After two years in Maryland, my active duty orders are finally coming to an end, and I am headed back into Reserve Land. That means I get to pack up my family and move us to somewhere—anywhere—else to start our new adventure. Just one problem: we have no money, no housing, and no job lined up in our new season of life. 😬
It’s just the way God wants it to be.
No Job, No Money, No Problem
“That sounds like a BIG problem! How did you get here? Didn’t you prepare for your transition?” you ask. Well, we obeyed God and here we are.
You see, when we arrived in Maryland two years ago, God directed my family to spend all that we had saved up plus all the credit we had available to furnish our rental home, to get an electric vehicle and a travel trailer, to create a vegetable patio garden, and to stock a three month inventory of canned/dried/frozen foods as well as household/personal care items. We even bought all of our daughter’s clothes and toys for the next two years. We didn’t know exactly why God wanted us to do this, but we anticipated it was in preparation for some sort of shift in the global markets.
That shift came in the shape of global supply chain problems, national employment issues, and international conflicts leading to difficulties finding or affording what we wanted to buy. Many of our neighbors had to go to multiple stores to find cat food or eggs, complained about the increase in gas prices, and decided to slim down their grocery lists because of major hikes in food prices, but we didn’t feel the effects of any of those shifts. Honestly, life felt pretty good and we were thankful we obeyed.
Now, two years later, we have a house full of high-quality stuff, a deeper understanding of the value of on-hand resources, increased faith—and no savings or available credit left to our name. Honestly, I expected God to pay off our debt by now (because we started without debt and only got into debt out of obedience) but it hasn’t yet happened. We are reminding ourselves that God brought us here for a reason: to propel us into the next season of our lives, including the next season of God’s provision, resources, and faith.
A Job I Never Wanted
Meanwhile, throughout the last two years, God began speaking to me more clearly about what my next civilian job was going to be. It started with God telling me to build this website in 2021. I replied, “What am I going to do with a website?” God replied, “It will show the world your heart.” “But I want to show the world your heart,” I replied. “If you show them your heart, they will see both our hearts,” said God.
Later, God began to speak to me about becoming a public figure of some sort. I didn’t know what the route to publicity would be, but no possible route excited me at all; in fact, all I could say to God was, “Why would you want me to be a public figure? I want neither fame nor fortune.” “That’s why I can trust you with being a public figure,” replied God.
God then explained what that would mean; God told me I will become a speaker, author, and influencer. Then, I looked up what those three things meant:
- A motivational speaker is essentially a prophetic preacher like Peter
- An author is essentially a teacher like Luke, or Paul
- An influencer is essentially an apostle like any of the original disciples of Yeshua.
I guess I will be in good company. 😂The only problem is this: to make a living like as a public figure, you need to be a little famous already. People need to know you. It usually takes time to get enough fans to be able to live off of a public figure type income—and we don’t have money saved up to buy that time. When I asked God about that part, God said, “Don’t worry, it’ll happen quickly, but the details are mine alone to know.”
Well, I have finally offered God my heart and given God permission to move forward with his/her plans for my life in this area. Let’s see what happens.
The Land That God Promised

During the same period, God began telling me to dream God-sized dreams just like my husband does because the size of my dreams were just too small for God. So my husband and I began to dream of the life we wanted to build for our family: it would start with an empowered life that learns how to take godly authority over the land on which it lives and causes it to thrive. Thanks to some YouTube real estate channels, we fell in love with a piece of land in Colorado. It has everything we want: a good amount of acreage full of “Rockies and trees as far as the eye can see”, a tasteful house near a pond, a couple of other buildings, and not much else. It’s a short drive from a town with several restaurants and stores, and a 1.5 hour drive from a major airport.
What’s not to love?!
When we asked God if this was the place in which God wanted us to live, God replied, “You can change the world from anywhere. You might as well enjoy where you live.” That sounded like agreement to us.
So we are packing up our bags, moving into our 160 sq.ft. travel trailer, and going west: to Estes Park, Colorado at the base of Rocky Mountain National Park. We’ve never been there, but we hear it’s great, and it’s the start of our next family adventure with God.

Join Us On Our Adventure
Sounds crazy, right? Well, we have gone far too long without enough crazy in our lives! After all, if Abraham could pack up all his stuff and go “to a place where I will show you” just at the word of God, then so can we. I’m inviting all of you to join my family on our 40-day adventure of being led by the Holy Spirit to find resources, a home, and a job in a brand new place where we have never lived, never visited, and know no one. I’m calling this transition #40daysoffaith.
What’s more, I invite you to pray about what your own 40-day faith journey might be. Do you need to follow God into a new profession, a new relationship, a new commitment to your wholeness? Whatever it might be, I invite you to share using the hashtag #40daysoffaith. My hope is that our testimony will demonstrate that God can (and still does) lead The Believers into greater and greater purposes.
TenayBenes.com
Day 1 of #40daysoffaith
starts January 1st, 2023.
Follow my faith journey
and share yours.
Updates
Click on a day to find out where we are in our journey. As you read, keep in mind this postscript to keep the faith!
43 responses to “40 Days of Faith | My God Story | My Family Story”
[…] just closed out June 2023 with a positive number in our bank account! If you’ve been following our Colorado faith story at all, you may know that when I got off of active duty in February 2023, our household income […]
[…] A friend of mine walked me off the ledge later that day: “It could mean a thousand things,” she said, “none of which may mean real active duty.” That made me feel better. After all, we just got off of active duty in February and it hadn’t been three months since we moved from Maryland to Colorado on the word of God! […]
[…] Day 40 of our #40daysoffaith adventure moving from MD to CO on the word of God, God woke me up early so that I could have time with him/her. In the RV Campground shower stall, I […]
[…] Day 39 of our #40daysoffaith adventure moving from MD to CO on the word of God, we finally tasted a rhythm that can enable the life we want to have in this transition season. […]
[…] Day 38 of our #40daysoffaith adventure moving from MD to CO on the word of God, I spontaneously walked into a co-working building and signed a lease for their last dedicated […]
[…] Day 37 of our #40daysoffaith adventure moving from MD to CO on the word of God, I marveled at how quickly a community can come around a new family, and I reflected over my […]
[…] Day 36 of our #40daysoffaith adventure moving from MD to CO on the word of God, we visited a different church, where we were greeted with the presence of the Holy Spirit, the […]
[…] Day 35 of our #40daysoffaith adventure moving from MD to CO on the word of God, we visited Estes Park and the piece of land we believe God is going to give us. My husband was […]
[…] Day 34 of our #40daysoffaith adventure moving from MD to CO on the word of God, my husband and I moved our camper to its new, long term site in the RV park, where we celebrated […]
[…] Day 33 of our #40daysoffaith adventure moving from MD to CO on the word of God, our daughter launched into the world—by attending her first day of preschool! That meant that my […]
[…] Day 32 of our #40daysoffaith adventure moving from MD to CO on the word of God, I told God that I’m struggling with church. Specifically, being sent back to the type of church […]
[…] Day 31 of our #40daysoffaith adventure moving from MD to CO on the word of God, we found affordable, convenient child-care that we were able to start right away! (Umm, that never […]
[…] Day 30 of our #40daysoffaith adventure moving from MD to CO on the word of God, God urged me to sign up for speaker guilds and bureaus in the area as a motivational speaker. […]
[…] Day 29 of our #40daysoffaith adventure moving from MD to CO on the word of God, we got to do what we love doing: bringing down the love and power of the Holy Spirit upon the […]
[…] Day 28 of our #40daysoffaith adventure moving from MD to CO on the word of God, I made a vow to God—something I do not take lightly—to not complain about our housing […]
[…] Day 18 of our #40daysoffaith adventure moving from MD to CO on the word of God, we entered into God’s perfect will and timing. This is an experience that one can only taste […]
[…] Day 1 of our #40daysoffaith started with ramping up packing operations as we prepare for our trek from the east coast to the great divide. […]
[…] 26 of our #40daysoffaith adventure moving from MD to CO on the word of God started out with a powerful and prophetic prayer session for Kingdom businesses, but culminated […]
[…] Day 25 of our #40daysoffaith adventure moving from MD to CO on the word of God, I visited a women’s church group at a restaurant and then stayed to enjoy my first night out by […]
[…] Day 24 of our #40daysoffaith adventure moving from MD to CO on the word of God, I got into the groove of writing my first book. It is a 40-day testimonial to help the reader gain […]
[…] Day 23 of our #40daysoffaith adventure moving from MD to CO on the word of God, was our first “work day” in Colorado. My husband and I shared child-care and computer work in […]
[…] Day 22 of our #40daysoffaith adventure moving from MD to CO on the word of God, we began our new life in Colorado with a visit to a local church, came home to a wow nap-date, and […]
[…] Day 21 of our #40daysoffaith adventure moving from MD to CO on the word of God, we finished obeying every instruction we received from God about this move, from the time to leave […]
[…] Day 20 of our #40daysoffaith adventure moving from MD to CO on the word of God, my toddler finally had enough of the weeks and weeks of disrupted schedules, separation from […]
[…] Day 19 of our #40daysoffaith adventure moving from MD to CO on the word of God, we made it to our destination in Loveland, Colorado—on my husband’s birthday, no less! Being […]
[…] Day 17 of our #40daysoffaith adventure moving from MD to CO on the word of God, we made the turn from heading due west to northwest, and found ourself smack-dab in the middle of […]
[…] Day 16 of our #40daysoffaith adventure moving from MD to CO on the word of God, I realized that we were on the wrong #faith #journey this whole time. Instead of contending in […]
[…] Day 15 of our #40daysoffaith adventure moving from MD to CO on the word of God, we decided to start our day on purpose: I started it with declarations that I am healed and I will […]
[…] Day 14 of our #40daysoffaith adventure moving from MD to CO on the word of God, I practiced walking out my faith by continuing to stand for the healing God told me is complete. I […]
[…] Day 13 of our #40daysoffaith adventure moving from MD to CO on the word of God, we left Elvis Presley’s Graceland with a sad heart, and reflected on how we want to be […]
[…] Day 12 of our #40daysoffaith adventure moving from MD to CO on the word of God, we put into practice one of the hard marriage-healing lessons we have been learning the last two […]
[…] Day 11 of our #40daysoffaith adventure moving from MD to CO on the word of God, we began to taste victory in the Lord. Any strife between my husband and I melted away with […]
[…] 10 of our #40daysoffaith adventure moving from MD to CO on the word of God started out pretty terrible and ended pretty beautiful. By the end of last night, I felt every […]
[…] 9 of our #40daysoffaith adventure moving from MD to CO on the word of God reminded us that even our vacations need healthy life rhythms. After a fitful night of not sleeping […]
[…] 8 of our #40daysoffaith adventure moving from MD to CO on the word of God started out at 0600, when the Cracker Barrel (where we boondocked for the night) opened up and […]
[…] 7 of our #40daysoffaith adventure moving from MD to CO on the word of God was marked by a community moment I will remember for the rest of my life: when our neighbors […]
[…] 6 of our #40daysoffaith adventure moving from MD to CO on the word of God ended in a failed date night. When I showed up to my friend’s house to pick up my kid early, she […]
[…] began to breathe a sigh of relief on Day 5 of our #40daysoffaith adventure moving from MD to CO on the word of God, when my husband safely cut our kitten out of the sofa, where she was hiding from the movers. […]
[…] cried big, ugly tears on Day 4 of our #40daysoffaith adventure moving from MD to CO on the word of God, as I watched the movers pack up our stuff and begin loading the truck. “But, we don’t have a […]
[…] and she was available to play with my kid all morning. Day 3 of our #40daysoffaith adventure moving from MD to CO on the word of God got a huge pick-me-up because of her making herself available to help. (Thanks to having child care […]
[…] husband was the hero of Day 2 of our #40daysoffaith adventure from MD to CO on the word of God. He took care of critical camper preparations (like installing double propane tanks and a different […]
This is a wonderful leap of faith, Tenay! Wishing you and your family traveling mercies and a warm welcome in Colorado. Looking forward to hearing your 40 days of faith! God Bless!
Thanks so much, Earl! Has God put anything on your heart for a #40daysoffaith adventure?
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