Life and Encouragment from God!!!

Hey Everyone,

Our life has been such a roller coaster since getting back from picking up the mini-bus. We hit the ground running as soon as we got back asking grocery stores for their non-sellable products. Or in lame terms for food that consumers will not buy because of the expiration date or it has a little mold on it and so grocery stores throw it away even though it is perfectly good.

Well I had assumed this would be the easy part. I thought I would just walk into two or three or four grocery stores and wah-la they would give and think it was the greatest idea in the world. WRONG. God is sure funny. I am learning a lot about God and how He matures his children or people who are called to do things for Him. So far Joel and I have been to over 40 grocery stores and we haven't received one solid yes yet. Mostly no's, a few I will call you back, and others who just don't answer. It has been frustrating to say the least. Because there are a hand full of stores that are giving and but most are throwing away and refuse to give you the food they are throwing away!! Every day I make the choice to either throw a crying tantrum or trust God. (I tend to choose differently each day, depending on my mood {Hey I am just being honest})

It has been discouraging to say the least. But with each day God either sends a person to encourage us or a scripture. The most amazing part about this is they all say the same thing. I am blown away. And it is not like they talk to each other or they read the scriptures I have put on our walls that the Lord has given to me. But they all tell Joel and I a few things

1) God's timing is perfect. God will do what He wants when He wants and I need to wait patiently for Him to act. (Psalms 37 talks about Be still in the presence of the Lord and wait PATIENCLY for Him to act)

2) That He is maturing JOel and I through these trials and frustrations. That it is testing our faith in God which leads to endurance and endurance leads to character and hope and maturity and all that good stuff that goes with being tested. WOW who knew, NOT IT!!!

3) We need to not give up. BAD IDEA (though I have to admit I have thought about it or at least trying a new vocation) But it says in Galatians: Do not grow weary in doing good. For at JUST THE RIGHT TIME (there is that time thing again) we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.

There are other leasons but one of the most encouraging talks I had was with Ray (my old boss at Friend Ships) Ray and I have this understanding about the food ministry that he or I don't really have with anyone else. There have been a few (VERY FEW) people in his life Ray shared the same passion with but Ray and I can talk for hours about the food minstry. I called him up and told him my frustrations. And he said that the EXACT same thing happened to him in LA. He was mad and frustrated wanted to blame it on people or God or who ever. Wanted to go back to Seattle where the food ministry was flowing like milk and honey. But He believes looking back that God was doing someting and Ray said he believes now God is doing something and purposely stopping us from getting a yes. He doesn't know what and I don't know what but God is doing it on purpose for a reason. Ray said that if he were I that he would doubt God. But then he said quickly "BUT WE DO NOT DOUBT GOD, and WE DO NOT QUESTION GOD." (which has snapped me out of doubting God) Then Ray went on to say that after the food started to flow in Los Angeles Friend Ships had the biggest food ministry in the history of Friend SHips. ON a weekly basis Friend Ships was picking up 150,000 pounds of food a week on average. And that I shouldn't give up.

So what are we doing now: NOt giving up. What are we doing now: Waiting (patiently and impatiently at times. Trying harder for patience) What are we doing now: Still knocking on doors.

So that is where we are at now. God is good whether I see his Hand move today or not. That it will come and that I just need to do what Joel and I were called to do. Start a ministry for HIM.

Love all ya'll. Be blessed in JESUS whether you see God move or not.

Dess Butler
God's Property

Our Trip Back from picking up the Bus!!!

Hello Hello,

It has been a while since posting. We had the most wonderful time visiting people along the way back to California. We are so blessed to have such great friends who we worked along side at Friend Ships.

After 4 weeks of staying at Josh and Rebekah's and working on the mini-bus we were finally able to get it on the road. At the end of four weeks we decided to take a quick trip to Canada to see Joel's family. We surprised everyone greatly. Joel and I got to Canada at mid-night and went to Mom and Dad's bedroom window. I whispered loudly: Mom . . . . Dad . . . Mom . . . Dad . . . Butler. Mom peeps her head up to the window and says "YOu have got to be joking me" Thus began our 3 full day stay in Canada. Mom was so excited and not realizing the time of night we came she said "Lets go over to Sarah's." "Mom it is really late" "OH she breast feed the kid she should be up." Mom then looks at the clock and said "Oh I guess it is late and they are probably not up any more"

We had a blast with the Butlers and we are really glad we were able to go.

The day we went to leave Joel was praying "Lord if the bus has any problems please let it break down here" And what happened 3 things went wrong with the bus that day; including the breaks going out. Praise God!!

We finally left the guys fixed it. Josh and all the guys at CMTS were so wonderful. We felt blessed and loved while there.

Joel and I then headed over to Pittsburg PA to spend 2 nights with the Condrons: David, Diane, Nathaniel, and Elise. We had a wonderful time and were blown away by how grown Nathaniel and Elise are. Elise (who is 11) has decided that she is going to come and help us (for summer vacation) when we get settled and are more prepared for short term crew. And when she gets to be 18 or older she wants to work for us full time and be a famous Actoress. We are still working how she can do both? Hopefully by the time she wants to volunteer for us full time we will have that all worked out.

Joel and I then headed to Virginia where we stayed a week with Kippin, Janna, Jennifer, and Debi. We were also able to visit Ty, Joi, and True-Matt and Sara-Clay. We had the most wonderful time fellowshipping and going to the river and just having fun. Joel and I also celebrated our 5 year anniversary!!! Kippin took us out for an Italian dinner. It was very very yummy!!! I was so sad to leave. I wish that we could either have a food ministry their or they could all move out where we are.

(Kippin and I. Kippin taking us out to eat for our Anniversary)

(Our 5 year anniversary)

After a week JOel and I headed to Mississippis where we stayed the night at Jeff and Anne Reed's new house. It was great meeting Anne for the first time and Jeff gave us a tour of the radio station he produces for. It was so great and felt so blessed.

This was after Jeff gave us a tour of the radio station. Mr. Riley works at the radio station with Jeff and is the Dad of a girl (Hannah) who is at Friend Ships. Mr. Riley got really excited about our new ministry.

(Joel, Jeff, and Mr. Riley)

WE then headed and stoppped in New Mexico and stayed with Jason Grevings. Joel and I fell in love with his new home and his dog. It was really great catching up with him and talking about old times.

MAN WE HAVE THE BEST FRIENDS EVER!!!!

Driving the bus was not that fun AT ALL. IT was nail biting to say the least. She has not been driving in 3 years or more and we found out she hates hates hates the heat and doesn't do well being driving for 8 to 10 hours straight in hot hot weather. So the last leg of the trip we decided to start at 6pm and do an all nighter. We drove 18 hours start. Joel and I did 2 hours on 2 hours off. She did a lot better and we are believing she will be great for local runs.

We have hit the ground running with our ministry. We are so excited what God is doing. When we got back we had mail for us and in the mail was an approval from the IRS saying we are officially Tax Exempt. Can you believe it. The IRS said it would take a minimum of 60 days and it took 3 weeks. WE couldn't even believe it. JOel and I feel so blessed.

Another praise report was that we didn't have enough money in our Business funds to make it back to California. We didn't tell any one exept God. Not a peep even. People gave us money out of no where saying they wanted to help for the trip. We made it back with 100 dollars extra that we had not accounted for. God is so good. He really does take care of our needs. Thank you Jesus!!!

Well that is about it. We love ya'll very much and miss ya like crazy.

Blessings, blessings, blessing,
The Butlers

(Our New Bus)
Doesn't She look FABULOUS!!!

Pennsylvannia (Part 2) Pictures ONLY

Here are some pics of our Pennsylvania bus trip thus far. We have been staying with Josh and Rebekah Larson. They have graiously housed us as we work on the bus to get it up and running. Josh is a wonderful machanic that has been spending long hours helping us get the bus in the shape it needs to be in. The other pics are of Dad, Mom, and Tara Butler when they came and saw us!! ENJOY

Rebekah and I with Baby Anna (after church)

Josh, Rebekah, Ruth, Shalom, and Baby Anna

Ruth and Shalom (aka Ruthie and Nomie)

Nomie
Joel and Ruthie

Tara and I at the Crayola Factory

Dad, Joel, Mom, and Tara posing with some Tigerlilies

The Butler Clan minus Joel

Pennsylvannia (GOD IS SO GOOOOOOD)

PENNSYLVANIA: What an awesome beautiful place. I would like to live here some day if God allows. So Dad, Mom, and Tara Butler all came down and saw us for a couple of days. It was wonderful and great to be face to face in the same zip code as family. We had a blast seeing the sites (mostly green), going to the crayola factory, over eating every day and just plain having fun with each other. One of my favorite memories is Mom, Tara, and I going across the street from Cracker Barrel while Dad and Joel chewed the grass (aka had deep conversations) while we went through BRAND NEW RV's/5TH WHEELERS. It was awesome. I picked out one I really wanted and then asked God for it. We will see what God does! :)

Dad, Mom, and Tara left and we were sad they had to leave us but I was glad to lose 5 to 10 lbs after they left. TOO MUCH GOOD FOOD!! WE have been working on the bus for a week straight now. It has been wonderful and fun and hard and dirty and and and. Joel has worked on it the most. I work on it half days the other half I am helping Rebekah with cooking, cleaning, and with her three beautiful little girls. Josh and Rebekah are graciously housing us. And Josh is even helping us after he does a full day of work. They are a huge blessing and so much fun to be with. Most every night we are playing spades and eating chocolate or sweets in some way shape or form.

The bus is turning out wonderful. We are working on it inside and out. One day Josh told us there was going to be a big bus that was being scrapped so we went up to see if we could salvage anything. But they were just about to scrap it and we would of held them up. We were bummed because we saw all the seats had been taken out of it and we really wanted the rubber on the floor. Later I talked Joel into going back up to see if they had completely demolished the bus and to our great surprise they had only taken part of it apart and left it upside down. God is so good to do that for us because the sun beat down on the bus which softened the glue that was gluing the rubber to the floor and with the bus being upside down it made it easier for us to peal the floor off the ceiling. It was a huge blessing. Our God thinks of everything.

So we have been chipping, sanding, washing, fixing, siliconing, and other stuff to the bus. We are excited. Next week we hope to paint the bus. We had some one offer to paint the bus "professionally" and we would only have to pay for the paint. What a blessing that is. The two colors that the guy had were white and lime green. I thought it would be great to have it lime green but Joel made the wise executive decision of white. What a brilliant man I have.

So it looks like we will be here for about another week or a little less. We hope to stop by and see old Friend Ships crew as we head back to CA. We are excited with each pit stop we get to see more crew. SO we will be seeing the Condrons, the Virginia crew, Jeff and Anne Reed, Jason Grevings and maybe another couple depending on time and schedules.

Well that is it from us. We feel so blessed in what God is doing even in the littlest details.

Love ya'll VERY VERY VERY MUCH,
The Butlers
The UPSIDE-DOWN Bus that we took the rubber floor from.
(Can you find JOEL in the picture?)

Joel cutting the rubber floor from the ceiling.

Dess pealing the floor from the ceiling. God is so Good!! He makes life easier for us

The Bus from God!!!

A little less than a week Joel and I are flying to Pennsylvania and picking up a bus that was donated to our new organization, Supplying Needs. We are so excited and can not wait. Things are movin and a shakin. With the bus we will take out most of the seats and then pick up non-sellable food from grocery and retail stores. WE will be able to help churches and groups feed the homeless, the poor, and the hungry in their community.

We were able to get all of our paperwork into the IRS to get a tax exempt status. So since our paperwork is now pending we are able to start picking up donations. We are so excited and can't wait to see what God will do with us.

So here are some pics of our new (to us) bus:





Since we are going and getting the Bus we will be able to see lots of people that we haven't seen in a while. It will be like a mini vacation. We are so excited we can barely wait!!

We will be spending time with Josh and Rebekah Larson and meeting there new addtion to their family Anna as well as seeing Ruth and Shalom who I know have grown since we saw them about a year ago.

Dad and Mom Butler are driving down and spending a few days with us in Pennsylvania since they are only 6 hours away.

We will also be stopping in Virginia and seeing the VA clan. Kippin, Matt, Sara, Debi, Janna, Ty, Joi, Mary and Dan and maybe even Dynamite. Then we will head across and maybe see Jeff and His wife Anne who we have not met yet and then stop in and See Jason.

SO many people to see. We just can't wait. God is blessing us indeed with a bus for our ministry and then being able to see family and old Friend SHips crew.

Well that is it from us. We love ya'll very much.

Have a blessed day,
Dess

APPROVED!! PRAISE GOD!!!

That is right folks. We got our paperwork back Saturday approved. So excited!!! WE are officially SUPPLYING NEEDS!!! But with this comes responsibility, Which might I add only Joel really thinks about. Yeah I tend to forget that side of things like bills and insurance and being responsible for people and paperwork. So I had my weekend of soaking up the excitement with out responsibility but Monday came and we got a new bank account for the business and a cell phone. I was excited about the cell phone up until they gave us the "BILL" yuck. Who knew it would be so much AND on top of that since Joel and I don't own anything, we have never had a bill, we don't have a credit card and because of this we had to pay a huge down payment for the cell phone that we get back in a year. Yuck.

Any way SO I am still pumped and excited and Praise God. Our next step is to get our 501 (c) 3 paperwork pending, head to Pennsylvania to get the mini bus all while helping out around our Church and our friends here.

So yeah for the next steps!!! Thank you for all your prayers they were truly need and appreciated!!

The Lord gave me a celebration song two weeks before our paperwork, it's pretty simple but I love it and it is constantly in my head:
It's time to CEL-A-BRATE, it's time to celebrate.
It's time to CEL-A-BRATE, Jesus let's celebrate.

PRAISE BE TO GOD,
The Butlers

REJECTED TWICE and I am doing GREAT!!!

Yeah yeah we got our paperwork back once again and it is REJECTED. We didn't sign our names in the right spot this time. Goodness. But you know what I noticed is that I am learning patience because it didn't even affect me. It actually made me happier. Happier to know that GOd is teaching me some patience. Last time the paperwork came back rejected I was so upset. I went to my knees and went off about how unhappy I was. Man this time I actually thanked God.

SO yeah please pray we will get it right this time. But if it doesn't that is cool. God is good and has it in the palm of His hand. Just never ask me or Joel to do paperwork for your corporation. We have not a clue as to what we are doing!!!

Love you guys,
The Butlers

I see you
(One of the deers at my parents house. Sniffing the camera)

Hey How are you doing sweet thang?