One year later....

Wow... I can’t believe it’s been a year since I blogged!! So much has happened I hardly know where to begin...

September 2010 saw us say goodbye to our American home and family at Pathway Vineyard in Lewiston, Maine. That was hard. After only 5 years we felt as though we had been there all our lives. The community, the friendships and sense of being invited into family will be with us forever. It has marked who we are; we will never be the same because of the 5 years of being impacted by such wonderful followers of Jesus. It was one of those times in your life when you know you are exactly where you are meant to be. No man could have led us to such a place; God knew what He had in mind for our preparation for ministry and there is nowhere else we would have rather been. He poured into us so much wisdom and knowledge and ‘on the job training’ among friends who quickly became family. We are humbled that He would pour so much into us so intentionally. The ONLY reason we would leave such a place is knowing that He was asking us to return to our land and pour out here want He poured into us there. We were sent on an assignment to become equipped to plant and pastor a Vineyard Church back here in Tauranga, New Zealand.

So, with a deluge of emotions we left our Maine friends and family and returned to via Fiji, arriving in New Zealand in October.

As soon as we arrived back, Mark’s sister’s (Rhyanne) health took a turn for the worse and she began to experience severe pain from the cancer attacking her body. We spent the next 4 months praying, supporting, loving, praying, praying, praying. We sought God for healing for her, knowing, that unless God did a miracle, the cancer would claim her body, and take her from us. Although in our hearts we know that she is where she was destined to be since before the world began, her leaving so early was almost too much to bear for her friends, her family and her children. On January 20, at 1:00am her body died and her spirit was ushered into the presence of her God. A moment so pregnant with emotions all shouting at once; how could she die? God was supposed to heal her, what happens now? It wasn’t supposed to be like this. And at the same time the awareness that we were standing on holy ground, in the presence of God and his angels witnessing a supernatural transaction take place as she left our presence and entered His. She was at peace, her joy fulfilled, she knows why, she has no more questions. We were left standing there needing to walk through a season in time so heartbreaking that only God can heal. Without the anchor of knowing the goodness and trustworthiness of our Father we would be lost and overcome by the emotions that followed. But God. Our God is so faithful, His ways are so much higher than our ways, His thoughts so much higher than ours. He promises to work ALL things together for good for those called according to His purpose. We cannot see how this can be good, but we know that we can trust the One who does.

Her funeral was an incredible celebration of an incredible life. There was so much vibrancy and colour as I had the honour of leading over 500 people on a journey through the life of this most beautiful, talented, gifted, fun, loving woman of God. A few of her family and friends shared different facets of her life, ending with a video from her eldest son and her husband Ian. It was a very powerful time for all who were present.

The following day (January 26, 2011) we moved to Tauranga permanently. Bethany and Rebekah began school about a week later and we had to very quickly find a new normal, returning to the routine of life.