To challenge your thoughts!

You gotta know something is up....two blogs posts in a week, eh!

Well, you see so much happens in life and it so often is on my heart to share what goes on, what amazing things we've seen God do in our day, what struggles we have etc. However, time and as well as my lack of love for writing usually gets the better of me and I let it be a passing thought. I know my mom has challenged us to write a little more personally about the spiritual things we experience and victories, challenges and miracles that we have experienced. You know she is right....of course she is...mom's are "mostly" right!

So I want to share with you. I want you to be open to something that you maybe haven't given much thought to. Or maybe you have but you choose to avoid the thought because it's scary or it seems childish or silly. Here's the word .....or shall I say "world"!

The spiritual world. The spiritual realm. The spiritual powers.

 

I want to share with you an experience from this week that really shook my day and hopefully my life. In Chad's posting he made a mention that we were feeling a spiritual attack in the last few week. For many of you who know me you're aware of the ongoing battle I've had with depression. With my focus remaining on God and keeping in constant communion with Him it's been a fight but I keep a float for the most part and find more happy than sad days for sure. However, the past 2 weeks I have fallen prey to the lies of the enemy. He fills my mind with self condemning lies that I convince myself of and I had slid quickly into a quiet, sad, and miserable introverted person again.

Now for some of you, this may already seem weird. Blaming this power or spirit for the way I think and act....most times I think it weird too but having had the experience we had this week confirms for me that,

 " Our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms."

Ephesians 6:12

So, Chad mentioned that we had a snake and scorpion on two different occasion in the house. Not totally uncommon for Belize I know but the timing was to perfect. The kids were feeling scared on the first occasion and Chad went up and prayed with them. Chad has become very good at discerning and speaking with authority to satan lately as he definitely believes in the truth of the spiritual world. So, Chad prays with Keaton that any power of darkness or the enemy that is in the room, "leave!" He no sooner kisses the kids and turns to leave their room to see a scorpion running  out their room. For most you may think weird timing. We are coming to see it otherwise. Satan knew he wasn't welcome and true to God's word which says,

 

"Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you."

James 4:7

 

 Jesus called his twelve disciples to him and gave them authority to drive out impure spirits and to heal every disease and sickness. Matthew 10:1

 

"All the people were amazed and said to each other, “What words these are! With authority and power he gives orders to impure spirits and they come out!”

Luke 4:13

We know that satan was manifesting in that scorpion and fleeing the room. Chad killed it! He got smushed several times with my slipper!

Two days later was a similar instance when we found a yellow jaw snake in the living room. It too got machetted to death. It was after these two instances when my mom sent us a rather interesting verse that we had not seen before.

"I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you."

Luke 10:19

Wow, this was confirming that the enemy chooses to manifest in forms of snakes and scorpions!

Fast forward to this past Saturday. My sadness was as it's peak and our household was definitely feeling the effects of my defeat. As we lay in bed Chad prays. For me, for us and he prays full of hope. I however feel so defeated I can't even pray. I know if I just cry out He will come and rescue me but my chains are tight and I can't even convince myself to muster out a prayer. Satan binds us that way. But I want to be rescued from this darkness that steals my joy and hope so at the very least I cry out in my head. It's quiet outside but inside I scream, "LEAVE ME ALONE! SATAN LEAVE ME ALONE I DON'T WANT YOU HERE!"

I kid you not, immediately we hear a thud behind us. I wanting to ignore it and pretend like nothing is wrong but Chad who has so much better discernment than I turns on the light to find a scorpion in the window sill behind my head! I jump out of bed in tears and trembling fear. No, not so much because of the scorpion but because I KNOW what that scorpion is a manifestation of. The enemy.

 

We immediately prayed a quick prayer claiming authority over the enemy. As we turned from our quick prayer we could no longer find the scorpion. Ok, when I say we couldn't find him I mean we moved the bed the shipping containers which serve as bedside table the sheets the curtains the searched the closet the upstair and the downstairs. We looked everywhere. However, as were hunting for our kill Chad felt the Lord say to him that he wasn't going to find this one. He wasn't going to kill this one, this time like he had the last two. Why you might ask? Well, the answer is found in the verse following the one my mom had sent us earlier in the week.

I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you. ²⁰ However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”

Luke 10:19-20

As we read in verse 20 God warns about boasting in OUR ability to drive out these spirits. Chad confessed that he was feeling a little to confident in his ability to squash satan.

Wow, is God's word not true and living for us each day!

So, needless to say it was an emotional night and I stayed up till 2:30 praying, listening to praise music and reading my Bible to get me to a place of peace enough to go back to bed.

One might think the story ends there. But the enemy does not give up that easy. He is out to destroy the work of God. The next morning, Sunday. Get to church for worship prep and our worship team leader starts mentioning about his awful night. He proceeds to tell me that at 2:30...yes, the exact time I felt peace in our home that at that exact time he woke to strange sound and he reached for his phone/flashlight he was stung twice by the scorpion sitting on it. Satan left our house and decided to move to the next member of the worship team in an attempt to discourage and take away the worship we were to give to God the next day. Crazy eh!

Well, I'm thrilled to say that God has the victory! Despite a numbed hand for our guitar player we had an amazing...actually our most moving morning of worship since the beginning of this church. Praise the Lord for the freedom and authority and victory he gave to each of us.

 

All this to say that my eyes have been opened to see the spiritual world a little deeper. It's there. We need to see it, recognize the enemy and claim the authority God has give us to drive him away! I told chad that it still feels funny to speak out loud to the enemy. It does. But it works!

¹⁶ I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. ¹⁷ I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit^[a] of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. ¹⁸ I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, ¹⁹ and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength ²⁰ he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, ²¹ far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. ²² And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church.

Ephesians 1:16-22

WOW, has it been that long?!

Hi All
Chad here.  Time for my first post on this blog!  Lots has happened since our last update:  Work permits, new sprouting system, my parents came to visit,  another visit to Hopkins, we slaughtered chickens, building a greenhouse, fending off satan's attacks, ordering 4000 pounds of seed, we prepare for the visit of my brother and his family.  WOW, when I write it all down  I guess we have been busy.

After lots of paperwork and many trips to the capital city of Belmopan our work permit, dependent permit for Stephanie and the kids Student permits have all been approved!!!  I am used to lots of paperwork and red tape having worked for a bank but this took it to a whole new level.  We were outright asked for a bribe to make things happen quicker but after calling their bluff we were issue the permits.  This allows us a temporary permit to work for a year and then we would have to apply again unless we were granted residency by then.  We are praising God for making this happen so smoothly.

Sprouting
Our test system we first build when we got here has been working well and has been feeding our 16 broilers and 13 laying hens.  But it was time to take things up a notch.  I have partnered with a friend from church to take our business to the next level.  He became interested in sprouting after we explained the idea to him, he did a lot of research and said "I am in".  Nery is his name and he has land and experience with animals of all kinds.  He is a very handy guy and has taught me to look for out of the box easy solutions for everything.  We have designed a new much larger sprouting system which we placed in a big concrete building he has on his property.  The system is capable of growing several hundred pounds of sprouts per day.  Our first batch of barley sprouts in the new system grew amazing well and much quicker than our system located at our house.  We are now is the process of ordering several thousand pounds of seed to start growing enough barley fodder to feed several different types of animals.  We are also importing seeds to grow micro-greens and other sprouts for human consumptions. To grow our micro-greens we are building a small greenhouse out of pvc pipe and some plastic and greenhouse mesh.  Everyone we speak with has given us positive feedback on our project so we are excited to get the new seed and get things into full production.  yeah, then we can make some money!!!

 

 

The start of our new greenhouse.  The design changed part way through as you can see by the pictures.  The pvc was not bending like I wanted!

  

I wanted to build the system out of steal tubing and plastic or stainless steal trays.  Nery convinced me that 1 x 3 pine and some steal roof panels for trays would work just fine.  And he was right!  1/10th the cost of my way!!!  Lots of room to expand this system with 3 more identical pods.

Our first barley harvest from the new system.  8 days, no mold and beautiful stuff.

 

The most amazing pepper plants I have ever seen.  Inside the greenhouse of our new organic vegetable supplier and friend, Abdias.

Skype and FaceTime is so amazing to see and be able to speak with family but there is no substitute for a visit.  My parents came to visit in February and we had such a good visit.  Just as it was for Stephanie's parents when they came to visit us over Christmas my parents had a quick peace about our adventure here in Belize once they saw the network of christian friends we have developed here and all of the great things God has us working on and helping with.  My parents were able to help us feed the kids at the local school which we help with once a week.  They were also able to come with us to the Learning Centre where we help kids with their homework, play games and draw pictures.  My parents also treated us to 3 days away at an amazing resort in Hopkins called Jaguar Reef or Almond Beach.  What a great time together as a family!  The kids played hard in the pool and nana and papa got some great sun burns in the hot Belize sun!  Papa was the lobster man he was so red.  Keaton, my dad and I also ventured out to the reef for some fishing.  Unfortunately fishing was not so good that day and we only caught a few small ones but it was a great boat ride and a beautiful day on the water.   Thanks mom and dad for the great adventure and wonderful visit.

The whole crew on a traditional Cacao farm tour.  What a great time with Edgar and Victoria. 

Stephanie, Nana and the kids at the top of the Mayan Ruins.  Dad and I don't like heights.

Nana and the kids reading at the Learning Centre

Papa helping the kids with their homework

Ice Cream stop along the Hummingbird Highway on the way to the resort in Hopkins.  7 ice creams for $4.75 US!

Jaguar Reef Resort.  A slice of paradise.

 

 

 

After 5 months of tender loving care it was finally time to slaughter our first batch of 16 broiler chickens.  Commercially grown chickens are ready for slaughter in 8 weeks but we grew ours nice and slow on our home grown sprouts.  Our broilers were getting so old that we discovered that 3 of them were roosters who began to show their stuff....at 2:30, 4:30 AND 6:30 in the morning.  So we packed up the chickens in our shipping bins and carted them over to our friends place for a Saturday morning chicken slaughter party.  As a banker I have never slaughtered a chicken before and Stephanie was a little rusty from here childhood so we enlisted the help of our friends Nery and Marien.  We had a great morning chopping off heads, dipping in hot water, plucking feathers, cleaning out gizzards and chopping chicken into pieces.  The whole family was involved and we were so impressed that the kids were right in there helping out.  Then we cooked up some chicken with onions and potatoes on the fire and had a little chicken feast.  It is so satisfying to eat what you raise.

 

 

Satan's many forms: God has been so good to us throughout this journey.  He lead us here so we certainly praise him for his provision, safety and health that He has provided.  But we also know when we meet with others that have a similar story to ours (yes, we are not the only crazy ones here, there are a tonne of us!!) that Satan wants to distract, deceive and throw us off of God's plan.  Just a few weeks ago we experienced this after a great night with 2 other families that share a similar story to ours.  we had a great night of singing, playing guitars and the kids playing together.  As the kids went to bed Keaton called down to us that he was scared as he recounted a story about scorpions that was told earlier that evening.  As I always do when the kids are having bad dreams we pray together and ask God to be there with them and we command Satan out of our presence by the authority of Jesus Christ.  Yes, God gives us the authority to tell Satan to "Go to Hell".  After we prayed Keaton said he felt at peace to go to bed and as I turned to leave the room a scorpion was fleeing from me from Keaton's room and headed to Paige's room.  I must say that we have only seen 2 scorpions in the house in 7 months so this was a huge surprise to see this.  Immediately a shiver went up my spin and that told me this wasn't a bug we were dealing with but an image of Satan who was fleeing because of our prayers.  I threw a basket over it and grabbed a shoe and beat that scorpion to a pulp.  We rebuked Satan for his attempts to discourage our family and told him we would crush his head if he came into our house again.  Everyone slept peacefully that night.  Fast forward two mornings and Stephanie comes running upstairs at around 6:00 am.  "theirs a snake downstairs".  Again, we have never had a snake in the house and have only seen 3 snakes since being here in Belize.  Again a shiver went up my spin which told me Satan was here again.  Before heading downstairs we prayed that God would stand with us and we rebuked Satan for coming into our house again.  We went downstairs and pulled out couches and chairs until we found a 2 foot long yellow jaw snake curled up in the corner of the living room. (you can do the research if you wish to know how dangerous a yellow jaw is!)  With machetes in hand we cut satan in two and tossed him outside.  Again we rebuked him for coming into our presence.    We know that Satan tries to throw us off of God's plan but this is the first time i have seen such a real likeness of Satan in my presence and it was a shivering experience.   But God is good, he protected us and stands with us and helps us to recognize when we are not flighting against bugs and snakes, but the evil one himself.  I encourage all of you to also pray for God's discernment and take God's authority to rebuke Satan for being in your presence.

As we work away on all of our projects we look forward with great excitement to our next visitors.  On Good Friday we will welcome my brother and his family for a 1 week visit to Belize.  We are excited for the kids to see their cousins again and show them the sights and sounds of Belize.  We have an action packed agenda ready and waiting for them!!!  We so appreciate our visitors and the sacrifice of time and resource it takes to come and visit us.  These truly are special times!

Well, I think I was much too long winded and I may get banned from writing future blog postings so I must sign off for now.

One last picture.  La Ruta Maya is a 4 day canoe race across the country.  Who wants to race with me next year??  There was another Canadian team in it this year. 


We love you all!

Chad