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Original Message -----
Sent: Saturday, August 27, 2005 5:14 PM
Subject: children's ranch update and tim's musings
Greetings all!
Ok, ok, I know it's been awhile since I have written. I have
kinda felt snowed under for awhile too.... But lots of things have happened
since the last newsletter that I think you might find encouraging. It's going
to be a long one, so get comfortable :-)
Personal stuff first.
My car hadn't run right since I had a shady (found out after
the fact) mechanic replace my clutch three years ago in my car. I think I have
even mentioned here having various problems with it. But it all finally came to
a head a little over a month ago. I was in Boise, and the alternator went out.
And I was flat broke. No money. But I was in Boise because one of my computer
clients was having server problems, which turned out to be catastrophic (had to
rebuild their server). But my alternator died, IN their parking lot when I
stopped there to work on their server. So as partial payment for working on
their network, they bought me a new alternator. God coordinates even the
attacks of the enemy, and He turned it around for good. :-)
And as I was working on the alternator, there in my client's
parking lot, I also was able to fix a number of other broken wires and sensors
in the electrical system that I found, that I hadn't known were broken (broken
courtesy of the shady mechanic). So long and short of it is that my engine in
the car is running right, for the first time in over 3 years finally, and
getting awesome gas mileage to boot (consistently almost 40mpg - also due in
part to modifications I had made previously). I am SOOO thankful that it is
running dependably and reliably again...
Second thing, also car related *chuckle*. I was headed into
Boise with a friend to install a fence for someone. Had my fire radio with me.
And I think I have mentioned before that my tires were essentially bald and
needed replaced in the worst way. But no money again. So anyway, we were going
to Boise to install a fence and earn some money. That morning previously,
someone had unexpectedly handed me a $100 check for some work I had done for
them previously. So as I was headed into Boise, I ran over a bolt and it blew
out one of my tires. And I mean a BOLT. A 3/8 inch BOLT. Not just a little
nail, but a serious bolt! *chuckle*. This was on HWY 21 near lucky peak
reservoir, and I pulled off the road into a driveway that had shade over it,
probably the only shade next to the road for 10 miles either direction. That
was cool. And about that time, a page came over the radio about a fire near
there that they were calling out some of the volunteer crews for, I was to be
on standby. It was almost funny, the way things were happening. But I quickly
changed the tire with the spare, and drove on into Boise. We prayed and asked
God to find me someplace that could fix the tire, quickly and cheaply. And the
first place I called, had 4 used tires with half their life left on them, in a
size I could use, mounted and balanced, for an even $100.
I had to laugh.....
So we got the tires changed as the fire was growing. Then we
prepared to head back up to fire to fight it. But something was stopping us. So
me and the person with me, we just stopped and prayed and asked God what we
should do, whether continue on to the fence, or turn around and head back up to
Idaho City to jump on the fire team. And both of us felt like God was saying to
go ahead and work on the fence. So we looked at each other, shrugged, and
headed on for the fence. And about 5 minutes later, the call came across the radio
for all the volunteer people to stand down, that they weren't needed anymore.
God totally knew what was going on, and totally took care of
us that day. It was so cool. :-)
Oh, the diesel generator up here that I have been using for
power, decided to act up again too, and again, God protected things. The
vibration of the diesel engine (known to vibrate badly anyway), sheared through
a 3/8 inch plate steel mounting bracket. Just sheared it clean off. That amazed
me, and I couldn't help but wonder if there were spiritual forces of darkness
at work behind it too, because it nearly became wholesale disaster. I had the
feeling something wasn't right one afternoon, so I hurried out to the generator
building and opened the door to the site of a 35cubic inch displacement, 2
hundred pound diesel engine, still Running, bouncing on the floor. I was
stunned, for the briefest moment, before I immediately hit the kill lever on
it. I have no idea how long it had been bouncing like that, but had it been
much longer, it could have caused some serious damage to the building, the fuel
tank (explosion hazards again?), the engine, and the forest. I had to do a
serious doubletake when I opened the door and saw that engine bouncing on the
broken frame up to 6 inches in the air. Can you imagine the disaster that could
have been if it had decided to walk? Oh man I don't like to think about it. The
generator building sits on the edge of a hill, and the door 2 feet from the
generator was open, and if the last remaining belt between the engine and the
generator had broken or come loose (one had already come off - I could see it
in the corner), that 200 pound engine could have bounced right out that door,
down the hill, and into lots of brush and pine needles that were tinder dry......
get the picture? I am SOOOOOO glad I serve a God who takes care of me
*chuckle*.
Immediately after I got it all put back together though, the
main crankshaft oil seal blew out, so the generator is down AGAIN!!!!!
You'll see why this is such an attack when you read down farther. Am just using
the backup gasoline generator right now until I can figure out how to get the
diesel engine apart and the oil seal out, then figure out where to buy a
replacement (the engine is German).
Another God fingerprint....
I have been helping my pastor haul firewood out of
the forest several times a week all summer. He bought a timber sale lot of 130
cords of wood or so (need any firewood this winter?) last fall, and has been
selling firewood to people as his living money since the church
doesn't pay him. But about a month ago, as we were loading 16 foot long, up to
1 foot diameter logs, (often weighing several hundred pounds and requiring
gruntwork from both of us to move), onto his old dump truck, I slipped and
fell while carrying a multi hundred pound log. It came down, with my own weight
on top of it, on my hand, smashing it against the metal bed of the dump truck.
Can I say that it hurt? A little bit? *chuckle*. After not being aware of
anything beyond the pain for a split second, I managed to get it off my hand,
and got to my feet, pulling my gloves off and exclaiming brightly (I kept my
mouth from profanity, but I did exclaim about the pain). And when I tried to
bend each finger in turn, to check for broken bones, my pinky on my right hand
crackled and popped inside. I was quite convinced that it was broken. It hurt
too! Badly. So we quickly finished loading the truck, smarting against the pain
and babying that hand, and came home. I splinted it and it swelled up quite
large in several different places on my hand, over the next several days. When
it wasn't getting better, my nurse friend in Australia made me promise to go
get it x-rayed and checked out.
At that point, my pastor's wife told me that she was
going to pray that it would not be broken, when they went to x-ray it. That she
was praying for a miracle. But anyway, it was still swollen, very sore, pretty
colors, not bendable, and still cracking and popping inside when I did try to
bend it. And it still hurt. But I said sure, thanks, please do pray. I went to
St Al's emergency room, they x-rayed it, and it wasn't broken. What's more, the
swelling immediately began to go down, and I was able to start bending it again
that night. It's still popping and cracking inside, but its in the knuckle, not
the bone. So whether or not it was broken for real before she prayed, I don't
know, but I do know something happened when she prayed, because I had sudden
mobility return to it, and the swelling immediately began to go down. It still
bothers me, and one spot on my knuckle is still swollen, but I'm alive, and God
is good and I am thankful for the prayers of my brothers and sisters. :-)
Oh, also smashed my index finger on my left hand at
some point too, and it is still swollen and makes it hard to play the guitar,
but it's not broken either, and healing slowly. So I am thankful.
Hmmm. Another day getting firewood, the dumptruck
died on us halfway up a VERY steep hill. With several ton of firewood on that
back of that thing, backing up down a steep hill was not our idea of fun. So I
quick chocked the tires so it wouldn't roll. We prayed about it, and finally
figured out that the angle of the hill was so steep, and the level of gas in
the tank just low enough, that the engine had died because it wasn't getting
any gas. That morning, I had felt a very strong impression from God that I
needed to take several extra gallons of gas with me that day in gas cans, which
I had left in my car parked at the top of the hill about a mile from where we
were actually loading up the dumptruck. So we walked out, got my 3 gallons of
gas, walked back to the truck and put it in, then still couldn't get it to
start because the timing was also set wrong. So I prayed again, then twisted
the distributor cap to where it "felt" right, removed the chocks from
the tires, and Dennis pop-started it going backwards down the hill. It
backfired so loud I thought someone had been shot *chuckle*. but it was
running, and we drove it on home. God is good :-)
And twice more, the dumptruck has had weird
problems, showstoppers both times, which resulted in divine appointments
with people that we well understood that God wanted us to talk to.
Let's see, what else..... Several people have given
me boxes of canned goods at different points over the summer, and that has been
very much appreciated.
This summer, I have had my daughter Vanya up here
every other week for a week at a time, and she has voiced many times throughout
the summer that she wishes that she could live here all the time... That's hard
for me, because I wish she could too, but I cannot disobey the judge, and I
can't trash talk her mom either. So that's been rough. But I have very much
enjoyed her company this summer too. She is learning to read and write, and on
her own, she sounded out and wrote her first sentences last week. She wrote
both of our names, and then she wrote, phonetically, "God ez wnrfl"
(God is wonderful). Talk about a daddy's heart bursting with pride *grin*.
Oh, I also have work!!!! I have just recently started
TWO full time jobs, both working from home at the ranch here (total answer to
prayer). Am Editing and Critiquing manuscripts for a literary agency down in
California (lots of Christian manuscripts with them too), and building websites
for a friend. So for the first time in almost 4 years, since my initial
separation and loss of jobs because of marriage issues, I have an income that I
can almost count on and budget by. I am sooo thankful to God for that. I can
work from here at the ranch, I don't use gas money going into Boise everyday,
and I don't waste time commuting. Instead, I can use that time here at the
ranch, fixing things, working on paperwork, etc and so forth. It is so cool!
BUT, in order to do both jobs, I have to have stable
power. And without that diesel generator drawing on diesel in the underground
tanks here, I am left with using the gasoline generator that my pastor is
letting me borrow, which is very expensive to run. All the money I save by not
commuting, is going into the generator instead (actually more). So that is
frustrating.
So I have been working on power generation projects
here at the ranch again. I redid my hydro electric pipeline that I had put in
last year in my failed attempt to generate hydro power, and replaced it with
much larger diameter pipe. This has substantially increased the water pressure
available to me. Am now I am in the process of rebuilding the water wheel for
it too, and matching it to an 12 volt alternator or dc generator, so that I can
charge my battery bank with it, 24 hrs a day. Unfortunately, it is so dry up
here right now, that the creek is down too far to fully utilize its hydro
potential. Not sure what to do about that aside from wait till the fall
moisture.
Oh there's also a lady in Clear Creek putting
together some solar power grant packages for people in the area, and I think
that I will try to get in on one of those too, to expand what I already have
here.
Am also working on the onsite spring system here again,
because the drinking water spring down the road where I had been getting my
water, has dried up as well. But I need to have help to get the big 3000 gallon
tank up on the hill cleaned out (tree roots mostly) - it's defiantly a two
man job. It won't take much to get it functional again beyond getting the tank
cleaned out and a couple of pipes repaired. But once this is functional,
I can also get fire insurance I am told, because I will have 3000 gallons of
water storage available to fight fire with. So this is critical in more than
one way.
Also trying to get my truck fixed. The starter went
out on it, and the front driveline is still not hooked up right. I can fix the
starter I think, if I can find the time (need to start getting some firewood of
my own for this winter), but the driveline has me bamfoozled. Someone has done
some work on it previously, and I will have to custom make a part to put it
together. Just trying to figure that out now....
Also working on the grant paperwork again. And making
progress on it too. Hoping to resubmit it tonight or tomorrow (and then will
hear back within 2 weeks if the paperwork is complete, and which grants I can
apply for). And I know I am in a battle here. Pray for me. I went out just this
morning and took a whole bunch of digital pics of the place to include in the
paperwork, and when I got back to the house to download them into the computer
and use them, they were all missing. Every single one of them. So I have to
take them all again. The owners are getting a little antsy and unhappy with me
about how slow things are going (and I also owe them some back rent from this
spring when I was struggling so bad and couldn't find work), so I am really
feeling under the gun and under pressure on this. It's so frustrating and
lonely to be trying to do this almost completely without help, aside from
the handful of people that have helped out financially to keep me afloat, and
my pastor, who has come up here numerous times to help me with this or that
project..... I am so thankful for him. He's such a cool friend. I thank God for
him often.
Oh, which brings up the next thing. Yesterday, that
same firewood dumptruck that God seems to use so regularly to create divine
appointments, had more problems, and unexpectedly jumped its chock and rolling
partway down a hill, JUST after my pastor had crawled out from under it working
on the fuel pump. Scared him, but got his attention too (ran over his hat which
had just fallen off his head, right where he had been laying). So we got together
last night and talked about life, the universe, and everything. Prayed too. And
we are just going to start holding church at his house in Clear Creek, starting
tomorrow morning (me doing music). Lots of people have been talking about
starting a church in Clear Creek, for a long time, but no one has ever actually
stepped up and actually done so. Even he and I and others that we know well,
have talked about it. Recently, Dennis asked for the blessing from our old
church, to come up here to Clear Creek and start a new work. They gave him that
ok and blessing. So we're just going to do it. And starting it tomorrow, and
the decision came out of the whole thing with the dumptruck nearly killing him
yesterday morning. God coordinates even the attacks of the enemy and turns them
for good if we allow Him to work... But you might pray for me. With 2 fingers
that don't work right yet (the firewood injuries), it's difficult to play the
guitar like I want to, though I DID practice for awhile this morning, and did ok
with them. That's something I have noticed over my life. That sometimes God
will ask you to do something that normally would be impossible for you to do,
but when He asks, and you do it FOR HIM, He gives you the ability to do it,
almost supernaturally so. It's kinda cool. My fingers actually worked right
when I was singing and practicing worship songs this morning - though they
still were hurting some, and are hurting right now too. but I am NOT
complaining. Considering how I hurt them, they could be in a lot worse shape
*smile*. He and I and others have looked at several pieces of property in
the Clear Creek area, just praying and waiting for God to open a door
somewhere. But until something opens up, we just plan to meet at his place. Let
me know if anyone would like to visit sometime :-)
This whole summer has brought a lot of focus
definition and refinement to the whole ranch project. A number of
people have given me some very constructive input, criticism, and feedback, and
I feel like we are well on our way to something really cool. I was just even
thinking yesterday about some of the recurring dreams that I have had ever
since I was a kid, that have begun to come true through this project. It's
kinda cool . It's just kinda cool *contented smile*. I'll be updating the
website (several months out of date currently) with new info soon.
Anyway. That's a nutshell of things happening here.
I'm sure that there is more that I have forgotten, but for the moment, it will
suffice. I have had some very bright and happy days, and also some very dark
and discouraged ones. But I am hanging in there.
God is good, and I am glad to serve Him. I wish that
more people could say the same.
Keep smiling! Try to find someone today to share a
smile with and to shower with kindness.
In Christ,
-Tim
Tim Benedict
Thorn Creek Conference Center
21 Yellowpine Ln
Boise, Idaho 83716
208-392-6723
http://www.bighouseministries.com
http://www.timbenedict.com
timbenedict@peoplepc.com