Benedict family update and tims musings

Author: TinyTimbly, April 28th, 2010

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4-28-2010

Dear Friends,

It’s snowing today, here in Idaho City. Would you believe it?

And I feel conflict surging around me. It’s like we are caught in the grip of a great maelstrom that threatens to overwhelm us. But we are digging in our feet and planting them on the foundation we have in Christ. He is our peaceful eye of/in the storm.

1. Drama 2. Praises 3. Musings

So what all has happened since the house fire on March 8th? Drama…..

1. Until we can find our own place, we are staying in the Knotty Pines Kabins and Lodge here in Idaho City, a lodge run by a Christian lady who is a retired missionary, courtesy of State Farm through whom we had renters insurance. It’s less than ideal, but our family is at least mostly together with a roof over our heads.

2. Sergei turned 18. And between the stress of the fire fallout, and his assumption that he was now automatically an adult, he chose to move out in a way that will limit his future options. This has been hard for Karen and I to watch happen.

3. Me and Karen are both taking Real Estate investing classes to learn creative ways to find a new home, and make a part time living going into the future. If anyone else is interested in these classes (they are VERY good) for themselves, let me know and I will send you info.

4. We are still searching for a house that suits us. We’ve had several doors close, several that might have been open that God wouldn’t give us peace about, and calls out on several others. Waiting mode is really hard sometimes!

5. It dawned on me the other day that we had had not just three fires in our last house, but FOUR. I had forgotten about the time one of the hot water heaters had caught fire. You simply can’t tell me that there isn’t a spiritual conflict component to these fires. I mean really! Four fires in one house in a year and a half, AFTER we move into town and start working one on one with a number of local youths! Three of the fires were electrical, and the fourth was chimney related, also ruled accidental. And this spiritual buffeting continues in waves of all sorts of ugly emotions that keep hitting Karen and I and the kids. It’s been really rough lately, can I say that?

6. I’m feeling snowed by a number of projects that I have fallen behind on, projects that I had committed to before the fire, several of them odd jobs or business building jobs, to pay bills with.

7. A very late, wet spring means the potential for no fire season again this year… So I’m having to really try to get something else going or find another job as a Plan B.

8. I’m still sorting through the stuff in storage that was in the garage fire in December. It’s a mental challenge every time I tackle that project, even though I will get an insurance check when I am finished with the process.

9. We have about 30 days left to get our stuff out of the burned house before the bank that owns the place is on schedule to lock us out. The fire happened one week before our eviction notice was up. I was still trying to put together an offer for the bank, but the fire completely derailed that…

10. I have never been a dramatic person. I don’t seek out drama like some people do. I try to live my life right, make good choices, and honor God. I like projects, and there is part of me who also likes simplicity. But somehow the drama has sure found me. So I’m trying to turn that drama into a tool that I can use to show people that they can trust God to take care of them in the midst of drama.

Now for some of the positive stuff and praises….

1. We are all still alive! And very few of our possessions were lost in the fire. It’s mostly just light smoke damage. The house remains pretty much uninhabitable due to fire damage to the wiring, the ceiling, the attic, and the roof. But we are OKAY!

2. Our suburban is fixed! Courtesy of some friends…

3. Me and our daughter Viktoria visited chapel service at Cole Valley Christian High School down in Boise last week. It brought back a LOT of good memories from teaching there 10 years ago, and several people that remember me there really honored me with their words. It was kinda humbling, but it let me know that God IS using me to make a difference in my world.

4. Several friends in the area have banded together to help with child shuttling, online computer access for the homeschool kids, and meals. Their help, encouragement, and friendship have been breaths of fresh air in the midst of the chaos.

5. I am learning some COOL real estate stuff in the classes I enrolled Karen and I in (both online and in an actual classroom). I’m actually getting excited about what we’re learning, and what we can maybe do with them. I do think that some of the people on our newsletter list would also benefit from them, especially if you’re looking for a new career. Just let me know if you’re interested, and I’ll hook you up.

6. I still believe that God has something good waiting for us in the housing arena. It’s His character to do good by His children. He ALWAYS takes bad things and brings greater good out of them (for those that KNOW Him). It’s just His character to do this, and I trust that. So part of me is excited to see what is next

7. We’ve been offered help by people we didn’t expect to help us, and not received help from several that we assumed would offer. It’s like we suddenly found out who some of our true friends were. It’s been eye opening. Even my first wife, Pauline, has been praying for us, and our relationship with her has definitely taken a turn for the better. God is good.

8. We got a car running that someone gave us a year ago that was having issues. It took me a couple days to figure out the problems after I asked God to help me figure them out, but I did finally (now just to get the money to fix them right and remove the balingwire/duct tape temporary fix). So we have running vehicles again after being without anything but my old bomber pickup truck for several weeks.

9. Our daughter Ruthie has everything she needs in her fund raising efforts to go on THREE mission adventures this summer. I am proud of her, and thankful to the people that have either hired her, bought playdough from her (http://www.neonplaydough.com), or donated to her fund. Thanks.

10. We continue to see those telltale fingerprints of God around us, taking care of us in little ways, on a daily basis. It’s very cool.

11. Karen and I are growing closer through this whole thing, as we are starting to focus more on spending quality time with each other. It’s been very rewarding and healthy. God knows what He’s doing.

12. The fire, as I mentioned before, was actually an answer to prayer in some ways. We asked God to SLAM the door shut on our house, or FLING it wide open. The fire SLAMMED the door shut. I also asked God to get several of my kids’ attention. It did. And it forced some choices for one or two of them that have been riding the fence on a lot of issues. Several made positive choices, and there are several choices that were made where it remains to be seen if they are good or bad. Ironically enough, ONE week before the fire we watched “The Passion” Easter Movie, and I made it very clear to the family afterwards, that EACH person would HAVE to make a choice whether to follow God and honor Christ’s sacrifice for us, or walk away from Him.

13. The shop got some equipment in for a project that I had helped put together earlier this year. Between that equipment, and the publishing idea I had put together for the shop last summer, I am trying to work myself back into full time employment at the shop where both the shop and myself are making money even if there are no fires this year. I’m enjoying this, and the potential is good to be back to work this summer, no matter what the status of the fire season is.

14. I am enjoying building some of the different websites and businesses ideas that I have brainstormed (the latest one is http://www.funkygeko.com).

Tims Musings

When Karen and I got married, one of our theme songs for our wedding was the song by Casting Crowns called “I will Praise You in the Storm”. I made the statement to the crowd that I KNEW there were storms coming for Karen and I, though sometimes I wonder if I really comprehended what some of them would be, or just how stormy it would get. But we will have been married four years this summer. And there have been a lot of storms. And we have grown through them

And we have stayed true to our foundation, our rock, and our redeemer, Jesus. What other choice do we have? The benefits still outweigh the costs, by many times over. If you don’t know what all these benefits are, ASK GOD to reveal them to you! Of course, I will list them for you too if you ask me to, but if you really want to know who God is, who better to ask than God Himself?

God is good, and I am glad to be one of His own.

Sincerely,

-Tim, Karen, and Kids Benedict

PS. Past newsletters can now be found archived at the funky geko site below. ________________________________ Tim Benedict (http://www.timbenedict.net), the Funky Geko (http://www.funkygeko.com)

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