Are We Home Yet

    

Hello Gems! Thought it was time for an update! I will need to go back in time first so you can travel with me.

The first destination I went to on a solo faith journey with God was Tennessee. It was an amazing and scary trip. I was unemployed, had 2 kids at home, didn't know where in Tennessee I was supposed to go and had no money... Other than that it was a great idea.

I prayed for weeks asking where I was supposed to go. I felt like God was leading me to Johnson City. 

It's a long story but the cliff notes are God gave me a dream and gave the same dream to a friend who was ministering in Africa at the time. (Next time you see me remind me to tell you the whole dream it was CRAZY!)

 Anyway, my friend and I shared the dream together when she returned from her trip. She said the only thing different about our dreams was, at the end of her dream she heard the Lord say Johnson City. 

She asked if that meant anything to me.  UMMMM yes

The trip was full of one super natural adventure after another. I remember the first morning of my arrival I went to breakfast, I sat at my table looking around the room thinking it was a divine appointment of some kind and I heard the Holy Spirit say, "relax, we are here to eat."

Everyone's got jokes. I strongly suggest you take a trip alone with God whenever He asks. 

I fell in love with Tennessee and have wanted to live here ever since. The Lord told me after that first trip I would move here, what He didn't mention was it would be 17 years later!! He also didn't mention that after multiple temporary moves back and forth from Florida to Tennessee, on my own, I would make the permanent move with a husband. Also a long but worth it wait!

This gave a new meaning to "With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day." 2Peter 3:8

Before Paul, my husband, and I moved to Tennessee we were once again praying about the where to go and what to do when we get there. We felt the Lord leading us to Jefferson County.

We  had an application in process for a duplex in Morristown which is where we had family and wanted to be near them if possible. Tennessee is not like Florida, we were used to having lots of options when looking for a home but here, there were few pickins. We were getting discouraged when the management company we were working with was doing a less than great job. 

As usual God was making His own arrangements. 

Of course He likes to do things last minute, it was about 2 weeks before our lease was up He showed us we weren't moving to Morristown. He was sending us to New Market, a small country town and we would be starting our own "New Market" there.   That was the Where.

Our home is more than we asked for or imagined. It is an older home but we absolutely love it! It used to be owned by a church so it has a dedicated office and extra parking. More importantly for me, it has a fire pit to surround with family and smores. Winning!

Now the What ~ Paul has a heart for people struggling with addiction knowing first hand the chaos it causes in your life. He worked at the very rehab facility he was in 7 years ago and received his own recovery! I was blessed to do Bible studies at the same facility and we both know our union was for Kingdom Building.

God gave Paul the vision of a ministry, including the name. Renegade Recovery Foundation. 

Great, we had a name but no idea what the rest looked like. We both had plenty of contacts in Florida to get something started but nothing and no one in TN. We don't know the area and no one in that field knows us. As always this is the perfect recipe for God. 

Needless to say the How was, and kind of still is unclear. I was praying one afternoon while still in Florida and felt the Lord gave me the word "Remember."  The Holy Spirit told me to remember all the things God had done for me and Paul in our pasts as a reminder of how capable He still is when we start to second-guess things.  

A few days later I was talking to my friend Angela and she said she was praying for me and the Lord gave her the word "remember." I love how God confirms what He's saying, we would just have to trust Him day by day for His instructions and provision.

We began praying about finances for the move and decided to pray for $1000. to put toward the rental truck. Everything would be done in faith. 

We were living in St. Cloud at the time and Paul had a work function in Tampa. I felt the Lord was telling me to go with him even though I could not attend the function. I asked God where He wanted me to go and he said there was a divine appointment for me at the Mall. I prayed about who I was supposed to contact and the Holy Spirit gave me the name of the person. I text her and asked her to meet me but she had to decline due to her work schedule. I was confused but let it go. I tried to arrange something with my daughter but she was busy so I tried another friend, she ended up being the same place my daughter was, apparently there was no plan B. 

I waited on God and about an hour later the right person text me back saying she prayed and God told her to meet me. We both only had an hour that we could meet at the mall but God doesn't need much time. You know the whole a day is like a thousand years thing. 

We met at the food court and caught up on much needed family things but time was running out. As nice as it was to see my friend and get caught up I didn't see the date as a "divine appointment." When we got up to hug goodbye she put something in my hand and told me to look at it later. After Paul and I got home I remembered the envelope and we opened it together. 

There were 10 one hundred dollar bills in there to be used toward a rental truck. 

This was not the first time the Lord gave me an envelope with ten 100 dollar bills in it. I heard him whisper "remember."

We now had a home, with furnishings thanks to the truck, and a name for the ministry. Next step all the legal steps, bank account and paraphernalia needed to get started. We went back to the Lord and felt we needed another thousand dollars to get all that in the works. Gems, we prayed in the morning and that afternoon there was a check in the mailbox for, you guess it, $1000 to be used for the ministry!

We continue to move one step at a time as the Lord leads and are so excited that God would continue to use us. Honestly Gems, sometimes I get overwhelmed being older and afraid I won't have what it takes to get things running, but then the Holy Spirit says remember Moses, Sarah and many others started late in life. At least He's not asking me to give birth in my nineties! 

So that's the update! I will keep you posted on the progress as we move forward. We would so appreciate your prayers and one day support as we have the honor of walking with our brothers and sisters struggling with addiction of any kind. I don't know if we are truly home yet, but we know God has many more divine appointments for us and we are excited to see the hand of God move.