True Story

Greetings from the increasingly-chilly Northwest!

Today, I'd like to share (with permission) the amazing journey of faith of some friends whom the Lord called away from the house where we are currently landed.  May you be blessed as you read it.  (Sorry about the funky extra characters; I'm posting this from my phone, while my lovely bride is sleeping...)
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Hello everyone,
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> We have had an amazing journey traveling to Maine.  As most of you know, it has been a faith journey not unlike Abraham’s faith journey to a land that he did not know.  At the beginning, before we knew we were going to move to Maine, we felt that the Lord was preparing us for a completely new season in our life and were preparing ourselves to go wherever He would lead us.
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>   Initially we thought that we were to move to Missouri.  After our trip there, we realized that it the Lord definitely wanted us to travel to Missouri, but only to teach us and show us some things.  It was really the beginning of what we call our “Journey of faith”. The Lord has really taught us to depend on him as our provider in ways that we have never experienced.  We have been stretched and molded, but in the end the Lord has always taken care of us.
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>  One of the biggest things that He has taught us about is the difference between our wants and needs.  We have been so accustomed to living and eating a certain way that we have confused the two.  We really can live much simpler and be content with less than what we thought we could.  We are learning to be content with what we have and to bei satisfied with a simple life.
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>  The Lord showed us that we were to move to Maine and that there would be an “Amish connection” in His plan for us there.  We did not know exactly what this connection would be, but we knew that our relationship and time spent with the Amish in Libby and Bonners Ferry was preparation for this journey. 
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>  We needed to sell or rent our home in Montana to be able to move.  We also decided to either sell or give away everything that we owned and only keep a few changes of clothing.  Wherever we ended up we would have to start over. 
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>  Once we decided to move forward in faith making all the preparations to move, the Lord stepped in and did some amazing things.  I put in add in the paper and on Craigslist at about 12:30 am.  That very morning we received a call from a couple from Texas who were looking for a home to purchase and were going to be in Kalispell one more day before they would have to return back home.  When they arrived we found out that they were Christians and that the Lord had led them to move to the Kalispell.  They told us that they had not found a home after searching all week and were discouraged.  Right when they saw our add they felt an excitement that they had found their home.  They told us the first day that they wanted to purchase our home.  They ended up spending two days with us until 1am each night with all of us sharing about the wonderful things that the Lord has done. We sold our home in one day! 
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>  We had a moving sale and sold everything that we could and gave away the rest.  We loaded up our travel trailer with some basic necessities and headed off to Maine.  One thing that we have realized serving the Lord is that He will allow difficulties and challenges in our lives so that He can test us and also reveal His love and goodness.  Our faith journey has been a testimony in the making because of this.
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>  We had pretty smooth sailing until we were about an hour outside of Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota.  At about 9:30 pm, traveling on the main interstate, I noticed smoke pouring out of the side of our travel trailer.  I then heard and felt a loud thud.  I immediately pulled to the side of the freeway and had the entire family get out of the van.  Our trailer had caught fire. 
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>  As I ran back to put it out, I noticed that I was missing a tire and axel on my trailer.  I put the fire out and found that the axel had snapped off and that the friction of the tire rubbing on the wheel well had started the fire.   No one was hurt but I did not know the extent of the damage.  A wrecker came and hauled the trailer off and we stayed at a hotel that night. 
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>  My wife and I had an incredible peace in our heart, even though this had just happened.  We both felt that the Lord had allowed this to happen and that He would take care of it some how.  We had only enough money for fuel and food to get to Maine.  We had obviously not planned for this.  We also had to find a hotel, since we could not stay in our trailer.
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>  The Lord blessed us with a very discounted hotel rate.  We received two rooms for the price of one, since they would not let us rent only one room because the size of our family.  We basically ended up with an unplanned three-day vacation in a hotel with a pool and other recreational activities.
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>  I called the mechanic the next morning and he said that it would take three weeks to get a new axel.  I was shocked realizing that there was no possible way for us to stay in a hotel for three weeks, let alone have the money to replace our axel and tire.  He also said that the wheel well was tore up and would need to be repaired.  We prayed and asked the Lord for help.
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>  The next morning the mechanic called me and said that they were able get an axel and have it the following day.  We were surprised and thankful to say the least.  The Lord provide the materials for me to repair the wheel well myself so I did that at the mechanics while they were waiting for the axel. 
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>  The Lord made a way with our finances to pay for the repairs.  When I went to pay the mechanic, he said something that caught me off guard.  He definitely did not seem to be someone who feared God.  He began to tell me that God had to be in this whole thing.  He said that nothing like this had ever happened to him.  He began to tell me that the day after he had ordered my axel, that would take three weeks to get in, a man that had never come by dropped in.
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>  As the man was talking to the mechanic, he noticed our broken axel on our trailer and mentioned that he could make a new axel for it and get it to the mechanic the next day.  The mechanic had no idea that this man could even make an axel, let alone he had never even come to his shop before.  The mechanic then went on to tell me that they do not even make the tire size that is on my trailer any more.  He said that he had looked far and wide but could not find a replacement tire.  He incredibly found one at a tire shop that did not even sell that size tire.  They found it hanging on a wall as a display.  After telling me all this he said that God must have been in this whole thing.
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>  After hearing the details, I told him that he was absolutely right.  The Lord was in every bit of it.  Jesus is an awesome God who is worthy of all of our praise honor and glory!  We loaded up and headed out continuing our journey.  The first place in Maine that we planned to stop at was a little town called Unity.  There is a small Amish community that we wanted to drive by and take a look at.
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>  We made it to Maine safe with no further vehicle/trailer problems.  As we were driving through Unity, I saw smoke pouring out of the back of our trailer again.  I quickly stopped with the thought that they had not repaired the axel properly.  That was not the case though.  I found that my leaf spring had broken on the axel that had been repaired.  I believe it was cracked when the axel broke and finally failed.
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>  I pulled off the road at the first available place, which was a parking lot right in front of the Amish community in Unity.  What were the chances of that?  I do not believe in chance so I recognized that this was the Lord’s doing.  I felt that we were to somehow connect with the Amish there but did not know exactly how this was going to happen.  I began to pray and asked the Lord, “If you want us to connect with the Amish here, please have some of them come over and talk to us.”  In the mean time, an older couple next door came by and asked us if they could help us in any way.  They brought over lawn chairs and let our children come and pick sweet corn and vegetables from their garden.  Within a half an hour of praying that prayer, a group of Amish young men came over and started talking with us while they were on their way to go swimming. 
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>  When they found out that we were broke down, they invited our family for dinner and to stay the evening in one of their homes.  Over the next week, we stayed with one of the families and ate with different Amish families getting to know most of them in their community.  There are about thirteen families there with about four families moving there within the next few months.  All of them were very hospitable and giving.
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>  I was pleasantly surprised to find out that the men I spoke to seem to all have a relationship with Jesus and a clear confession of faith in Christ for their salvation.  We attended their church services and were able to do some odd jobs for work while we were there.  
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>  Once I replaced the broken leaf spring on the trailer, we traveled north to Smyrna, Maine to visit the Amish community there and check out the area.  While in Smyrna, we quickly met many Amish families and were invited to stay with a family there.  After staying two days they asked us if we would like to stay in their home for the next two weeks while they were traveling west to visit family.  Many families brought us fresh vegetables from their gardens, cold cows milk from their icehouses and fresh eggs from their chickens.  The Lord provided for all of our needs.  While we were staying there, I began looking for work and for a home to rent.  We like Northern Maine and find it very similar in many ways to Montana.
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>  We just had an incredible series of events take place this last week.  There are almost no rentals in the area, especially one that will accommodate a family of our size.  After looking for about a week and a half, we came up empty handed.  While driving last week we came across a neat old farmhouse with and incredible dairy barn.  It had a “for sale” sign so I called the realtor listed on it and asked him if the owner would consider renting it.  He said that they do not rent homes and recommended calling someone else.  The next day a friend that I had met told me that he spoke to a man who has a farmhouse for sale across from the field that he is haying that he might possibly rent. 
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>  I called the number he gave me and spoke to the man.  He said that he was the father to the man who owned it and that he might consider renting it.  We met him that evening and he showed us the home.  It turned out to be the same farmhouse that we had looked at the night before that the realtor had said was not for rent.  It was my wife’s "dream farmhouse".  The only drawback that he mentioned after showing us the home was that it would probably cost us more to heat it during the winter than it would be in rent, since it was poorly insulated and used heating oil for heat.  When we heard this we immediately realized that this was not going to work.
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>  Before we left, I was able to witness to him. He told me that he was getting ready to leave the next day and travel to California because his three-year-old great granddaughter was dying in the hospital.  I could tell that the man was lost.  When I told him that I would pray for his great grand daughter, he replied by telling me not to.  I was obviously surprised to hear that.  He said that she had brain damage and that it would be better for her not to live.  I told him how great the Lord is and that the He can do miracles.  I even shared a little bit about my life and how the Lord had healed my eyes.
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>  The day that we were packing up to leave the Amish home that we had been staying in the last two weeks, Keelee and I sat talking about the situation that we were in.  My wife mentioned that she felt like Israel when they were backed up against the Red Sea.
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>  Whenever the Lord leads us to do something, He never gives us the full picture.  I had a pastor tell me when I was a young man, “Whenever you take a step of faith in the natural, God will then move in the supernatural.”  The Lord will never do what we can do.  He will always requires us to do our part by obeying His leading.  But His leading will always take us to a place where we can only go so far with our own efforts.  He “sets us up” at times and lets us “walk” up to the Red Sea of our circumstances with Pharaoh’s army at our rear.  We come to a place where there is no humanly possible solution to our predicament that we can see.  This is a perfect place for a miracle.  Then the Lord steps in and does what only He can do. 
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>  This was the place we found ourselves in, with no home to rent and winter coming very soon.  I felt pretty discouraged about the situation but the Mrs. remained strong and faithful.  She said that we were right where the Lord wanted us to be and that we were ripe for a miracle.  Later that afternoon the same friend that had told us about the farmhouse came by and asked if I had checked my messages.  He said that the man with the farmhouse was trying to get a hold of us because he wants to rent the farmhouse to us.  I called him and he said that he wanted us to stay in the farmhouse over the winter.  I asked him how much he wanted to charge for rent.  He replied by saying that he wanted us to stay in it free over the winter.  I did not even know how to respond.  He said that all he wanted us to do is pay the utilities and do a little work if needed.  He then said that he would hook up a wood furnace in the basement for us to use instead of the oil furnace.
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>  He said that ever since he met us he could not get our family out of his mind.  He talked to his son, who owns it, while at his great granddaughters funeral and that they wanted our family to stay in their farmhouse.  I told my family and everyone was ecstatic. My wife told me that her prayer that same morning was for us to be able to live in that farmhouse rent-free for the winter.  God answers prayer!
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>  It gets even better!  We moved out here with nothing – no furniture, beds, kitchen appliances, bedding, etc.  This farmhouse is fully furnished!  It has everything we need down to pots, pans and bedding.  The owner’s father asked us to move in immediately while he was still out of town.  My wife also prayed that they would give us the freezer full of meat, fish and fruit.  The parents of the owner came by today and gave us everything in the freezer.  The Lord is amazing!
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>  I have some possibilities for odd jobs and short term consulting work at a log home company in the area.  I have also had many opportunities to witness and pray for people. 
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>  Thank you for all of your prayers!  We are excited to see what the Lord does but are just as excited to put roots down and get some stability back in our family.  This has been a whirlwind so we are thankful to have a place that we can call home again.
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>  We will continue to keep you updated periodically.  Please feel free to call us.  We bless you in Jesus’ name and praise Him for your love, prayers and friendship.
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>  Blessings,
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> The _______ Family (Mr & Mrs and 9 children)