Off on an Adventure!

Moving.  A scary, exciting, thrilling, hectic, fun, nerve-racking time for all involved.  I have never really had to move, to uproot from a place I love.  (Ok, well I was born outside of Seattle, WA and when I was about one and half, moved about an hour North to a beautiful little Island and wonderful community.)   I’ve grown up here on beautiful Camano Island and had the chance to learned about life here.  Along the way, met some amazing people that helped shape my life; who mentored me, encouraged me and supported me.  I’ve been taught by some pretty amazing teachers over the past twelve years of homeschooling, but nothing could have prepared for me what was to come.

We all knew that the Lord was about to uproot our family- He had already show many of us, we were just waiting for a destination and timing.    When Kansas City became a possibility, I was overjoyed!  I have many good friends and close family that I wanted to be with.  There was the possibility of dance, work and school.  I was beyond excited! (so were the people I loved, who live there).  


The whole, “We’re moving to Kansas City” thing began mid-April and was pretty much finalized by the beginning of May.  (I think the Lord likes to put us on a fast track when He has something in store for our family!)  Then at the beginning of May, over about a two week period of time, the Lord did a 180 with us, changing our course from East to West.  Ya, I know- I’m about as far ‘West’ as we can go.. well that is if you stay on the ‘Mainland’.  The Lord, through an amazing series of events, begin to call our family towards Kona, Hawaii, to work with Youth with a Mission (YWAM- http://uofnkona.org/)


(Ok, I know what you're thinking- “Who wouldn’t want to live in Hawaii, be a beach bum, eat tropical fruit all day and surf?”)  Well, as excited as I was, I was also sad.  I had so much I was looking forward to in Kansas City!  Now, I’m headed to a place, where I know no one and really don’t have a ‘place’- I like knowing what I’m going into.  And one thing about Hawaii is I have NO idea what I’m going to do or what I’ve gotten myself into :)  No, I will not be a beach bum, but I do hope to learn how to surf!

So... On July 12th, our family will be leaving Washington for a little (2ish years) while.  (Oh.. did I mention that we kinda have a ‘large’ family, there are only 11 of us) So that is no small task in itself.  You try moving a whole softball team :)  Our house currently reminds me of a maze, each day there is some new piece of furniture (or pile of boxes) stacked in random (well, at this point, anywhere you can find a free space) areas of our house.  Now that we have a departure date (which is... wait, let me calculate the exact.. oh never mind... less then 3 weeks away) we actually have to accomplish some of the many goals on our ‘To-Do list’ (which as you might have guessed, grows by the uh, hour) but we have (and will continue) to accomplish much!  

Please keep my family in your prayers!  

• Almost everyone is excited, but some are having a harder time with leaving the farm (and their beloved animals)
• That the Family would stay joyful over the remaining few days here (we want good last memories of our home!)
• Peace and unity (we can get so much more done when everyone is working together!)
• That we would find the right renters for our house
• Some of the final details would fall into place
• That we would continue to rely and trust God to provide our needs.
• That we would grow closer as a family while in Hawaii.
• Good weather these last few weeks (garage sale this weekend!)
• Restful sleep for everyone.
• An easy transitions for everyone

As much as I will miss everyone I count as friends and the things I love to do (like dance!) dearly, I know that God is 110% in this all, so that makes it exciting!! We are off on another adventure!


OK, I think that’s enough for now :)  I should probably sign off (before I fall asleep!) and I noticed that I used a lot of (parentheses) in this post... sorry :)

Well, until next time, Aloha! (Aloha means both “hello” and “goodbye” in case you were wondering :)

Graduation Speech

I thought that I would share with you the speech I gave at Graduation on May 20th :)

Fellow graduates, have you ever wondered...

Why did God place us, the graduating class of 2012, into this generation in history?  Do you sometimes wonder why we were created and why does it mean anything at all, if we are just going to die?  Because, at some point, we will all die and stand before a terrifying beauty and give an account of how we spent our time on earth.  Did we learn to love? To give? To care? And To stand in awe of our fascinating Creator?

From the beginning of time, God has raised up young men and women, who would listen to His voice and open His commands.  

As a young adult, the shepherd David trusted God’s words to him and believed that God would fight for him. David became a superhero when he gathered five smooth stones and his slingshot and went out against the giant, Goliath, killing him and saving Israel.  

Then there was Esther, a young orphaned, jewish peasant, who was forcibly taken into King Xerxes home.  God hand picked her, out of the hundreds of contestants, to be queen of Persia.  When an evil plot was devised to wipe out the Jewish population, the Lord had positioned Esther as queen, so that she could save His people from genocide.  

Those are just two youth that God used to save a nation.  They were both part of a generation of those who sought Him.  But those two had a choice; they could have said, “I’m not qualified to do this tasks. ” But they trusted God and because of that, Israel was saved multiple times.    I once heard it said, “God doesn’t call the qualified, but qualifies the called.” 

According to recent research, 96% of our generation who grew up in the church, has or will abandon the faith of their family by the time they are 18 years old.  We here maybe a part of the surviving 4% who are still worshiping Jesus.  But we can no longer live off of our parent's faith. It is time to decide whom each of us will serve.

Psalm 24 says, 

"Who may ascend into the hill of the Lord?

Or who may stand in His holy place?

He who has clean hands and a pure heart, 

Who has not lifted up his soul to an idol, 

Nor sworn deceitfully.

He shall receive blessing from the Lord,

And righteousness from the God of his salvation. 

This  is Jacob, the generation of those who seek Him, 

Who seek Your face." 

So... my question for you today is this:  Are you allowing Jesus to direct your steps?  Do you trust Him enough to do whatever He asks you to? Do you want to be a part of the generation that sought out God?

Our generation has its own modern day giants, that that Lord has given us to slay; 

- At this very moment, over 27 million men, women and children are trapped in modern day slavery, worldwide.

- Every year, over 14,000 girls are trafficked into the United States, with thousands more enslaved within our borders.

- Roughly, 175,000 people die of hunger each week, globally. 

- And almost 4,000 pre-born babies are killed in America, every single day. 

Do you hear the call to our generation? Do you know the powerful and exciting one that made you for something extraordinary? We can be a generation that partners with the God of justice.  What if you were placed into this generation, for such a time as this? 

Exciting Family News!

Below is a letter that my parents sent out about our exciting family news!

Hello again friends & family-

It's official ...  As some of you have heard by now -  Just as the LIenau family was happily proceeding with a July move to Kansas City, we were abruptly re-routed in the opposite direction!

While recently celebrating our 25th wedding anniversary in Kona, Hawaii, we had  some unplanned visits with YWAM/ University of Nations, and over the past 4 weeks, to our surprise, delight and sadness, we've heard the whisper of the Lord to become part of the work at UofN's Film Institute for the next season.

This redirection is not really surprising with our 30-year YWAM roots and our clear calling to be working in feature film (not to mention Michael's attraction to volcanoes), but we have really wrestled with letting go our plan to be a part of the IHOP community, The Daniel Academy and close to family and good friends in KC.  

At the point of most confusion about the change of direction, we were fasting and praying and received this word: 

Resist the temptation to get into condemnation when things don't turn out as you expected they would.  Those things that you perceive as being mistakes serve to set the boundaries of your spiritual flow.  I would have you pay attention to those boundaries and rejoice in receiving course corrections.  I am with you to keep you on the narrow path to your destiny, says the Lord. 

Proverbs 3:11 My son, do not despise the chastening of the LORD, nor detest His correction. (SMALL STRAWS IN A SOFT WIND/MARSHA BURNS)

Our family, friends and trusted intercessors have confirmed what the Lord has been showing us...  The uprooting piece was right, the timing was right, we just got the direction wrong... Kona, not KC is our next assignment! 

We are uncertain how all this will come together, but hope to be in Hawaii early July and are currently praying for renters for our farm on Camano Island.  Details of how all will be covered financially is a matter of prayer and trusting Father, but we know He will provide every thing we need to obey Him in this assignment.   We've been asked to make a two year commitment -

So, while our hearts are partly in KC, our feet will go from Camano to another island, and we hope to be part of the exciting move of the Lord bridging the prayer movement with the missions movement, and our specific mission, Family and the Media/Entertainment mountain.

 Need pray for:
- Purging and packing
- Rental of house/cabin
- Housing in Kona for family by Sept.
- School resources for Corina, Esther, Josh at
- School provision for Bibi, Janey, Joe and Tatsi with ICS
- Wisdom for transition of business
- Continued peace and excitement for kids


Mostly Loving the Adventure:)

~Lienau Family

Michael & Shari Lienau
SendRain Films
Global Net Productions

www.globalnetproductions.com

It is amazing what you can accomplish
 if you do not care who gets the credit.
                                 - Harry S Truman