Newly Married Life

Newly Married the Journey Continues 

At the beginning of 2015 I preached a message on “Hope” and allowing it to fully enter our lives with joyful expectation. I did not know at the time just how much I would have to live out that message in the following season. 

Being single for as long as I was I had many years to dream of “someday when I am married things will be……” From the beginning of my relationship with Phillip I knew that our lives and marriage would probably look different then what I had imagined and that has proven to be very true. 

After Phillip and I where married In December we where in Alaska until the end of January. I spoke a message on “Hope” at Northgate, our church in Wasilla and then I flew out alone the next day for a ministry trip to North Carolina. Before we get married we talked about what my life would like look in relation to travel and ministry. We knew for the most part Phillip would not be able to travel with me in this season of life because we have the two boys living with us full time and we did not know yet what he would do for a job. We felt to just pray about each invitation together and just see how it went. We realized right away that for us it was actually healthy for me to continue to travel and minister as the Lord spoke to do so. Let me just say though, traveling is not very fun at all without your husband especially when you newly married. Its one thing to still be traveling alone its another to miss him the entire time I am gone, but it does make coming home more exciting. :)

We had some passport problems with one of the boys and we had the blessing of Phillip having a little work making furniture for a local business in Alaska so that changed our plans a bit. 

In February we took our first family trip and Phillip and the boys came and met me in California and we all flew to Kona where I taught for a week in Fire & Fragrance DTS that our daughter Mekennah was also a student in. That was a lot of fun being able to be all together in Hawaii as the start of our family. The romantic part of that wore off from the boys right away. Phillip had to fly back to Alaska to finish up some work and load up his truck and drive from Alaska to California and that left me with the boys by myself. Trying to get out of Kona was a nightmare with one canceled plane after another but we finally made it to California in some temporary housing. The boys landing in California without their dad was not ideal but we made it work. Phillip drove from Alaska and joined us in Pasadena and at the end of February and we had a couple days together and I left on my birthday for New Zealand ha!!!

We only had temporary housing and needed a miracle to find a place for a family of 4. Well in true form to our life being a crazy journey it was so in getting a rental, with a Land Lord hardening his heart toward us renting from him to our friends going to bat for us to the Land Lord changing his heart and allowing us to rent a house just a few blocks from out YWAM team’s houses in Pasadena. Whew….. We have a little 3 bedroom house, praise the LORD!

I taught in New Zealand for a week and while I was gone is when Phillip and the boys had to move into the house. You could imagine as the woman and new wife how knowing the guys are moving into the house without me might of made me feel. I come home to boxes everywhere but the walls are covered with bears, deer and moose. What’s a girl to do???? Good thing I am an Alaskan girl. 

So March was spent moving in (it took the whole month ha). In the middle of March I took the family with me to Las Vegas where I was teaching at a YWAM base. Then at the beginning of April, Phillip and I went to Pennsylvania for the weekend for a friends wedding and I spoke at two church’s on Easter Sunday. Phillip got to share his heart at the church in Philly which was really cool. 

I was apart of leading and speaking in our women’s gathering Brave Love in Pasadena at the end of April where ladies from around the US came. Darlene Cunningham founder of YWAM was meant to speak but 24 hours before she had to cancel due to sickness so I was up to bat…. At this point I was under some extreme stress and pain due to being a step mom to boys who are not wanting anything to do with me being that in their life. Speaking a message on Brave Love had never been quite so real and raw, the Holy Spirit showed up once again in my great weakness. 


That puts us in May…. I went to Germany to speak and then home for two days and now I am in Kona and just got done speaking for a week, an I am here for a wedding on Monday and then flying back to Phillip and the boys on Tuesday. 

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While all of this is going on we are trying to launch Phillips custom furniture business “True North Son’s”. The Lord has aways put inner cities on Phillips heart as he was raised in the projects where is parents had a ministry with kids. We have some connections into the inner cities of LA (Compton) and we are attempting to start a caused based business mentoring young men by teaching them a trade and art. This obviously takes some time to get off the ground. While doing that Phillip has been making beautiful furniture and was doing it all out of this tiny space that you can’t even call a yard by our house. Now we are renting a friends garage to build out of. We have had no income yet (except for my limited support) so we are hoping that Phillip gets a job he is bidding on, building a deck on a house and some other things like it. He was able to sell his furniture wholesale to the same business in Alaska so that was a blessing as well. 

If you are still reading this very long update you might have guessed things are pretty challenging in areas. We are newly weds who are very much in love and thankful for our marriage! We are learning how to be married and  work together and all that comes with that. From the start of our marriage in California we have had the two boys who have been very uprooted from their life in Alaska. This has been very challenging for them and us. I have a lot of grace, compassion and love for them and all change  the are going through but at this time we need a very massive miracle for their hearts to turn toward me and the Lord. We also need some miracles in the areas of provision. Now you know why I said I am living my message of trying to have hope. I lived an overcoming life and one of brave love but I can honestly say this is a whole new level. I love the boys so very much and its my deepest desire that they would let me in and love them. We are walking in complete faith and hope on the word of the Lord right now and needing to see the breakthrough in every area. I can say walking through these hard circumstances and having a best friend and husband to walk the journey with although its challenging in moments because we are both strong red heads ha, it is the most wonderful thing ever!

I am still full-time leading our Pasadena base as well as traveling and speaking, and being a full time wife and step-mom. Phillip is helping me lead the base as well as launching a business (we are together), being a VERY FULL TIME DAD, and working on furniture and hopefully soon getting work for a season. As I look to the coming months I have a heavy travel month in June and then our 21 project school in Pasadena in July/Aug and travel the second part of Aug. That’s as far as i know as of now. 
We are need of two things

1. Prayer!!! We need some big miracles as you can see. 
2. Monthly Financial support. If you would like to give a one time tax deductible gift or you would like to become a monthly supporter you can do that through the UofN Kona at this link. If you don't need a tax deduction and would like to give via Pay Pal you can HERE. 

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