Not my will.

Not my will but Your will be done.

I would be lying if I said everything went according to plan when we moved here to Hawaii. I know God called me and my family here. I know it. He has taught us so many lessons in our short time here. Many of those lessons I am going to share with you here. There has been ups and downs and nothing has turned out as planned. But I am glad that it was not will being done but God's will. Below are a few things he has taught me.

God taught me to trust in Him to provde.

One of the biggest lessons God has taught me is that we can trust in him to provide for all our needs. For most of the time here in Hawaii we have been flat broke. Now we didn't plan it that way. We had money and resources when we moved to rent a house and get ourselves started. Since things didn't go as planned though that money quickly disappeared as we had to rent condos instead of finding a peremnant place to stay. Soon we had nothing. But we were never without our basic needs. When we needed money God provided money. When we needed food God provided food. When we needed shelter God provided shelter. When we need encouragement God provided encouragement. My family never missed a single meal or slept a single night without a bed even though the majority of the time we had no money to speak of. How awesome is our God! I have learned that as a child of God I do not even have a right to be worried about our needs.

Mathew 6:26
Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?

We are, in fact, much more valuable than birds. We are sons and daughters of the King of Kings. We are princes and princesses of the Kingdom of Heaven. How can we ever believe that we will go without our needs? Of course when we do have money and jobs we need to be good stewards of our money and the blessings God has given us. We cannot just expect food to fall from the sky if we have already been given the means to obtain food. Simply, even when we cannot provided for ourselves God will always provide for us.

My plans are not God's plans and that is okay.

Another very important lessons I have learned is that I can make all the plans on the world and God might let them fall through. Remember the money we had when we moved to Hawaii? We had more than enough to get started and get a place to rent. We had the funds to get ourselves a house and we had good resumes to get ourselves jobs. Well, neither of those has happened. After two months we still don't have work or a peremnant place to stay. All the plans I had made ahead of time fell through. Even plans we made while we were here fell through. Katie "got" a job that would have been amazing. Yet it never actually happened. Her employer kept dragging their feet saying "We will get everything ready for you to start work next week" but it never happened. I planned on doing children's ministry here in Hawaii but the churches we were led too did not have a desperate need for help in the children's program. Is there a church somewhere on Maui that could use help in their children's program? Probably. But God has not let me find them yet. Plan after plan I laid down and yet plan after plan God removed from in front of me. I (not quickly enough) began to learn that these plans I was making were earthly plans and not heavenly ones. Sure, I wanted to support for my family and work in children's ministy, how can that not be heavenly plans? Well, even the best intentions may not be God's plan if they are outside of his will. We have since heard from God a new plan that we will be following through with shortly. I'll tell you what it is at the end of this post. But ultimately I have learned that God has a will for my life and anything outside of that, good intentions or otherwise, is not following His plan.

Jeremiah 29:11
For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

He knows the plans He has for me. I have no idea what His plans may be. The best I can do is take a step of faith day by day and believe that God will lead each step.

God has taught me to be content with nothing.

Mark 8:36
What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul?

Gain the whole world. The whole stinking world. You would have to be pretty darn wealthy to gain the whole world. But Jesus said that even gaining the whole world, in essence being the wealthiest person to ever exist, would mean nothing if it meant forfeiting their soul. If being the richest person ever is not worth losing yourself then is being just a middle-class citizen worth it? Is having any amount of money or possessions worth it? Is there any material thing on this planet that is worth losing yourself over? The answer is no.

Matthew 6:19-21
Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

I am a hoarder. I love my stuff. But when we moved to Hawaii Katie and I got rid of or sold 95% of our possessions. I was proud of that. All this stuff I had been collecting was gone. I had gotten rid of all my earthly treasures to follow God's will and move here. Soon though, I began to want more again. I began to want some of the stuff I had gotten rid of. I even wanted new things I did not have. At the very least I wanted to be able to buy good food and have a place to stay where my family and I could get settled here on the island! But God did not provide any of that. He gave us our needs but none of or wants. It frustrated me for quite a while. Through prayer and talking it out with my beautiful bride I began to realize that we don't need anything to be happy. Even many of the things we packed in our six suitcases I realized we did not need. And finally, with God's help, I became content with the little we had. Instead of investing time and money into things I invested it into my family and studying God's word. It is amazing how much you can learn about the character of God when you don't have stuff to get in your way! If being content and knowing God better means I don't get to have nice things then I am joyous not to have nice things!

God has taught me not to worry.

Something I have thought a lot about is what we have the right to do as believers in Christian and what we don't have the right to do. And one thing I have realized is we do not have the right to worry about anything. God is the creator of the universe. He spoke all of creation into existence. He commanded the sun to shine and the stars to light up the sky. He is all powerful and all knowing. Through Jesus Christ God has a personal relationship with me. He is my heavenly father and I am a son of God.

Matthew 18:3
And he said: "Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

When I read this passage I stopped to think about my own children. I realized that they don't worry about anything. My children have 100% faith in Katie and I. They do not worry what they are going to eat. They don't worry where they are going to sleep. They don't worry if I'm going to love them or what they can do to earn my love. The love me unconditionally and believe I love them the same. They never worry if I have their best interests in mind. The have faith that all their needs will be met and never worry about a thing. I need to be like a child and never worry because God always had our best interests in mind.

Mathew 6:26
Can anyone of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?

We can't. We can worry, we can stress, we can freak out. But we cannot add a single hour to our lives. Everything we have and everything we are is under the control of our Father God. So why worry about anything? We do the best we can with what we are given. The rest is up to God.

God has taught me to give up any pride in myself and instead find my joy and pride in Him.

Now that we are nearing the end of this post it is time for our news. We are leaving Hawaii and moving to Montana. The reason I say it now is simple; it has destroyed my pride to admit we are leaving. When we moved to Hawaii (even before we moved) there had been numerous voices that have said we wouldn't make it. Escpecially here on the island it has been nearly a self fulfilling prophecy that we will only stay a short time and therefore no one wants to give us a chance with jobs or a place to stay. In my pride I puffed up my chest and said to myself "I'll prove them wrong. I will be one of the few who move here and stick and do not leave after a short time." I was very wrong. I'm a prideful man. I tend to think to much of myself. I'm the kind of guy who walks into a gym full of body builders and think "I could beat anyone of them in a fight". I see someone do something amazing and think "I could do that". I hear someone tell me I can't do something and think "I'll prove them wrong". I had way to much pride in myself. God, for the better, has removed all the over confident pride in the situations he has put us through. It is further breaking down my pride just posting this. But we are leaving Hawaii to move to Montana.

Proverbs 16:18
Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.

I have fallen. My pride is shattered. Now God can build me up with a brand new foundation.

In fact I am certain that is why He brought us to Hawaii. To tear us down in our bad habits and our complacency and get us ready to build us up, starting from scratch. If that was the sole reason for us to be here for two months then I rejoice in the Lord and am glad I'm His faithfulness.

We were not able to support ourselves in Hawaii and thankfully God did not require us too for these two months. But now we will be able move to Montana and find work to support ourselves and build our family up and a foundation of God. We will remember the the lessons we have learned here in Hawaii and keep them written on our hearts as we strive after God in Montana.

I thank each and everyone of you who has supported us by prayer or finanically. Please continue to pray for my family as we start a new chapter. I hope to continue our blog in Montana with new adventures that God will take us on.

God bless and...

Aloha Y'all!

Abundant Blessings

Aloha, Katie here! I know we've been a little MIA lately, and I apologize for that. These past several weeks since we last posted have been a crazy, unexpected, blessing-filled whirlwind. I can't wait to tell you all about it!

There are so many things I wish I could share with you, but the most important right now is this: Our God is awesome and never changing. He has plans to prosper us that a lot of times do not line up with the plans we have for ourselves. But even still, we will prosper if we follow His plans for us and if we surrender ourselves and our lives constantly to follow Him wherever and whenever He asks us to.

There is unimaginable blessing that comes from following an all-powerful, all-resourceful, ever present God. I'm not talking about physical or monetary blessing, although God has unlimited resources and will provide for every need, if we ask, according to His will.  The blessing I speak of is the blessing of everlasting, eternal life in the presence of the Father. Is it not of more value to devote our lives to serving Him and spend eternity with Him than to be settled in one place, be financially stable, and comfortable in this life? I'm not saying by any means that it's wrong to be settled, financially stable, and comfortable. I would love those things. But I find that sometimes, when we're too comfortable, we get complacent and it's easy to just continue our day to day lives without really taking the time to listen for God and find out what He wants us to do....what His plans for us are.

Sometimes, when we aren't in dire need for Him to come through for us, we forget He's even there. It's really easy to forget where all our blessings come from if we're not in the habit of acknowledging that we're blessed at all! If you look at your life, if you really look and think about your life every day, you will start to notice what He has blessed you with.

What a blessing it is to be used by Him for His glory. We all have a purpose. God has plans to prosper each and every one of us. All we need to do is surrender to Him, wait and listen for His voice, and then be obedient and go where He wants us to go and do what He wants us to do. It seems so complicated, but really, it's not. Not if you're devoting your life to doing His purpose. Then it isn't complicated...it's obedience.

I pray unexplainable blessings on each and every one of you. Knowing we've got an army of people praying for us on our journey here has encouraged us more than you know. Mahalo for your prayers and support!

Aloha y'all!

p.s. Big news coming soon!! Can't wait to share it with y'all! Be sure to follow our blog and share with your friends! God is doing amazing things and I want the whole world to know of His glory and His love!

Tempered Steel

Do you know how tempered steel is made? It is fascinating. 

From Wikipedia:

"Tempering is a process of heat treating, which is used to increase the toughness of iron-based alloys. Tempering is usually performed after hardening, to reduce some of the excess hardness, and is done by heating the metal to some temperature below the critical point for a certain period of time, then allowing it to cool in still air. The exact temperature determines the amount of hardness removed, and depends on both the specific composition of the alloy and on the desired properties in the finished product. For instance, very hard tools are often tempered at low temperatures, while springs are tempered to much higher temperatures."

A process of heat treating designed to reduce excess hardness. It is done by heating metal below the  critical point for a certain period of time. Ouch. That does not sound like fun.

Unfortunately (or fortunately as I'll show) Katie and I are being tempered. 

We have now been in Maui for three and a half weeks! However it seems like is has been much longer. There have been many trials and difficulties already. It certainly has not been a vacation! The best way to describe what we have been though is that we are being tempered.

We have been put through a lot of heating (both metaphorically and literally, Hawaii is hot!) over the past month. We have written about it before but even just getting to Hawaii was filled with trials and hardships! That was before we arrived! Since we got here there have been difficult times over and over again. In between those times, however, were moments of peace were we could relax and bask in the glory of God. Overall we were definitely heated below our critical point time and time again. The cool thing is, after each period of heat tempering we were given a chance to cool in still air. I can feel a lot of my hardness being faded away. My hardened heart has been softened. I've always felt like I had good faith in God, but this process of tempering has made my faith so much stronger. We have been one day from having to leave our condo and live out of our car and God provided. We have been stuck at the airport with no way to get on a plane and God provided. God ALWAYS provides.

But we're not done yet.

Tempering is a process that can take a very long time over multiple treatments. It is not something that you do once and it's over. Even though you get a chance to cool in between each treatment it is not long before you are out back into the flames. Even after all we have been through there is always more.

In her last post Katie talked about the amazing blessing God provided us with an anonymous donation placed directly into our bank account. That kept us from living in our car for the last week! We got a chance to rest and breathe a sigh of relief. Even so, we still only have funds to stay in our current condo until the end of the month. So once again we are being heated, tested. 

In addition to having to worry about finances and living accommodations we are being heated and tested by our two beautiful children. Clayton, 3 and Chloe, 1 don't fully understand what has been going on. Because of that they have had a hard time adjusting to new sleep schedules, the new places we have stayed at, and the lack of a solid routine. God is tempering me and reducing my hardness so I can be more patient and as loving of a father as I could be. 

I am being tempered in my job search. Though, thanks to God's amazing goodness, Katie has been hired for an amazing job!! (I'll let her tell you more about that in her next post.) I have had difficulties in finding work. However, there may be an opportunity for me to get a job that is also a type of ministry reaching out to struggling families on the island. Please pray that this will be where God is calling me to work so I can reach out and make connections and help parents in need!

There is a lot of tempering going on. In the months before we moved to Maui, I felt God had made huge changes in me and my life. The last three weeks has seen more changes and at ten times the rate! I feel like a completely different person than who I was when we moved here. A person who is even more on love with God and even more excited to see what He can do! I have more faith in Him than ever! Even though I know there is much more tempering to come!

I also feel a very strong direction for the future ministry God has in store for me and my family. Something crazy and amazing and just plain awesome. I pray every day that God will help direct my path to make this ministry possible. Even though it will likely be years in the future, I am so excited to see what God will do and excited to see the part He let's me play in His plans!

Being tempered isn't fun. It hurts. It burns. But it is necessary to become the man God wants me to be. Therefore I rejoice in the flames!

Please continue to pray for me and my family. Knowing that so many people are praying for us fills our hearts with joy. Some specific prayer requests:

1. That God will continue to provide us with a place to stay. Whether it is week by week like we have been living so far or a new place for us to call home, He has provided everything so far and will continue to provide!

2. That God would provide me with this amazing opportunity to work with families as a job and a ministry.

3. That God would give Katie and I patience and wisdom in raising our wonderful children. Give us strength to raise them how God would have us raise them.

4. That Katie will love her new job and make awesome friends and connections with her work.

5. That Katie and I will be able to withstand all tempering and come out better than ever.

If you would like to help financially while we continue to get settled and look for a rental, there is a donation button on the right of the blog web page. It does not appear in the mobile version if you are having trouble finding it.

Again, thank you for your prayers.

And,

Aloha Y'all.

Blessed be the name of the Lord.

Aloha,

Katie here. I've got a story to tell you...and you're probably not going to believe me, because it is pretty unbelievable. I've seen it with my own eyes and I cannot even wrap my mind around it. But this story is one that needs to be told. This story needs to be told to show everyone reading this blog the God that we serve. This story is being told because our God deserves all of the glory and honor for what has happened. I need to tell you this story so you can see His provision and how He shows His undeniable love for us, his servants. So...here goes.

Several weeks ago, I had an interview at a medical office here in Kihei for a medical receptionist position. I have always wanted to work in a doctors office...a big part of that stems from being sick so much as a kid and experiencing many less-than-friendly nurses at the front of the office. I have always wanted to be the smiling face that people see when they come into a doctors office feeling really terrible. I have always wanted to treat people with compassion and understanding and not like they were a huge inconvenience in your day...because that is how I had been treated as a sick kid. I wanted to show people that I cared about them and wanted to make them feel better at least for a moment while they were in front of me. 

Anyway, I had the interview and it went very well! They said that they would not be making their decision for another week and a half, so I had to wait to hear. Every job that I have ever gotten so far in my life, I either got the call that day or I got the job on the spot...so waiting a week and a half was like torture. It was in this week and a half that things started to happen in my heart. It took several days of stressing out and worrying before  I realized that stressing out only makes things worse. I had to give this job and the outcome to God. I honestly had no control over whether or not I got this job...so why was I trying to control it? 

I don't think I've ever actually truly given anything to God before...so I didn't know how to do it or really, what it meant to do that. Here is what it means: 

• Stop worrying.
• Stop stressing.
• When you want to stress and worry, pray and tell God that you are giving it to Him...and actually do.
• Tell Him that you know He is in control and that whatever happens, you know that it was in His will...and you thank Him for being Lord of your life and giving you the opportunities that you have to glorify Him.
• Continue to pray about it and ask that His will in your life be done...because He's got a plan for you to prosper you and not to harm you. Isn't that something that you probably want??

This is what I did...for hours upon hours for the next week. Every single time I worried about the job, I prayed and released my worrying to Him. A week later, I received a call from them and they wanted me to come in for a working interview...to see how their office works! I was ecstatic! This was my dream job and I was awesome. So I went in to do the working interview and I thought it went well. They were making their decision later that day so I had to wait until I heard back from them. I thought I totally had the job...because I'm Katie and I'm awesome. Well, guess what? I didn't get the job. I was heart-broken. I didn't understand what I did wrong. I thought I was the perfect fit for this job, but they thought otherwise. 

You know what happened after I got that call? I started worrying all over again. I took everything back that I had given to God because things didn't work out how I thought they should. So I worried. I stressed. I was upset. I took a few minutes and then I prayed with Cory and we thanked God for this opportunity and that even though it didn't work out, it taught me something I didn't know before...how to actually be patient and wait on the Lord and give my troubles to Him...and then we asked Him to show us what He had for us...to provide us with more opportunities so we can get a job and a place to live. Then I went and took a nap for about 3 hours because I needed my mind to turn off for a while. 

When I woke up, I had a voicemail from a lady at the staffing agency I had met with several weeks before. She sent my resume to the hospital here and they wanted to schedule an interview with me! I frantically called her back and their office was closed. More waiting. More being patient as my heart is beating like crazy. Somehow she called me back several hours later and informed me that she also has 2 other positions that she wants to schedule interviews for me with. In the midst of my confusion, my pouting, my not-trusting-God-ness, He was still working despite my short-comings. That all happened yesterday, Friday. This coming week, I hope to have 4 interviews for jobs. Look at how God works. 

Please pray for me this week as I pursue several different things to get work. I know God has something for me...something just for me...but I am learning to be patient and wait on Him. Psalm 27:13-14 says, 

"I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. 14Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord."

Wait for the Lord. Katie, just wait. His timing is everything. Nothing happens outside of His timing. 

NOW FOR THE BIGGEST PART OF THE STORY!!!

Today is Saturday, June 20th. For a week now, we have had less than $100 in our bank account. We have had nowhere to go after we check out of this condo on Monday morning...we had no money to go anywhere. We have been crying out to God all week, knowing where all our blessings come from...knowing who takes care of us. We didn't know what form His blessing was going to come in, but we just knew that He had to give us a miracle. Every day, we have been giving our situation to Him. He knows the numbers in our bank account. He knows our needs. He knows our desires. He knows everything. He knows things that we don't...obviously. He has plans that we could not even dream of. 

This afternoon, Cory was on his computer and checked our bank account to see where we stood. He made a loud noise and I thought, "Oh no! Did I forget about something that was an auto-withdrawal??" I went over and what he showed me...I will never forget.

Someone. We do not know who. We have no way of finding out who. This person...filled up our empty bank account. Someone put money in our bank account. More money than we need to get by. Our once empty bank account...is no longer empty. I can't even wrap my mind around this. I keep trying to think about who would know about this bank account we have. Who would deposit this kind of money into an account of two people who are on a crazy adventure for God. The only thing I can come up with is this: God. This is the miracle that we have been praying for. With a day and a half until we had to leave our condo and go....who knows where....with no money....God provided everything we need to sustain us for the next several weeks. 

How amazing is our God? How merciful and gracious is He? We have done NOTHING to deserve His blessings...but He blesses us anyway. This God that we serve. Isn't He incredible? Right at almost the last moment for us to make a plan, He blesses us beyond belief to remind us that we are here for His purpose and He is in this thing that we are doing here. He blesses us to remind us of His never failing love and mercy. Our God is...too great for words. 

I wanted to share this with you so you can see the blessings of the Lord. I want everything we do and say to point to Him...because we are nothing...and He is everything. Please share this with your friends. Our God does not have to do anything for us, yet He chooses to bless us beyond our understanding. It is all for His glory and honor. Blessed be the Name of the Lord.

Aloha Y'all.

I'm Not Lucky... Or Am I?

Well, we have been in Hawaii for about a week and a half. I would describe the last week and a half as "waiting".

I will get to what the last week and a half has looked like, but first I'm going to talk about me and my family being "lucky".

One of the most common responses Katie or I heard from people when we told them God called us to Hawaii was: "Boy, you guys are so lucky!"

And that drives me crazy.

First of all, I don't believe in the concept of luck.

Proverbs 16:33 "We may throw the dice, but the LORD determines how they fall."

That verse makes it pretty clear that even though we make think there is "random chance" in truth there is not. God, who exists outside of time, knows EVERYTHING that is going to happen. To Him it has already happened. There is no luck because God knows how everything unfolds.

But... I know when people say, "You're lucky to move to Hawaii." they don't mean random chance. They mean I am lucky that I was called to Hawaii of all places. 

Not random chance kind of luck, but more of a fortunate kind of luck. Like it is good fortune that I was called to Hawaii. Wait, is being fortunate the same as being lucky? I digress.

Ultimately they are saying they are jealous because I get to move to paradise and share the good news of Jesus Christ to the people of Hawaii. In fact many did actually use the phrase, "I'm jealous". They wish they could be called to Hawaii. And that is what drives me crazy!

Yes, God called me to Hawaii. Yes, I have always wanted to move to Hawaii. Yes, I am INCREDIBLY thankful God called me here. But, it is not what people think.

This is not vacation Hawaii. This is work-harder-than-I-have-ever-worked-in-my-life Hawaii. When most people think of Hawaii they think of vacation. They think of beaches, surfing, hula, coconuts, sand, ocean, volcanoes, and everything else that a vacation here would offer. The only thing is: I'm not on vacation.

I'm here to do what God wants me to do and that meant giving up a lot.

I had to pack up my family and move out of our beautiful 3 bedroom house. It had a large fenced back yard. It had a gigantic office where I got to WORK FROM HOME! It had a tree in the front yard where I built a swing big enough for my whole family to sit on. I loved that house. I still do. Now I am renting it out because I moved to the farthest possible place in the United States from my home. That wasn't easy. It wasn't simple. But I'm glad to because I can follow God's will by doing so.

Here we will be incredible blessed if we even get a two bedroom apartment a third of the size of our house. More than likely we will get a one bedroom apartment that is only a quarter of the size! And even at that it will most likely be two to three times more expensive to rent than our mortgage! In fact right now we cannot not even come close to affording ANY place in Maui. But I know with absolute certainty that God will provide. Hence the waiting part of the last week and a half.

Both Katie and I gave up great jobs. She had an amazing job and she loved working with people she loved. I had a great job where I could work from home. You can't beat that commute! Now both of us are here and trying to get any work. Again, I am 100% sure the God will provide. But that doesn't make it any easier. The finances we had saved up for the move are dwindling at an alarming rate. I know God does not care about money like we do, but still it is difficult to watch your bank account slowly decrease with no way to refill it. The dozens and dozens of job applications we have filled out seem to not yield anything. 

There is so much that we had to let go of in order to move here. Well over 90% of our possessions we either gave away, sold or threw out. We moved here only with what we could fit in six suitcases and six carry-ons. That is it!

All of the above, though, we did gladly, excited to follow God's mission. However I would not call that "lucky".

But boy am I blessed.

I think the biggest thing that made me upset when people said I was lucky or that they were jealous is that they were getting hung up on the Hawaii part of "God has called me to Hawaii to work in children's and youth ministry".

It is not about Hawaii. It is not even about the children's and youth ministry. It is completely about the "God called me" part. That is why I am blessed, because I was called.

In my first post I talked about how I had been wanting for years to hear God's voice and go where He called me. Finally I have.

In that way, I am blessed (or lucky/fortunate if you will).

It is not easy. It will be harder than anything else I have had to do. Most likely Katie and I will have to work different shifts and won't see each other as much. Most likely we will live in a tiny place that will be cramped with four people. It will be VERY hard. Definitely not a vacation. 

But I do it all gladly.

Thank you for reading this. Just knowing that people are reading these words and listening to our story fills me with happiness. God is going to do things here. What kind of things I'm still not sure. But I am sure God has a plan.

Please, please pray for Katie and I and our two beautiful children. Pray that I will have the courage and strength to stand firm and keep faith in our wonderful God. Pray that our children can adjust to a different lifestyle and so many new changes. Pray the God will give us a home to stay in and work to do so we can support ourselves as we look towards our ministry. Please pray.

Also, if you feel called, you can support us financially. On the left hand side of the blog should be a "Donate" button. (it does not seem to appear on the mobile version so you would have to look it up on a computer or change your mobile settings to view the desktop site). I know God will provide for us. I have no idea how, but I have faith in Him. Maybe that is through your generosity of donating so we have more time to get on our feet here. Maybe He will provide us with a better job than we can even imagine!

Anything and everything you can do is greatly appreciated. Again, this is not easy. Truthfully, though I knew it would be hard I did not expect it to be this hard. But I know God will provide because He has called us here. If you can't donate then please pray. Help us on this journey and this mission.

And,

Aloha Y'all!

The Purpose of it All....

Hey Y'all. This is Katie. You probably read Cory's post about how our huge life-changing move began. I would like to write today about something that has been on my heart since we knew this is what we were supposed to do. I would like to write to you about God's provision.

Since we knew we were supposed to move to Hawaii and be apart/begin a children's ministry, we knew that we had to save Save SAVE to even be able to get over here and get established. To get over here we had to have money for gas to drive to California, we had to have money to ship our car from California to Hawaii, we had to have money for airfare for 3 tickets from California to Hawaii, we had to have money to rent a car until ours arrived in several weeks, we had to have money to get a hotel room until we found a place to live, and then we had to have money for first and last month's rent in an apartment...and then whatever expenses we had for groceries, gas, and things here and there that we left behind, which undoubtedly would be expensive. Did Cory mention that we either sold everything or donated it to the Goodwill? We only took what we could fit in our suitcases and carry-ons...so we have a lot to replenish to get settled in any way. 

THAT BEING SAID...doesn't it seem kinda impossible to be able to scrape together that kind of money in a matter of 8 weeks????

Well, it is impossible...without God's grace and mercy nothing is possible. 

I know for a fact that we would not be here in Hawaii if He had not provided everything that we needed to get here. We did nothing on our own. So maybe we had a couple of moving sales and sold some things. So what? People didn't have to show up. Even though it was a rainy day, we still had people coming to our sale. There is no way that the items we sold from our sales could possibly equal the amount that we needed to make this move. We did not have nice or expensive things. We had second-hand things that we got to get started in our first house. Nothing extravagent, yet God took what we had and made it desirable to so many people. Isn't God awesome?

Just the day before we left, we got the last amount that we needed to make this move possible. Right at the very last minute. How incredible is that? For weeks we had been stressing about how everything was going to come together. It seemed impossible, because it was...unless you know the God that we serve. 

I am astounded with every single detail that had to come together just at the right time in order for us to go. And do you know what? Every single detail came together just at the right time. Not in our timing for sure! If everything had come together in our timing, we would have planned everything down to a "t" and would not have needed to trust that God would provide everything. 

And even though once we got to California and missed our original flight due to the ridiculous complexities of LAX (more of that story to come later), we were put on standby for the next flight (6 hours later that day) and somehow...unexpectedly...even though the flight was already overbooked, all four of us managed to have a seat on that plane (all next to each other might I add) at the last possible minute. How does that even happen?! God. He provides for our every need. Could we have just gone ahead and found another flight over the ocean? Of course. But we chose to trust in God and pray our butts off that He would provide for us just as He had every time before...and He sure did.

What is the point in being a Christian if you have it all figured out and are in control and plan everything? Aren't we supposed to trust in God and rely on Him for everything? How can we do that if we are so set on controlling everything? Sometimes, as much as I really hate the saying, we have to "Let go, and let God." In fact, I would go so far as saying that we should strive to give up our control in everything to God so we have to trust Him more. How much more glory will you bring to God if you give Him control and trust and witness His provision instead of never releasing the reigns and doing it all on your own? Isn't our purpose in life to glorify God in EVERYTHING WE DO? Isn't the point of all of this to point people to God and show them of His grace and mercy so they may understand that they can be apart of His family as well?

I believe that our venture over here to Hawaii is just that. By sharing what He is doing for us and through us, we are pointing people to Him and letting EVERYONE know that none of this is because of us...it is ALL because of Jesus and His mercy, love, and grace. And even though we still do not have everything together and we are already here in Hawaii, I can see His provision even now. And I know that there will be times when we struggle and when things are SO hard (and they will be), but if all we can do is look to Him to provide for us and be our loving Father, then we are better off than if we had this life figured out all on our own...wouldn't you say?

Thank you all for your continued prayers. A few specific prayer requests for us at this time are as follows:

1. Favor with the people here job-wise and housing-wise. People here are very skeptical on whether or not to take a chance on someone from the mainland because most move back within a few months. This is not in our plans and so we need someone to take a chance on us and give us the opportunity to show them that we are not typical mainland folk.

2. This Sunday we are going to attend the 2nd largest church on Maui! We are so excited, but super nervous because we are the new people. Please pray that God gives us the strength and boldness needed to build relationships with people in the community and the church. As we are both introverts, this will be a challenge, but I know that we can do it with His strength.

3. Most of you know that we have two little kids. Clayton is almost 4 (On June 30th!!!) and Chloe will be 2 in September. Their whole lives have been turned upside down and they do not understand why we are in a place that makes them sweaty and so thirsty all of the time. Please pray for them to experience God's peace and comfort during this transitional time in our lives. And please also pray for Cory and I to have Christ's patience as we try to help them understand what is going on.

Thank you for your prayers and support while we are here getting settled so that we may become more like Christ everyday and be a light for His glory, majesty, grace, and love.

Aloha y'all!
 

Why not begin with the beginning?

So this is our blog. The blog of Cory Goyer (me) and Katie Goyer (the most amazing woman in the world).

When we started telling people that we were moving to Hawaii one thing that a lot of people asked for was a blog. So. Here ya go.

I thought of a couple ways to start off the blog. Telling our horrific experience of the last few days before moving to Hawaii and the amazing awesomeness of God pulling us through those trials and proving, yet again, that He is in control and always watching out for us.

I thought of starting with a get-to-know-me post letting people know who this crazy Cory Goyer guy is.

I thought of just starting with a post telling people of how awesome Hawaii is and trying to make them jealous. (Which I will do eventually)

Instead, I have decided to start by telling people why I have moved my family half way across the world to the most remote land mass on earth.

Ever since I was young I loved the ocean. I loved warm weather. I loved the sun. And I absolutely loved the idea of Hawaii. Sunshine, ocean, surfing, hiking on old volcanoes. Every time I talked to someone who had been to Hawaii or watched a documentary or read something online I wanted more and more to move to the Aloha State.

I almost moved to Hawaii when I was 18 and decided against it to go to college. I thank God for that since it was in college that I met my bride to be. But that is a different story for a different time.

Eventually I did get married and yet even then I did not give up on my dreams of finally moving to Hawaii some day. Katie would even tell you she remembers me talking about moving to Hawaii even before we said our vows. About every six months or so I would bring up the idea of moving to Hawaii. Katie would entertain the idea and say she would like to one day. We would dream of beaches and sunshine and then that was the end of it.

After moving to Arkansas from Montana then back to Montana then back to Arkansas (we were crazy!) my family finally got "settled". We bought a house, found a great church, lived near family and friends. Katie found an amazing job at Arkansas Blue Cross and the kids went a phenomenal preschool, Challenger Plus Preschool. We were doing good. I was very happy. But I was also unfulfilled.

After living in Arkansas for about a year I started to feel the desire to do something to further God's kingdom. I just had no idea what that would be. I always had a passion for children and children's ministry yet I was finding it difficult to get motivated and assist my church with their program. I was stuck in a spiritual limbo. Knowing I was supposed to do something but not knowing what that was.

I was in a small group with an amazing bunch of guys and for about ten months my prayed request each week was that God would show me what I could do and where. Now, when I asked for this, I never thought that moving to Hawaii was part of the plan. But God knew.

In our small group we went through a really good book called The Man in the Mirror. It was a good devotional book that helped me become a better husband, father and man of God. But it was the next two books that really caught my attention.

The first one was called Crazy Love by Francis Chan. I highly recommend this book. If you are looking for something that will really challenge you in your faith then this is the book for you. It pushed me to think outside the box and consider that my calling might be something I never thought of or somewhere I've never been. It opened my eyes to the crazy love of God and made me want to love Him like crazy.

It was actually the last chapter in Crazy Love that changed my life. Well, started the change at least. On the first page of the last chapter it says this:

"Should you put your house on the market today and downsize? Maybe. Should you quit your job? Maybe. Or perhaps God wants you to work harder at your job and be His witness there. Does He want you to move to another city or another country? Maybe. Perhaps he wants you to stay put and open your eyes to the needs of your neighbors."

Wow. That just stuck out to me so much. I didn't know what it meant at the time but it just really jumped out to me. Maybe God wants me to move to another city or country? My sister did that when she moved to the Czech Republic following God's command. Maybe God wants me to sell my home and downsize? My mom and dad did that when they moved from Montana to Arkansas following God's command. My life was already filled with examples of people who had done crazy things because they loved God and wanted to further His kingdom.

I had that paragraph run through my mind many times in the next few days before my Saturday morning small group. I just had no idea what it would actually mean. That breakfast was the same as most the other times before it. We talked about the chapter. I mentioned the paragraph and I thought it had some significance for me. We prayed that God would show me what I am supposed to do in my life. Only this time while we were praying I felt something... different. I felt like God was saying something to me. It was a whisper that I couldn't quite make out. But I knew He was trying to tell me something.

The rest of the day was like a typical Saturday. We hung out with my family. Goofed off. I did a little yard work. I actually built a swing to put in our front yard! It was normal, yet not. I couldn't explain it but I knew something was different.

That night, April 4th 2015, the night before Easter Sunday, my life changed.

I was talking with Katie at about 11:00 at night. Once again I was talking about Hawaii. It was one of those same times that we were just dreaming about ocean waves and coconuts. I mentioned  a little bit about the paragraph from Crazy Love and how maybe God wants us to move to Hawaii. Katie and I laughed it off and kept talking. Then she said something.

"Who knows honey, maybe we can move to Hawaii and you can start a children's ministry with a church and teach a bunch of wonderful Hawaiian kids about God's word."

And that is when I was struck by God lightning. I call it God lightning because it was more powerful than anything I've EVER felt in my life. It was a white-hot fire that burned within me. It hurt! Every sense I had seemed to be on fire and I know it was the Holy Spirit filling me up and telling me:

"You know what your wife just said? Go. Do that."

It was simple yet powerful. I was just called to go to Hawaii and work in children's ministry.

We spent the next four hours talking about it. Katie was in full agreement and believed I was being called to do this. We talked about logistics, we talked about how amazing God was, we talked and talked until she had to go to bed at 3 AM. I was basically up all night though praying and thanking God for my calling.

A lot happened in between but just about two months later we landed in Maui, Hawaii.

God got us here and I have faith He will continue to take us the distance. I'm more excited than I have ever been to see what He is going to do in my life and the life of my family. I am so excited to do His work and further His kingdom.

I have much more to tell and will continue to update as things happen here in the Aloha State. If anyone reading this wants to help support us, the biggest and best thing is prayer. Pray that we will have our needs met and that most of all God will use us, not for our glory but His.

If you want to support us financially, that would also be greatly appreciated. In total and complete honesty, all donations for the time being will be used to get us settled here in Maui. We still have to find a place to stay and jobs to work at to support ourselves. It is scary to be here for the first few days we have been and not yet have these things lined up (we are staying with family friends.) A donation button has been added to our blog. Anything is greatly appreciated.

Thank you for even reading this because it means the someone is interested in this crazy story God is taking us on.

And one last thing, Aloha Y'all!