It’s day one of the onehundredyearsproject and we are a full mix of nerves and excitement. Honestly I (Janet) feel almost all excitement, and I (Neil) am holding most of the nerves 😂 Regardless of that mix we really do believe that we are about to embark on an amazing adventure that God is inviting us on – and so we can’t even imagine how things will look as time goes on!!

We’ve decided that, because we are now officially working again, we need to get up and get ready for the day, just like we were going to any other work place!

So, this morning we went for a walk with the dog and talked and prayed about what we’re sensing. We were trying so hard not to talk about it much while we were still on our year off in 2024, so it felt so good to talk about it all properly 😃 We talked through some hopes and dreams, and fears about what this could all mean for our family! And we prayed! We laid ourselves down for the Lord again, and offered ourselves to Him as we try and follow His voice every step!

Honestly, at this point, there’s a lot that we don’t know but we do know a few sure things, and we think/hope/pray that the rest will unfold as we walk it out! Here’s what we’re starting with

• We know that the bigger picture stuff is set – it is the supernatural transformation of communities for the generations to come ❤️.
• We know that we are meant to record a podcast. You can view the intro video to that podcast here which explains how that all came about.
• We know that we are to ‘explore the borders’ of the area that God has called us to. We think we should start by exploring the Causeway Coast and Glens area of Northern Ireland.
• What we thought as we chatted this morning was that we need to take it 1 day at a time. So everyday we’re going to start by praying together, asking God what He’d like us to do that day!

I (Janet) was praying the other day and I felt like we shouldn’t get other jobs at this point in order to finance this journey as it might take us a step backwards in what we’ve learned over the last year about God’s nature and knowing Him as our provider. I thought that what God taught us last year is something we’re to carry into the future with us. I feel that as we hear the steps we’re to take, we aren’t to worry about how those things will make money, because God is our provider, so we can trust Him that we’ll have money all along the way 😃 I actually feel that God really wants to show Himself to be our sole provider! He reminded me about how, in the Bible, the Israelites kept crying out to God because they wanted an earthly king, just like everyone else had! But God was their King!!! He kept saying ‘No’ because they didn’t need a human king – they had GOD!! But the people kept complaining until God gave them what they wanted. We know the rest…This really gave me courage to believe that God wants to be our only provider and we’re not to look for other, paying, jobs even though that’s what everyone else has and how they get their money! I feel super excited about this – I can’t wait to see how God provides and is glorified in this way in our lives ❤️🙌 I (Neil) believe this too but I definitely feel the wrestle of not having a paying job – I know it’s going to be a journey to not fear what others think about this.

As we were coming home from our walk this morning we both felt (although we felt it separately and didn’t know about the other one until later!) was we should go to Ballycastle! Funnily, we found out as we talked about it after, that we had felt it at the exact same spot on the walk too 😂🙌

So, we went to Ballycastle this afternoon 😃 We really didn’t know what we should be doing, so we prayed that God would lead us and headed for a dander down the Main Street. When it started raining (well hail stoning really 🥶) we ducked into a coffee shop for a cuppa. We sat for a wee while and asked God was there anyone He wanted us to speak to. I think we looked properly weird sitting looking around wondering if we should talk to someone or pray with someone – Only marginally embarrassing 😳😂 In the end we didn’t sense anything, and so we ended up walking again. We headed down to the beach front and prayed for the streets of Ballycastle to be filled with God’s peace & presence.

As we headed back home we really still weren’t sure why we’d gone to Ballycastle, but at the very least it felt like we were being obedient 😃

We had planned to head home and try to record our podcast, but found out a friend wasn’t well so instead we offered that I (Janet) would go round and pray for her, which is what happened! So we’ll maybe get the podcast done tomorrow – we’ll wait and see what God wants us to do first 😃👍

We’re already loving this adventure – can’t wait to see what day 2 holds 😃