knowing they need to be broken by the master Potter, in order that their true beauty and potential and the Potter's Master plan might be unfolded over the course of the next year of their lives.
~We have the amazing blessing of serving with a handful of former interns, all of whom have returned from the field and have chosen to dedicate more of their lives to serving Jesus. We call them '2.0-ers.' They are here at Potter's Field ranch because they are being refined...they've been the lump of clay, been washed with the water, sat  on the Potter's wheel, been broken and chipped, and have been made new again, re-formed and re-worked...and now they find themselves ready for the fire of the kiln. Ready to be refined. They seek the Lord's will and are willing to live radically different lives in order to live fully for Christ!
~We are clinging to 1 Corinthians 2:9 in these days...We are believing great things from God! We are expecting Him to do things in our lives that no eye has seen, no ear has heard and no mind has conceived. We believe Him to do these things because we believe His Word to be true. We believe it to be the authority in our lives. We believe in this vision. We believe in the leaders. We believe.

We love you all. We thank you for hanging with us over the years. We ask you to believe with us. We ask you to keep praying with us!

And...watch out for those moose!

Hahaha...