The Dogs of Doom are Barking

Ok, so there are 10 days until we leave for the States. Things seem to be getting a touch hectic as we tidy up loose ends here, there and everywhere. Call this company, email that person, pick up something from Adelaide, research some obscure thing. We are crossing things off our list but it doesn't seem to be getting any shorter. 'One thing at a time', my Mum always told me, 'one thing at a time'.

In the midst of the many tasks needed to be completed before we leave on the 21st, there have been a few random and annoying occurrences that we could have done without.

We all have horrible colds. The poor kids are snotty and coughing. Hannah's been very unsettled at night due to her extremely high boogie levels, so our sleep hasn't exactly been wonderful either.

Last Saturday, Lachie fell out of his Uncle Dan's ute and broke his arm. Yeah, that's right, he broke his arm. It was Monday before we took him to the doctors, seeing as he was ok apart from not wanting to use it at all. He had an X-ray which showed both bones in his forearm to be slightly bent and a little bit broken. Really not too bad. He was given a cast in Strathalbyn Medical Clinic and he was awesome about it. It was on for 1/2 hour before he said that he'd like it off. Hmm, sorry mate, no can do.

Anyway, the doc at Strath wanted him to go to the Fracture Clinic at WCH just to check it was all ok, so we headed there today (thurs), waited for an hour and a half to see the doc for 5 mins. A little frustrating. He was given a new cast, a lovely red one, which he was pretty stoked with and we were told to return in a week. Yeah, just what we were hoping to be doing 4 days before take off. Oh Man. Sucks.

And there are quite a few things that we need to get organised before we go that are proving to be very frustrating. Overall, it is taking a lot of time, energy and faith just to keep our heads up and keep pressing on towards the goal.

People ask us, are we excited? Well, no actually. I'm a little frazzled and my patience is running pretty thin. I'll be excited when we are on the plane. I don't have time for excitement right now.

Having said all this, we have been reminded of a sermon preached by Kris Vallotton, the Associate Pastor at Bethel Church. In it he made this statement 'the dogs of doom bark loudest at the doors of destiny'. Let that sink in for a sec. Think about when you ring the door bell at someone's house, they have an 'inside dog' or two and you hear them run for the door, barking like crazy, making you take a step back. Imagine your friend opens the door and there at her feet are two little yappy chihuahuas. 'What was I so worried about?' you think as you step over the dogs in disdain and enter the house.

This is what happens when we are at the door to our God-given destiny. The 'dogs of doom' are those things that come up against us, attempting to prevent us opening the door and stepping into the plans and promises God has for us. Of course the evil one does not want us to fulfill our destiny as a child of God so it comes as no surprise that when we stand at the edge of our future, 'things' seem to happen......a lot of things.

If we do press on, step through the door and enter in, we realise that the dogs and the barking were all for nothing, a big hooha, in comparison to what we've come into.

In the midst of all the 'stuff' happening, we're remembering this, actually to be honest, we're clinging to it!! In fact, the dogs of doom can bark all they want and as loud as they want cause in 10 days, we're opening the door and stepping into the destiny the Lord has for us and we shall relish the moment.....broken arms and all.

Hey Kids! Don't forget to say 'please' and 'thankyou'!

Well, in the excitement of posting my first blog entry, I forgot my manners. My parents would be appalled.

As I mentioned in my last post, we have already seen the hand of God at work in this whole life-changing process. We know that He moves in response to our prayers, that what we pray matters to Him.

When God was going to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah (see Genesis 18), Abraham asked Him basically, "what about the righteous people? Should they die with the wicked?". Abraham bargained with the God of the universe, imploring Him to spare the city of Sodom for the sake of the righteous. The Lord said "If I find 50 righteous people in the city of Sodom, I will spare the whole city for their sake."

Abraham went on to bargain God down to 10 righteous people. Just 10, and the whole city would be spared. A pretty good deal I reckon. Unfortunately, there wasn't even 10, so the cities went up in smoke. The Lord was still gracious however, sending angels to escort Lot out of there safely. Yes, God cares for the one.

Anyhoo, what i'm trying to get at is that our prayers move the hand and heart of the Lord to action.

We want to say thankyou for all your prayers so far and please keep going!! Your prayer support is vital to our survival.

Secondly, there have been people that have already responded to God's leading and generously given to us financially. Thankyou so very much. We know that as you have sowed into our ministry, the Lord will bless you.

The money we have received so far has helped us get passports, visas, pay school fees and buy furniture. In addition to general living costs, there are on-going school fees to pay for Ben and the boys. Ben will also have the opportunity to go on a couple ministry trips during the year, each being self funded. We live knowing God will provide our every need. Its a good place to be.

So our 'please' is please keep praying for us: for peace, safety, ease of transition, provision and health.

Our 'thankyou' is thankyou so much for all your support; your prayers and your generous gifts. We have been blessed so much in this journey already, we wait in great anticipation of what the Lord has for us next.

Tired, Stressed? You'll feel better on Swisse.

Actually, multivitamins only take you so far don't they? Do Swisse guarantee Peace? Joy? Hope?

Thankfully we have an everlasting source of such things in our Lord Jesus. This is just one of the lessons we are slowly learning in our preparations to move our family from Milang, South Australia to Redding, California.

I guess we'd better back track and tell the whole story of how we came to this crazy decision. Not only to cover the facts but also to demonstrate the hand of God at work in our lives every step of the way so far. Its a bit of a long story so go make yourself a cuppa first.

About 3 years ago, Ben read a book called "When Heaven Invades Earth", by Bill Johnson, Pastor of Bethel Church in Redding, California.

The ideas, insight and revelation in this book challenged and awakened Ben to truths in the Word that he had never heard preached or considered himself. It resonated within his spirit and the fire was lit.

Stories from Bethel School of Supernatural Ministry were included in the book as real examples of the Word in action. Ordinary people living out a supernatural life everyday. Healings, deliverance and prophecy, to name a few, stirred a passion within Ben, a desire for more from his walk as a Christian, a desire to know his God at a new level of intimacy.

As a result of these stories, Ben 'googled' the school. He read everything he could and was struck with the realisation that he had never felt so passionate about anything before in his life. It was like he was reading his own heartbeat on the screen. He knew he had to get there but how? At that point we had two little kids and plans of having a third. We had no money, no assets and no support. Ben reluctantly put the thought of going down to a pipe dream.

Fast forward 2 years. In March 2010, Ben, myself and Ben's sister Ness went to Sydney and attended a conference with Bill Johnson as the main speaker. I was 32 weeks pregnant with our afore mentioned third child.

On the second day a prophetic word was given for the general congregation. Initially, Ben dismissed it. Too wishy washy, not for him...........but then all of a sudden the man giving the word was speaking of Ben's life from the pulpit. The word was about honouring 'man' and honouring the Lord. It was time for Ben to honour the Lord. It was time to leave the farm.

WHOA, hold up there. What? Where will we go? What will we do? What about the kids? We have nothing! It was an intense time. There were tears. In the midst of the heartbreak and confusion though, there was a sense of excitement, an air of 'what if?'. The dream of Bethel was re-born.

Later that day, Ben was speaking to a young lady who turned out to be a student at BSSM and was travelling with Bill as part of his ministry team. She added fuel to the re-kindled fire in Ben's heart with her own stories of life in Redding. She went on to prophecy over Ben, which is when God uses someone to speak His words to people. Ben had not mentioned anything concerning his journey at this point. She said she 'saw' a big jug which was filled with a liquid that was being stirred up. The sediment from the bottom was being stirred up again. It was representative of old dreams being stirred up in Ben, it was time for them to be realised.

She also said that if Ben was to take the first step, the Lord would show him the next one. Each step being taken in faith that the Lord would continue to lead.

These words brought peace to Ben, confirmation of what God was telling him. It was exciting!

Home again and telling Ben's parents that we were not going to be farming in the future was not a pleasant experience for anyone. First step done.

Second step was to apply for BSSM. Which Ben did. With no idea how we were going to get there finance wise. His application was successful.

Around that time, thanks to Ben's part in the farm business the funds became available for us to get to Redding.

So from the start of this year, we've been actively working towards getting to Redding. Trying to organise our massive move, three small kids in tow, has taken a lot of our time, energy and mind space. Now, with about 4 weeks to go, all the little details are starting to do our heads in, to be honest. We have lists of random thoughts everywhere. Things to do, things to take, people to call, stuff to get rid of. Crazy.

And so, we make it back (finally!) to the title of this post. Yes, we're tired. Yes, we're stressed but we know where God is calling us and we've seen His hand so evidently on the whole process already. We take these things and hide them in our hearts. The Prince of Peace is in control of our lives and we're willing and happy to follow Him where ever He leads. Even to the other side of the world. If He wants us there so much as to orchestrate this, we can only imagine what He has in store for us.