TIC TOC…
We are here…
We have said these words quite a few times over the last almost two years in various emails, text groups, WhatsApp groups, and it really felt like an “geographic update”. Now, “we are here” is such a different update. We are HERE, WE are HERE these words in all the various intonations carry a deeper impact in what we feel emotionally, and more significantly what we feel Spiritually.
We have known since February of 2024 that God was calling us here with some duration of time in mind that was longer than we would choose ourselves. While I love sharing the story of all of this, I will digress from beginning it here. (Should you not know, send us an email and I will happily tell you.) Every subsequent trip after this time felt like “ok, we are here, but this is not part of THE TIME”. When we felt like we had a number to the years it also never felt like the “clock” had started. When I woke up on October 16, 2025, our first morning here after our BIG move I could feel like second hand clicking inside of me. BOOM, BOOM, BOOM,BOOM every moment was being felt. I literally at first thought I was feeling my heartbeat and was a bit alarmed and then realized it was not that. This feeling has not gone away, I felt it the next day, the next week, and still as I am writing this.
Our clock has started, the countdown to when we won’t be here. And it feels like the Lord is saying “don’t waste a second, not a single opportunity.” And it is not this overbearing doomsday thing, it feels like a graceful reminder that this is a season, it is important to the Lord, He wants us to take it seriously, and I feel like it will keep us from getting comfortable. Which is exactly what our flesh wants just as soon as jet lag sets in, ministry starts, relationships grow, language school exhausts you, and things fall through. This is where OUR thoughts kick in to resolve issues to suit our needs to gain comfort so we can survive.
Day one: BOOMING of second hand. Day two: LOGIC to resolve issues. Just after this amazing spiritual emphasis on our seasons beginning. The apartment we “knew” we have on lock, was no longer available to us. This was THE place, it was “perfect”, and the Lord has truly opened the door. It was just not for the purpose of living there. It was for us to have a connection with this family who were about to be in a season of needing intercession. HOW AMAZING RIGHT? Yeah, AND how incredibly inconvenient. Two days later I was sitting on the cough after re-crunching the numbers to see exactly we could afford as far as a home and was scouring the interwebs for a place to live. Then out of nowhere it was like a commercial fire alarm going off, lights, sirens, voice calling me to exit. It was intense, it shook me. In less than 48 hours from hearing something was not working out in comfort I was making sound, logical, concise decisions about what we needed to do. I quickly shouted “NOPE, NOPE, IM NOT DOING THIS!!!” Stephanie was looking at me like I was losing it, and I told her “I don’t want to start trying to make sense of things now, making these logical decisions in the midst of the biggest step of faith we have taken.” I want to continue in Faith I never want to make sense of things. Don’t mishear me, I will make sound decisions, but I will not make my own decisions according to MY will. I will make sound decisions, according to God’s will and guidance. So, I quit looking. And so far, it turns out that we may have been in our home the whole time. It is a process we are in the midst of and continuing to wait and see what the Lord wants. And this is a much longer story that includes an incredible family who are dear friends and who God has used to open in amazing doors for us here in Israel.
Izzy and I are halfway through our language school. I cannot tell what a catalyst of growth this time has been for me. We walk to and from school every day, which is about 35 minutes each way. So, I get an hour to simply listen and talk to my daughter. We have had amazing conversations, and I truly mean AMAZING. Some of them I was ready for, others I had to muster courage and wisdom from the Lord to open my mouth. We have gotten to talk about everything and I mean everything. Whether she wants rollerblades or a bicycle and which would be better for going places, where she is taking Emma to get coffee, how to “take thoughts captive to the obedience of Christ”, and my personal favorite DATING. Why is dating my personal favorite? Because in the middle of the conversation I got realize my personal transformation as a dad who is eager to have uncomfortable conversations for the sake of bringing them back to Godly perspective and design. I would have never had this conversation four years ago and not just because it would have been uncomfortable but because you can’t give away what you do not have, and I did not have Godly understanding on this topic. NOW I DO, I am so thankful I can share it with my daughters.
Maddy is practically Israeli, I mean this is just her speed of life. She is all in all the time, even when she does not feel like it. She is loving learning new Hebrew words right along with us when we get home and she is not afraid to use them, whether they are in context, out of context, or even a real word. It is cool to see how easily kids’ brains transition to new languages. She is loving time with Mom while we are at school, and we get pictures all throughout the day of their adventures across Jerusalem with her on her newly acquired strider bike that one of our amazing neighbors gifted her.
We are enjoying this time to be equipped with language school. We know that it will be a key element in bringing healing and freedom to the families we meet, and watch Jesus reach them in their native language that impacts their heart more precisely and intimately. It is also very challenging, so we truly appreciate your prayers for supernatural understanding and adaptation to this new language and way of thinking. One beautiful realization I am loving is how intentional God was in creating us to always be able to expand in what we know, especially language so that we can reach everyone he puts in front of us.
We are truly, TRULY thankfully for your support in prayer and finances for us to be on mission together in bringing the exciting understanding of the continued relevancy of the Gospel (that the KINGDOM OF GOD IS AT HAND). It is here, ready, willing, and able to change every life, remove every burden, heal every wound, and build a testimony that will allow it to happen in the life of those around us all. We love you, we are praying for you as well, and we look forward to sharing what the Lord does in the coming days.
Our next letter will update on some ministry things that have already happened, but I wanted to give a personal update for now so that you all would know where we are naturally and spiritually.
