Where to begin?
It has been a long, yet quick, changing journey this last year. It’s hard to believe that it has been over a year since we last posted. My what a year can bring! God has swept us into unexpected changes this last year. It has been a fruit bearing, journey changing, enduring with surrender kind of year. A year full of continuous blessings that brought a deeper faith and deeper challenges.
Ok, I’m just going to dive right in. We spent almost a year living on the side of Pastor Rick and Joye’s house. Within that year, we got pregnant with our third child Jachai James who is now 5 months old. What a surprise being that I had an IUD, which is 99.6 percent effective. God just keeps giving us children no matter how hard we try to protect ourselves from it. But He knows best and little Jachai has been a huge blessing in our lives. But with him, came a twist in vision.
We prayed for months asking what to do with a third child? Where will he be born? We had previous homebirths and I birthed in water. Our birthing tub certainly would not fit in our RV. So we mustered up a plan and decided we would birth our child in the church across the street. Or possibly at our dear neighbors house who I love in the deepest parts of me. It was going to be a challenge, no doubt. Just having a newborn with two toddlers in an RV was kind of just insane but we were willing to endure by Gods grace and by the love and strength of all the community we had around us. The community that God brought to us during that year in Simi Valley is almost too overwhelming to put in words. That is for another day.
I remember feeling like a third child was in view due to Josh’s previous vasectomy surgery falling through in an unusual way. That is why we ended up with an IUD as opposed to the snip snip. I remember praying, “ok God, if I have to have another child please bring it in a time that is restful and can you please allow me to have an actual nursery for this child, with a rocking chair to breastfeed!” Having 2 children back to back was madness and we were constantly moving so I never had that cozy place to nurse my babies. I pleaded with God, “Please, please bring a third during a restful season!” At first, I felt my prayer was unheard and it was ok. If I trust God and His perfect and pleasing will, it was all going to be as it should.
We believed that with this new community we had and a third child that we were going to stay put for a while. This is the twist. We had envisioned this last year to be the birth of our organization Exposure World and a time of travel. Again, God showed us something very different to birth but so foundational. Josh ended up going to Bible College and we became a part of a community group through Cornerstone Church (Francis Chan’s old church). This group of people changed our lives in so many ways and we are forever grateful. What an authentic group of hearts. God seemed to ripen our hearts in that year and prepare us for what was to come.
Months into our pregnancy an opportunity arose for us to help plant a church in the Central Valley. This decision would change everything but only for a season. We sought out council and wisdom from the ones we so deeply trusted and prayed for months. Really God? Did you really want us to pick up and move again, put Josh as a youth Pastor and head towards cows and farms…. and NO OCEAN? We wrestled but God made it clear that we needed to go. And get this, the pay for Josh’s new ministry was a parsonage. A church owned house that was directly behind the church. Yes, the house needed a tremendous amount of work before it was even livable, but my prayer had been answered. God gave us a large house to birth another child with an orange rocking chair! Thank you Jesus!
It was Christmas Eve of last year at about 10pm that we were headed to the small town of Exeter. This move was great. We just got in the RV and drove. No packing this time! Josh’s parents live in Exeter and all of this came up because Josh’s father, Dave had planted a church and needed help. The position of a youth director became available and Josh went for it. Never did Josh ever imagine he would be placed in such a challenging role but God prepared our hearts for the task.
We ended up living in Josh’s parents house until the end of March. We were able to move into the parsonage just a few weeks before Jachai arrived. WOW! This house required so much work and by the grace of God, we were so willing to make this place awesome. God knew that Josh and I were perfect for the job because we love this kind of stuff. But I’m not going to lie, by the end of all of this…I will be ok if I never have to paint again! Yep, I was painting and puttying, stripping and deep cleaning while 7-9 months pregnant. It was crazy but so worth it. This parsonage now has some spice to it and we are so excited to walk away from it leaving it for the next people. I will have to post pictures of the progress of this house. What an adventure it has been.
I will mention it again; God has been so gracious. We came here with nothing. We didn’t even have beds. Everything we once had to fill a home was given away. We never expected to be in this situation. I think God just wanted to show off. Within weeks we had more than we ever could have imagined. We were given bookshelves, a dinner table, couches, desks…. and yes, a gracious family decided to by our entire family new mattresses! And they were even organic and 100% non-toxic. Of course I loved that! God is so good! We do not deserve any of it!!!
I am going to end this post and will fill you in on all the rest gradually. There is so much. Thank you everyone for your prayers and wisdom. We are nothing without God and his beautiful community he has placed in our lives.
It has been a long, yet quick, changing journey this last year. It’s hard to believe that it has been over a year since we last posted. My what a year can bring! God has swept us into unexpected changes this last year. It has been a fruit bearing, journey changing, enduring with surrender kind of year. A year full of continuous blessings that brought a deeper faith and deeper challenges.
Ok, I’m just going to dive right in. We spent almost a year living on the side of Pastor Rick and Joye’s house. Within that year, we got pregnant with our third child Jachai James who is now 5 months old. What a surprise being that I had an IUD, which is 99.6 percent effective. God just keeps giving us children no matter how hard we try to protect ourselves from it. But He knows best and little Jachai has been a huge blessing in our lives. But with him, came a twist in vision.
We prayed for months asking what to do with a third child? Where will he be born? We had previous homebirths and I birthed in water. Our birthing tub certainly would not fit in our RV. So we mustered up a plan and decided we would birth our child in the church across the street. Or possibly at our dear neighbors house who I love in the deepest parts of me. It was going to be a challenge, no doubt. Just having a newborn with two toddlers in an RV was kind of just insane but we were willing to endure by Gods grace and by the love and strength of all the community we had around us. The community that God brought to us during that year in Simi Valley is almost too overwhelming to put in words. That is for another day.
I remember feeling like a third child was in view due to Josh’s previous vasectomy surgery falling through in an unusual way. That is why we ended up with an IUD as opposed to the snip snip. I remember praying, “ok God, if I have to have another child please bring it in a time that is restful and can you please allow me to have an actual nursery for this child, with a rocking chair to breastfeed!” Having 2 children back to back was madness and we were constantly moving so I never had that cozy place to nurse my babies. I pleaded with God, “Please, please bring a third during a restful season!” At first, I felt my prayer was unheard and it was ok. If I trust God and His perfect and pleasing will, it was all going to be as it should.
We believed that with this new community we had and a third child that we were going to stay put for a while. This is the twist. We had envisioned this last year to be the birth of our organization Exposure World and a time of travel. Again, God showed us something very different to birth but so foundational. Josh ended up going to Bible College and we became a part of a community group through Cornerstone Church (Francis Chan’s old church). This group of people changed our lives in so many ways and we are forever grateful. What an authentic group of hearts. God seemed to ripen our hearts in that year and prepare us for what was to come.
Months into our pregnancy an opportunity arose for us to help plant a church in the Central Valley. This decision would change everything but only for a season. We sought out council and wisdom from the ones we so deeply trusted and prayed for months. Really God? Did you really want us to pick up and move again, put Josh as a youth Pastor and head towards cows and farms…. and NO OCEAN? We wrestled but God made it clear that we needed to go. And get this, the pay for Josh’s new ministry was a parsonage. A church owned house that was directly behind the church. Yes, the house needed a tremendous amount of work before it was even livable, but my prayer had been answered. God gave us a large house to birth another child with an orange rocking chair! Thank you Jesus!
It was Christmas Eve of last year at about 10pm that we were headed to the small town of Exeter. This move was great. We just got in the RV and drove. No packing this time! Josh’s parents live in Exeter and all of this came up because Josh’s father, Dave had planted a church and needed help. The position of a youth director became available and Josh went for it. Never did Josh ever imagine he would be placed in such a challenging role but God prepared our hearts for the task.
We ended up living in Josh’s parents house until the end of March. We were able to move into the parsonage just a few weeks before Jachai arrived. WOW! This house required so much work and by the grace of God, we were so willing to make this place awesome. God knew that Josh and I were perfect for the job because we love this kind of stuff. But I’m not going to lie, by the end of all of this…I will be ok if I never have to paint again! Yep, I was painting and puttying, stripping and deep cleaning while 7-9 months pregnant. It was crazy but so worth it. This parsonage now has some spice to it and we are so excited to walk away from it leaving it for the next people. I will have to post pictures of the progress of this house. What an adventure it has been.
I will mention it again; God has been so gracious. We came here with nothing. We didn’t even have beds. Everything we once had to fill a home was given away. We never expected to be in this situation. I think God just wanted to show off. Within weeks we had more than we ever could have imagined. We were given bookshelves, a dinner table, couches, desks…. and yes, a gracious family decided to by our entire family new mattresses! And they were even organic and 100% non-toxic. Of course I loved that! God is so good! We do not deserve any of it!!!
I am going to end this post and will fill you in on all the rest gradually. There is so much. Thank you everyone for your prayers and wisdom. We are nothing without God and his beautiful community he has placed in our lives.
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