It's Been A While

Hey All,

It's been a while since I posted last. We had problems with our internet at our last house and then when we moved to North Bay I forgot that I had a blog. My Mom saw that I had a blog the other day and said she would like to see me blogging again. Thanks Mom. It was a good reminder. :)

Life has been interesting. It's full of ups and downs but One thing is constant - my LORD and my God! Since we started this faith journey almost 3 1/2 years ago our life has changed dramatically. We went from having a steady income where we knew what our finances would look like, things might have been tight, but we had enough, to trusting God for finances when things don't look pretty on paper. We had Benjamin in the midst of all of this and he is now over 2 years old. We have lived with a few different people during this time as well as having our own place a few times. This has been stretching for all involved but I see God in each circumstance. I see Him teaching, stretching, mentoring, guiding, cleansing, purifying through all of it.

I am not the same person I was 3 1/2 years ago. I'm sure none of us are. I am not the same in so many ways. The Lord has been killing my people pleasing. This has been so huge for me because fear of man has had a huge hold on me through my life. I have struggled with wanting to please my parents, my siblings, my bosses, my Christian leaders, my husband, my kids and even people who are driving on the same stretch of road that I am. Rory said to me one day "Dana, you will never see them again. You don't have to worry about what they think about you." He's right and yet the fear remained.

I heard an amazing talk by John Bevere about Breaking Intimidation a couple of weeks ago. Wow was it ever powerful! I felt a real breakthrough in this area of my life. After much rejection over these past few years because of people not agreeing or understanding what God has asked us to do, Rory and I have had to learn to let go. To let go of what people think. We just have to obey. We have to be faithful to what He has clearly shown us to do. We have to minister to those He puts in front of us and be faithful to trusting He will, as the old Keith Green song says, "take care of the rest." That song says it so well. Here is a link to listen to if you've never heard it or haven't heard it in a long time. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gAe0q21YgTQ 


The amount of fear of man that has been broken off of us is amazing. I really believe this had to happen before we could move on to new things God has for us. There is still more that has to go...I'm just so glad I'm not the same woman I was 3 1/2 years ago. I want more of HIM and less of me. I want to obey Him and not do something because I'm afraid of what a mere man might think of me or do to me. People may have opinions but it doesn't mean those opinions are right. It's good to ask the Lord and seek Him as He will use people to speak into our lives but we cannot let intimidation keep us from serving God in the way He has asked us to serve Him. God will ask us to do things that don't make sense. He asked Noah to build a boat when it had never even rained on the earth before. The people thought he was crazy! God asked Abraham to leave his extended family and go out into the desert where he had no idea where he was going. God also told him to believe that he would have a son in his old age. This was crazy yet he believed and it was counted to him as righteousness. God asked a young girl to believe she would become pregnant though she had never had relations with a man before...and Mary believed. God asked Gideon to take on an entire army of thousands against only 300 of his men...and with torches and trumpets. Gideon trusted and believed God and they defeated the great army. 


Why is it so hard for us to believe that God will still ask us to do crazy things today when He did asked that of believers all throughout the Bible? Is He still not the same God He was then? Are we still God's people or not?? Who do we say that God is? Is He able to do great things?? Is He trustworthy? Didn't he save Daniel out of the lion's den and Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego out of the fiery flames?? Didn't he save Mary from being divorced quietly by Joseph? Didn't he save Joseph out of the dungeons to become second in command of all of Egypt?? Didn't he save the Israelites from the great Pharaoh and free them when He said it was time?? Who do we say that God is??

I say that I believe. It's not always easy. Living the life God has asked us to lead is nowhere close to easy and I want to quit many times but I know He doesn't always call us to easy. He asks us to obey. Obedience is greater than sacrifice the Lord says in His Word. What is He asking you to obey today? What are you fighting Him on? I know I fight Him way too much and I have to surrender because he loves an obedient heart. It's all through His Word.

I love you all!

Dana

The Lord is my Shepherd

"The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures, He leads me beside quiet waters, He restores my soul." Psalm 23: 1-2

The words of these verses penetrate my soul right now as I sit and write this excerpt. Because the Lord is my Shepherd...the One who leads me and guides me and cares for me, I shall not be in want. Though battles may rage around me, He is a trustworthy guide! Though storms may feel that they are at my doorposts, I do not have to worry, for He is a Protector like none other! I MUST follow Him to the quiet waters and rest by His side...at His feet. There...in the quiet...He WILL restore my soul.

How often I have missed the resting place, His quiet lap, and instead chosen stress, worry and anxiety in the midst of a place of needed trust. Yet...He is ever so patient and loving and kind. He waits for Me, loving Me and caring for me even when I am running around in my mind like a crazy person! What an awesome and faithful, Loving God we serve!

Life can be crazy...no matter what kind of life we are called to walk out for Him...the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. I want my life to be WORSHIP to Him! I LOVE the old song that goes like this: "Oh how I love Jesus. Oh how I love Jesus. Oh how I love Jesus...because He first loved me."

These are things the Lord has been teaching us in this faith walk. May the Lord shine His light through our lives.

Dana

Re-establishing contact

Hello All,

We are finally getting back on board with getting information out on how things are going up here in Canada!

God has been so good! We still haven't been able to get our publisher back up and running so decided to share how ministry is going through a blog style format.

We hope this finds everyone doing well. We are so excited about Spring coming...the snow is melting...birds are returning...and weather is getting warmer. One of the most amazing times of year as we see God's creation coming back to life again!! WHAT A MIRACLE!!

We are back to birthday season. Jacob is turning 11, Chaeli is turning 9, Sammy is turning 7 and Benjamin is coming up on his 1st birthday. How has this year gone so fast?

My (Dana) landed status paperwork is due April 14th and we are really praying for the final money we need to send in the application. We really appreciate your prayers. We need a little over $300. Thank you for your prayers!

We are excited about the direction God has been giving us. He has been teaching us so much about His views of us, areas we need to grow in and how He is and wants to use us. We will share more on this soon!

May the Lord bless you! We love you!

Rory and Dana

just a test

Just wanted to test whether this would post.

Day 7

Thank you so much for all your prayers everyone! We got across the border and it was a total miracle of God! They seemed hesitant to want to let me, Dana, across because I am an American coming across with no job and no proof of how I would support myself. Or course we know that God is our provision...but they wouldn't understand that, necessarily. I was praying and the Lord just confirmed in my heart that He had it taken care of. They made us go inside to talk to an immigration officer. I told the officer that we had tax money in the bank. He asked me for a way to prove it. I told him I had no paperwork of that sort but I could call the bank and have him listen to the amount we had. He said that would work. He didn't have a phone I could use so I tried to add money to my cell phone. But while I was trying to do that the phone died because it was out of "juice." He ended up saying "that's fine." I don't need it. He wanted to know about health insurance for the kids...which I said they did have in CA...but I wasn't sure if it could be used here in Canada...and he wanted to know about schooling for the kids which we told them they are homeschooled. He looked at our records from when we lived here before and said we had done everything "by the books" then so he was going to let us in. He said if we're here longer than 2 months then we need to get paperwork for that. God is sooooo good!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks again for your prayers!! God is definitely at work! We ended up not making it to our final destination last night because we were going through really crazy weather yesterday...most of the day. The rain was of the torrential sort last night and the wind was very strong...so we decided to stop again one more night. We have another 3 1/2 - 4 hours of driving today. Yeah! We're almost there! :)

Day 6

We traveled from Rolla, Missouri to Richmond, Indiana. Richmond is around 20 minutes East of Indianapolis. Wow! Indianapolis is a HUGE city!! We told the kids about the big car race that happens in that city. We also went through St. Louis today and I couldn't resist a good singing of the song "Meet Me in St. Louis." We were able to show the kids the big arch that St. Louis is famous for. We drove right by it on the highway.

Again, we have missed all bad weather that was forecasted. The Lord has really taken us through that amazing window of good weather and safe travel. We traveled through Missouri, Illinois and Indiana. Our last day of travel will take us through Indiana, Ohio, Michigan and into Ontario. That is very exciting to know we are almost there. We are very ready to arrive. It has been a very good trip. The kids have been absolutely amazing!!! They have not complained about being in the car for too long at all. They have been so good about playing in the backseat together, reading books, keeping a log of the things they see in each state. They have been learning the geography of many states by a very concrete, first-hand experience. Rory has been taking lots of pictures.

The Lord is so faithful and we are truly grateful! We appreciate your prayers as we go through the border. We know He is faithful and already has the path paved before us. He has all the way...so we KNOW He will continue to do so.

Day 5

Today was a very eventful day. We started out from Erick, OK and needed to go through Oklahoma City. In OK City we had to transition from the 40 East to the 44 East. We were sad to say goodbye to the 40 since we had been traveling on it for so many days. The 44 East ended up being a turnpike...a toll road. We got on it before realizing that was what it was and we had not gotten gas or lunch yet. There was nothing for quite a while and were getting concerned about our gas tank getting pretty low. God is so good and took care of it. We eventually found one but had to pay to get off of the turnpike. We did not know we were getting on a toll road so were not completely prepared for this situation. It was a machine that wanted exact change. God is so good and had prepared us for this situation without us not knowing it.

While in Albuquerque, NM...two days earlier...I had tried to get Rory a water from a vending machine with a dollar bill. However, the waters were all out so it gave me change back in 4 quarters. I ended up needing those 4 quarters for the exit off of this turnpike.

The turnpike machine was not responding to the change I had put in. I ended up having at least $2 in change...God is good...but it still had a red light. I asked the driver behind me what I was supposed to do...since I am not used to these things...and he told me he would drive through. So, I took his advice and drove through. It beeped at me like I was breaking the law...but I knew I hadn't. I ended up asking the girl in the gas station we went to and she told me that we wouldn't get a ticket for it since the cameras didn't work in that area. I was thankful. I had paid...so I knew we were right before the Lord. While at this stop area, we got some lunch and ended up meeting a pastor and his wife. We talked with them for a bit about the ministry the Lord was calling us into and they told us of the ministry they were doing in that area. It was a neat time of fellowship. Rory ended up going after them, when they had left, and asked them for contact information and prayed with them. This was a divine appointment. God is so faithful!

Texas and OK are currently struggling with fires due to the dryness and heavy winds. We ended up driving through an area where there were fires next to our side of the highway. I had never been that close to a fire like that before. They were not big fires but there was a good amount of smoke. Both states have lost over 4,000 acres from these fires. Please pray that they will be stopped soon. God is good and kept us safe through that.

We made it to Rolla, Missouri. When checking in, the woman who was working the front desk told me that a week ago it had snowed 8 inches here. Not far away, where her daughter lives it had snowed around 1 1/2 feet...yet today it had been 83 degrees there. Wow! We had been prayed for before we left that God was taking us through a window to give us good weather and get us to our destination safely! I cannot tell you how much that has been true! This account of Rolla, MO was a GREAT example of this!! God is so faithful! We are so grateful!!!! He is soooo good!!! :)