#3 Take delight in the LORD, and He will give you the desires of your heart. Psalm 37:4

We gave ourselves five weeks to move, praying all the time that the Lord would tell us if we needed to leave sooner. We didn't know anyone where we were going, had no job lined up, had no place to live once we got there. We just knew the Lord would provide for us. We even held the destination loosely and prayed that the Lord would direct our path and make it clear to us. In the meantime, we kept praying that He would send His Spirit ahead of us to prepare a place for us.

Before leaving Portland, Eric applied for several jobs and made several phone calls about housing, including a call to Annemari about a one room cabin on 20 acres with a creek. When I heard about the cabin, I was giddy! How quaint! A "Little House On The Prairie" cabin in Montana! Perfect! But Eric, never having read the "Little House On The Prairie" books, decided a one room cabin wouldn't be practical for our family of four.

The time to leave was close and Eric commented that "doors were closing" for cheap apartments in the area. Then, when another apartment came available, the Lord brought us to Annemari's mind and she called us. The Lord ended up giving me the desire of my heart! The cabin was suppposed to be ours for two weeks for an unbelievably awesome price and then we would move into another one room apartment for January, also for wonderfully affordable rent. But the Lord allowed us to stay in the cabin for the entire time we were in Emigrant! We had a destination! The Lord was making a place for us! Annemari said the door would be unlocked and the key on the table. What?! Both Eric and I, being from the city, laughed out loud when we read that in the email! We couldn't wait to get to a town where people left doors unlocked with keys on the table!

As we prepared to paypal the few hundred dollars to secure both the cabin and the apartment, Eric and I were afraid it was a scam and that a big chunk of the money we had would be gone. Then the Lord brought to us Gideon's story and we sent the money, on faith that the Lord would provide for us:

2 The LORD said to Gideon, “You have too many men. I cannot deliver Midian into their hands, or Israel would boast against me, ‘My own strength has saved me.’
4 But the LORD said to Gideon, “There are still too many men. Take them down to the water, and I will thin them out for you there.
7 The LORD said to Gideon, “With the three hundred men that lapped I will save you and give the Midianites into your hands. Let all the others go home.”
Judges 7:2,4,7

9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.
2 Corinthians 12:9

Everything seemed legit! But the price for the cabin had to be too good to be true. We were sure it would be a dark, dingy, dirty, smelly little shack with no running water. We thought we were prepared for almost anything, but when we walked through the front door of the little cabin, we were not prepared for what we saw: It was perfect! Better than I could have imagined! It was toasty warm, had a little wood burning stove and a beautiful modern kitchen. It was bright, spacious and airy with clean floors, new rugs and lace curtains. There was even a bed and dining room table with wooden chairs. Since we were married, I've wanted wooden chairs. Sometimes I was patient about chairs, sometimes I've been stinky about chairs, as if I'm somehow entitled to them. The Lord has blessed me with the desires of my heart! But know it was meant to be just for a short time. And I'm ready to give up cute cabins and wooden chairs to follow Him, whatever He has for us next.

Our cabin!
Eric  & Evie playing in the snow outside our cabin
  
The beautiful view from our kitchen window
Our cabin in Emigrant Montana
  
 22 Then Jesus said to his disciples: “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear. 23 For life is more than food, and the body more than clothes. 24 Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds! 25 Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to your life? 26 Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest?
   27 “Consider how the wild flowers grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 28 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today, and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, how much more will he clothe you—you of little faith! 29 And do not set your heart on what you will eat or drink; do not worry about it. 30 For the pagan world runs after all such things, and your Father knows that you need them. 31 But seek his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well.
   32 “Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom. 33 Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will never fail, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. 34 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
Luke 12:22-32
#1 - Going West
#2 - In You, O LORD, I have taken refuge
#3 - Take delight in the LORD and He will give you the desires of your heart
#4 - Let The Journey Begin
#5 - Yahweh-Yireh
#6 - for the love of money... and coffee.
#7 - Testing God
#8 - Billings, MT
#9 - who needs furniture?
#10 - The floodgates of heaven thrown open
#11 - Hardwood Floors, Terrible Neighbors, and God




Follow Genevieve West 
for future workshops and events!

To invite Genevieve West to speak at your group or church, please email Genevieve directly at MrsGWest@gmail.com.

Genevieve West is a professional Matchmaker and personal consultant, prolific blogger and speaker, perpetual manuscript attempter, wine-drinking, coffee-chugging, sometimes irreverent, often overwhelmed housewife and homeschool mom of three, redeemed by God's grace.
You can find more of Genevieve's insights and antics at:

Find resources and learn about Genevieve's Matchmaking services:
GenevieveWestMatchmaker.blogspot.com




#2 In You, O LORD, I have taken refuge

We started preparing to leave December 18th, but we were praying that the Lord would let us know if we needed to leave sooner or if Montana was not the destination He wanted for us. And we prayed that He would make a clear path for us and that His Spirit would go ahead of us and make a place for us there with a home, a church community and a job.
During our preparations, the Lord, in His mercy, warned us that a storm was coming. 

 And then boy did it! 

 Even with the warning, we were unprepared for the intensity, severity and source of the persecution that came next. 

 Even though it drove us to our knees in prayer, for days we let it become a distraction from the path that the Lord had set us on. 

 By His grace, the Lord brought this scripture to us:
Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to him, “King Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and he will deliver us from Your Majesty’s hand. But even if he does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.”  Daniel 3:16-18

I sent him this reply: “Nothing like what you are saying is happening; you are just making it up out of your head.”
They were all trying to frighten us, thinking, “Their hands will get too weak for the work, and it will not be completed.”
   But I prayed, “Now strengthen my hands.”
Nehemiah 6:8-9

 So we continued our preparations and trusted the Lord with the rest.

And all of a sudden, the Lord revealed to us a whole new understanding of the Psalms.

 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
   for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
 Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.  Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
Matthew 5:10-11
#1 - Going West
#2 - In You, O LORD, I have taken refuge
#3 - Take delight in the LORD and He will give you the desires of your heart
#4 - Let The Journey Begin
#5 - Yahweh-Yireh
#6 - for the love of money... and coffee.
#7 - Testing God
#8 - Billings, MT
#9 - who needs furniture?
#10 - The floodgates of heaven thrown open
#11 - Hardwood Floors, Terrible Neighbors, and God




Follow Genevieve West 
for future workshops and events!

To invite Genevieve West to speak at your group or church, please email Genevieve directly at MrsGWest@gmail.com.

Genevieve West is a professional Matchmaker and personal consultant, prolific blogger and speaker, perpetual manuscript attempter, wine-drinking, coffee-chugging, sometimes irreverent, often overwhelmed housewife and homeschool mom of three, redeemed by God's grace.
You can find more of Genevieve's insights and antics at:

Find resources and learn about Genevieve's Matchmaking services:
GenevieveWestMatchmaker.blogspot.com




#1 Going West

So, we didn't actually go west. Traveling from Portland, Oregon to Livingston, Montana is pretty much a straight shot east. But I had a dream that I was writing a blog called "Going West" and when I woke up I thought it was clever, since our last name is West and Montana is pretty much what people think of when they think of the west with horses, cowboys, ghost towns and lots of wilderness.

The Lord was telling us that it was time to move and it needed to be before Christmas. Eric and I had been talking about moving for months and were looking hard at Montana. When we were deciding on the "when", the Lord brought Genesis 19:15-17 to my husband:

 
    With the coming of dawn, the angels urged Lot, saying, “Hurry! Take your wife and your two daughters who are here, or you will be swept away when the city is punished.”
   When he hesitated, the men grasped his hand and the hands of his wife and of his two daughters and led them safely out of the city, for the LORD was merciful to them. As soon as they had brought them out, one of them said, “Flee for your lives! Don’t look back, and don’t stop anywhere in the plain! Flee to the mountains or you will be swept away!”

So we gave ourselves five weeks, even though Eric stood to earn a lot more money just by staying at his job for two additional weeks, and we left December 18th!

Our move has been an important act of obedience and faith, trusting Him to provide for us, even if that doesn't look how we hope it will.

You gave me life and showed me kindness,
   and in your providence watched over my spirit.
Job 10:12







Follow Genevieve West 
for future workshops and events!

To invite Genevieve West to speak at your group or church, please email Genevieve directly at MrsGWest@gmail.com.

Genevieve West is a professional Matchmaker and personal consultant, prolific blogger and speaker, perpetual manuscript attempter, wine-drinking, coffee-chugging, sometimes irreverent, often overwhelmed housewife and homeschool mom of three, redeemed by God's grace.
You can find more of Genevieve's insights and antics at:



Find resources and learn about Genevieve's Matchmaking services:
GenevieveWestMatchmaker.blogspot.com

Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)

Featured Post

Portland Is Now a Constitution-Free Zone

Welcome to the Constitution-free zone. If you live in Portland, Oregon, you are now officially inside the 100-mile “border enforcement zone...