June 06,
2007 (and later further down)
Dear
Friends,
Wow, is it
June already?
Well,
there's several things to report....
I was just
looking back through old email newsletters, and read the one from one year ago
about the deadline the owners gave us to have $10,000 earnest money for
them (that never materialized).... And now it's one year later with yet another
"deadline" gone by....
One of the
biggest stumbling blocks to our moving forward (for over a year now) turned out
to be the liability associated with the two unregistered (and therefore illegal
by some accounts) diesel tanks buried in the ground here. Several people
had indicated interest in helping finance this place until they found out about
the liability of the tanks in the ground still. We even had the $10,000 at one
point, but dared not use it for earnest money because of these tanks (it has
since been otherwise used for needed projects like a diesel generator).
Well, in
answer to prayer, the owners finally (and quite unexpectedly) had someone
pull the tanks out of the ground YESTERDAY.... *whew!* The holes appear to be
clean and the ground uncontaminated. What a relief and answer to prayer. Now we
can get seriously serious about fundraising to buy this place finally (after
their new deadline of May31'st THIS year had already passed). I am very
thankful to them that they finally pulled the tanks so that we can proceed.
So now pray
that the money comes in! We are exploring several different options, along with
more options that have been presented but not followed up with yet (since the
tanks are no longer an issue), and we are trying to quickly put something
together for the owners, now that they have fulfilled their end of the deal in
good faith that we will have something for them as well now. Pray about this,
and if you know someone that might be interested in helping us out with
securing the land for this camp and youth ranch dream that we have, let me
know.
I am still
enjoying logging around 4 days a week. There's a lot about healthy forest
management, logging, the woods, and just nature in general, that my boss is
teaching me, and I am grateful for that. It's kinda cool.
The kids
are out of school now, and enjoying it. Ruthie and Viktoria are still raising
money to go on a Teen Missions trip to Australia this summer (leaving on June
26th), and if you want to support them in that, I will have more info on the
website in a day or two about it. http://www.bighouseministries.com.
(later in
the day)
Wouldn't
you know it, but the new diesel generator, upon which we rely for our primary
source of power, just exploded. Literally. One step forward (diesel tanks out
of ground), one step back (generator exploding). A big chunk of the side of the
crankcase blew away, and gears and oil went everywhere. I have never seen
anything quite like it. So now it's back to the old (and expensive to run)
backup gasoline generator. Wow......
(The next
day.... June 7th)
Oh, almost
forgot. We are planning a big 4th of July BBQ (and fundraiser) up here on the
fourth. We'll be having a BBQ in the afternoon, and in the evening, those that
want to join us, can go with us up to Idaho City to watch the community
fireworks there. It's always been a highlight of my summer, and was last summer
as well. I expect it will be again this year. Bring a dish, your own meat, and
let's enjoy the day. The plan is to have some Thorn Creek
"stuff" (t-shirts, etc) on sale as part of it, along with a donation
box, a raffle if we can get something worthwhile donated, and some other stuff
too, just to help fund the earnest money and down payment on the ranch so that
we can move forward. If you get this email, you are invited :-) The
pool should have water in it by then if you and/or kids want to get wet.
My sci-fi
novel should be published by the first of July. That's kinda exciting too. I
won't see any money from it though until August sometime. The second and third
novels in the trilogy are currently being edited for publication later. I have
also begun work on another book entitled "The Innocence of God,"
which I am enjoying immensely. It will include some of my thoughts that I have
mentioned here in past "musings". (Yes, I like to write).
We have
been working on installing ten large hot water solar panels on the roof over
the last several weeks, to provide our hot water supply. We have hooked it
up several times, and each time, we have discovered a weak link in the system.
The latest was today when we discovered that some of the hose we were using to
tie the system together, gets weak when it has pressurized hot water inside. It
blew out. So we have to replace a bunch of the hose sections before it will
work again. Like I said, it often seems like one step forward, one step back,
around here. But I am not complaining. Progress is progress, and it is
something that I have to be satisfied with.
Pray for us
if you think of it. The whole "one step forward, one step back" thing
can get a little emotionally taxing sometimes. Emotions around here tend to
yo-yo in response, and it's rough.
Next week
we are taking a family vacation to see my folks in Oklahoma. While there,
I will be doing some computer networking in my parent's new office where they
coordinate a lot of their activities working with Cherokee churches in their
area. We'll also get to see some sights and friends and other family along the
way, so that will be good too. But overall, it will be a fast trip (too fast).
But I'm looking forward to it.
Ya know, I
been thinking. Did you ever wonder about Noah in the Old Testament? God told
him to build an ark, to save his family and the animals from a
"flood", something that they had never even seen before,
apparently. How many times over the next 120 years that it took him to build
that boat, do you think God had to remind him to get back to work building that
ark? Or did he have to remind him at all? If He did have to remind
him, it isn't recorded in Scripture. It says God told him to do it, so he did
it.
Now,
applying this to my own life, God told me so clearly that it was almost
audible, 4 years ago, that He wanted me to build a children's ranch. How
many times should He have to remind me of that, or should I just simply obey,
and proceed ahead with it, until I get something from Him that is just as
clear, if not clearer, that I need to stop? My home now serves 8 youth. They
are my children. Three years ago, when I first moved up here, it served none.
Am I obeying? You betcha. Am I building a youth ranch? Yep. Is God blessing our
personal growth? Yes. Am I ministering to youth? Yes. Do I believe that someday
this ranch will serve more than just my own children? Yes sir. Do my kids enjoy
living here? Yep. You should hear how many of their friends, when they come to
visit, tell my own kids how lucky they are to live in such a cool house and
place. So when people ask me what it will take to convince me that I
should forget this dream/ vision, and move someplace "normal", I
almost don't comprehend what they are asking me. Do I have a plan B? No. I
believe God has a plan for me, this house, this ranch, and my family. Most of
my now eight children are looking forward to, and actively praying to God
on their own about it, to when we can finally host camps here for other
children that have had it rough in life. What better legacy can I leave behind
than that? Is it a process? Yes? Will it happen overnight? No. It took Noah 120
years to build his legacy, and we can all thank him that he did. Am I going to
keep working on this place? I will until God tells me to stop, in a way that is
more clear than the way He told me to build it in the first place. It is the
least I can do.
Anyway. I
also realized something else. When God tells you to do something, I have
discovered that sometimes He is just as interested in the process of getting to
something or someplace, as He is in the actual arrival at that something
or that someplace. So be patient, and let the process happen. And trust Him in
it. It's not in His character to lead us astray or down rabbit trails.
Everything He does has a purpose, even processes. Hang in there.
I hope and
pray that this note encourages you in some way in your own walk with God :-)
(June 20
-after the vacation)
Wow......
What a trip..... *chuckle* . We put 4300 miles on the odometer of our suburban.
We saw the Grand Canyon (awesome). We saw Garden of the Gods in Colorado
Springs (very cool). We saw Focus on the Family and Whit's end (for you
"Adventures in Odyssey" aficionados). We saw family in Phoenix AZ,
Tahlequah OK, and Wichita KS, on both mine and Karen's side. We saw old friends
too, including one we hadn't seen in 21 years. And we enjoyed ourselves,
even if we did drive all night long several times on various legs of our
journey. It was a good trip, and we made lots of good family memories.
And we saw
God's protection. We passed three different major accidents within minutes
of their happening, that had our timing been off just by a few minutes, could
have involved us too. In fact, one time, we were oddly delayed, so much so that
I recognized it when we passed the wreck a few minutes later. First was a bad
multi-semi-truck pileup (police already there). Second was a car smashed
into a guardrail on rain slick roads (with at least one fatality it looked
like- police already there). Third was an overturned semitruck (that had
happened so soon before us that I was even the first 911 call on it, like maybe
just a minute or two). There was other things too, like the massive buck deer
(small elk size) dead/down in the center of the road at 3am that hadn't been
moved yet (if a small car had hit it, it would have totaled it and if WE had
hit it - I swerved- I suspect it would have rolled us). I 911'ed that one too,
and the police moved it immediately. So we saw God's hand of safety all along
the way. Thanks for praying for us daily, all of you who do.
Seeing my
parents was very cool, and we shared several special days with them. I got my
parent's offices networked and set up in a much more business efficient way. My
dad also unexpectedly gave us one of our old family canoes (that I learned to
canoe in as a kid), that we then brought back with us (remember my recent prayer
asking God for a canoe so I could take my family canoeing? Well now we have
two! *chuckle*). We also played a lot of frisbee golf together too - the kids
had a blast with that and are now planning to set up a course up here
as well.
Remember
what I said about one step forward, one step back, and emotions wanting to
yo-yo? Ugh! We were so happy to get home. But we just got hit with some
unexpected financial stuff, as soon as we got home. But the solar hot water
panels ARE working now, so summertime hot showers all around, on demand, are
finally a reality here. So that's a blessing! But the diesel generator is not
still not repaired yet - apparently the guy we bought it from is reneging on
the warranty he promised us. Grrrrr. But we got potable spring water finally
piped all the way into the house this morning, so that's another step forward!
(We always haul in our drinking water, because the community water that feeds
the house is not potable yet). But a fitting in that line just cracked too, so
we gotta shut that whole system down again till we can replace that fitting...
But I also discovered that I might (MIGHT) be able to repair the diesel
generator myself *whew!* So that's good! *deep breath*. If it all weren't so
serious, it would be funny!
And that
brings me to prolly one of my biggest prayer requests about us and our dream
(aside from finding the finances to buy the property). Pray for us
emotionally. With all the forwards and backwards steps, and the simple
overwhelmedness that comes from the sheer number of projects, bills, and other
things that we have to deal with to buy this land and make it functional
as a ranch and camp, the easy choice each day would be to crawl back into
bed and pull the covers over our heads. But we can't do that, and we don't Yes,
we made the choice to live here. Yes, we knew it would be difficult. No, we are
not moving. But yes, we fight a daily battle, one that has serious spiritual
overtones. We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against powers and principalities.
If we weren't doing this in order to reach out to wounded youth/people, I'm
convinced that half of the stuff we deal with wouldn't be happening. Just pray
for us. It is a battle, and sometimes we get weary.
And when
you do pray for us, it lends us strength to do something that only a
handful of other people have ever tried to do, build a year-round ranch
and camp targeted to specifically reach out to foster and wounded kids. We
don't have a franchise plan to follow; we are making it happen as we go. When
you pray for us, you become part of the team, and on God's
scoreboard, it's credited to you for righteousness. We're a team in this
together. We aren't beggars and moochers, we are simply one family that saw a
need, and decided to risk everything to try to meet this need, knowing that God
was leading us into it, and now you get the opportunity to join us, if you
want it. It's your chance to be a part of something bigger than just living and
existing day to day. If we were just here to exist too, no, it wouldn't
be right of us to solicit or accept help from other people. To the
contrary, we are building something bigger than just us. We are building a
legacy that will continue to touch lives for good, long after we are gone. We
are spearheading an effort to tackle a serious society issue of a
growing, damaged-youth demographic. So........ Wanna help us?
But things
have been good overall. And God is good, and daily works with us. I
am so glad I serve Him, and that He talks to us and protects us. How cool!
If any of
you ever want to talk further about spiritual issues facing your own lives, I
don't know everything and I don't always have time, but I am usually open to
listening/talking, or I can put you in touch with someone who can, if you need
to talk.
Sincerely,
-Tim Benedict and Karen and family
208-392-6723
timbenedict@peoplepc.com
http://www.bighouseministries.com
21 Yellowpine Lane, Boise, ID 83716