Throwback Thursday-leaving home

(Sometimes, I use this blog to write to myself.  I need to be reminded of how I got here. I need to remember that the journey isn’t over yet, even though it isn’t as exciting as it was in the beginning.  I have to look back to move forward.)

After hearing from God in some unusual ways, we got ready to leave our home in Lancaster, Ohio.  We sold as much stuff as we could, gave away a ton, and rented our house out.  Oh, and we had to re-home our pets.  It was sad, but we knew God was telling us He had a plan and a purpose for us that was more important than our stuff.  In, January of 2010, we set out with our mini van hauling a trailer that housed all that was left of our earthly possessions. (first we had to dig our van out of the snow to get out of the driveway)  It was an interesting trip (to say the least) with a 3 year old, a 5 year old, an 11 year old, and a newly turned teenager.  Being a home school family, we planned to see lots of educational things along the way.  We headed South first with the plan to camp along the way to save money.  Um, that didn’t work out so well as they were having quite a cold spell.  It even snowed in Alabama.  The Lord blessed us though and after freezing one night in our tents, we had a friend call and offer us points for a free hotel stay in Texas.  Then we headed to Tad’s parents in Arizona for a few days before the final leg which would take us to Colorado Springs for our 3 month lecture phase of Discipleship Training School with Youth With a Mission.  

Throwback Thursday-Fundraising: more e-mails from Him

Last week I shared with you how the Lord used a “wrong” e-mail to give us the courage for Tad to step away from his job and begin on this journey into full time ministry. Next, we began praying and fundraising. It was hard! The economy was bad, and people just didn’t have the money to give. God did though! It’s really all His money anyway, isn’t it? We had some amazing provision come in. Some from churches, some from friends and family, and some in unexpected ways.

One afternoon, I was making a list of pastors that we wanted to inform about what we were about to do, when a man walked up our front walkway. If you know us, you know we lived way out in the sticks, so this was highly unusual. He was dressed up with a tie too. I figured his car had broken down, and he needed some help, so I went out to see what I could do. Well, it turns out, he was sent to help us. He was a local pastor that was walking to all the surrounding houses to tell people about some events happening at his church. We got to talking, and I shared with him what God was doing in our lives. The next thing you know, he invited us to come speak! That was so encouraging!

We weren’t always feeling encouraged though. The Lord never failed to send people around to brighten our spirits. Even strangers. Even strangers with “wrong e-mails” (yes, again!) I received an e-mail for a Hope Henry, but not me. It was someone trying to connect with someone they had attended Bible college with. I replied that they had the “wrong” e-mail, but we were believers too and then told a little about what God had called us to do. They responded to tell us that they were also in aviation missions, and that they got started in missions with YWAM (Youth With a Mission). Wow! Really? They sent us a link to their blog, and shared that they were 90% supported and headed overseas soon. This happened just when we were feeling like it was impossible to be fully funded. Isn’t God good!

Throwback Thursday-e-mails from God

It’s Throwback Thursday! No, I will not be posting pictures of me as a little kid. I wouldn’t want to frighten you all off, or give you fuel for blonde jokes. (yes, I was blonde as a child) What I want to do is to tell our story from the beginning…it was dark, and I could hear my mother’s heart beat… Wait, not that beginning. The beginning of our journey into ministry. Tad and I had toyed around with the idea of doing something in missions full time for most of our married life, but never really believed it was possible. Of course, I would want to work in an orphanage and he is an airplane guy. The airplanes won. (they are bigger than orphans, I suppose) We even went to visit a school in Ohio that trains airplane mechanics for the mission field in around 2008. Tad is not a mechanic, and to fly for missions you must be both a mechanic and a pilot. Well, there were a lot of different reasons (including we had too much debt), so we shelved the idea of full time aviation missions at that time.

Then, God stepped in. The economy tanked, and everyone at Tad’s company was offered a majorly generous severance package. Apparently, Tad went to God in prayer about this and felt like he was to resign from his (good paying) position of 13 years, and take the severance. He came home one day and said, “I think God wants me to quit my job”. I replied, “Really? I think I will talk to God myself.” Then, I proceeded to ask God to be with Tad during his mid-life crisis and just show him the sports car he should purchase. It didn’t work. Instead, the Lord spoke to me that Tad should quit his job. OK, then. I was on my way to Jamaica for a mission trip with our eldest and my mom, and Tad had to finish wrestling with that decision on his own. While I was gone, he went up to work with the 3 younger kids to sign the paperwork to resign. I’m sure everyone there thought he was a total nut doing that when he obviously had kids to support.

When I returned home, we starting discussing what was in store for us next. Tad had an interest in teaching aviation full time (he taught adjunct for Embry-Riddle), and I suggested he look at Christian universities. So, I googled something like Christian Flight Schools, and the first thing that popped up was a school with YWAM (Youth with a Mission) in Colorado. Woah! We were all too familiar with YWAM. We were volunteer youth leaders and encouraged kids to do a YWAM training. Um, but we were not youth anymore, and we knew YWAMers didn’t get paid. Well, several days later, Tad got a weird e-mail. It was from a man we didn’t know sharing a video of his favorite preacher Francis Chan with his son-named Tad Henry. Tad did the nice thing and replied to the man that he had the wrong e-mail address, but we were believers and would watch the video. Then, we sort of forgot to watch it. Well, we then got another e-mail from this man to his son with the video attached. (his poor son must have been wondering why he never heard from his father). So, we decided we should actually watch the video. It was a preacher talking about selling all you have and following Christ. It really spoke to us! We knew then that it wasn’t just a wrong e-mail. It was God that wanted us to get that video. Yup. God e-mailed us.

Here is the link to that sermon. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WqCuembFu6E Warning! It could cause you to sell out, leave, home and do amazing things!