An Important Announcement from Mike and Linds

We are going to be walking across the country in a month.

Yes, you read that right. We’re almost exactly one month away from starting our walk across the country. Around the first part of June, we’ll start with our feet in the water in San Francisco, California and begin making our way along the American Discovery Trail until we hit the Atlantic Ocean on the coast of Delaware.

If we'll be walking your way, be sure to let us know!

We’ve started preparing and gathering some of our gear (once it’s all compiled we’ll be listing it out on the site) and we’ve been mentally preparing as much as possible. For me (Mike), it means multi-hour cram sessions reading survival handbooks. For Lindsie, it means putting up with me telling her every detail about how to avoid bears and how to use mirrors to signal for help in an emergency situation. The good thing is I know she’s loving every second of it (obviously).

Anyway, we’ll have more details soon, but we wanted to share the news and let people know it’s almost time. We’re readily accepting any and all prayers, advice, and general encouragement you feel like giving. There’s definitely a LOT we are still getting squared away, but we’ve already gotten a few sponsors and we’re getting more excited by the day. Minute even.

Feel free to leave a comment of support, any advice you might have about walking across the country, or anything else you want to share. We’ll have more updates coming soon and we hope you’ll follow along. Should be an adventure.

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A Little Inspiration

In case you’d like a little inspiration today, watch the video below and see a shining example of the fact that, while we may not always see Jesus’ presence in our lives, He’s always with us whether we see him or not.

[vimeo http://vimeo.com/23864881]

P.S. – Thanks to my mom, Paula Billeter, for passing the video along.

Back In Action

After a short hiatus while Lindsie was in Africa and I was sad and lonely without her, we’re back in action on Storming Jericho.

It’s funny what a little break can do to disrupt the flow of things. I missed church for two weeks while Lindsie was out (due to various, not really all that great reasons), but it was nice to have some accountability back in my life. We’re back searching for a good church home again, and while this week’s church didn’t quite seem to be “the one,” it was great to just be back in a church environment again. Even when you’re not 100% feeling like it’s “where you want to be,” being surrounded by fellow Christians isn’t ever a bad way to spend a Sunday morning, as far as I’m concerned.

Anyway, this isn’t much of an inspirational post so much as it is an update. We’re excited to be getting back in the groove of things and look forward to sharing more on here again as a result. Lindsie also plans to write a post (maybe several) talking about the experience, sharing photos and more. She also still has thank yous to write. And she just started school full-time again. Sooo, it might be a little while before she gets all of the posts/photos/thank yous done. But they are on the agenda, have no fear.

Like I said, we should be back with more soon.

-Mike

P.S. – I’m currently doing some job searching down here in Springfield, as my temporary tenure at Evangel University is coming to a close. So, if you have any prayers to spare that I find a good situation, it would be much appreciated. Thanks!

I Am

I was talking to one of our missionaries yesterday whose husband has struggled with Alzheimer’s disease for 7 years.  As I prayed with her over the phone for healing in the name of Jesus, I felt a voice speak from the depths of my soul that the Lord is mighty and powerful to heal.  As I said amen, her voice gently came over the phone, thanking me for believing in the power of God as our Jehovah Rapha – the God of Healing.  She has believed for 7 years that the Lord will heal her husband, but when she says that, many think she’s crazy.  So she now keeps those thoughts and prayers to herself.

For the rest of the day, her words lingered in my mind.  Why don’t we believe in miracles anymore?  Why do we restrict God?  Is the created more knowledgeable than the Creator?

As I laid in bed last night, anxious for sleep, the Lord brought this missionary to my mind once again.  I began praying, and again, that voice deep within me began speaking, but this time, it was speaking directly to me.  I wanted to share with you what I heard.

I am.  I didn’t say I was or hopefully I will be.  I said I am.  Are you in need?  I am your provider.  Are you lonely?  I am your comforter.  Are you sick? I am your healer, your physician.  I am you deliver, your protector, your defender.  I am your rock, your cornerstone.  I am the same yesterday, today and forever.  My word is true.  It is a representation of me, but it does not constrain me.  I am not solely defined by those pages.  They are only a part of my story.  My work did not end when the last word was written.  I am still at work today and I want to work in you and through you.  You are a continuation of my story.  You are a testimony to my power and strength.  The miracles I did then I do today.  Don’t confine me to human understanding.  Trust me.  Have faith in me.  I will take care of you.  I will heal you.  I will provide for you.  I will give you the strength you need.  I know every step you take, every thought you think.  I care about you more than you can comprehend.  I am not constrained by your fears, your doubts, your understanding.  Where you are insufficient, I am sufficient.  Where you are weak, I am strong.  Where you fall short, I am more than enough.  Where you are afraid, I am already victorious.  Follow me, child.  Trust me to take care of you.  Know my word and believe in me.  I love you.

Please, brothers and sisters, claim what is rightfully yours as a child of God.  Don’t listen to the lies that God is not able. He is more than able.  Just ask him.

linds

Amazing Grace

The Narrow Road

I read an interesting passage in Matthew today while we were in church that has been stuck in my head all day today. The passage is from chapter 9, verses 13-14 and it comes from Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount:

13 “You can enter God’s Kingdom only through the narrow gate. The highway to hell is broad, and its gate is wide for the many who choose that way. 14 But the gateway to life is very narrow and the road is difficult, and only a few ever find it.”

I think what I’m most interested in with this passage is how obvious it should be, but how easily we overlook its message. Sometimes we can look around our surroundings and see an entire caravan going down the highway to hell (or, in the Greek version, destruction), and it makes me wonder why we don’t try to turn our own vehicle around. There’s this broad highway full of people traveling the wrong way, and rather than try to drive back against the flow, we just continue down this path.

Meanwhile, there are so few people in the world who take the time to find the narrow road that leads toward Heaven. We don’t see as many people alongside us, so we wonder if we’re even going the right way. Clearly, with so few people using this road, it must not be the road we thought we wanted to be on.

Think about any road trip you’ve ever been on. There’s no feeling less reassuring on a road trip than when the map or GPS says “turn right at County Road 45” and it’s an empty, gravel road with rows of corn on either side. We look down thinking, Surely, this can’t be the road we’re supposed to be on. We long for the security of the highway, where so many cars are traveling the same direction that they clearly all must know where they’re going. But everybody on a highway to nowhere doesn’t accomplish anything positive, even if we are all driving the same direction.

Every once in a while, stop and take a look at your surroundings. Are you and those around you just following along the same highway, secure in knowing that everyone else is doing the same (even if the direction you’re headed isn’t the direction God wants you to be traveling)? Or are you pushing yourself and trusting God to lead you down the narrow, difficult road that few ever find (the road to Heaven)?

It’s easy to follow the pack. But rarely is it the best way to travel.

-Mike

Photo by Dan O’Brien. Thanks Dan!

God Has The Power

Sometimes you get news that breaks your heart. And while I’m not at a point where I’m able to talk about that news (due to the privacy of the other people involved), the bad news I received made me do a lot of thinking.

What I realized was that, two or three years ago, the news I’m talking about would have completely thrown my world off its axis. Despair would’ve taken over. I would have panicked and I would have ultimately spent at least a few nights contemplating the negatives of the situation and getting just about no sleep while I worried.

But as I’ve grown in my walk with Christ over the past year and a half, I’ve really started to realize how powerful His peace can be in my life. When I got that bad news a few days ago, my first reaction wasn’t despair or sadness. The feeling I felt instead was immediate hope and resolve. I knew that my first step had to be prayer and positivity, not negativity and panic. I never once asked God “Why?!”, but instead focused my attention on asking God for His healing and blessings on everyone involved.

It’s incredible what freedom we have in God. Every day, life presents us with circumstances that require a reaction. How we choose to react is a direct reflection of the faith we have in Him. You’re not wrong to feel despair when you receive heartbreaking news. But you are wrong if you feel like a situation is hopeless and God doesn’t have the power to turn it into something positive.

He does.

So stay positive. Trust in His plan. Believe  in His unending grace. There’s more power in that grace than any other force in the universe. And if you need prayer, don’t forget to visit Lindsie’s new Facebook group “The Altar” and let us know. Lots of praying going on over there, and we’d love to have you in our prayers too.

-Mike

Photo by Evan Courtney. Thanks!

Every Time I Run

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7yJseemI5P4&ob=av2n]

Courageous

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pkM-gDcmJeM&feature=related]

Casting Crown’s newest album comes out on October 18th.  I love the rich truth found in their lyrics.  Let this inspire you to be courageous!