An Etch a Sketch: To Shake or not to Shake

First let me start out with a Matthew West video that I felt depicted my reverence and hope for a future marriage....  The reason I have no problems expressing my hope is that i believe my God is giving me the peace that this door is still open for me.. i thought about this alot this weekend as I spent much quality time with my little nephew and niece petting horses, directing a hose away from me to the pickup we were washing, blowing kisses , giving knuckles and hugs, reading nighttime stories, and laying on the bedroom floor while the binkies were being tossed out of the crib...  My brother in law smiles and says bet you don't miss these days...  I gently said I would love to be blessed for these times and he saw it in my eyes as he knew how much I long for the devotion of a God centered family..  

Psalm 127:3-5

Sons are indeed a heritage from the Lord, children, a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the sons born in ones youth. Happy is the man who has filled his quiver with them. Such men will never be put to shame when they speak with their enemies at the city "gate"

  

A truly beautiful song I play in hope and faith as i pray often for God's will in my life for my future is resting in my God's hands.

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Ok, my fellow crazees....  As you may have started to realize by my random thoughts and pictures on instagram I am kind of an A.D.D. guy often very spontaneous and willing to be "where the action is" This adventurous side of Timerfee Lane Taft is a God given asset if directed in God's will but a detriment if I live as an unbridled "wild child" living for selfish pursuits often resulting in a series of events I like to refer to as "The shaking of the Etch-a-sketch"  or painful redo...  This begs the question ............  

    How do we know if we are following the will of our savior when we desire to know without "shaking the etch-a-sketch"

  Philippians 4:6-9

 Don't worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God which surpasses every thought, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Finally brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable--- if there is any moral excellence and if there is any praise---  dwell on these things. Do what you have learned and received, and heard and seen in me, and the God of peace will be with you .

       I will give you a couple of my stories to illustrate examples of clarity, comfort, and personal touch God can speak to us.... on His terms and His time providing we truly honestly are listening :)

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           Waking up one morning all by myself months after learning of my ex wife's infidelity I became the sole owner of a 1930, 5 bedroom, 2 bath, farmhouse in a tiny town of Lafayette, OR. My income decreased and family split.  The mortgage payments and bills consumed every bit of my reduced income. I was making the payments on my mortgage but when my Jeep had "mechanical issues"  I found myself needing to lean on others to provide my basic food needs and "heating" was a luxury not easily paid for...  If you know anything about old farmhouses it wasn't exactly energy efficient so in the wintertime I could have used an ice scraper on the inside of my windows (this I can smirk and laugh about now as i type but I could have used a snuggie then.. )  Praying for Gods will to be done I acted on faith that if I was to sell the house it would be orchestrated by God and His timing.. I called a realtor..   2 months went by and many people came to look even in a down market which surprised my realtor...  No offers not one so I lowered the price even more.... nothing.. 

            

           I took the house of the market and prayed once more ....  During this same time I had a Jeep wrangler that I had bought years ago... I loved it (bigtime understatement)  This Jeep began to define me in more ways than one..  I was Cool, tough, and "the man" as i was driving around in the summer time with the top off and sunglasses on willing to keep my Jeep no matter what the expense ( with a custom carburetor that i had to rebuild it cost to drive it at about 8-10 miles per gallon of gas)

          After returning to prayer once again, I was being convicted that after I was being donated food to live on.. My house and jeep were my Idols...  I was placing them ahead of my God...  No longer being able to give money to the church, those in need, my time money and love was for THINGS....   NOT GOD   So after prayer and consulting my brother and Lianne two mentors in my life at that time.. I decided that my word in contractual form legally was that if i couldn't afford my house my contractually obligation was to return the house to the bank and it was honoring my word and the value of the house was exactly fair market the price i owed the bank..   So once again acting on prayer, faith, and advice from christian mentors I proceeded to get a permit from the little town of lafayette to hold a garage sale for two days...  opening at 9am to 6pm sat and sun

          I didn't advertise as it was a small town, and there was only a sign at the edge of my front lawn.. at about 8 am i started slowly putting everything i owned except a few personal belongings, I remember it being kind of crazy because i was the only one putting on the yard sale but as i was placing things on tables my neighbors were already coming over to inspect everything i was laying out... books started selling left and right, neighbors were literally calling their friends and by opening time i had already pocketed around 250 dollars..  confirmation????  wait there's more....  Close to lunchtime a gentleman comes over to me and says "hey i saw you the other day... you were outside taking pictures of your jeep" hmmmm   Then he says " I saw you and I said to myself ... there is a guy who LOVES HIS THINGS"

                                 Uhhhhhh Ohhhhhhhhh   

     At that moment I knew ....  The jeep was confirmed as later i was also told unknowingly by my niece that I was in love with my jeep then she said there wasn't a picture of me without my jeep in it... 

    Well literally I had neighbors one in particular that had been over several times buying miscellaneous books .. he looked at me and opened his wallet with his last 2 dollars had another book and said "I don't know why i am even buying this book and giving you my last 2 dollars"   I KNEW WHY....  by the end of that single day most everything was sold and God let his will be known 1200 dollars in about 6 hrs with no advertising in a town of about 2900 people...   I remember being on the phone with Lianne as I kept repeating my God is crazy amazing...  Then I was also concerned that my friends and coworkers would think i was a failure by losing my house, she replied to me that "she thought that they would think the same thing she was thinking that I was unafraid to follow the will of God and it would be admirable... "  guess what.. no sooner than she was finished saying so I received a text message back from a christian coworker saying that he saw great things happening through me and i was someone he was watching because of the way i was living my life at that time striving to follow the will of God.."

Shortly thereafter I moved into the apartment in the next town sold my jeep and then .............

                         To be continued....

Please leave comments I appreciate them greatly :)

I leave you with one more video...  very powerful...