A Year of New Adventures
If you are reading this it is because you’ve invested in our family. You are the Body and family to us; and we treasure you now and will for ages to come!
Happy New Year! Man, what a ride the past couple years have been. We’ve had our own share of hard and our own share of blessing along the way. I’m beginning to realize the hard is often times actually a blessing; or at least that the good Lord works it for our good in the end. We know this… “that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.”—Romans 5:3-5
Which leads me to the purpose of this letter. The Vandenberg's are saying “yes” to King Jesus in a new season of surrender.
Ryan and my heart is to serve the Body of Christ. We moved up to Kansas almost 14 years ago to “plant” a church. The Lord did a number on us and shifted how we would walk in this calling. We began our ministry of shepherding and loving the church that was already planted by King Jesus in El dorado, Kansas. The Lord begin to reveal purpose through our surrender as we began to have house church by welcoming the body into our home with a desire to be a safe place for people to come rest, retreat, and be rejuvenated in Jesus.
As we began to grow in the surrender to King Jesus’ purpose for our lives, we began to pray about our desire to purchase land. About 5 years ago, while we were praying about our desire to buy land, the Lord spoke the word En Gedi to us. En Gedi is an oasis in the dessert near the Dead Sea; a safe place where you can draw life from the natural spring in the middle of the desolation of the wilderness. David sought refuge and hid from Saul in the caves near En Gedi. The Lord began to bring more clarity to the focus of our ministry and desire to buy land as we felt called to be an En Gedi to the Church.
Ryan’s heart and desires have always been to steward a piece of land for our family to homestead away from the chaos of the city. Our hearts have craved an En Gedi and that word from the Lord gave purpose to the longing in our hearts to buy land. So since that day about 5 years ago we have been praying for our En Gedi and asking the Lord where He wanted En Gedi to be. We’ve been around long enough to know that plans set apart from God’s purposes are just plans. We want the plans and purpose the Lord has for us.
In December, 2020 we had taken a trip to unwind after a particularly hard year (2020 am right?!?). On the way back from that trip Ryan was praying about En Gedi and he felt the Lord say that our En Gedi wasn’t in Kansas. What?! The shock! I mean, King Jesus brought us here 14 years ago and we assumed it was for good.
Fast forward about 7 or 8 months, Ryan had been secretly praying all this time about where the Lord wants our En Gedi to be. I on the other hand was completely unaware that our comfortable world was about to be rocked. Kansas has become home and family and where the Lord has placed us in the body of Christ.
Well… Ryan begins to mention to me that he doesn't think En Gedi is in Kansas and asks me to pray about where it is. You see, he had been praying and to his surprise the word “Idaho” kept coming to mind every time he prayed. Ryan knew nothing about Idaho and was still in shock when he asked me to begin praying. He laid a fleece before the Lord that if “Idaho” was really from Him, He would reveal it to me also. So Ryan starts asking me to pray about where our En Gedi is supposed to be. Me, being the good disciple that I am, answer by saying “No, I don’t want to move further away.” He gets serious and tells me I need to pray. A little time goes by and he asks me if I had been praying. I immediately tell him no and in my snarky submissive way(Lord, have mercy) I say what? Is it Colorado? No. Montana? No. Alaska? No. (All the states Ryan has mentioned wanting to move too in the past). Then I say, “Is it Idaho?” He answers, “No. Why would you say that?! Quit guessing; I want you to sincerely pray about it.”
So basically he lied. Such good disciples we are…
A week goes by and he asks me again if I have been praying about En Gedi. I say no. In all truth I just wasn’t ready to think about it, let alone pray about it. Ryan began to get frustrated and tells me how serious this is and that I need to pray about it.
I look him dead in the eyes and I know… I just say, “It’s Idaho isn’t it.”
I know.
I didn’t ask.
Our Father speaks even when we don’t know if we are ready to hear or listen.
We both sit in shock with tears running down our cheeks. We are sober, a little in awe, and scared. We decide not to tell the kids just yet. Our oldest three kids know Jesus and we wanted them to hear from the Lord as well. So we lay the fleece before the Lord, again, together this time. We asked our oldest three, to pray about where our En Gedi was suppose to be. A few weeks go by and one morning I’m sitting on the porch with Emma and Eli. Eli starts asking me questions about how far way our En Gedi is. I tell him he needs to pray and ask the Lord. He then says just out of the blue, “Is it Idaho?” It stops me in my tracks and I ask him why he said that. Eli said it's just the first state that popped in his head. We call Ryan and then tell Eli and Emma not to tell Abby because we want her to hear from the Lord.
So of course Emma and Eli immediately start quizzing Abby on if she could live anywhere in the world where would she want to live. Abby starts naming states we have family in and then she pauses and says, “No, wait… If i could live anywhere i’d want to live in Idaho because it’s my favorite state!”
What in the actual heck?!?!
Abby has NEVER told any of us this. She simply says she really likes mashed potatoes (Idaho is known as the potato state).
So there you have it. The Vandenberg's are moving to Idaho! We all blame Abby. No really, we all want to follow King Jesus. No better place to be, right?!
One thing the Lord keeps faithfully reminding me as I count the cost and my heart aches moving so far away from all I know and love most dearly, is that this time on earth is so short and temporary. We have FOREVER with Jesus and His Body in eternity. I have forever with you in eternity. Forever, guys! Forever! So the Vandenberg's of Kansas are going to lay down our bones where the Lord has called us too. We are sojourners in the hands of the Lord Almighty!
We laid many fleeces before the Lord and He has made it abundantly clear. So we are saying, “Hear am I, Lord, send me!” We absolutely covet all your prayers for continued wisdom, discernment, provision, peace and faith to remain steady, and strength from above as we move our family across the country.
