the idea of montana started a couple months ago. the original plan was for me to leave my job, and take a month off so we could go to montana for the month of may. we would work on the house (mountain man's family has a home there) to earn money, but also go on adventures of our own in the great outdoors. talk about a great vacation!!!!
well, as you may or may not know mountain man has his own business here in atlanta, and in january he was given the opportunity to work on his business full time. it's been great! he has learned a lot and gotten connected with people to market him. however, the consistent work isn't consistent enough for the lifestyle we're living. so, we've explored all of our options- i should get a better job, we should down size, we should sell things....and the list goes on. the math behind it all doesn't get us out of our month to month living. yea, we could get a one bedroom apartment with our lab and cat, rent a garage for mm's tools, rent a space to store the work trailer and sell most of our belongings. but we still don't come out ahead enough to get out of debt and save money. we want to move forward with our lives NOT maintain it.
so after lots of discussion, prayer and fearful tears on my part we decided we should move to montana. mm's family is gracious enough to let us move into the mountain home and live in the loft (mm's room) rent free. <<<<< can you believe that! what an opportunity. it is not only the perfect time for us in terms of health and stage of life, but financially it's going to allow us to make great leaps and bounds.
i kept praying for the path to be right in front of me. for there to be no questions of whether or not this is the best choice for not only us, but ME. my devotional the first day we discussed this option was to walk by faith, not by sight. "when i gave you my spirit, i empowered you to live beyond your natural ability and strength." "if you live to safely, you will never know the trill of seeing me work through you." the second day it was waiting, trusting, and hoping. "waiting for me to work, with your eyes on me, is evidence that you really do trust me." yesterday was-learn to live. (a jump like this is the most living i've ever done. outside of going to kenya for 10 days.) this devotional moved me so much i'm going to share it all:
"learn to live above your circumstances. this requires focused time with me, the one who overcame the world. trouble and distress are woven into the very fabric of this perishing world. only my life in you can empower you to face this endless flow of problems with good cheer.
as you sit quietly in my presence, i shine peace into your troubles mind and heart. little by little, you are freed from earthly shackles and lifted up above your circumstances. you gain my perspective on your life, enabling you to distinguish between what is important and what is not. rest in my presence, receiving joy that no one can take away from you."
that's what i've been given. JOY. despite leaving my family, best friends and the convenient lifestyle of gerogia- i am filled with joy. this is going to change me and cause me to grow in myself and my faith, and i couldn't ask for anything more than that.
many of you are probably asking the big questions about work and school. we already planned to go to school online next semester to give us more freedom to work. mm has lots of connections out there and has opportunities to work lined up. i have already began to look into job opportunities and submit resumes. so now we just need to go and put in our hard work and save save save!!
So.....what now?
~ i will be posting to my blog more often so everyone can keep up with our lives.
~ if you know of any good apps to keep in touch with friends and family please let me know!!
~ please e-mail me your personal contact info i.e. phone number, e-mail and mailing address to Kera.Henderson@gmail.com
~ i haven't forgotten about the juice cleanse! as soon as i can, in the midst of all of this change, i will do it and post about it!
~ be on the look out for our fairwell party information
~we plan on holding a friends a family estate sale where you all can walk through our house and take what you want for whatever donation you feel is appropriate! seriously, EVERYTHING must go down to the tp and spices, so bring anyone else you want as well. if you don't take it, it's going to goodwill.
~ we plan on leaving may 15th, so april will be filled with planning and seeing those of you we'll miss so dearly!!
faith filled,
~Kera
