Blogging Take 2!

After blogging for a few years on another site, and a year and a half long break from blogging, I'm going to see if I can pick this back up. I'm *really* out of the habit of blogging.

As my About Me says, for those who didn't know me from my other blog, I spend my days with my children learning and playing. We are eclectic, relaxed, and identity directed learners. Our 2 oldest children graduated from our home "school", and are wonderful, accomplished young women. Life is pretty crazy right now as the dynamics and situations of our lives change. It's beautiful and exciting!!

God has been working some pretty awesome stuff in our family in the last 3 years, with last year being a very intense year spiritually. As I mentioned, too, my husband, who was a contractor for many years, was called to ministry. Well, in the beginning just over 3 years ago, we didn't know he was being called to ministry. God just said, with no question, "You're finished building," to which he replied, "Okay. I can do that. But, what do I do to provide for my family?" The answer did not come until about 5 months later. He had already been using his new free time to spend more time with the girls, playing and teaching, and to do projects around the house, but also in much deeper Bible study.

Five months after God told Him he was finished building....and a couple of months after God showed Him that when He said finished, He *meant* finished.....God very clearly led me to 1 Kings 17. It contains a story we're all familiar with~Elijah going to the widow, who had a handful of flour and a small amount of oil. God kept enough in the jars to provide for them until the drought ended. But, God did most of His speaking that day through the first part of the passage.


The word of the LORD came to him, saying, "Go away from here and turn eastward, and hide yourself by the brook Cherith, which is east of the Jordan. It shall be that you will drink of the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to provide for you there." So he went and did according to the word of the LORD, for he went and lived by the brook Cherith, which is east of the Jordan. The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning and bread and meat in the evening, and he would drink from the brook. It happened after a while that the brook dried up, because there was no rain in the land. Then the word of the LORD came to him, saying, "Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and stay there; behold, I have commanded a widow there to provide for you."

God's plan for now for our family was revealed that day. He wanted James to hide in Him, the living water. He would drink of the Lord, and God would provide for us there. When one place dried up, He would provide from another. And, He has. Every step of the way. We have never asked for money, none of our church or family has given us money to pay bills, we were not wealthy beforehand. God has done it, and although we knew He could, it has still been amazing to watch. Things that were set in motion years earlier that provided for us at just the right moment.

This is one of the many ways God has called our family to "get out of the boat". There were some before, but this was a turning point for us....a huge step of faith that God asked us to make, when we had no idea where He was going. Really, we still don't. It's day by day. I chose this title for my blog, to compliment and be in agreement with the blog that James is starting soon. A ministry blog. The title is special to him, because God clearly told him to get out of the boat, and He has led James and opened His arms to us each time He showed James a new boat He wants Him to step out of. Purifying, faith building, and straight into the arms of our Savior.

I look forward to sharing more of this with you, and more of how it has manifested itself in the last 2 years, along with the antics of my whacko family, our day to day learning and life....and probably more wedding plans than you'll want to hear about!