chosentofollowhim

Hello, hello! It’s been a while since I’ve been on this platform and writing about the endless thoughts swirling around in my mind and the adventures God has been taking me and my tribe on. Well, I think it may be time to take advantage of this space and get some words out. Time is precious but there is always enough time to tell of God’s faithfulness and the relentless pursuit of His bride!

So, when I logged on today I noticed that the last entry I submitted was when Mike went to the Philippines with YWAM in 2019! Gah! I can’t believe that through all of the “pandemic” it never crossed my mind to start writing here. Perhaps my journalling to God was sufficient and the Spirit just didn’t feel it neccessary. But here I am and ready to begin once again. It really is a Holy Spirit nudge so let’s go!

My thoughts today are that of thankfulness, probably because it is Canadian Thanksgiving this weekend, but tomorrow evening at sundown begins Sukkot, or the Lord’s feast known as Tabernacles, which I’ll touch on later. For now let’s talk about what came to mind about thanksgiving…a couple hours ago my Spirit actually thanked God for the couple years of the pandemic that allowed me to slow down, take assessment of my life, and start digging in to my faith, but also some other things that have always interested me: history, geo-politics, Israel, Biblical cosmology, and more. These are major topics but I am eager and a bit of a research nut, so in all honesty, it is no wonder that Mike (my hubby) thinks I’m a little over the top sometimes.

2020’s lockdowns began literally on the day of my oldest son’s 16th birthday. It was rebellious that we even had his party, but we did. I knew, even at this time, that the “two week” lockdown was all talk and that shutting down the world for two weeks was gonna lead to much, much more than that. Somehow I knew that life as we knew it was forever going to be changed. And it was. I’m not going to re-hash all the obvious things that unfolded that year but I will say this, never before have I ever felt more alive, aware, and awake of the Spirit realm and what God was doing. I felt the Lion of Judah start to roar deep in my soul and fear never even showed its ugly face. In fact, a fearlessness like I had pre-childbearing years, quickly resurfaced. I knew that this was the time to lean in to the Lord and really trust the promises that He has spoken over His children throughout the generations. The Lord has always reminded me that He will never leave nor forsake me and He spoke these exact words to Israel when they were in the wilderness, after their exodus, and upon entry to the Promised Land.

“Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the LORD your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you.” Then Moses summoned Joshua and said to him in the sight of all Israel, “Be strong and courageous, for you shall go with this people into the land that the LORD has sworn to their fathers to give them, and you shall put them in possession of it. It is the LORD who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.” – Deuteronomy 31:6-8

This promise was crucial for me in 2020. I began laying everything before the Lord. Analyzing the world became a focus for me and the damage that lockdowns and protocols were doing began to fuel my prayer life and dependence on the Lord more than ever. In the fall of that year, Mike and I started looking at different options for us as a family. Our oldest son has goals of playing basketball at the university level and with the way things were going that dream was quickly vanishing. Needless to say, prayer became my go to. There was this relentless prayer that I spoke to God. I requested that something radically needed to change for us…fast forward to February 22, 2021 and we were boarding a plane and moving our family to Phoenix, Arizona with the pursuit of freedom and opportunity to live a bit on the fringe. In fact, the week we left British Columbia the schools enforced the mask mandate and the week after we took residence in AZ the mask mandate was lifted. Thank You, Jesus! I’m not going to share all of my thoughts on this but in a nutshell, I’m all for “no compliance.” It was quite clear the agenda being rolled out before our eyes and I was not, and am still not, falling for it.

It is now October 8th, 2022 and it’s difficult to imagine that we have lived in Arizona for almost two years. The Lord has been so gracious to my family in our time here. And although it hasn’t been perfect, still we have tasted and seen His goodness. I’ve often compared our time here as an exodus from Egypt and journey to the Promised Land. My boys have each had their own unique experience, some good and some not so good. However, I’m greatly convinced that wherever the Lord leads us from here on out, we will be well equipped and ready. It is the time in the wilderness where God shows Himself in such profound ways that we can’t help but praise Him for all of His provision. Hallelujah!

Our Jesus-following community in this desert metropolis has been our steadfast anchor. We literally hit the jackpot when it comes to having the most hungry and devoted lovers of Yeshua in our daily lives! Our faith has grown exponentially in this season for such a time as this, and the crucible of refining has begun; I see the fruit ripening. The veil is lifted and we see clearly the days we are living in as the Day of the Lord quickly approaches!

There is so much I could share today but I’m feeling this needs to be a short and sweet entry as it is my first time back in a few years. Perhaps this is a little step forward in to the blog space again where I can write freely for whoever cares to follow along in my wild adventures with the great I AM! Shabbat Shalom and Maranatha!