THE BLOG HAS MOVED!!

Hey everybody,

We have to decided to move our blog in order to make it more accessible and easier to access.  Please visit us at www.theenzoftheearth.typepad.com   Also, PLEASE make sure to sign up as a follower so that we can know who is plugged in and how well we are getting the word out!

Thanks,

Rick

I Surrender All

Look at that, exactly one month since my last post! I'd say i'm starting to develop some consistency here people, or at least the start of something like that!  Well, it has been a month, and nothing apart from just wanting to keep a somewhat regular line of communication, has prompted me to write this blog.  So I'll probably be a little shorter than usually, and a little more all over the map!

The past month for our family has been good.  Gina and the kids have started to settle into homeschooling a bit, which has been really, really, cool for our family.  Every morning they wake up, and begin their day with worship, prayer, and then quiet time with the Lord.  It is so awesome as a parent, to see your kids develop as true worshipers, seeking the face of God, and delighting in His presence.

As we were worshiping the other day as a family, Dylan selected the song, "I surrender all."  As I worshiped, and considered the words I was offering up to the Lord, it struck me, that this exactly where the Lord has us right now.  In every area of our life...health, future, work, finances, move, mission, support, you name it!  The Lord has led us to a place where all we can do, is surrender to Him; to His ways, in His timing.  Nothing in our lives feels very stable at this point.  This becomes extremely evident whenever friends and family ask us questions, like,"So how's support raising going?"  "So how's Gina's health going?"  "So when are you guys leaving?"  The questions aren't bad...in fact, it's so good to know how many people are genuinely connected to us and to what the Lord is doing.  Yet, with each question, we are reminded of how little we truly have a hold on.

At times, I catch myself  trying to gauge the toll that the stress and challenge of this season have had on us and find that there is really no way to quantify it.  At times we feel worn thin, exhausted from attempting to stand firm on ground that constantly seems to be shifting beneath our feet.  We doubt, we get frustrated, we wonder what in the world we are doing...Believe me, it doesn't take many nights of sleeping in your in-laws bedroom, hoping to find some work for the week, and checking the mail obsessively hoping for a pledge card to be there, to get you wondering if you have really made a good decision in stepping off of your own map!!  I'm laughing as I write this, not crying, so quit your worrying and laugh with me!

And yet, when I step outside the things that I see with my own eyes, when I get in His presence, and surrender all,  I cannot explain to you the sense of peace and joy that comes over me.  I am fully aware of the fact that I don't have a clue, or one ounce of control over our present or our future, and yet, I also become aware of the fact that truly there is no other place I would rather be.  I have no idea how all this is going to unfold, but as I think about it, I never have... Even when things were stable in my life, any sense of control that I had, was nothing more than a house of cards.  So as I sit here tonight, with both joy and uncertainty; my constant companions in this journey... I delight in the fact that I am completely clueless, and that I am also exactly where I am supposed to be.

I hope this post doesn't lead you to worry, that is not its intent at all!  We remain full of faith, and we know that the Lord will accomplish more than we could ever ask or imagine, for His Glory!  This is just where we find ourselves right now, on this leg of the journey, and we appreciate your prayers and support as we press on, declaring,

"All to Jesus I surrender:
all to Him I freely give;
I will ever love and trust Him,
in His presence daily live."

Where we go from here

First, let me apologize for the crickets that have been chirping around this blog for oh, I'd say the last 2 months..  Much has happened, and there has been much to celebrate.  Most of all, the birth of our Savior! A gift that never ceases to amaze me, nor does it cease to hit me in a very deep, and profound way each Christmas.  There is something to be said for having been rescued out of the darkness...  I look back at my life before Christ, and what He brought me out of and what He has brought me into, and I cannot help but still, 10 years later, well up with tears at the thought of such amazing grace.  Thank you Jesus!!!

Well, how does one catch up on the last two months in a single blog??  Answer: You don't, but here is the next best thing.  As many of you have heard by now (via our Newsletter), our trip to New Zealand at the end of October confirmed beyond a shadow of doubt, that the Lord is in this call!  I cannot begin to share with you all the ways that God seemed to woo us to the land during our time out there.  For starters, Gina's health took incredible strides over our 2 weeks in country.  Specific points of progress in her health that we had been fighting nine months for (to no avail), seemed to fall right into our laps during our trip... No, NZ is not "The Island" for all you Lost fans, but our God is awesome! He is able to do more than we could ever ask or imagine, and at times, His goodness is overwhelming, and the power of His hand at work.. undeniable!  That is what we experienced on many levels and it was truly incredible.

When we arrived home, it was as if a shift had occurred in us both.  New Zealand went from being a mysterious place that was way, way far away, to a place that felt like it was to be home for our family.  We prayed and listened with our kids, and all of us felt strongly  that the Lord was saying now is the time.  And so we are now moving forward with plans to move to New Zealand at the beginning of July!

The past two months have been a crazy array of preparing to move and stepping into a new calling as missionaries.  We have begun the process of raising support and while it can feel like an impossible task at times, we resolve to stand firm, full of faith, knowing that with our God,  Impossible is Nothing!!

We have also taken a huge stride in parting ways with the majority of our possessions.  We won't be taking much of anything with us, aside from clothes and a fly-rod...and a snowboard...and, well the list is still being crafted I guess.  One really cool thing though, as we gathered up everything that we wouldn't be taking with us, the Lord put it on our heart to simply give it all away, rather than attempting to sell it.  Acts 2  kept going through my mind.."and they shared all of their possessions as anyone had need."  So that's what we did.  It started by inviting friends and family to come over and take what ever they wanted.  It was so cool to be able to bless some of the people that have been such a blessing to us over the years.  After that, we called WINN Ministries to see if they had any families in need as well.  Hank said he would see what he could do, and the next day he was at our place, filling a 15 passenger van full of everything that we had!!  What was truly incredible is the story that he told us about a week later.  It turns out that WINN had been in contact with a single mom who had lost her kids to child services 2 years ago due to some mistakes she had made.  Since that time, she had cleaned up and given her life to Christ, and yet was struggling to furnish her home to the extent that child services would agree to let her kids return home.  Well, it turns out that all of our kids toys, and silverware, dishes, picture frames, towels, and household items were enough for social services to finally give the approval for her children to come home...One week before Christmas!!  Our family was overjoyed to see the amazing way in which God worked to bless this family in great need, and to find that we could actually play a part in it as well.  Thank you Jesus!  We set out in this new journey, knowing that the Lord will be just as faithful and good to us as we seek to follow Him.

More to come, I promise to do a better job keeping those crickets quiet, and please take a quick minute to sign up as a follower of our blog and even leave a comment! It is so good to know who is walking alongside us in this journey!

In Him,
Rick

A City of Refuge

Wow! Time has definitely gone by as we race all over this amazing country!  I apologize for slipping a bit on the blogs the last few days, we have been moving around a lot and taking in many beautiful sights.  Last Thursday (29th) we traveled to Tauranga (pronounced, ah... well we're still trying to figure that one out so just go with what feels right!)  The city is located on the North Island along the coast in the Bay of Plenty and is truly an extraordinary place.  We set aside 3 days here, because this is the site of the YWAM base to which we have felt a strong tug from the Lord since he opened up this whole possibility.

We arrived Thursday afternoon after a nice little 5 hour drive filled with green rolling hills, sheep, and generally unbelievable views that seem to never end no matter where you go in this country.  Our first stop was to the YWAM office to meet with Josh who heads up the DTS (Discipleship Training School), his wife Misty along with Dana and Theresa who work in the House of Prayer.  It was a great time of getting to know each other and hear incredible stories of how the Lord has led so many other christians down to NZ, especially Tauranga from throughout the world.   I can't tell you how encouraged Gina and I were to hear how faithful and good God was to lead each of them, providing clear confirmation along the way to help each person, and couple! to take the leap in moving down.  This has been something that Gina and I had honestly wrestled with throughout this process... the Lord clearly has put NZ on our hearts and in our sights, but we struggled to know whether we already had enough of an answer to step out in faith and go, or if we should wait for clear confirmation on both of our parts.  Our time with these new friends helped us to see that God will be clear with us as well... and that we will receive confirmation when it is time. 

The next day we had the chance to attend the morning prayer service at the House of Prayer.  Modeled after the house of prayer in Kansas City, YWAM Tauranga is working to raise up the very first 24/7 House of prayer in New Zealand.  The vision for what they want to do is truly awesome...a missions base committed to training and equipping young christians to be sent out all over the world that is also connected to and nourished by a 24/7 house of prayer. The missions movement married to the prayer movement with the result: young people, biblical trained to take the Gospel out into the world, while also being equipped as prayer warriors, having forged a deep intimacy with the Lord and lifestyle of intercession in the House of Prayer. This truly fires me up!!


Currently, the House of Prayer is gathering Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings from 8am-noon and then on Friday nights as well. I had a very interesting and powerful time of prayer that morning, a first in fact, where as I prayed I could actually see the nations of the earth. It was as if the Lord had opened my eyes to a higher place, in which I could see the potential for our prayers and actions to literally impact all of the nations of the earth.  Years ago, when New Zealand was just a big question mark in our path I heard the Lord say that New Zealand would be "a launching pad", that morning in prayer I could actually see this launching pad come to life.  In years past, as we prayed at NC3 or with other youth pastors from the city, I could easily see the city while we prayed for God to move... I could see Denver, Littleton, Arapahoe high school, etc. But this was an entirely new experience for me that shook me in a deep way. 

Later Gina and I spoke with Josh and others on staff about what I had felt and seen in prayer that morning.  It was amazing to hear that that is exactly what the Lord has been showing them as well, and that He had given them the word for Tauranga being a "launching pad" to the nations as well!!  I can't tell you how encouraging this was to me, it confirmed a lot of things that we have felt the Lord saying these past months as years as we have been "walking in the dark" or at least feeling like we were! 

Overall, our time in Tauranga was great on many levels.  First, the Lord showed us that there is an amazing group of men and women that are seeking hard after the heart of God and who truly burn for the nations.  We found Tauranga to be a beautiful place, a place we could definitely see our family growing to love, but more importantly we discovered that for some reason it is a place that the Lord has placed his hand upon in a unique way, drawing people from all over the world to join in on the work He is preparing for this launching pad to the nations.  We still await confirmation for our own calling.  But many fears have been put to ease and the Lord has helped us to see that He is truly in our midst and guiding our every step.  More to come! 

The Fat of the Land

We arrived yesterday morning and spent most of the day driving up to the Bay of Islands.  After an afternoon of lounging around and an early night's sleep, we awoke this morning ready to begin our journey.  One of the prophetic words we received before setting off on this trip was that we were to, "eat of the fat of the land."  Since that time, we have prayed and talked through the possibilities of what that might mean for our time here in NZ.  Today opened our eyes to what this opportunity could really mean. 

For those of you who cannot relate to having food allergies, let me break it down for you like this... Eating at home is hard enough, eating at your house-pretty difficult, but traveling across the world and trying to figure out how you are going to eat 3 square meals a day is next to impossible.. The best I can explain it is that it truly gives me some understanding of what it must have been like to be a hunter and gatherer, going out on safari 3 times a day, hoping you'll be able to kill something before it kills you!  Could that be an exaggeration? Possibly, (some of you accuse me of such) but I only exaggerate to give you a better understanding of what I'm talking about! Any ways, back to the point I was trying to make, which was that eating over here in New Zealand was expected to be a huge challenge.  On top of that, as many of you know, Gina has had an extremely challenging time with her health these past 10 months, much of it centered around food and a whole list of things she has been unable to eat due to how her body would react to it.

So flash forward to this morning, we head downstairs to the hotel restaurant for some breakfast to start our day.  We begin with our normal routine of informing the server that we both have food allergies and blah, blah, blah, and then he proceeds to tell us that the chef is completely fine with handling that, they even have gluten free bread and it will be no problem to accommodate us with anything that we want on the menu.  Incredible!  The best part was that as we began to eat and enjoy, Gina began to try various things that she has been unable to eat for a long time.. Things like fruit, potatoes, various other carbs, all without any reactions, which is completely unheard of in respect to our last 10 months of life. 

Afterwards, we headed up to a little town along the coast called Kerikeri.  We parked the car and began walking down a little strip of shops and stumble upon a Gluten Free Restaurant and Cafe!!  So, needless to say, we have begun to see what it means to "eat of the fat of the land," as numerous opportunities have already popped up for us (especially Gina) to simply sit back and enjoy whatever is on the menu!

Beyond the eating, (yes, we did do more than that today!)  We rolled along the coast and saw some of the most spectacular views ever!  Green rolling hills that go on for days and make you feel like you're in Ireland, until you get to the other side of those hills and realize that there are white sandy beaches, Islands and cliffs which appear to be undiscovered, accept for the occasional simple little house or paved road running through it.  Today was truly a day to just enjoy and we did a whole lot of that.  I also tried fishing in the surf with my fly rod, but only came up with a fish stick, not worthy of a picture!

Spying out the Land

It has seemed like a long time since we have had something to talk about regarding New Zealand!!  As I mentioned in our newsletter, it is often that we can become so fixed on a particular destination that we miss the journey God has us on!  Since having our August date to leave postponed, we have experienced this truth in some very raw and significant ways.  I'm not talking mountain top experiences or any bolts of lightening, but rather very practical, everyday types of ways.   God has slowed us down, taught us yet again how to let go and let God.  I have to admit, I thought this was a lesson I had more than covered in the past, but it is something different when the thing He is asking you to let go of is the very thing you believe He is calling you to!

You see, in my walk with Christ I have always sought to have a "yes" in my spirit to the things God calls me to.  Fear, doubt, comfort, all wage war against us, seeking to pin us down, keep us where we are, never realizing the big picture God has for our lives.  I have had to face these giants time and time again, many times not even wanting to fight, but in the end always knowing that it was for Him that I was created and for His purposes that I have been called.  These experiences have changed me and taught me a great deal about what is real, what has meaning, and what is worth fighting for and especially, what is worth LIVING FOR!!

As we found ourselves amidst these challenges surrounding New Zealand, I of course, defaulted to this nature of wanting to fight harder, press more, stand firm and unwaveringly.  For many around me, this posture came out as a stubbornness or close-mindedness to the possibility that now was maybe not the right time to go.  And as I look back now, that is probably a right assessment.  My desire was to not give up, to believe and not doubt, and to a degree, I think I succeeded in doing that.  Where I went wrong was in taking His word and holding it so tightly that I failed to see what God might be doing outside of my perceived parameters.

The Lord has taught me that while we must be willing to fight and stand firm in the face of doubt and adversity... we must also learn how to live under the reality that "just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are His ways higher than our ways, and His thoughts higher than our thoughts." Isaiah 55: 8-9.  God does have an extraordinary, unique plan for each one of us.  And as we seek to have a "yes" in our spirit each day to the things He calls us to, we will realize the enormity of His plan more and more.  But we must be careful not to take what the Lord shows us today and use it to map out the boundaries of how He can work in our lives and lead us tomorrow.  He is the author and we are a part of His magnificent story.  He is the potter and we are being shaped into something glorious by the work of His hands.  The clay is not responsible for getting a vision of what form it should take, and then making it happen on its own.  Rather, the nature of the clay is to remain pliable and uninhibited in the potter's hands, even when the shape of things seems flawed or out of whack.

I know that New Zealand is in our future, I know that He is calling us there.  But above and beyond that, I know my God, I trust His plan, His timing, His way.  I remain in a posture of faith concerning our call to New Zealand, but I do so with hands open, letting go of everything that stands between us and the call, trusting that God will accomplish more than I could ever ask or imagine.  Bottom line, I am learning how to be clay all over again...

Since laying all of this in His hands, he has given something back to us that we are very excited about.  The Lord has put it on our hearts to take a little trip to New Zealand, in order to "spy out the land."  What this means is that Gina and I are heading out this Saturday, Oct. 24th  to NZ, and we'll be out there for 2 weeks.  I cannot tell you how excited and overjoyed we are by this opportunity.  It is a chance to pray and hear God in the land concerning His plans, as well as to meet with the people heading up the YWAM base that we feel called to be a part of.  We will be touring both the North and South Island and blogging on along the way!  Please sign up to follow us and pray for us, that we will be open and receptive to all that the Lord wants to do.

For Him,

Rick

Seed Sized Faith

Jesus once said, "if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can speak to a mountain that is before you, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move.  Nothing will be impossible for you." 

For seven years the Lord has spoken to us about a call that is on our lives, a call to New Zealand.  For much of this time, the call was like a distant whisper, without substance or understanding and yet it was always before us.  In the past few months the Lord has brought clarity to this gentle whisper and now all that is left is for God to make a way for us to go.  Our journey begins with 3 towering mountains which stand in our way. 

First and foremost is my wife Gina's health.  Over the past 9 months Gina has struggled greatly with health issues that came about after the birth of our third child.  The nature of her struggle places a great deal of stress and anxiety on her body and she struggles regularly to garner the strength to perform normal daily tasks.  Gina has walked in incredible faith, seeking to trust and obey the Lord throughout this whole process and we are confident that the Lord will bring peace and healing to her body.  However, we have not come to a place of peace as of yet on leaving with her in this condition.  We wait upon the Lord to provide exactly what we need to step forward into this calling.  Whether it is healing, or simply a word from the Lord that we are to step out into this journey and trust that healing will come..we wait for His instruction and trust that His provision will be more than enough to run this race!

The second mountain that stands before us is raising support to step into this mission.  As many of you know, the Lord has led us to enter into this journey by going on staff with YWAM (Youth With a Mission).  YWAM gives us 100% responsibility for raising our own support in order to do ministry in New Zealand.  We are currently hosting meetings and receptions, along with working on our 1st newsletter to broadcast our needs to those God has surrounded us with.  We are currently praying for the Lord to raise up a strong and faithful support team that will catch the vision of partnering with us in seeing the Lord's vision fulfilled in New Zealand and around the world.

The third mountain I am happy to say, the Lord has already managed to level!!  Our house had only been on the market for 26 days when the Lord brought forth a buyer and a generous offer, reminding us that He is in our midst and will do the impossible on our behalf as we seek to live and walk by faith. 

Currently, we are seeking the Lord as to our target date for heading to New Zealand.  We have an opportunity to head down towards the end of September, but it requires that the Lord move suddenly in leveling these mountains.  If things do not happen this quickly, our target date will shift to after the first of the year.  Please join us in praying and believing for God to move in a miraculous way!