Life marches on

The last two weeks have held alot of change for us here at Lion's Gate. John Michael went through exploratory surgery to give us an idea of how critical his kidney condition was and thankfully the doctor believes he will be able to save the kidneys without a threat of dialysis. What a relief-yet still it rests on John Michael's shoulders- time will tell if he is mature enough to handle it.
Lance has now been a week in Haifa, Israel. I feel there is great purpose in his semester there and pray for his protection. He says it is absolutely beautiful and you can see for miles in all directions. His four roommates are all from Israel and he likes them all. They have all served in the IDF (Israeli Defense Forces) which gives them common ground right from the start. He has one month of Uplan which is intensive language training six hours a day six days a week. Then in late February he will start classes. He seems a bit overwhelmed with it all right now but sounds happy.
I finally can sit in my livingroom with a fire glowing brightly from our freshly installed fireplace insert-its motor gently humming filling the room with warm blasts of air. We now have two inserts in two fireplaces which at thirty degrees outside makes it plenty warm inside. This is our heat source and we struggle with installing anything more that would make us more dependent on electricity. The wood floor went in last week and it is so beautiful I won't allow shoes, dogs or cats in the room. The dogs lay at the doorway and try every now and then to sneak in but I won't allow it. The fireplace facade is the last thing needed to finish the room. The framing is built, we just need to drywall and paint it.
We are working diligently to move off the grid and become sustainable in our own right but sometimes feel it is an overwhelming task. There are days when it seems it should be our highest priority and other days when I just want to sell everything and just rest for awhile with no animals to take care of, no fruit trees to prune, ponds to fill,gardens to till and plant. I think if we could just hire one person who might live on the land rent free and work here we would progress much more quickly. I guess that is something I will have to take to the Lord in prayer.

Dining Room

Valley of Blessing

Dancing for the Lord

Controlled Chaos

We here on the farm are moving into the holiday seasons with such great expectations. Our house is chilly to say the least with the cold weather setting in and no heating system installed but we are moving in a positive direction. We have purchased a blower system to go in the living room fireplace and will be getting the wood floors in throughout the downstairs this next week. I've planted my strawberries and garlic to ensure a bountiful crop next summer and put in another grape vine. Our fruit trees were overflowing this year and I was able to put up forty quart jars of fruit and 10 jars of jam(grape, green pepper, fig and peach). Our freezer is full of frozen squash, zucchini and tomatoes and soon Tom Tom the thirty pound turkey we've raised will cuddle up in there as well in preparation for the Christmas meal.
We are hoping Lance is accepted to the University of Haifa, Israel for the study abroad program starting in January and we plan to join him for a visit if he stays through the fall.
It seems our life never stops it's twists and turns but we have always been fighters and even though we get down sometimes we generally rise to each challenge with stronger resolve than we had had before.Our life is full. We love our Lord and pray each of our children will find His grace and love as they become adults.
John Michael has been in the fight of his life with serious kidney issues this fall requiring hospital stays but we pray the Lord will bring healing and restoration to him. He is such a warrior. He will begin teaching children for church next week. He went to the pastor on his own and worked out all the details. His class will be 8-10 children age 3-8 years old.
I have been asked to teach dance at church on Friday nights in Greensboro and on Wednesday nights in Grays Chapel. We will be presenting to another church on Sunday December 5th Davidic dance and prayfully opening doors for sharing how our Hebrew Roots have everything to do with Christ and Christianity. I am praying for guidance on this as it is a huge responsibility and we still have so much work that needs to be done to make our house livable. My dad will be coming in December to take the boys deer hunting at a friends hundred acre property in Virginia and they get to stay at her cabin! It was so nice of her to offer, she has been so generous to us this year. I know my dad will put in some hard labor here at the house when he comes which we also appreciate tremendously. He has always been there for us and never let us down.
I pray your life is full but maybe not quite as full as ours and you find time to rest, relax and spend time with friends and family this season.

Looking for God

These last few months I have felt the need to grow closer to the Lord. It seems I have fallen away a bit as I at one time could readily feel His presence and know when He would gently prompt me to do something. I guess life has gotten in the way and I have been just too busy to hear His voice within me, but I don't want it to be that way. There is a peace in knowing He is within my grasp when I need Him and being able to call out His name and have Him love me so much that instantly He is there. I have attended for the last week a healing service with Craig Marsh from New Zealand and he calls it "knowing God's heartbeat."

I do seek to know the Lord's heartbeat, to be so close that I am able to lay my head on His chest and feel the rhythmic rise and fall of His very being. I was walking in Walmart the other day and I felt His presence-as if there was something that was going to happen or He was trying to say but I couldn't quite hear. I am too far from His heartbeat to hear what He is trying to say and that saddens me.

Today I was driving into town and two pickups towing trailers were on the road opposite me in the other lane. One was stopped and the other was pulling out of a fenced area where I assumed they were picking up cattle to take to the stockyard. I was still quite a distance away when the second pickup pulled out of the field and crossed my lane to fall in behind the other. I knew he would easily clear my lane before I reached him and felt no need to slow from the 55mph speed I was traveling. As I drew closer the second vehicle flashed his brights-"Must be signaling the lead truck," I thought to myself slowing slightly but still traveling fairly fast. Then I noticed him signaling with his arm out the drivers side window wildly waving it up and down and I knew the warning was for me. As I quickly stepped on the brakes my vehicle slowed to a stop. From the corner of my eye a small light brown calf haltingly stepped across my path just in front of my left bumper. He was unsure of his steps on the smooth surface of the asphalt as he crossed directly in front of my suburban to the other side of the road. I realized had I not seen the warning I would have surely killed this little creature and done some damage to my truck as well. As I drove on I reflected on the lesson the Lord had just placed before me.

When I noticed the flashing lights I assumed the message was for someone else. How often do I do that? Is it possible the Lord is trying to get my attention but I've been thinking all along He doesn't need to speak to me, after all who am I? I haven't been to seminary, or the mission field. Am I so busy in my life that He needs to wildly flag me down in order for me to just stop and look around and listen to what He is trying to say? Probably so.

Lord help me to hear your heartbeat today. I feel the need to draw closer to you. Teach me how to do that. Thank you for working your miracles in my life and for being willing to love me. In the name of Yeshua HaMachiach. Amen