Long Overdue!

Shalom, Friends,
It seems like forever, since I have found the time to post any updates.  I will attempt to remedy this situation in the coming weeks.  I have a daughter who would like to help me in posting updates and so she will stand in for me to help out.
     We are currently observing the first of the spring feasts of Abba Elohim.  Passover started last night.  Now some of you must be wondering that if the church celebrated Easter last month why are we celebrating Passover this month.  It really is quite simple if you are willing to do your research and then be willing to change over to Elohim's calendar.  Not the Jews calendar but Yahweh's which he gave to His set apart people.  His feast days are a direct line to His prophetic time table.  Messiah Yahshua came the first time as the Lamb of Elohim which takes away the sin of the world.   He did this through the conception at Hanukkah and then being born during Yom Turuah or Tabernacles (not Christmas.  Are you willing to worship the Father in spirit and Truth?).   He died as the Passover Lamb starting the week of Unleavened bread.  He did not die as the Easter bunny and has nothing to do with that pagan idolatrous celebration.  Look up the references to Easter.  Elohim tells His people He wants nothing to do with how the pagans celebrated their gods or mighty ones.
Deu 12:30  guard yourself that you are not ensnared to follow them, after they are destroyed from before you, and that you do not inquire about their mighty ones, saying, ‘How did these nations serve their mighty ones? And let me do so too.’1 Footnote: 1See also 18:9, Lev. 18:3, Jer.10:2, Ezek. 11:12 & 20:32, Eph. 4:17, and 1 Peter 4:3 
Deu 12:31  “Do not do so to יהוה your Elohim, for every abomination which יהוה hates they have done to their mighty ones, for they even burn their sons and daughters in the fire to their mighty ones. 
Deu 12:32  “All the words I am commanding you, guard to do it – do not add to it nor take away from it.1 Footnote: 1See also 4:2, Prov. 30:6, Rev. 22:18-19.
That mixing of religious ceremonies is an abomination to Him.  It has nothing at all to do with our hearts being in the right place and Elohim knowing what is in our hearts.  It all has to do with what is in the heart of Elohim.  It explains how the Groom wants His bride to be.  Yahshua tells us if we want to demonstrate our love for the Father we must walk as He walked.  He walked in perfect obedience to the Father's instructions as given in Torah.  If you say Paul says we are no longer obligated to keep the law then you are calling what Yahweh says is good, and perfect and just, something evil.  Paul is only one witness.  You cannot use more of his letters to prove your point.  Something must be established by 2 or more witnesses.  Besides I stand with what the Messiah says over Paul  (Paul never said the law was done away with if you do your homework and He kept Torah as well.  You can see my earlier posts about why Stephen was stoned and about Galatians).  Messiah says that He did not come to do away with the law in Matt. Besides if you do away with the Law you are taking away from the Scriptures.
 Mat 5:17  “Do not think that I came to destroy the Torah or the Prophets.1 I did not come to destroy but to complete. Footnote: 1The Law and the Prophets is a term used for the pre-Messianic Scriptures. 
Mat 5:18  “For truly, I say to you, till the heaven and the earth pass away, one jot or one tittle shall by no means pass from the Torah till all be done.1 Footnote: 1Lk. 16:17. 
Mat 5:19  “Whoever, then, breaks one of the least of these commands, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the reign of the heavens; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the reign of the heavens. 
Ok, Please be diligent and see if Easter or Christmas has to do with pagans.  You can look at sites from Too long in the sun or 119 ministries.

I will say, where we are currently at, things are beautiful. Here are some of the birds we have seen.

Some of the beautiful creation around us.

 I don't remember if I posted pictures of my last two paintings or not but here they are:  Changed into His image:  metamorphosis

 The Lion of the Tribe of Judah.  There is also a lamb in the clouds with a dove and a couple of angels and a serpent.

 My second daughter was married last Sept.  We look forward to heading back to MN in a couple of weeks to be with Ben and Michaelle for a while.

I hope to be done writing my book on being set apart by Tabernacles this year.  I also have a couple of paintings I would like to start and I have started a curriculum with some workbooks but do not know when I will  have any of this ready as I must finsih what I have already started first.

Until next time may you seek the truth and not be deceived.  Search out the Scriptures apart from your

churches' doctrines.  They may lead you astray.  

1Pe 5:8  Be sober, watch, because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. 

1Pe 5:9  Resist him, firm in the belief, knowing that the same hardships are experienced by your brotherhood in the world.

Moving Forword

We left Minnesota way back in April of 2014 with the intention of going where and when Abba El led us.  It has been a different kind of journey for us.  At this time we are getting ready to move forward to where and how and when the Father leads.  I have spent hours upon hours since the 8th of Dec looking for work.  It seems to us those doors are closing here in MO.  Never has it taken me so long to find employment.  So, Is the Father telling us He still desires us to be mobile?  It seems so to us.  There have been so many lives touched here and friendships made that it will be extremely difficult to move forward.  But that does not mean that Father will not lead us back here at some point and time.  We are giving it until the end of this week to have meaningful employment and then we must move forward as the funds for doing so are limited and we desire to be good stewards of what Elohim has given us.
   Currently it looks as if there are two doors open.  One in Illinois to help for a little while and minister to those who are seeking a closer walk with Father. and then moving forward to the next open door perhaps back in MN.
Please pray for us as we diligently seek Father and His will.  It is possible we were not supposed to be here in MO for years but to just touch the lives of those Father brought into our path.
 So, the journey continues and we are moving forward to new adventures with our Father.

Funding

This goes against my grain but I am in a difficult place.  My family is in need.
 1.   of my finding a job and
 2.  Of affordable housing.
As I was released from my employment in which housing was included.  We must be out of our current house by the end of Jan.

We currently know of a couple of possibilities for housing but both need work.  One has had over 100 responses on Craigs list and I don't know that he will allow us if I don't have work.  That remains to be seen.

Another place is for $8,000.00.  It has a hole in the roof and don't know about the inside yet.  Either way. There is quite a bit of work involved which takes money to fix.  I am willing to do the work.  I am also willing to find work that will support us and have been diligently looking.  All this being said I have put out a fleece so to speak.  I have set up a go fund me account.  If you or anyone else is interested in keeping us going that is fine.  If not, that is ok too.  I know life and it can be difficult for all of us.  The moneys received would go toward supplies in fixing either place and putting our van in better working order.

Most other housing for rentals would be over $500 per month and it seems most of the work only pays less than $11.00 an hour closer to $9.  With a large family I don't believe that would be affordable.

https://www.gofundme.com/q8g68e38

Warning: this is a rant.

Back on the 8th I was let go from my job.  Since being hired my job changed so that I was placed under a supervisor.  This supervisor has not always been honest regarding my work, I believe there was deceit and power grabbing involved.  There was quite a bit more stress working under him and my job became less enjoyable.  There is so much more involved here than the little bit I have said.  We are in need of your prayers as I seek work that would meet our financial needs and also affordable housing for my family.  The camper needs work before we would be able to move back into that and at this time it is not affordable.  If any of you out there have some solutions for us we are more than willing to listen to them and seek where we should go.

My wife recently posted this on facebook

Warning - this is a rant. I am so sick of people who call themselves Christians who engage in inappropriate behavior and then lie about it. I am tired of my family being hurt because of it. This is the third time in 15 months. I know that God will judge them and have seen some of that already with the first two situations. I am no longer going to keep quiet to protect the people who have wronged my family, and yes, a couple of them from last year are on my friends list. But I don't care anymore. If they don't like what they read, they can unfriend me, because truly, they weren't friends. I'm also tired of Christians who stand by, don't question, and don't stand up to the ones who tell the lies, but would rather protect themselves, their friendships, and their jobs. That is not integrity and God calls us to integrity.

So if you want to have a relationship with my family, you had better be willing to live uprightly and honestly in your dealings with us, not get power-hungry, or money-hungry, better be willing to stand up for others when you witness someone being wronged. If you're not willing to live this way, then you need to stay away from my family. I'm tired of seeing my children have friendships, adopted "grandparents", that then turn and treat them terribly. My children are learning that it's not safe to trust people, and that is so wrong!

What is New

What's new in the Race household.
 My beautiful and gifted wife posted this and she did such a great job I had to share it too. She did forget to mention the owl that occasionally perches on the telephone pole just across the road.  The Blue Herons at the ponds and the hawks soaring in the air.  There are also the Turkey vultures, cows and llamas.  We live on a ranch with over 3,000 acres and 27 ponds where I manage 12 turkey barns.

Our 6 year old discovered what she thought was a fossil but which actually turned out to be a native American spearpoint.  Also some crayfish skeletons.  We hope you enjoy the pictures and what we have been up to.

 Then there are the turtles we find crossing the roads. We bring them home so the girls can learn about them and then take them back and drop them off where we found them.

Here is what Laurie has to say:

What's new in the Race household since we moved to MO? An Abyssinian kitten - Pharaoh, a rescue puppy - Trixie (who is a he and not a she), a rescue dog - Daisy Mae (who was 3 wks pregnant when we got her), and Daisy's 5 day old puppy. Do you know I got more sleep when I was pregnant than I did with a pregnant dog in the house? I also got more sleep with a newborn than I do with a puppy in the house.

Mike's job is going well; hopefully the ranch will hire someone to work with him as the person who was going to changed his mind. There is way too much work for one person. He put in over 66 hrs a couple weeks ago, and hoped to have a shorter week after, but when things break down...the animals still have to be fed.
The girls are excited as almost daily we have pkgs of homeschool curriculum and books coming to the house. After testing a few weeks ago, I was thrilled to see the steady learning that has taken place in the last year with more relaxed schooling. Several tested ahead in math, and all tested ahead in reading.
Oh yes, I must not forget the skunk family! In the barn nearest the house there is a mama skunk and her 4 babies. They can't get in the barn, but just between the outside and inside walls. Every night as the sun is going down, mama skunk heads down the drive and the road. During the day we have seen mama and babies walking along the outside of the barn. We tried to take pictures, but didn't want to get too close.

Today, Esther, Jennella, and Kaytelyn saw their first live police chase and arrest in a small town not far from here. They heard the police officer shout, "Stop her, stop her!". I think I prefer farm-life excitement to police chases.

 And so our lives continue at a fast pace amidst the beauty which Yahweh our Elohim has created.

I started to work for an in home care organization a couple of weeks ago.  Things are going well.  The girls have all been sick this last week and are beginning to recover.  We love being in the south as we are avoiding most of the cold and wet white stuff.  We did have some a couple of weeks ago but that is long gone.  I still have things that need to be repaired on the van and am asking for Yah's provision in that area.  Abigail has gone back to help Sarah and John with Manasseh until Hanukkah when she will be back to join us for the celebration. 
   We praise our Father for his provision for a reasonable place to camp while we rejuvenate and get our resources replenished.  We are also renting a 15x10 foot storage unit which is on the same place as the campground.  This gives us a little more room to spread out. 
   Please pray for us in the area of finding friends and fellowship as well as the rest of our needs which I have made known to our Father.  We try to patiently wait for His provision. 
I think we have had our next place verified to us but we will wait until Father gives us the green light through His provision to head in that direction.