Delaware Are They?

I apologize for not posting sooner, but we have had some wounds to lick. And posting just didn’t seem right until we had some down time and healing.

When you walk in the Lord’s will and you leave your ways behind, you become a target for the evil one and we knew when God sent us to Delaware, there would be spiritual battles. We just didn’t realize what a roller coaster ride we would be in for. Things were rocky at best, at all times. I won’t go into them here except to say that it has been rough. It took six weeks for Patrick to be given charge of the farm and only three minutes for it to be taken away.

During his time, he was able to have control of some of the finances. And the last month he was there, expenditures dropped by roughly $15,000! Praise God! The last week he ran the store, sales were up almost $5,000. Again, Praise God! The tide was turning. There was a glimmer of hope in building the businesses at the farm to where they could fund a ministry. Things were looking up and apparently Satan didn’t like it.

A lot of changes had to be made and we all know with change comes resistance. So, life wasn’t exactly grand on the farm. There was resistance but, Patrick was diligent. In fact, Sunday the 21st, was the first time that he went to church and the first real day he had taken off in nine weeks. The church service was wonderful. I watched a soldier weary from battle collapse in the arms of his master. It was wonderful to see Patrick let go of the troubles and woes and be refreshed and restored. When we left the service he told me, “It’s all in God’s hands. I’m so tired but God’s got it covered.” He knew that the battles he had been facing weren’t just physical. And he knew that they weren’t over.

Well, to make a long story short, Sam let Patrick go on Monday morning, October 22nd and gave him his first and last paycheck; a stipend that didn’t even cover our travel expenses up to Delaware. Why he was let go, we don’t know, we were never given a reason. Sam just said that it wasn’t going to work out. All that we know is that what we do, who we are and where we go from here is in the Lord’s hands. Patrick still has a heart for that place and those people; he prays for them every day. We always knew that Delaware was going to be temporary, we just didn’t realize how temporary.

So what have we been doing for the past two weeks? Well, my parents needed to be in New York in 10 days and we all decided to drive back to Florida so that we wouldn’t have to leave their motor home unattended for the winter. We left Delaware on Tuesday the 23rd. My parents were in the lead with their motor home and towing their car, I took the middle towing Patrick’s work trailer and Patrick followed me towing the 5th wheel camper. What a sight!

On our second day we got to Roanoke Rapids, NC when Patrick’s truck backfired and began to lose power. It did this several times. It was only about 4:00 in the afternoon, but we stopped for the night and arranged for him to take the truck in to be repaired. The next day, Mom, Dad, Sadie and Emilie continued on to Florida, leaving Patrick, Daniel, me and the two dogs. It was dreary and raining. I felt like we were being left behind from an old westward bound wagon train, and winter was a commin’!

We were told there was a computer program upgrade needed on Patrick’s truck and it was an easy remedy. After spending the afternoon doing laundry and $90 on Patrick’s truck, we were back on the road, but only for about 30 miles. His truck backfired and lost power yet again and we pulled off to yet another dealership. It took most of the day and over $800.00, but it was finally fixed. We wanted to get a few miles down the road before stopping for the night, so we headed out again.

We got about 60 miles down the road when our 5th wheel had a blow out of both tires on the passenger side. There we were, about 6:30 pm on the side of I-95. And there we sat for the next three hours! It took two separate companies, one to put on our spare and another to bring us a new tire (that originally couldn’t be located, being after hours and all). Praise God, yet again! We limped into a campground after 10:00 that night. We were still in North Carolina. The blow out blew a hole in the floor and busted water and gas lines, so we couldn’t hook up to water or cook. Thankfully it wasn’t cold.

Apparently the spiritual battles weren’t over when we left Delaware (and if you don’t understand what I mean here, just read a Frank Peretti novel).

The next morning we headed out and didn’t stop until we reached South Carolina. We drove the rest of the day and finally reached our destination at 1:00 am Sunday morning. It took us five days, but we made it. Praise God!!!

My parents left for New York on Monday and we have been resting, cleaning out our camper and seeking what the Lord would have us do now.

The 5th wheel is now in the shop and we are waiting on the insurance company at this point. It turns out that the furnace was completely destroyed, plumbing lines, gas lines, and electrical systems damaged and that some of the flooring and the entire cabinet with refrigerator and stove/oven will have to be taken out. We won’t know the full extent of the damage until they are able to remove the cabinet and appliances and that won’t happen until approved by the insurance company. Please pray that it all goes smoothly.

They told us that we are lucky we didn’t have a fire. Luck doesn’t have anything to do with it. We are blessed. God, Our Father, has had His angels around us the entire time. Where we may falter, He will not. We know that battle lines have been drawn and even though we are at a point of rest (Thank You Jesus), the battle still rages. We also know who wins in the end. We have chosen, this day, whom we will serve.

We beseech our brothers and sisters to join with us in prayer. We are seeking His guidance. Know that we are well and resting in Him.

Ephesians 3:14-21