Story 4

Today Michelle and Devin finished the first phase of a major project they have been working on. It's a series of children's books, 26 in all, with an additional book yet to be worked on. This post is just a way of celebrating and memorializing their current accomplishment. They finished only one day past their set goal. They'll give more details on the books as they come along. They are going to be awesome:)

OK, so regarding our most recent post. It is a prime example of what happens when you go two and a half months without blogging/updating/etc. Therefore, if you made it to the end of our last post, you deserve a Gold Star. Please email one of us and we will send it to you - post haste:)

Story 3

Three months later...Joah is now 17lbs, some odd ounces. He's a talker...like his Daddy. He loves to suck his thumb, fingers, palm of his hand - if it's attached to his arm, he'll try to fit it in his mouth. He's a big smiler and loves attention, particularly from the ladies ;) He likes to stick his tongue out. Unlike most babies, bath time is one of his favorite moments of the day. He kicks and splashes and tries to lick the water off of his lips, even if his lips are covered with soap. His grandmother bought him a book about colors that has lots of pictures in it and some pages with one color and a large picture on it...he loves it! I think green is his favorite color, but it's a toss up between that one and yellow. He's averaging about 9 hours of sleep through the night, and he is loving his life.

So, Michelle and Devin, what about you? What's your story this month? Well, I'm glad you asked. Our story this month is one of trust. Around September both Michelle and Devin felt that God was leading Devin into the wonderful world of insurance sales. He went through all of his training and got licensed and became an Aflac agent. Naturally, being the provision-minded person that he knows God to be, Devin figured that Aflac would be a smashing success. It was indeed a smash; it just wasn't a success. The anthem of the horrible economy was the continual song that Devin heard from most business owners as he went out and about "cold calling", covering a 60 mile radius. In 6 months he opened up 1 account, had 1 account transferred to him, and sold two individual policies. That is so far from success it's not even funny. However, by the end of this story, we'll see how God set both MIchelle and Devin up for a completely different kind of success.

By the time Joah Michael arrived, things were a tremendous struggle. But it was OK; it was only going to get much worse...in the natural. Meaning, money had all but ran out (savings was drained), bills were due, and we had no idea what to do. Were we freaking out? No. We knew that God would never let us down or lead us into a place where He would look at us and say, "Well, you got yourself in this, now get yourself out." That's the great thing about God: He gets you out of situations that you knew you weren't supposed to be apart of. That's why we call Him Savior, or at least one of the reasons. But that is not a part of this story. Michelle and Devin are committed to their local church, submitted to spiritual authority, active in ministry, they pray every morning, they tithe and give offerings every Sunday, and to top it off they drenched this Aflac life move in prayer and received nothing but a green light from God.

For the first year of their marriage God had been sowing the seed of vision in Devin and Michelle's heart. Essentially he gave them ideas about businesses: Photography, Writing, publishing, music. There were other things that God sowed into their heart that didn't have anything to do with business, but they were equally important. When 2010 rolled around God moved them to start working on those things He had put in their heart. After Joah was born, they went pedal to the metal on their own writing (each one is writing a ficitonal New York Times Best Seller - you gotta think BIG right). They are working on children's books, 20 of which they have drafted. Michelle is interning with a professional photographer (www.amandadonahophotography.com)...an old YWAM friend of Devin's. Things were happening.

To make things even more awesome, a wealth producing Christian man named Apostle John Kelly came to Devin and Michelle's church (Grace Church of the Valley) and began to teaching on prosperity, business, and how God is into it. Of course, there is a ton of teaching out there that says Christians should be impoverished, but Michelle and Devin felt like God was telling them not to subscribe to that magazine of teaching because it simply was not true. Not only was it not true, it was antibiblical. So they were encouraged more than you know. God really was leading them. They felt it. They believed it. They knew it. They saw it. But where was the money? Where was the prosperity? Why wasn't the Aflac deal working out? Not only that, but why did it turn out to be a complete failure?

The very Monday after Apostle Kelly spoke at their church, their only car broke down! Well, that put a screeching halt to any Aflac activity, for that business relies on transportation.Jason, Michelle's brother came to visit to meet Joah, his nephew. Then, Michelle's parents came for two weeks. The coming of these family members was like the coming of angels into Michelle and Devin's life. There was no financial income; they helped out alot. Of course, tax season rolled around and that lasted for a little while, but not enough to sustain a family...

I guess it would become a book if we wrote everything that God has been doing. But here is the bottomline: Every step of the righteous is ordered by the Lord. He will always lead you to victory, but most of the time you will have to go through something difficult to achieve it. God knew where He was leading Devin and Michelle. he knew that the Aflac thing was going to turn out the way it has. He's not sitting in Heaven going, "Ahhhhhhhhh...what happened?" He's not surprised. He has lead them into a place where all they are able to do is work on cultivating those seeds of dreams and ideas and visions that He has planted in their heart. Do you see? It's like God stripped everything away from them and said, "What are you going to do now?" How often do the thorns and thisles - the care and worries of this world - keep us from truly walking by faith and living the life that God has laid out for us. We want to pray away every problem and uncomfortable circumstance, when often it is those very things that God uses to get us to the higher place, the places he wants us to live.

For the past 5 Sundays their Pastor's message has done nothing but encourage them to move forward on the very path they are going - the path that most people would say they are crazy for traveling down, especially with a child. However, people will say that to missionaries that feel God is lead them to a distant country. People will say that to pastors who quit their six figure job to start a church where their first meeting is only 9 people. People will say that to just about any body taking a risk. Michelle and Devin have comitted to truly live by faith. Not just say it with their lips and then live on their own strength throughout the week. Thus, the adventure continues. They expect that at some point in time, they will have published books - fiction and nonficiton, produced music, a thriving photography business, and other great things happening, which they are sure to write about in this blog. But what will they do about money until then? They have done all they know to do, but they are going to continue to trust.

Yes, this story is about more than believing. It's about trusting.