Wow! It is in a fantastic whirlwind of events and information we now find ourselves! It has been a crazy amazing journey for which I will ever be grateful... and I believe if we keep a "yes" in our hearts, He will prove this is just a glimpse of things to come!
Where to start in the unravelling of my thoughts on all of this?? First, I want to share a "behind the scenes" story of God's faithful hand of guidance in bringing us to this place. A couple of weeks before we moved to KC, I felt that I was supposed to go to a specific thrift shop in Baraboo. Though it had been what I would call a "faint" leading, I journeyed there, without any real understanding of God's purpose in laying this trip on my heart. Pulling into the parking lot, the name of the thrift shop was highlighted to me..."Bethesda." "Hmm," I thought, and dismissed it, distracted by the curiosity of my reason for even being there.
Once inside the shop, I began a 'treasure hunt' as to my purpose there. Initially, formulating a quick assessment of the place, I found that nothing stood out to me. I began wandering around, digging through the discards of others. As I waited on God to release understanding, I fingered through the clothes racks, tried on a few items, and continually prayed for understanding. Eventually, I decided to take a stroll around the thrift shop. I walked the entire perimeter of the store, and as I neared the door, my eyes spotted it. It was a vivid picture of a mountain, displayed with grandeur and bordered with a radiant gold frame. I was instantly captured with intrigue as God spoke to my heart in an all but audible voice, "I am going to move mountains for you." And with that I walked out the door, completely satisfied. He had blessed me, not just with one treasure, but two: hope and promise.
On the way home, recalling the seeming faintness of the call, I marveled at the strong clarity of His words to me. I went home and told the whole story to Owen, who had not even been aware of the divine leading for my travel to Baraboo that day. Over the next few days, as we began to apply with IHOP and get our house ready for sale, those words of promise "I will move mountains for you" became my anthem. I waited expectantly for God to make good on His promise.
Late one night, as Owen and I spent some time in prayer, we put fleeces out before God. We said that if it was His will for us to be in the internship, we needed our applications to be accepted, tuition for the entire family, and housing. Not only that, but we asked God provide a testimony so miraculous that there was no way for us to take any credit, that all of the glory would go to Him. It was nearly 2 a.m. when we finished praying, and Owen turned to me and said,"Emmy, I just want people to be able to look at the testimony of His faithfulness in our lives and have the faith to pick up their own mats and walk." Moments later, as I lay in bed trying to fall asleep (which should NOT have been a struggle at that hour), I had a sudden, overwhelming urgency to look up the name "Bethesda." I tried to dismiss it, thinking it could wait until morning, but the Holy Spirit prompted me with another wave of urgency in my spirit. At first, I reached for the dictionary, but felt a strong leading to look in the concordance instead. So I got out my exhaustive concordance to find the name "Bethesda" mentioned one time (ONE time!) in the scriptures. Eagerly I read it:
"Some time later, Jesus went up to Jerusalem for a feast of the Jews. Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a pool, which in Aramaic is called Bethesda and which is surrounded by five covered colonnades. Here a great number of disabled people used to lie—the blind, the lame, the paralyzed. One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, “Do you want to get well?”
“Sir,” the invalid replied, “I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me.”
Then Jesus said to him, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.” At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked." John5:1-9a
God is SO faithful to confirm His tender guiding in our lives. I have found that when there is a "yes" in our hearts, He will faithfully woo us into deeper relationship with Him. When we follow Him by faith, He makes our steps firm. As a result, we no longer qualify those leadings as faint, but rather recognize the still, small voice of God.
Saturday, July 30, 2011
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Consecration!!
Hello all,
Today is not so much of an update on what's going on with our family, but more what He has been showing me. The best mental picture I can give at this point as to what we are experiencing is this; it is as if Emmy and I are being given a drink through a "fire hose", which doesn't shut off. There is so much that God has been revealing, teaching, showing, and doing in us that we can hardly retain it all right now. It is amazing!!!! So obviously there is no way that I have the time, energy, or ability to pass everything along as I am still processing much of it. But I will try to hit on a couple of the larger things God has been revealing to me.
The past couple of days God has really opened my eyes to two main topics. Consecration unto Him and fasting/prayer. For time sake, I will only touch on consecration, for now. I find that in my own life I really have a genuine desire and longing to have a deeper "connection," or revelation of God in my life. Yet I don't really want it to "cost" me anything. I have bought into the societal theme of a "drive through life." I don't want to give up any of the comforts of life. After all, didn't the Bible tell us that following Christ would be comfortable. :) As I thumb through the pages of scripture and look at the men of great faith and leadership, I consistently see a picture of lives committed to God through consecration and fasting. Some examples of such people are Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, Azariah, John the Baptist, Samson, and the Nazirites. There are many more, these are just some I have been looking at more closely. These are people who had great faith and were used mightily by God, but they were very committed to living lives of consecration unto the Lord. Is it that God only desires to use a "few" in a mighty way? I don't believe so. I believe they were used to the extent that they were because they set themselves apart for God alone. I have this cry in my heart for God to use me in a mighty way, that He might use me to impact my generation, but am I willing to set myself apart for God alone? That comes with a cost. That might require work on my behalf. I believe that God is eagerly waiting for us to stir ourselves enough to stand up and say "God, I want all of You and all You have for me, no matter where it takes me or what the cost." I believe this pleases Him dearly and I believe He rewards us for this. The problem is, we very rarely take time in a day to "shut off the noise" of life and just listen to Him. Are we willing to miss our favorite TV show to spend time with the "Creator of all things". Unfortunately it took me moving 486 miles to finally shut off "the noise" to be able to listen to His voice. I am so completely humbled by His desire to commune with me day by day, hour by hour, minute by minute, and second by second. For so many years I have just continued on with the noise of my life, while He has gone much of the time unnoticed. God forgive me!!!
"A heart that does not mourn fo more of Him is a heart that accepts it's current state of barrenness as tolerable"
Owen
Today is not so much of an update on what's going on with our family, but more what He has been showing me. The best mental picture I can give at this point as to what we are experiencing is this; it is as if Emmy and I are being given a drink through a "fire hose", which doesn't shut off. There is so much that God has been revealing, teaching, showing, and doing in us that we can hardly retain it all right now. It is amazing!!!! So obviously there is no way that I have the time, energy, or ability to pass everything along as I am still processing much of it. But I will try to hit on a couple of the larger things God has been revealing to me.
The past couple of days God has really opened my eyes to two main topics. Consecration unto Him and fasting/prayer. For time sake, I will only touch on consecration, for now. I find that in my own life I really have a genuine desire and longing to have a deeper "connection," or revelation of God in my life. Yet I don't really want it to "cost" me anything. I have bought into the societal theme of a "drive through life." I don't want to give up any of the comforts of life. After all, didn't the Bible tell us that following Christ would be comfortable. :) As I thumb through the pages of scripture and look at the men of great faith and leadership, I consistently see a picture of lives committed to God through consecration and fasting. Some examples of such people are Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, Azariah, John the Baptist, Samson, and the Nazirites. There are many more, these are just some I have been looking at more closely. These are people who had great faith and were used mightily by God, but they were very committed to living lives of consecration unto the Lord. Is it that God only desires to use a "few" in a mighty way? I don't believe so. I believe they were used to the extent that they were because they set themselves apart for God alone. I have this cry in my heart for God to use me in a mighty way, that He might use me to impact my generation, but am I willing to set myself apart for God alone? That comes with a cost. That might require work on my behalf. I believe that God is eagerly waiting for us to stir ourselves enough to stand up and say "God, I want all of You and all You have for me, no matter where it takes me or what the cost." I believe this pleases Him dearly and I believe He rewards us for this. The problem is, we very rarely take time in a day to "shut off the noise" of life and just listen to Him. Are we willing to miss our favorite TV show to spend time with the "Creator of all things". Unfortunately it took me moving 486 miles to finally shut off "the noise" to be able to listen to His voice. I am so completely humbled by His desire to commune with me day by day, hour by hour, minute by minute, and second by second. For so many years I have just continued on with the noise of my life, while He has gone much of the time unnoticed. God forgive me!!!
"A heart that does not mourn fo more of Him is a heart that accepts it's current state of barrenness as tolerable"
Owen
Thursday, July 14, 2011
Week 1 - Internship
So, our hopes were that between Emmy and I that we would be able to make a daily post. HaHa, very funny. What we forgot was that we both had the exact same schedule, and the exact same number of kids, which translates to absolutely no free time to blog. Oh well, we will just have to do what we can. So here we are, almost a week complete of our 12 week internship. Unfortunately, there has not been a whole lot of teaching yet. This week, IHOP hosted a teen conference called "Facinate". Along with this conference, there are also 2 different camps goin on as well. There is a "Signs and Wonders Camp" for 8 to 12 year olds and "Awaken Teen Camp" for 13 - 18 year olds. I have been told that there is 440 kids @ "Signs and Wonders" and right around 2,000 teens/parents at "Fascinate". I have not yet heard how many kids are at "Awaken Teen Camp" yet, but you get the point on how much is going on. Due to this, our internship has been serving a lot in many different areas such as ushering, shuttling, and cleaning. It has been a lot of fun though, especially seeing all the young kids hungry for God. Friday night will close out the "Fascinate" conference, with Kim Walker Smith of "Jesus Culture" leading worship. It shall be a real treat getting to attend it with our children.
Next week will begin our ordinary schedule for the duration of the internship. Emmy and I are both very eager and hungry to dive into this. I will say that it has been fun getting to know the other interns through this time of service. Everyone has such a unique story as to how God directed them and provided for them to come to this internship. I have great anticipation for all that God is going to do in and through us doing these next 11 weeks.
Just some fun stuff that's been going on. We have found a "free" splash park here in KC for the kids to play at. They absolutely love it. It definitely helps the hot days become a little more tolerable. Because of the Camps and Conference's going on the kids haven't had class either. So Emmy and I have been trading off each day on child care and serving at the conference. Needless to say every morning the kids are asking to go to the splash park no matter which one of us is at home. We have also purchased a camera for the computer making Skype now possible. Obviously the grandparents, as well as our immediate family, are very much enjoying this technology advancement.
I will try very hard to keep more regular on this. I hope and trust that all is well with each of you. You are in our thoughts and our prayers.
In Christ,
Owen
Next week will begin our ordinary schedule for the duration of the internship. Emmy and I are both very eager and hungry to dive into this. I will say that it has been fun getting to know the other interns through this time of service. Everyone has such a unique story as to how God directed them and provided for them to come to this internship. I have great anticipation for all that God is going to do in and through us doing these next 11 weeks.
Just some fun stuff that's been going on. We have found a "free" splash park here in KC for the kids to play at. They absolutely love it. It definitely helps the hot days become a little more tolerable. Because of the Camps and Conference's going on the kids haven't had class either. So Emmy and I have been trading off each day on child care and serving at the conference. Needless to say every morning the kids are asking to go to the splash park no matter which one of us is at home. We have also purchased a camera for the computer making Skype now possible. Obviously the grandparents, as well as our immediate family, are very much enjoying this technology advancement.
I will try very hard to keep more regular on this. I hope and trust that all is well with each of you. You are in our thoughts and our prayers.
In Christ,
Owen
Saturday, July 9, 2011
Starting Points!!
Hello Everyone,
Emmy and I were both individually feeling led to start a blog to keep everyone updated on our journey, as there are far to many people to try to keep updated via e-mail. So, because of the grueling schedule we have for this internship, we thought it a better idea to do one together.
So I thought I would give everyone a starting point for those who have not heard all of the story, as it has all unravelled quite quickly. Emmy and I travelled to Kansas City around the end of May with Myles and Kaylee Collins, Myles has been drumming for {UNITE} Ministries for the past year. Emmy and I went merely to see what IHOP was all about and help Myles and Kaylee find housing and what not as they were to attend the July internship at IHOP. Neither Emmy, nor myself, had any thoughts of attending an internship at that point, we were merely along for the ride and enjoying a weekend getaway. While in Kansas City God spoke to us in numerous ways, but nothing directed towards moving to Kansas City for a season. Throughout the time there, Myles and Kaylee were offered a two bedroom apartment rent free in exchange for some lawn mowing. It was cool seeing God open up doors for them. I think it is easy for us to forget that God can still do this. I did anyways. On our trip back to Wisconsin, we received a text from Mark Hendrickson stating that the lady helping Myles and Kaylee out also had a three bedroom home that she wanted to offer to Emmy and I if we ever thought of attending an internship. She was interested in offering for us to stay in this home for the three month internship in exchange for some remodeling. It wasn't until this that the thought even crossed our mind of attending an internship at IHOP.
So we began praying and asking God to see if that was His doing or just a coincidence. After some e-mail correspondence with this lady in KC, the offer fell through. So we dismissed it for awhile. But God kept putting the internship on our hearts. So we laid a couple of things before the Lord asking Him to answer them if this was truly His will for us. One of them was that He would provide free housing for us while in Kansas City. It was about two weeks after our visit that God moved on this request. While visiting Richland Center, Mark and Debbie Hendrickson offered for our family to stay with them at their house if we decided to attend an internship. After this, Emmy and I felt like we needed to step out in faith and apply for the internship, which started in only a couple of weeks. We actually submitted our applications on the last possible day they would accept them. So we put before the Lord that if this was truly His will that we would be accepted for the program and there would still be openings. Well as you have already guessed, we did get accepted and there were still openings. So the next thing we put before the Lord was the tuition cost. Our desire was to have the whole family go through the program, not just myself. This meant that our tuition cost would total in the amount of $4,000.00. Again we brought this need before the Lord and asked that if He wanted us to attend, that He would have to provide. Mind you, there was only a little less than two weeks for this to happen. It got to be July 1st and we had still not received any funds for the internship. With only a week to go before the start of the internship, we began feeling God prompting us to pack up enough stuff for the three month internship and drive to Kansas City in faith that God was going to provide the tuition. Many different times throughout the past couple years, God has laid different things on our hearts asking us to move on. The bulk of the time we did not receive the major confirmations until only after stepping out in faith. God had also given me a couple of verses in devotions telling me that we were to be ready for His movement in this situation even if it was up to the last possible second, the eleventh hour.
So on Tuesday, July 5th, we packed up the bear necessities, loaded the kids in the van, and drove to KC. We felt like we were to spend as much time in the "Prayer Room" as possible before that Friday. So we spent most of Wednesday there. God revealed some things to us, but nothing in regards to the tuition.
On Thursday John Hendrickson, a drummer on staff at IHOP & friend, gave me the opportunity to attend an IHOP worship team briefing before their 2 hour set in the prayer room. John is a drummer for Misty Edwards, one of IHOP's main worship leaders. His team was scheduled from 2-4 and 6-8 At the end of the briefing, John asked if I was interested in playing acoustic guitar for the session. Of course I said no way..... Okay I jumped at the opportunity. It was a blast!!! God really moved throughout the session. After the session John and I grabbed some supper and went back to the next briefing for the 6 o'clock session. Upon arrival, Misty asked me if I would be willing to play acoustic again, and if I would be also willing to sing. At this point, I'm pretty sure the Titanic couldn't have brought me down off of cloud nine. I was extremely honored and humbled as the talent level around me dwarfed my meager offerings. Again the spirit was moving and we had an amazing time of worship. After the set Emmy, the kids, and I went back to Hendrickson's house. Obviously our spirits were quite high after the whole experience. As the evening started to wind down, Emmy and I began to talk about the internship and the lack of finance for it. We had both come to the point in which we were okay with the provision not coming through. We knew that if it didn't come, then God obviously didn't want us to attend this internship, at this time. We had already felt like the trip was a great success. God had done much in our hearts and had opened some really cool and fun doors. Around 10:00 pm that evening, someone arrived at the Hendrickson's house. They stated that God had impressed upon them, even before we came down to KC, that they were to help us in financing the internship for us. They handed us $500 in cash. We obviously were greatly surprised and extremely thankful for the blessing. But this put us in somewhat of a difficult place. Here it is, 10 o'clock pm, the night before the first day of the internship and we have $500 to cover our $4,000 tuition. Now what??? Do we give the money back, or do we put it in a savings account and hope the resources come for the Sept. internship??? At that point God reminded me of the verses He had given me telling me to be ready even if up till the eleventh hour. So Emmy and I prayed and decided we would get up at 6:30 am to check e-mails and our bank account to see if God had provided. We woke up, checked everything, and found nothing had changed. So we went back to bed. At 8:30 am, I received a phone call in which the caller stated that God had told them they were to take care of the balance needed to pay the tuition. Just to make it clear to everyone, the orientation for the internship started at 9:00 am that same morning and God brought in the majority of our funds just a half hour before the start of the internship!!! So, we woke all of our kids up, fed and clothed them, and raced off to the internship. Yes, we were 15 minutes late for the first day. God is truly amazing!!!! He is faithful and His timing is always perfect. Never to late and never to early. We are so extremely excited to see all the God has for us in this season. We promise to share with all of you what God id doing. We hope and pray that God will encourage each of you and deepen all of our faith.
Start asking that His highest goals for your life become reality!!!!
In Christ,
Owen
Emmy and I were both individually feeling led to start a blog to keep everyone updated on our journey, as there are far to many people to try to keep updated via e-mail. So, because of the grueling schedule we have for this internship, we thought it a better idea to do one together.
So I thought I would give everyone a starting point for those who have not heard all of the story, as it has all unravelled quite quickly. Emmy and I travelled to Kansas City around the end of May with Myles and Kaylee Collins, Myles has been drumming for {UNITE} Ministries for the past year. Emmy and I went merely to see what IHOP was all about and help Myles and Kaylee find housing and what not as they were to attend the July internship at IHOP. Neither Emmy, nor myself, had any thoughts of attending an internship at that point, we were merely along for the ride and enjoying a weekend getaway. While in Kansas City God spoke to us in numerous ways, but nothing directed towards moving to Kansas City for a season. Throughout the time there, Myles and Kaylee were offered a two bedroom apartment rent free in exchange for some lawn mowing. It was cool seeing God open up doors for them. I think it is easy for us to forget that God can still do this. I did anyways. On our trip back to Wisconsin, we received a text from Mark Hendrickson stating that the lady helping Myles and Kaylee out also had a three bedroom home that she wanted to offer to Emmy and I if we ever thought of attending an internship. She was interested in offering for us to stay in this home for the three month internship in exchange for some remodeling. It wasn't until this that the thought even crossed our mind of attending an internship at IHOP.
So we began praying and asking God to see if that was His doing or just a coincidence. After some e-mail correspondence with this lady in KC, the offer fell through. So we dismissed it for awhile. But God kept putting the internship on our hearts. So we laid a couple of things before the Lord asking Him to answer them if this was truly His will for us. One of them was that He would provide free housing for us while in Kansas City. It was about two weeks after our visit that God moved on this request. While visiting Richland Center, Mark and Debbie Hendrickson offered for our family to stay with them at their house if we decided to attend an internship. After this, Emmy and I felt like we needed to step out in faith and apply for the internship, which started in only a couple of weeks. We actually submitted our applications on the last possible day they would accept them. So we put before the Lord that if this was truly His will that we would be accepted for the program and there would still be openings. Well as you have already guessed, we did get accepted and there were still openings. So the next thing we put before the Lord was the tuition cost. Our desire was to have the whole family go through the program, not just myself. This meant that our tuition cost would total in the amount of $4,000.00. Again we brought this need before the Lord and asked that if He wanted us to attend, that He would have to provide. Mind you, there was only a little less than two weeks for this to happen. It got to be July 1st and we had still not received any funds for the internship. With only a week to go before the start of the internship, we began feeling God prompting us to pack up enough stuff for the three month internship and drive to Kansas City in faith that God was going to provide the tuition. Many different times throughout the past couple years, God has laid different things on our hearts asking us to move on. The bulk of the time we did not receive the major confirmations until only after stepping out in faith. God had also given me a couple of verses in devotions telling me that we were to be ready for His movement in this situation even if it was up to the last possible second, the eleventh hour.
So on Tuesday, July 5th, we packed up the bear necessities, loaded the kids in the van, and drove to KC. We felt like we were to spend as much time in the "Prayer Room" as possible before that Friday. So we spent most of Wednesday there. God revealed some things to us, but nothing in regards to the tuition.
On Thursday John Hendrickson, a drummer on staff at IHOP & friend, gave me the opportunity to attend an IHOP worship team briefing before their 2 hour set in the prayer room. John is a drummer for Misty Edwards, one of IHOP's main worship leaders. His team was scheduled from 2-4 and 6-8 At the end of the briefing, John asked if I was interested in playing acoustic guitar for the session. Of course I said no way..... Okay I jumped at the opportunity. It was a blast!!! God really moved throughout the session. After the session John and I grabbed some supper and went back to the next briefing for the 6 o'clock session. Upon arrival, Misty asked me if I would be willing to play acoustic again, and if I would be also willing to sing. At this point, I'm pretty sure the Titanic couldn't have brought me down off of cloud nine. I was extremely honored and humbled as the talent level around me dwarfed my meager offerings. Again the spirit was moving and we had an amazing time of worship. After the set Emmy, the kids, and I went back to Hendrickson's house. Obviously our spirits were quite high after the whole experience. As the evening started to wind down, Emmy and I began to talk about the internship and the lack of finance for it. We had both come to the point in which we were okay with the provision not coming through. We knew that if it didn't come, then God obviously didn't want us to attend this internship, at this time. We had already felt like the trip was a great success. God had done much in our hearts and had opened some really cool and fun doors. Around 10:00 pm that evening, someone arrived at the Hendrickson's house. They stated that God had impressed upon them, even before we came down to KC, that they were to help us in financing the internship for us. They handed us $500 in cash. We obviously were greatly surprised and extremely thankful for the blessing. But this put us in somewhat of a difficult place. Here it is, 10 o'clock pm, the night before the first day of the internship and we have $500 to cover our $4,000 tuition. Now what??? Do we give the money back, or do we put it in a savings account and hope the resources come for the Sept. internship??? At that point God reminded me of the verses He had given me telling me to be ready even if up till the eleventh hour. So Emmy and I prayed and decided we would get up at 6:30 am to check e-mails and our bank account to see if God had provided. We woke up, checked everything, and found nothing had changed. So we went back to bed. At 8:30 am, I received a phone call in which the caller stated that God had told them they were to take care of the balance needed to pay the tuition. Just to make it clear to everyone, the orientation for the internship started at 9:00 am that same morning and God brought in the majority of our funds just a half hour before the start of the internship!!! So, we woke all of our kids up, fed and clothed them, and raced off to the internship. Yes, we were 15 minutes late for the first day. God is truly amazing!!!! He is faithful and His timing is always perfect. Never to late and never to early. We are so extremely excited to see all the God has for us in this season. We promise to share with all of you what God id doing. We hope and pray that God will encourage each of you and deepen all of our faith.
Start asking that His highest goals for your life become reality!!!!
In Christ,
Owen
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)