The Best PB&J!

Over the span of the last 8 years with a few little breaks here and there we have had a bunch of teens that would meet to eat, and play, and pray and learn about Jesus.

The group was called PB&J and it stood for 

People

Barns 

&

Jesus.

It was based on:

Acts 2:42  (ESV)

The Fellowship of the Believers

42 And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.

I believe teens are the hungriest people on earth.  Not just hungry for food, which they are...but hungry for knowing the TRUTH, for knowing Jesus and for relationship with Him and with others that know Him.

John 6:35 

Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.

I believe teens are hungry and their hearts are wild.

  When we feed their wild hearts the bread of life, their lives take off in the direction that will keep them growing for eternity. 

 They develop a taste for the TRUTH and if they taste and experience it, and do it alongside people that are eating the same healthy food, they will always know and they will always grow and they will all be together for eternity no matter where life takes them.   

John 14:6 

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

We did PB&J with a few other parents and friends that enjoyed feeding hungry teens.

We used our time together to learn from each other and grow in the Lord right alongside the kids.

Mike (who did most of the teaching at PB&J 1.0) used to come in and ask me what God was saying to me???

I would get all nervous and awkward (my usual state of being) and he would keep pressing in. 

 I learned over time to just say what was on my heart, I would even think about it before the conversation happened. 

 I knew it was worth getting past the nervous awkward part, to enjoy the sweet  and rich conversations that involved talking about what the Lord was saying and doing in my life and in the lives of the people I loved. 

I have learned to trust the Lord and His ability to communicate with me.  

 He is the God who is the Word became flesh to dwell among us....He must be pretty serious about being able to communicate in a way we can understand Him and experience Him.

We  learned more from these kids than we could ever claim to teach them.  These kids have brave hearts that love and live big.
 These are a few of the pictures from the first round of teens, PB&J 1.0.

These kids have all grown up and moved on with their lives. These are some of my favorite memories in our barn/house.

A few years ago....we realized we were in the same place AGAIN...we had a house full of hungry teens ( 3 of our own) and we wanted to invite other teens in to share some life giving food with.

We decided to do a PB&J 2.0 and let our second round of teens invite friends over and learn more about Jesus and play and pray and eat together.

We had our last PB&J 2.0 gathering the other night.  It was a sweet time with these hungry teens.  We spent our last meeting together by encouraging the kids to talk with each other often about what God is doing in their lives.  We encouraged them to go beyond conversations about school and sports and weather and talk about what God is saying to them;  share what God is doing in their lives.  We practiced this, we went around and asked  the kids what God was doing in each of their lives, currently. They all had an answer, they all had something to say and we learned from each other.

We reminded the kids to stay in His Word, so that they can recognize His voice when He speaks to them.  We taught them that God will never contradict His Word, so if they hear something and they aren't sure if it's truth, they can always go to His written Word.


In typical teen fashion, they were hungry and wild, they ate up all that was shared, and they shared with courage and energy.  We ended the night with brave and bold prayers.

We said a tearful good-bye, and prayed a blessing over them and them for us.  We are thankful for the time these kids have spent opening up their lives to us, and we are thankful to each of their parents for allowing us to share in their kids' lives.

On The Move - Part 2

I have lived in Central Oregon my whole life, minus 1 year in California my Jr. year of high school.  I have lived the last 37 years within a 4 mile radius.  I have driven, rode, and ran these back roads of this community for thousands and thousands of miles. 

  It is a huge change to move from the community we have always called home.  Even though I have never lived anywhere else, God has expanded our territory so much that we call several places “home.”

 Our hearts and family are spread out all over the world.

8 years ago, the first time we ever went to Uganda, we fell in love with the people; our definition of home and family changed forever.  We have felt completely at home there and constantly feel drawn to go back.  We have so many loved ones there, that when we visit, we are HOME!

 Then, when Lashae and Chaney moved to Montana and added grand babies to the equation, each time I visited it became more and more home to me.  Then, Charsie and Jesse moved to Montana and now Kole and Rachel live there.  Even before we felt the nudge to move there, Montana became home in a sense.  We quit looking at all the circumstances (mostly the weather) and started looking at the people.  With each of our grown kids that have moved over there and each grand baby, Montana began to feel more like home than the home we have always known.  When I’m there I feel at home, and when I’m not there I want to be there because I miss everyone so much.

I believe this “move” is only part of the journey for us. I don’t think it is possible to be completely settled in only one place anymore and yet I’m settled wherever I am for that part of the journey.  Our hearts and family are spread out to different places, our definition of “home” has changed.

Isaiah 43:19 New Living Translation (NLT)

19 

For I am about to do something new.

    See, I have already begun! Do you not see it?

I will make a pathway through the wilderness.

    I will create rivers in the dry wasteland.

On The Move part 1

I remember the first time I really struggled with God over our house situation.

Charlie was in the church announcing our heart and intention to adopt Esther, and I was in the car in the parking lot with a restless toddler

 (that was my excuse for excusing myself to the car).

I had prayed expectantly all the prayers that I thought could motivate God to intervene, and God was not fixing our situation, at least not that I could see and certainly not in my time frame.

While Charlie was in Uganda meeting our daughter, I was receiving paperwork saying we were headed into foreclosure on our house.

I remember telling the Lord that I wanted to adopt, but I didn’t feel right about it, given the situation we were in, and I didn’t think we could or should until He fixed our situation.

I mean what business did we have committing to raising another child when we were obviously failing at life.

This was the lie I told myself so often.

I remember so clearly him telling me that our house situation would be part of the testimony; that we were to obey Him and follow His call on our hearts to adopt, even in the midst of not knowing how or when this was all going to work out.

I didn’t hear Him audibly but I knew EXACTLY what He said.

As time went on and on and on for 8 solid years, I couldn’t figure out what we had missed or why God didn’t seem to be answering or taking an active role in our dilemma.

 It felt hopeless, and like it was getting worse, not better. Don’t get me wrong, He did a ton, His provision was generous and gracious and beyond anything we could ever hope for.  He has let us live here for all these years; we didn’t make one payment in all those years.

Once you get behind, it’s all or nothing. 

Catch up or shut up.

 Honestly it felt a little bit like God was paying child-support vs. being an active Father in this particular aspect of our lives.

 My journals are full for 8 years of repeating the same prayer a thousand different ways.

  Help us Lord! Help us with this mess! It’s getting worse Lord, and we don’t see a way out.

We begged for direction and answers and we felt like we got silence and faithful provision.

 I was thankful for the “child-support”, but it just felt like He was disconnected and not really in it with us.

It felt like He was providing, but not hearing us or fixing it.

We tried everything we knew how, and we took advice from anyone who would offer up an idea or expertise or prayer.

We tried to sell, refinance, apply for programs, and all the while pray pray praying.

As things seemed to drag out longer and longer, I had it in the back of my mind, that God was going to make sure nobody got credit for what He was going to do, it was going to be His deliverance and His alone. I felt it so strongly, but I rarely had the confidence to speak it out, as I felt like we had failed, or we wouldn't be in such a situation.

Over the years, we tried to make this plan and that plan, basically thinking if we just did the right thing, that God would release us to move on, or make something come together so we could stay and pay like good people who pay what they owe.

Every time we got restless in our situation, Charlie looked for work elsewhere and I looked at moving to some place with warm weather and a fresh start.

 Nothing felt right, nothing opened up.

We continued on right where we were.

We never stopped living right where we were, we were raising kids and living our lives, but we always had in the back of our minds….

How is this thing going to turn out???

In the meantime, God blessed us and added to the equation with 2 amazing kids thru adoption, and 2 more birth children, 2 son-in- laws, 1 daughter- in- law, and 5 grandchildren.

We began to pray that God could use us somewhere outside of our 4 walls, and asked that God would provide support for our kids we are still raising.  We have 3 teenagers and 3 littles we are still raising. The 3 teens are so different from one another; these  3 teens all need something so different, and it has felt like Charlie and I weren’t cutting it anymore. We needed help and support in a whole new way.  We have had great support over the years, from family and friends and teachers and coaches; but it felt like we needed more.  We were seeing some red flags and we know we are in the last stretch of having them in our home and parenting at this close proximity.  We need people that will pour into their hearts, not just their activities, for the rest of their lives, not just for a season.  We had a shift in thinking from moving towards a better job and weather, to moving to opportunity for deeper relationship and community.

We went to Montana for Spring Break to see all our grown kids and grand kids, and within the hour of our arrival we got a message that we had an offer on our house.

After 8 years of waiting, we had an offer the very hour we arrived in Montana to explore the possibility of moving there.

The offer was a full price offer and Charlie came home and signed it on March 28, which is 7 years to the day that Esther came home to us.

 March 28 is a big deal to us, because we reflect and celebrate all God has done and taught us thru the process of adoption.

  We mark another year of His faithfulness thru good and hard times.

  God moved in our lives in such a mighty and personal way in that season, that from that experience forward, we have never been the same.

 It blows my mind that He chose the exact day of the year, that is unique and special to our family, to show us once again, 7 years later how close He is paying attention, that He is not just paying child – support,  He was not absent or out of touch; He is patient and faithful and good. 

He could see the whole picture, when I could only see the growing problem right in front of me.

He was working it all together for our good and His Glory!

He knew each detail of each person this would affect and He loves each person and didn’t let one thing or one person or one day fall thru the cracks.

Romans 8:25-30 English Standard Version (ESV)

²⁵ But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.

²⁶ Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. ²⁷ And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because  the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. ²⁸ And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

 We still have to move forward in faith, but each time we come to a crossroad or a decision He has shown us which way to go!

 It is so important for us to know that God is the one leading and guiding us in every decision and directing every step we take. 

God has blessed us and trusted us with this family, we praise Him for all He has done, and we thank Him, and we pray that He moves us closer to Him no matter what our address is.