Well, I have survived the first phase of our move… ha ha, I think it is more accurate to say that the Lord has sustained me through the first phase of our move! I am now at my in-laws home and pretty content to not have a lot to do right now!

I am a woman who deeply loves her husband, and I have realized how much it affects me to not have him with me on a daily basis. We have gone through quite a bit this past week, from trial to trial with the mobile home park management to the movers who were dishonest with us about our actual quote, I have never felt so attacked in all my life… I do not know what lies ahead for Daniel and I, but one thing is for sure, the enemy does not like it! Without Daniel being with me through this week, we have both felt the pain of our seperation on a much deeper level than before. I personally have realized just how vulnerable our family is with the absence of just one member. My heart aches to be with him again, and I imagine that is the way we should feel about our Lord Jesus. I imagine that if all of us would stop and think about that gnawing feeling in the pit of our stomach, or that ache in our soul, or the emptiness that nothing can fill, we would see that it is our spirits simply longing for the Lord and His return. Seeing my husband again will bring me such joy and comfort, imagine what it will be like when we see the King of Glory! The fulfillment, the rest, the  peace, the comfort, the JOY that we will each feel! And it will not be temporary, hallelujah!

Beyond the trials of the past week have also been deliverances, rescues and love. I am amazed what a powerful army the Body of Christ is when we unite or when we swoop in to rescue one of our own who is hurting. Oh how important it is to be in the Body of Christ! So many were praying for our family, and still are. So many were pitching in and helping in every way, I am again in awe of the ‘family’ I have been given!

Oh Lord, may we always be willing to demonstrate your love and power to those in Your Body and to the world!

Okay, we are getting closer to moving… and I have got to say, the excitement has officially worn off! LOL… this has been one of the hardest things I have EVER done in my life. I have a newfound respect for all those military wives out there who have to go through move after move without their husbands & kids in tow! We have been limited in what we are able to take on our move due to cost, and never having lived simply, I must admit that I am attached to my STUFF. I am amazed at how much we have accumulated through the years, and ashamed that we were holding on to so much that we didn’t really need. UGH! It has been traumatic to have to give away so much… especially things that I could have made $$ off of!

BUT- I have learned a lot in the past 3 weeks. I have learned that no item on this earth is worth what I have in family. My older boys, Jordan and Noah, have been pillars to me during this time. They have held me up through every obstacle and I stand in awe at their strength. My mother-in-law, Annette and father-in-law, Herman, have been the steady constant that I have needed to keep my composure. They have helped with the younger ones unselfishly and faithfully with no hesitation, how grateful I am for them. Vicki and Laura, my sisters, without whom I would have no one to listen as I vent, cry and problem-solve. I love them more than words can say. Claudia, a true prayer warrior, and my mother in all the ways that count… there are no earthly words to describe what she means to me. My pastors, Mike and Rhonda, through whom the Holy Spirit is given full reign… I could not do without the healing balm of their anointing… Chuck, our loyal friend, who has stepped up to be our handyman, and to take over household duties because my husband is not here to do it (I miss my Wyoming man!)…and countless others who have come to the aide of this woman in her time of need. But most of all, my Father… oh my Father! How faithful He has been! For every problem, He has been my problem solver…I am humbled at how mindful He is of His children, and I realize just how much I do not deserve Him!

The movers come tomorrow to take our stuff to move to WY, and I have been struggling with the fact that over the next month I will not be surrounded with the familiar. We will be staying at other peoples homes until Daniel comes back from WY to get us at Thanksgiving. It seems silly, but it feels as if every ‘comfort’ is being removed, and it does not feel good! What does that mean? Through all of this, even though I know God is working, He is also strangely silent. I know He is accomplishing something, but what?

I was researching WY this morning, looking up all kinds of things about the state from education to economic growth projections, and nothing is being revealed to me about what our real purpose will be out there. It is just a big ?.

I have often been taken to a portion of scripture throughout the years about Abraham and Sarah, where God tells Abraham to leave his father’s house, his land and go to a land that God will show him. I have always thought about what faith that must have to took. To just up and leave every comfort of home, and every support system you have to go to a place that God will show you. Can you imagine?! Well, lately, I’ve been re-identifying with that scripture in a big way! It is scary thinking about what it will be like without friends, family and the familiar. I used to daydream that God would call us on some big mission, that Daniel and I would ‘go out’ in faith-believing on simply a ‘word from the Lord’… I always looked at Abraham and Sarah admirably, and would think, “It would be SO great to be like them!” Now I am feeling like I was completely NUTS to think that! LOL, my zealous nature gets me into some very interesting situations and now, there is no turning back. The decision has been made, the confirmations have come, and this is it- we’re moving to a land we do not know, with people we do not know, NOTHING FAMILIAR! We do not even currently know where we live out there! Can anyone out there spell PANIC! I don’t know about you, but when I daydream, very rarely are any negative scenarios included, LOL. All these years of wanting to be like our father of faith and his wife, I never thought about how scary it might be, how lonely, or how there might be some parts of this process I just honestly do not like. (Like letting go of all my old stuff) Lord, help me to let go of the old and embrace the new!

No matter how frightening and lonely this process is, there is also a deep longing for something GREAT, there is an anticipation that only comes from the Lord, and a quiet excitement of things to come. Oh Lord, may we obey  You in every step and may we  please You in every way… Your Will be done, In Jesus Name.

Yes it is true… we’re heading out West! Lander, Wyoming to be exact and boy, what a gorgeous place! I’ve been looking at all the pictures online of the area and learning as much as possible about our new home as I can and every day, I gotta tell ya, I am falling more and more in love with the place! Set in a valley at the foot of Wind River Mountains with the Popo Aigie River flowing right through. A very popular vacation destination, this is our future home, I keep asking the Lord if we are really going to live there!

I have always lived in Michigan, and so has my husband, so this is a pretty big move for us. Daniel was offered a position in a field he has been dreaming about… and we both have felt an urging for a while that the Lord would send us out of state somewhere. We know that we are not just being sent out for the sole purpose of a new job for Daniel, but rather for a higher purpose. I do not know what He has in store for us but we look forward to it with anticipation!

Please pray for us as we embark on what truly feels like a new journey. For now, Daniel is in Wyoming setting things up for the family to join him there. I have much to do in the coming weeks to get prepared!

My husband and I have been through a lot in the short amount of time we’ve been married and I got to tell ya, sometimes life just get tough! I’m not talking about some major crisis, but just every day living. It’s not easy being a biblical woman these days… every thing we do for the glory of God goes against the grain of this world, and we feel it. The more I walk with Jesus, the greater the reality that I am truly a stranger here. I keep thinking that it is going to get easier, but then I realize once again that I am not even a citizen of this place called earth! My citizenship is Elsewhere. Because I belong somewhere else, a war rages within me between the laws of this world and the laws of the one to come. Inwardly I long for the Day when I can live in the freedom I am called to with no conflict. I long for the day when it is “normal” (can you imagine?!) to show love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faithfulness, meekness and temperance, when it is normal to worship my Creator in His Majesty! I am not normal here because I truly love God, I am not normal because I truly love being a helpmeet to my husband, not normal because I treasure my children and don’t want to stop having them, not normal because I am happy to stay at home… I am not normal because I choose love when hate should increase, not normal because I choose joy over depression, patience over discontent, gentleness over violence, faith over doubt, meekness over rebellion, and temperance over judgment… there, I said it!
I AM NOT NORMAL & I am OKAY with it!

Are you okay with not being normal? Sometimes life here wears us down and we begin to lose perspective… we get tired doing all the things that are difficult in this world’s system. But I’d like to tell you that it is NOT for nothing, praise the Lord! When we choose His Way, we will certainly not lose our reward! So chin up sisters, you can do it! Keep on keeping on!

Galatians 6:9 - “Let us not grow weary in well-doing, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.”

My sincere desire is to see women set free in their identity in Christ! I grew up with all the wrong ideas of who & what a woman was supposed to be, and at the beginning of my twenties, I met Someone who changed my life forever! Jesus has gently led me into His will for my life and now, my hope is to encourage other women to live in total abandon to Him. The rewards far out-weigh the cost when choosing to make Him LORD in EVERY area of our lives! Here at my site you will find bible studies, articles and my thoughts on what it means to be a godly woman and how to walk in the Word daily. A Fruitful Vine, it is not just what a “wife” is supposed to be, but what the Body of Christ is supposed to be, what each individual believer is supposed to be! To be fruitful is to be ‘always producing, ever-growing and ever-bearing’, and that is how I envision God’s woman. What are your ideas on how to be fruitful? Do you know what God’s Word has to say about fruitfulness, specifically about women in the home? Let’s study and find out together! God is faithful to always bring us to His Truth, so let’s commit to seek after it, amen? Drop by as often as you like, let God’s Word refresh your soul and renew your mind! A little about me:

My name is Nicci, I’ve been a believer for 13 years now, I’ve been married to my gift-from-God-HimSelf husband, Daniel, for 12 years, whom I love being a helpmeet to, & I have four gorgeous sons: Jordan, who is 14, the child God used to draw me to Him; Noah, who is 11, the child God used to cause me to truly seek to be a godly mother; Judah, who is 8 years old, the Lord showed me the sweetness of motherhood through him; and Aiden, who is 3, the Lord has used him to bring fun and laughter to me. It is never boring in our house, nor does any day pass without some sort of lesson from our Lord, for which we are grateful!

We have always homeschooled our boys, and so here also, you will find resources and links to resources, as well as personal testimony, that have been a help to our family.

We are active in ministry within the Body of Christ and in our local church, we have a passion to see and communicate truth, plain and simple. A lot of people would say we are pretty simple folk, and we agree. We prefer to live out our faith in front of others, even when we are “weak”. Transparency is important to us, so that we and others can see the process of faith at work in our lives. What you see is what you get, at least in the moment, lol, no hidden agendas here!

Sister, my prayer for you is that God will bring you into the fullness of all that He has for you! May He remove the chains of fear that cause you to hold back in your faith and surrender to Him. May He cast vision in your heart to become the woman He created you to be. & May He grant you the ability to embrace & experience JOY in your identity in Him! In Jesus Name, Amen!