July 16, 2016

Greetings My Friend, Talk about God being able to line things up at Just the right time! Oh my goodness, I have thought about my baptism again. I was baptized in the Russel Fork river a few years ago in November and the water was cold that day. In order to belong to the Southern Baptist church I was joining I knew I had to have a baptism by immersion. I had felt I would like to be baptized in this manner when I began my in earnest journey of faith, it was something I felt I needed for myself. This church provided the opportunity and I gladly accepted it. My thought was that my baptism was my crossing of the Red Sea moment like the Israelite's had when God took them out of Egypt. I had a lot of pain in my life that was trying to consume me and both Junior and I felt we were to leave Michigan. My moment was teaching me to let go of my years of bondage to pain and to begin a new life much like Israel did when they left Egypt. Like the Isrealite's I found myself wandering in the wilderness for the last few years trying to figure out my journey and understand how to let go, let God. Some days I got it and other days if I am honest with myself I still wanted to control the outcome. I believe the understanding was settling into my being when the kitchen became more of a kitchen rather than the chaos it had been for a few years. Last winter Junior got the one wall down, removed a lot of his tools and ladders and lined up some temporary units for storage and such. I began cooking and as spring came I looked for ways to preserve food, choosing dehydration. Since spring most of Junior's work has been on the porch cleaning off ladders, tools and stuff. Later we decided we needed to close up the porch so the fur children would not roam as they have been which meant more things came to live on the porch along with old things that needed to be gotten rid of or moved. In the meantime I began my cooking journey, homemade bread, jams and dehydrating. I spend several hours most days in our kitchen right now. A few nights ago Junior and I found ourselves on the front porch which is almost cleaned up again. We sat there watching lighting bugs light up the night sky and talking. It was at that moment I saw that I had started to finally cross over and take on the promised land. In the wilderness of growing through emotional pain, learning how to live in a broken body and letting go of the past I had a dream form, it was of living a simple life, a life the way God had created us to live. I remembered Irene and Dorothy and even Aunt Pat the women who taught me to cook, to clean and to care for my family. I longed to learn to live that life and then I saw that this is the life I am now living. I see the programs I am attracted to are mainly the homesteading type of life where the people are not depending on ready made groceries, heat etc. I am learning to be less dependent on others and more dependent on God's ways, the way He created us. We are to be in the world but not of the world and living a quiet simple life allowing me to rest in God, be strengthen by Him and then I am able to reach back to the world and give the hope I live. Our very first year here in SW VA found us without electricity for 11 days. From that point on I have wanted back up heat and electricity. Some day we will have an alternative electric supply, we are heating our home with propane and with wood/coal and now we are putting up food. If we are without power we are not in bad shape. We do have a generator for the electricity we need. We have food to eat and a wood stove we can heat food on. Knowing this brings me great comfort. My past hurts are staying in Michigan more these days and for that I am grateful. I am in awe of God laying all of this on my heart and the awesome thing is as I have begun sensing all of this God lined up today's Bible study to be about Joshua crossing the Jordan to begin to take God's people to their promised land. May God bless you and keep you make His face shine on you. Love Janet