new beginnings

We arrived in the Southeast with eight children. Eight, we were told, was the Biblical, numerical symbol for new beginnings. Sounded good to us! One of the things SMF is most known for is its validation of the prophetic, i.e the present-day speaking of God. The first "word" that I got there, before I had even started the school, was something to the effect that God had some "adjustments" to make in my life and that it would look like others are passing me by. Immediately I understood this to mean that I was not to attend the school, which in many ways was a relief. It really didn't make sense to try to go to school while trying to work full-time and support a family with eight children. I figured that just being able to be a part of SMF's church would probably be almost as good as going to their school, especially since it was their philosophy to integrate the school and church very closely together. Another adjustment I made at that time was the decision to strike out on my own as a house painter and work for myself instead of for someone else as I was used to doing. I'm not an entrepeneur, but with the encouragment of a friend who was able to give me a lot of painting work to get started, I took the bold step . . . and have been so happy, ever since, that I did!

Another example of God's goodness and faithfulness to us at this time was the home that we were able to purchase in a town outside of the immediate suburbs of the city where SMF was located. Instead of having to rent (like we assumed we would have to do), we were able to invest and see that investment grow over the 10 years we ended up living there.

SMF proved to at least partially fulfill the hopes that I had for going there, though again, there were some unexpected twist and turns along the way. As I said, I didn't go to the school as I had planned. But a few years into our SMF experience I had a significant, turningpoint kind of a conversation with one of the leaders of the church. In this conversation I was challenged to discover for myself what exactly it was that God was calling me to do with my life. Did I know why God had put me on this earth, what my purpose was in life? Becky had indicated from time to time that she wished we had a clearer goal to shoot for. But not being a "goal-oriented" type of guy, I never got around to clarifying any goals. But here I was, being challenged to do just that, and I decided to take up that challenge. I spent the next couple of weeks praying, reflecting and searching the Scriptures looking for some kind of illumination on this subject - and guess what? I found it! But I will leave the explanation of what I found to the next blog.

We quit attending SMF after about 8 1/2 years, not because we had any real disagreements with them but because we found ourselves headed in a new direction that they were not able to help us move towards. It was outside of what they were familiar with, so we had to strike out on our own. Besides continuing to clarify our own new goal and vision, a couple of other things were happening that were drawing us away from SMF. One was the discovery of a Hebraic roots (some would call it "Messianic") fellowship where we could not only learn about our Jewish heritage as believers in Yeshua (Jesus) but where we could actually participate in Hebraic dance and celebrate the feasts of the Lord (e.g. Passover, Pentecost, etc.). Also, we were being drawn to making connections with Native American believers who, interestingly enough, were also wanting to explore and connect with the Hebraic roots of their faith. Neither of these new directions actually provided a "church" for our family to be a part of, so we entered into a (not totally comfortable) place of being "churchless". But in some very significat ways I believe we were experiencing at least some aspects of what "church" is really supposed to be, at least according to my developing point of view.

So our experience at SMF came and went. It definitely changed us for the good in more than one way, and it was there that I finally clarified a "vision" for my life. But, more importantly, it clarified a vision for both Becky and me, together.