THE PUZZLE

The last eight years have felt like a puzzle. Aaron and I had a fuzzy idea of what the finished pieces would look like but not enough clarity to get it finished quickly and with ease. Many times we would find the Japan piece and try to fit it in and it wasn't lining up quite the way we were hoping it would. One of these moments was right before we got married. We built out a website, set up a place to receive money instead of wedding gifts to help with moving cost, and shared with our pre-marriage counselor from our church that we would be moving to Japan immediately after getting married. We planned a small wedding with just our immediate family, only 11 adults and 6 kids in attendance, and decided this would be our “see ya laters”. This obviously didn’t unfold the way we hoped due to finances and logistics. Later that year we decided Aaron would go back to school with hopes of getting a degree that would help us have favor and open doors in Japan (he was majoring in economics with a minor in math and Japanese.) We enjoyed our first anniversary in Tokyo in 2016 and used that trip as a time to “scout out the land” for where we would want to live once he graduated. On this trip Aaron had the incredible opportunity to attend a leadership summit where business leaders, many representing embassies in foreign countries and the prime minister spoke. That was also the same year we began growing our family so we settled into Ohio with still dreams of being in Japan one day. In February of 2017 the first of our tribe came into the world, Liam Archer. In December of 2017, Aaron completed his degree and began applying for jobs which took us to Redding, CA. In 2018 not too long after the move we got pregnant with our girl Ella. In March 2019, at Ella’s baby shower, we had a friend prophesy that Ella would be the missing piece to our puzzle and things would begin to fall into place with her arrival. About a month before her due date, Aaron and I had a Skype session where we talked about how the dreams we once had seemed like they were not unfolding. In the place where we once held promise we now held disappointment. We dreamed of raising our family in Japan and doing ministry together along with other things. This conversation altered so much for us. A couple days later I felt the Holy Spirit so strongly enter the bathroom where I was getting ready for a friends baby shower and I felt an invitation to say yes to our dreams and to live a life of intentionally co-laboring with Him to see them come about. I laid there on my bathroom floor, recommitting my yes to Him and to the dreams He placed in Aaron and Is hearts. It felt as if I came out of a state of “sleep walking” if you will. This changed the way we spoke; to one another, in regards to our dreams and to the Lord. Not only did intentionality come back that day but so did faith. April came and along with it also came, our missing puzzle piece, Ella Daisy. During one of our family walks in the gardens two months later we were once again dreaming with each other and Jesus. Right as we were discussing what trusting God looks like, a man walked past us singing over and over, “We will trust that He will lead us where we are suppose to go.” That same day our carbon alarm was going off. This typically happens every seven years but it had only been two. Our landlord decided to come over and take a look at it and see if it needed replaced. While he was over he asked what our next steps are and we decided to share with him about the yes we just gave God regarding Japan. He then told us his co-worker was taking a trip to Japan in the next month and wanted to connect us to see what God would do. This led to dinner with a lady from a church in Tokyo, Japan. The exact same church Aaron led a missions trip team to back in 2014. Also the same church he said in 2016 while in Tokyo with me, “How amazing would it be if we lived here and could be apart of 21st Century Church.” Little did we know what connections God would bring about to make this a reality. Since we gave our yes their have been many other connections and relationships formed with likeminded people who are going to Japan and just got over there. It’s been incredible to watch ourselves and others catch the heart beat of God and lay everything down for it. Other people have messaged me telling me about dreams they’ve had of us in Japan. One dream we were sitting at a table speaking fluent Japanese and having breakfast with a family we met In Osaka in 2013. Aaron’s coworker had a dream that I would have a ministry similar to Havilah Cunnington called ‘Truth to Table’. That I would bring truth and minister to women and moms. In the dream I had a ministry of fertility and was using it in Japan. What she didn’t know was that one of Japan’s current issues is a low birth rate and their population is declining, leading to many other issues. In December, a friend sent me a prophetic word about God bringing clarity and handing out blueprints for what we are to steward in 2020. It was only a few weeks later and a couple days into 2020 when we were offered visas through 21st Century Church! We are now officially beginning our visa paperwork process with the goal of moving our family THIS YEAR! 

The peace and ability to rest amidst such big change lying ahead feels like such a gift from God. If I were to sum up what this journey has been, in one word, it’d be - trust. I once heard Bill Johnson say, “Bold faith stands on the shoulders of quiet trust.” It took me many years to fully understand what that meant. As we spend time and rest in the quiet places with God, learn His voice and His ways, we are moved with bold faith in the public. Everything is an overflow of our heart and mind. The last eight years have been me and the Lord shedding off levels of control and lies I held and moving into deeper love and trust for Him, myself and others. This all took place in what could be considered the mundane things and times. God doesn't and didn’t wait for a Sunday to move and make me more like Him. In the past year I have stepped into a new level of confidence and faith in Him. It was and still is in the waiting where we get to let go and just be. Be with Him and Be ourselves and feel fullness of Joy! I can truly say I feel that. We haven't “arrived” and we still don't know the ins and outs of when or how BUT we know that God is close, moving on our behalf and in all the details. He is incredibly good - past, present and future. I want to encourage those in seasons of waiting and unknowing.. lean in and learn His voice and feel His love. Everything you need and desire can be had right here.. in this moment.. in this place.. in these things you are doing. His promises over your life are GOOD and He desires to give you good things and do good things through you. Give Him your "YES" and watch what He does.