We Made It!

“The LORD directs the steps of the godly. He delights in every detail of their lives.” Psalm 37:23 

If you read my last blog post, it talked about Gumby - yes the green flexible character.  Well, that was definitely what we needed to be with this move.    Our movers were originally scheduled for 4/10, but the Lord had a different plan.    

In our quiet time, the Lord told Ken to look at the weather forecasts.  In doing so, he felt the Lord showed him that we should leave a day earlier.  So we changed our movers to the 8th and were planning on leaving on the 9th - which we felt the Lord said "crossover on Passover".   Long story short, the movers were done early on the 8th.  Our plans to stay in KC for a night or two changed, so we decided to head to KC just to get ahead start on travel and leave early on 8th from there.  Neither one of us could sleep well that night so we were up and gone from the hotel by 4am.   The weather was good, except the 40 mph wind.  That made pulling a Uhaul trailer quite the challenge.  Our gas mileage went from 20mpg to 14mpg.  Ken couldn't even keep up with the speed limit.  Then suddenly my phone let out this alarm that made me jump a mile..."Squall warning".  I thought what the heck is a squall warning? LOL... well, we were in the middle of near white out conditions, blizzard snow coming down.  In looking at the radar it made more sense to keep driving then to stop so we could get through it.  Otherwise we would of had to wait it out a very long time!    

The drive was really boring - I mean worse than Western Kansas boring.  And what else, was that we were literally the ONLY car on the highway with an occasional trucker passing by.  Ok, once in a great moon we saw a car, but seriously it was rare.  The first time we saw even a few in one place was when we stopped in Rapid City, SD for a quick bite.  We thought that's where we would bed down for the night, but God had other plans.  He said get to Montana - stop in Broadus, MT for the night.  By the time we got to our little hotel room in a town of just a few people, it was 930pm.  That made our driving day a 17.5 hour day!!!  We were exhausted!  But we made it there safe and sound! Thank YOU Lord.   What the Lord showed us was that we "crossed over" into our Promise Land of Montana on Passover, literally!!!  How cool is that!

The next day the 10th, we again we got up and out the door by 5am.  The sun was shining and you could see why they call it Big Sky country.  It was all you could see for miles!   Again, not a car in sight, but a random trucker would pass us by.   That brought a smidgeon of anxiety, beings that we had no cell service and our car was burning oil, like it was gasoline.  Adding the weight of the trailer I'm sure didn't help the engine's efficiency.    By 5pm we were rolling into our new town of Hamilton, MT.  We made a stop by the new place to drop the trailer and meet our wonderful neighbors and landlord George & Anna.  We then went to a Airbnb in Darby, the south end of the Bitterroot Valley.  That place was magnificent.  It was a fully equipped 1 bedroom apartment with of course mountain views and a nice hot tub which our bodies so needed!! We couldn't

move in until Monday afternoon until the internet had been installed as we would have needed to be "quarantined" for 14 days first.   As we told you, the Lord wanted us to get here before the weather hit......and it did hit.  The first night we stayed in Darby, it snowed 5-6". It was beautiful as we sat by the fire and took in the amazing mountain views.  And enjoying Huckleberry everything - Montana is known for Huckleberries.  It's kind of like a blueberry - cross with raspberry?  It's delicious. 

On Monday afternoon, we got to move into our new place.  The movers called and said they'd be there Friday.  So we had sometime to unpack what we brought in the Uhaul and roughed it a bit with 2 folding chairs and a blow up mattress as our only furniture.  The mover called and said he would arrive at 3pm.  At 630 he showed up to our storage unit.  Did you catch that, mover, singular, one older man.  I thought how in the world would he be able to unload everything first of all and secondly how long would it take.  I finally convinced him to only unload storage that night which it took 3 hours and then the rest the next day.  The next day it took him 6 hours and both Ken and I 4 hours of doing what he should have been doing, but it got done and we had our own bed to sleep in.   He had a special stair climbing dolly (we have 15 stairs to get up to our place) that he used and was able to bring up our full size couch and other pieces of furniture and many boxes at one time with it, with no other help.  Crazy!   

Our home is comfortable.  It's much smaller in some way and doesn't have as many cabinets or storage places so we will be living out of tubs and boxes.  Much more ended up in storage than we had planned.  Our kitchen table is a 2x4 folding table (that's what fits)- not going to be conducive to guests....but we'll figure out something.   Our landlord let us use his bison rug (see picture).  It goes well with our furniture and decor.   George and Anna, our neighbors and landlords have been most amazing.  They brought us homemade salsa - some of the best I've ever had, Albondigas soup - which seriously was the most incredible stock base ever....and did I say geese jerky?  Geese jerky he made absolutely delicious!!!  We have geese that fly over the house often, so that's where it came from!  He has brought us other yummy things and I have reciprocated with a few things as well.  Soon, we will have them up for a meal.  We've enjoyed their company, sitting outside (with coats & blankets) taking in the views and getting to know one another.   Actually the temps here have been in the 60's which feels like 75 with the sun shining...but when the sun is behind the clouds or the wind is blowing, it's cold.   We have no air conditioning so hoping the cooler nights, keep our home comfortable. 

The views from our place are incredible.  To the west, our back deck you see us with the Bitterroot Mountains behind us.   The front deck view is the Bitterroot River which is absolutely stunning with the sun glistening on it...and this river runs through much of the town/valley.  We also can see the Sapphire Mountains to the East.   The few people we have met have been very friendly and welcoming!  We got to visit a church live and in person Sunday and that was much needed!  Each day we venture out for a drive to one of the nearby towns - there are about 10 of them in a 45 mile stretch.  We found an Amish store in one yesterday that we love and will shop at often!   

The other thing we have learned quickly is that there are a bunch of "gardening" type farms -that raise beef, chicken, produce, make cheese and more.  Everything is organic, grass fed and non-gmo. Matter of fact, you can't be in the farmer's market unless you are... so pretty much all are!  One farm offers what they call "mayday gardens" free to those who want to learn.  So we signed up for one and will get that in a few days.  Here's what it includes: 

What will I get in my Mayday Garden?

Your Future Food will include these vegetables, herb, and flower plants:

6 cabbage, 6 swiss chard, 6 kale, 3 broccoli, 3 kohlrabi, 1 pac choi, 1 chinese cabbage, 1 napa cabbage, 6 lettuce, 6 onion clusters, 6 bush beans, 2 dill, 2 calendula, 2 nasturtium, 2 tomatoes, 2 zucchini, 2 cucumbers hills, and 2 winter squash hills.

We are excited to have a place where can we garden again and will be thankful for the food harvest!   Our neighbor gave us a ton of pots and planters so we can transplant our garden into those.  

The grocery stores here are great... most offer a big big selection of hormone, antibiotic free meats, free range eggs, organic produce and healthy options.  The downside is food is much more expensive than what we are used to paying, but we will be eating healthier!  There is one farm here that offers beef filet for $64lb, not a restaurant, but buy and take home.  Farm eggs are $5-6 a dozen.    Our nearest Walmart is almost an hour away and Costco too.  We haven't ventured that far yet but will probably in the near future.  The town we are in has 4400 people in it.. and around 12k in the country around it. The whole valley has about 65k people, not counting Missoula which is the town we will go to for Walmart, etc.  It's a college town and has about 70k in it alone.   Actually, that's where we saw cars and traffic for the first time in our 29 hour drive from Eldo to Montana!  

We are so blessed to be here and thankful for all of you who prayed for us - and are continuing to do so.   Thank you for those who have checked in on us!  It's been nice talking with some of you even through video.   That is still the hardest thing for me - not being able to see you all face to face.... so I'm hoping you'll come for a visit soon!   

Please continue to pray for my health - pain levels are ridiculous and unfortunately sleep hasn't improved, maybe even worse.  I am fighting discouragement as I really felt the Lord said He would heal me as we came...but hasn't yet.     Ken has made job applications at quite a few places, but no one is in hiring or interviewing mode quite yet.  Of course, we are still contending and believing for provision to step into the destiny God has for us here.  

We love you and are thankful for you!!    

Ken & Michele Cole

...God's love and care is amazing!! 

michele@wantinsight.com

Here are ways you can give if you feel led:

1.  Non tax deductible donations can be made to:

     Ken & Michele Cole, PO Box 1982, Hamilton, MT 59840  

     This is the only way currently we can use funds for our personal needs at this time.  or through PayPal.Me/micheleacole.  We also have Venmo & CashApp

2.  Tax deductible options:

     Checks payable to Sonlit Fields, PO Box 1982, Hamilton, MT 59840

     This goes into our ministry account to be used for outreach and saving towards our vision.

     Donor Fund - The Signatry - Ken & Michele Cole - listed under Want InSight Fund.

     7171 W 95th Street, Suite 501, Overland Park, KS 66212

     Phone 913 310 0279

     www.thesignatry,com

     This is an option to keep gifts anonymous - again for outreach and savings toward our vision.

Vision

God has given us a vision to build a retreat property along with ministry equipping center.  

The retreat portion of our ministry is to provide a safe place for pastors, lay leaders & other ministry folks to come and be refreshed & encouraged through prophetic ministry (if wanted).  We will offer private cabins with kitchens & full bathrooms, and plenty of places to roam on the property to get quiet with the Lord. 

We will offer other specialty retreats - marriage, healing, prophetic teaching & activating people into the world & health and wellness retreats and more.  

The Lord has graced us with the desire to come alongside the Church - to bring healing, deliverance & freedom to new/newer believers.  We are not wanting to replace their church, but better help them be ready to serve in their church. 

In our community building - we will eventually have a 24/7 prayer room, healing & prophetic rooms and a place for community worship services for those on the property.  

Our passion is to minister to a lost & hurting world.   To equip the saints to do the same and to be a blessing to our community and surrounding areas.  Our hopes are that we can pour out God's love in a mighty way to bring more and more souls into the Kingdom, get them discipled, called into their purpose & destiny and released to do God's business!!!!  We also have a passion to give generously to help those in need and to help others launch into their God given destinies.