Things are Happening in Canada!!!

It has been a pretty exciting couple of weeks. We had a blast with the whole (I mean WHOLE) Butler family. We were all nearly under one roof. Then Ben, Kim, and the boys went to Korea and there was half as much under one roof. Joel and I have been spending time with the fam. Hanging out with Sarah and Paul, Making trouble with Tara, and trying to help Mom and Dad around the house.

Joel and I also went to Toronto which was 2 and 1/2 hours away to spend time with Uncle Bill and Aunt Michelle. After we got back Joel and I took mom and dad out for Dad's birthday dinner. We did the progressive dinner fun night and had a blast.

SO here are some pics to catch ya'll up on what has been happening.

This is the only shot we have of the Ben, Kim, Nathan, and Elliot Family.

Paul, Sarah and Tara

Niagara Falls

At the IMAX with Bill and Michelle


The barrel of the First lady that ever went over the Falls. (And SHE LIVED!!!)


At the Zoo







The Air show (It was awesome)


Dad's progressive Dinner


Tim Horton's having the first course (soup)


We were way to hungry at for the main course to shot photos so all we got was this pic.


Dessert at Denny's. It was to die for. (as Mom would say)


Dad Enjoying himself.

Well that is it in a nut shell. We love ya'll very much.
God Bless,
Joel and Dess

Ted Bundy and Secret Sin!

Every since Joel told me that Ted Bundy got saved before they executed him I have been very interested in reading his story and what happened.

I was extremely blessed to have my first and only search be of Dr. James Dobson interview with Ted Bundy. For all of you that don't know anything about Dr. Dobson he is a Christian that is on a radio station called Focus on the Family.

The biggest thing I came away with from the reading the interview was that Ted Bundy had an addiction with Porn that started at the age of 11 or 12. He kept it a secret his whole life and by keeping it a secret the urges just spiraled more and more. Ted went from soft porn to hard porn to having the urges be so great that fantasies could not feed his hunger any more so it went to real life.

This was a huge eye opener for me in that I realize when I don't confess my sin to a person I trust and love and that loves and trusts me back that my sin or craving for a certain sin gets more and more. But when we confess our sin God is faithful to forgive us and when we confess it to the body of Christ whether it be a lot of people or to one person, we trust, we are some how set free. It made me stop and think that I need to be more open with the things I am struggling with and not keep it a secert any more. That is why I wrote about my weight problem because for all these years I kept it inside and it just got worse and worse.

Man God's ways are not our ways but they sure are better. It talks in the bible about confessing our sin. What an amazing God we serve.

So that is all I wanted to share. The following website is the interview between Dr. James Dobson and Ted Bundy. I would highly and strongly recommend reading it. You may walk away with something even better than I did.
http://www.pureintimacy.org/gr/intimacy/understanding/a0000082.cfm

Love you guys,
Dess

Weight Problem

Okay so here it is.

I Dess Annette Butler have a problem in my head and heart with my weight. I usually get the "Oh no not you Dess" Or "Dessy you look fine" Yeah yeah blah blah is all I hear. NO I am getting this out there. I feel the devil really has a foothold on me because I keep my disease in the closet. No I am really sick of this since I was 12 I have been OBSESSED about my weight. But no more. The Lord has promised to release me and I feel the only way I can do that at this point is to announce it to the world.

I HAVE A VERY UNHEALTHY WEIGHT PROBLEM.

So this is where it started when I was in 2 grade through 6 grade I had a best friend who was tiny I mean tiny tiny tiny. And me being competitive I thought I needed to be her size. For goodness sakes I was 8 to 12. And looking back in all honest it was like a Lab Dog comparing herself to a greyhound. No matter how much weight the Lab loses it will never be able to fit into the outfit of a greyhound (not bus the dog).

I remember being in 6th grade in the bath tub looking at myself and crying and telling myself over and over again I am Fat, I am so Fat. I hate myself I am so fat. (I just saw a pick of me from when I was 12 I was no were near the weight I thought I was)

Then I got to the summer before my Senior year of high school, for you Canadians that is Grade 12. So the summer before Senior year I got my wisdom teeth out. I couldn't eat very well. When I did get well enough to eat I only had one bagel a day and Power aid. When I went in to get my physical the doctor said "Oh you are a little heavy for your height you could afford to lose some pounds." I thought in my head "I am barely eating anything now, what does he want me to do eat nothing."

Volleyball came and I had to choose between volleyball or not eating. I loved volleyball more so I choose to eat. Then first year of college I puked twice on purpose to try bulimia but I told a friend because I was scared and didn't do that again.

Every day it follows me. I mean come on, you have to eat to live. It is not like I can just walk away and never look at another piece of food again.

I do really hate my body. My whole life I have always wanted to be 145 lbs and a size small. I guess you could say I wish I were something instead of what God made me.

So what now. Well I have given it to God. "YOU DID WHAT" That is right for so long I fought it thinking if I give it to God He will make me fat. Yikes that scared me. Lame thought but true.

Finally I have given it over to God. I know He is going to deliver me or He is actually delivering me layer by layer piece by piece.

This is what God has shown me so far that has really helped me:

1) We went to a dog beach one day and I saw all these different kinds of dogs. Tall, small, wide, slim, different shapes, sizes and color. And God really brought to my attention that if a Great Dane wanted to be the same weight as a Chiwawah (Spelling?) it would be impossible. That God made us all different. He made some people short and some tall, He made some people wide and some people lanky, God made some to be size 27 and others to be size zero. That we need to appreciate the body type that we are.

2) Did you know that when God made our body he made us naked. That was a gross thought to me at First but it is true. One day I was standing before God naked. I mean super naked and he was showing me that he curved my butt (All these years I hated my butt because it was so big) But he made it the size he wanted to. He showed me all the curves he put on me and all the time he put into me. Then he said "Your body is beautiful just the way I made you" Wow. If we could just get a hold of that. Instead of wanting to be super models if we could love our bodies the way God made us how free would we truly be.

3) The way I judge myself I judge strangers. I would look at peoples legs and arms and other parts and if it wasn't up to the standers of Vogue I didn't like the way their body looked either. But now that God is showing me that he made every ones body different I look at others different. I see them now and go "Wow God made their legs like that and He thinks it is beautiful"

4) The enemy has glasses he wants you to look through. There was this one day I was struggling with looking at my body in the mirror. I mean just hating what I saw (This was a month or 2 ago. So I said Lord you show me what you see you show me the way you see my body and how you see it. Man it was as if Glasses came off my eyes. I saw my legs for the first time the way God did. It was amazing. Not that I was like Hey BABY. Instead I was at peace with what God created.

SO this is where I am at now. I still am struggling wanting to be free. That is why I told you. The more sin is a secret the harder it is to be free from it.

That is my story. That is my struggle. God is working on me. Praise God!!!!

I love you all. SO hopefully this story will free you. Maybe there are skeletons in your closet the devil has a foot hold on. Let it out and Let God do what He does best.

"He set the captives FREE!!!"

I LOVE YA'LL,
Dess

Presenting my Dog as a living sacrfice.

What an emotional ride I am on. When I truly stop and think about what is going on inside me I just want to cry all day until all the pain has been washed away.

So Joel and I headed to our second journey of our vacation. When God released us from Friend Ships we felt a peace about taking 5 months off to rest and see family. We completed our time with my family which was sad and heart breaking to say the least. We had the best time with them. It was a direct blessing from God. There were few and far betweens moments where it wasn't absolutely fabulous.

But then came the transition. The point I wish we could have skipped all together. Well at least the part of giving up our dog or as I like to call him our first child. The Lord had put on our hearts 5 months ago that He wanted us to give up all of our pets. And God even had a couple in mind to give Dynamite to. So Joel and I drove from Idaho to Blacksburg Virginia to see friends that we had met at Friend Ships and to give our precious loved dog away to a young couple.

My heart broke. The idea of not having Dynamite was hard beyond description (unless you had been there). After 14 months of being with him, 24 hours a day 7 days a week except for a week and a half of him being away from us, we had to give Dynamite away.

I can't even tell you how bad my insides hurt. How much I had loved and cared for this living being. How much time and energy we had put into Dynamite and then completely giving him up. When we got to Virginia we had a few days with him all to ourselves. And each morning (around 4 or 6) The Lord would wake me up or my broken heart would wake me up. I was crushed. So all I could do was go to my heavenly Daddy and lay in his lap or hide under Him and just abide in the one that loves me more than anyone. It was during this pain and during spending time with my Daddy that I found a place I had never known before. A place where I could be fully in my fathers arms and feel no pain even in the midst of my deepest heart ache. It was incredible. I had been there before a few times but it wasn't to the point of my God taking away every once of my pain and sorrow. My Lord gave me such peace and such reassurance that this is where dynamite should be. That this was his home and that the couple (dan and mary) were perfect for him. That during those morning hours I spent with my Daddy and that it didn't hurt one bit.

I still cried and I still hurt with everything in me after wards but it was mixed with peace and joy that surpasses all understanding and all emotions. It was unbeleiveably hard and unbelieveably joyful all at the same time.

So the day came when Joel and I had to go to Dan and Mary's house and give dynamite over. I cried all morning. But my prayer was that I would not cry at Dan and Mary's house so that they would feel joyful and comfortable about taking dynamite. And my God my Daddy granted my prayer request.

Dan and Mary are so awesome. And I feel so blessed that they are so great and wonderful for Dynamite. One of the things that made me happy is that when Dynamite stands beside Dan they make each other look normal. Explanation: Anyone that knows Dynamite knows how tall he is. Everyone calls him a horse because of his height. Dan is so tall as well and that when they stand by each other they don't look above average in height. I knew, when driving away, that God had blessed us in having Dynamite for a time and during that time we were to prepare him for dan and mary (which we didn't know) And that God had created dymamite for Dan and Mary. Oh yes Joel and I learned a lot from Dynamite, but in the end he was for Dan and Mary.

So You may be asking why would God have me give away our Dog. Why would God take pleasure in what I went through. If he really is a loving God he would have never of asked us to give up dynamite. So many questions so many feelings so many hard times.

A lot of scriptures have run through my head during this time. One being from Job: "The Lord gives and the Lord Takes away, Blessed be the name of the Lord." I know there are seasons where the Lord gives gives gives or I also know that God gave us dynamite. I had be praying for a dog for a year before God provide the right time and the right Dog for us. I prayed for our dog to have floppy ears (Dynamite did) I prayed (this is weird but true) I prayed for God to give us a dog that was so beautiful that every time we went out or saw people they would comment on how beautiful he was (and it happened almost every time we were out) God is so good. I prayed for other things and God gave almost everything I wanted to us in Dynamite.

But I also know that God sees Joel's and my future. I also know that God is good and that He is trust worthy. I know that Joel and I have given over every part of our lives, that we are God's property, and that He will tell us where to go and what to do as He sees fit.

So from knowing these things and having peace about giving up dynamite though we can't see what is next (only God) I know that there is a huge reason for God not allowing us to take dynamite into our next step, whether it be that we won't have enough finances for us and him or that the next place God takes us won't allow dogs and or that Dynamite would have been miserable in the next place we go to. I know when I find out why God asked us to give him up I will be thanking him for it.

My God is so good that He provided a great home for Dynamite. My God is so great that He gave us the strength, guidance, peace, and joy to give dynamite away. Which if it would have been all up to me and on my strength I couldn't have done it. 2 months before giving dynamite away I kept asking God "How am I going to be able to give up Dynamite, How am I going to be able to give him up and walk away from something I have wanted for so long and love with all my heart now"

Man I love my God. He has been so good to me. So as Job said I will say too BLESSED BE THE NAME OF THE LORD!!!"

Fun on Vacation in the Great Northwest. Thank you God!!!

Hey Everyone,

It has been forever. But before I get started wanted to holla to all my canadian family and Friends "Happy Canada Day!!!!" Yipee. JOel, I and my fam celebrated it by going to an amusement park. Well they didn't know that is why we went but it was.

So JOel and I are having a blast here in the Great Northwest. GOd has been so good to us. I can't even believe how wonderful it has been. We have been playing kickball, basketball, soccer, football, hide and seek, and more with my nephews.

Joel and I have been helping mom and dad around the cabin. We had a big project of putting up glass railing around my parents house. We just have to put in the glass now.

My sister, her husband, joel and I and a few of their friends have had some crazy spades games. Where it was three against three.

So to share our experience here are some pics. Enjoy. We love you.
And BUTLERS we will be seeing you soon!!! YIPPPPEEEEEE
Joel and I (Of Course)


Forrest, Tammie (my sister), and their two boys
(Dean and Christopher)


Okay those two on the Right look nice but watch out
they are mean spades players (I guarantee)


Our Neices and Nephews. Ashley, Kialee, Alyssa, Allen, and Jami

My Sister getting married. Dad really was happy. Can't you tell by

his face!!!

SO that is just a few bloopers of what has been happening in Joels and my world.
God is richly blessing us with Family time and fun.
To God be the Glory,
Joel and Dess

Attitude and a Free Restuarant

So what do you do when you feel God called to you to help an organization and later you realize it is not an OUT LOUD christian organization.

Yep that is the question I have been asking God since Joel and I started Volunteering for a Women's and Childrens free Restuarant. So this is the story:

THe last time Joel and I were in the great northwest together we had lunch with my aunt and uncle who raved about this "christian" group who feed a meal and give groceries to woman in need. So when JOel and I got off the mission field I felt kind of empty not doing anything for God. Yeah I know that God gave us this gift of resting but when I felt a stir in my spirit to do something for Jesus I, two weeks later, thought about the "Free Restuarant" my aunt and uncle told us about.

I was pumped and ready to volunteer for Jesus again. I felt this huge leading by the Holy Spirit to go in that direction. We contacted my aunt and it was a go. When Joel and I got to the church I was pretty pumped. I had never been on the end where we were actually giving to those that needed the food. WEll not in Los Angeles at least. We were always the one giving it to the people who would them give it to the needy, poor, hungry, and lost. So I was pumped to be able to pray and tell about Jesus while giving groceries to these women.

When we got there I said something about Jesus to my Aunt that is when she threw in the bomb. "WE don't pray for anyone unless they ask" I was sooooooooooooooo disappointed. THinking what kind of Christian are these? THen I asked the lady who was in charge of hiring volunteers about God in the mix and she said "This is not a faith base ministry but an organization with good people doing a good thing" She is a great christian who I talk with about God at times but if it had not been for the Holy Spirit promting me to go on by saying"This is where I want you" I probably would have done my first day of volunteering and then said thank you but we are done.

ON the car ride home from the first day I was nothing less than majorly disappointed with much signing and hming and haawing. Joel doesn't like me that disappointed and felt I was being too much of a drama queen or too judgemental. Later he explained to me that since they get grants from the government then it is probably rules from the government that they can't do any thing religious. Made more sense but I started arguing with God on the way Home (I had a little over an hour to have this discussion.) This is kind of the way it went.

"BUT God you know how I feel about doing a "GOOD DEED" Good deeds don't last but it is your love and doing things in your Name that last forever."

God "Dess I want to show you that even a good deed is a good thing."

Me "But God I want to pray for people and love on them and tell them about You and how great You are"

God "If you give a cup of cold water in my name ...."

Me" BUT . . . . (can't remember)"

God "This is where I want you every week for the rest of your time here"

Guess who lost the argument.

Later that day I had an old hymn back in my head that had been playing in there for a week or more "Freely freely you have received freely freely give. Go in my name and because you believe, others will know that I live"
That is when the Lord spoke to me again "I put that in your head to prepare you for the work I want you to do at the Woman's and Childrens give out."

I later looked up the scripture about the cup of cold water thinking it was in Matthew 25 where Jesus talks about the goats and sheeps I later found the real scripture the Lord had given me, "If you give a cup of cold water to the least of these little ones as my disciple you will surely not lose your reward."

Wow I thought I am your disciple and the reason I am doing this is because I want to let the world know about You.

Then I saw a frame I had made for my sister and brother in law. We had put scriptures all over it and one of the verses popped out at me. It says "With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation" Isaiah 12:3

WOw Lord, I thought, if I have your joy over flow from me to the women I interact with at the organzation then you could bring forth waters of salvation for these women. Oh Lord show me how to tell about you with out using words that could get me in trouble. Or show me how I can tell them about you or give me oppertunities.

Later Joel and I spoke. He kind of rebuked me for being disappointed and I just shared what I was struggling with by not being able to ask if people wanted prayer. While we were in Los Angeles I saw major miracles from simple prayers. I saw a marriage be saved from praying 20 minutes a day for 5 days a week, I heard people tell Joel and I about healings and attributed it to the prayers we were praying, I heard about break throughs for salvation by praying with the people who were on the front lines once a week. I felt the power of God with each person I prayed for. SO it was hard knowing that some of the women we meet could have major life changing break throughs with just one question and one answer "Can I praying for you and yes"

But the Lord knows my heart and still has a purpose for me even though I am not allowed to ask if people want prayer. ON our second visit Joel and I were able to talk to the workers about Jesus and the mission work we did and how good he has been to us.

SO what ever the Lord has, I am game. All you and I have to say is "Here we are Lord, here we are!!!"

Still Learning GOd's lessons in Life,
Dess

Pets and Gas Money

Joel and I left Friend Ships over a week ago and it is pretty crazy.

A lot of old Friend Ships crew gave me advice and said if I needed to cry about leaving Friend Ships that they would be there for me. I actually haven't been very sad about leaving Friend Ships. It is crazy how God works. I am way more emotional, sad, upset, etc about giving up our pets. Yes yes I have been bawling like a baby every other day about giving up our three cats and dog. I thought I would be over the cats by now.

So a few months before we left Friend Ships the Lord really put on my heart that we had to give up our pets. (I cried right then and there) So Joel and I went throught the process of trying to find really really really good homes. Man it was hard but at the last minute of the last day it all worked out. One went to Grady and Ivy's home town to a really good friend of theirs. And Sheba and Patch went to one of my closest friend in Los Angeles. Her husband offered to take them to find good homes but when they got them they said "we might just have to keep them" WHo knows what will happen . . . It is now fully in God's hands not mine.

And my friends husband is allergic. Wow what a blessing it was for him to take them. But when I call my friend she told me he is the one that goes looking for the cats and pets them. And Sheba warmed up to him first. Thank you my God. But I still cry.

I have learned that animal movies are very bad for me. I knew this after the first time seeing an animal movie and bawling like a baby so when my nephew wanted to want alvin and the chipmunks (yeah i know they are a fur-ball cartoon-give me a break) I said no. But I went to get dynamite outside and passed by the TV in the middle of the movie (big mistake Big HUGE) I probably saw less than 5 seconds and it was the part when Theodore wanted to sleep with dave and he indeed up sleeping on dave's shoulder . . . I started weeping. I mean mega weeping.

So following GOd isn't always easy and it isn't always fun.

But He does bless and my favorite scripture right now is "The Lord gives and the Lord takes away, BLESSED BE THE NAME OF THE LORD"

But God has been so faithful. I didn't tell any one this except Joel, Kristin, and Rebekah Larson but before we left Friend SHips I was freaking out about getting home. We didn't have enough money for Gas to make it from Los Angeles to Washington state. Shoot I wasn't even worried about eating I thought "I can fast" The problem was gas money. SO I emailed Rebekah and asked her to pray for me. I knew my problem wasn't gas money it was my fear of God not providing. That is a way bigger problem than gas money. And During the months before we left I read in Deuteronomy 28 about "Blessed in the city blessed in the country. Bless when you come and when you go." I was like Lord I give you my finaces but as of now I don't feel blessed with us leaving. But with Rebekah and Joel praying for me I really calmed down and gave it to my God who is my provider. I didn't want to tell any one else because I wanted God to provide and not telling people so they would provide.

SO what happened? We got 100 dollars for gas and Jim and Kristin got us a hotel room for on the way to my parents. I was like thanks Lord. Then in one week I got 14 orders for my handcrafted jewelry. I was like wow that is so awesome we may have enough to make it home. But God was pretty much like Dess I haven't even started yet.

ON the last day we were at the warehouse and I mean the very last day people came to say good bye and each time they did they brought us money or gift cards. The first guy that came and gave us money I felt the Lord say "There's more Dess" THen another guy came and gave us money "THere's more Dess" THen my friend gave us a gift certificate "There's more Dess" Then a really great friend from church had gotten the whole church to get us cards and gift certificates for gas and food stops. That is when the Lord said "That is it, Dess" By the end of the day the Lord had blessed us through people with over 1,000 dollars. I was blown away. On the car ride leaving Los Angeles I started crying asking God to forgive me for doubting that he would take care of me who is His child.

WE truly never have to worry about tomorrow for God our Father who loves us so much and never leaves us nor forsakens us will truly take care of us.

Love ya'll
GOd's Daughter,
Dess