Severe Burns Healed at Super Speed with No Scars!

January 15, 2026January 15, 2026 / Fire Starter for Jesus / 2 Comments

Me: Hi, I’m Mary, Fire Starter for Jesus for online publishing. I’m with Bill and Raye Gray. They had an amazing, traumatic adventure happen over Thanksgiving time. We’re sharing it with you, so you can celebrate with us how good God is, discover what he did, and build up your faith for similar things in your life; for God’s rescue and his presence to be there whenever you need him.

This YouTube video documents the entire interview. The blog post is a condensed version.

Mary: So, with that introduction, who wants to go first?

Raye: Well, I guess I’ll start out by setting the scene. We flew to Silver City, New Mexico…

Bill Gray looking over Silver City, New Mexico

…to help my twin sister, Faye, and her husband, Floyd, with some remodeling…. Bill and Floyd were going to install an oven…. Bill was helping Floyd…. It was the day before Thanksgiving.

Bill: We were moving the location of the wall outlet…. This is an adobe home…. Floyd was using a little handheld jigsaw… to cut the wall so that we could move the outlet up…. There was an unknown gas line behind the wall…. While that jigsaw was cutting, it nicked a propane line.

He was under the counter…. I was… leaning in with a vacuum cleaner to keep the dust down. Multiple times, he hit this saw into the wall. Floyd stopped the saw for a moment…. When it restarted, that electric saw ignited the propane. So, he and I both got a fireball in the face and on the hands and arms. That’s how it all started.

Raye: My sister Faye and I were in the back of the house. We heard this explosion. We ran in. It was frightening; there was this fire in the kitchen. Bill was standing with his hands up… screaming. They were both in shock. My sister got the fire extinguisher and started to put out the fire.

Photo by Polina Tankilevitch on Pexels.com

Meanwhile, Bill looked at me saying, “I’ve got to get some cool water on my body.” So, we ran into the master bath and pulled off his shirt, His whole neck was bright red, the side of his face and his hands too. The hair on his arms, gone. His skin, bright red and already starting to form blisters.

We splashed cold water on him…. Then I looked and said, “We have got to take you into the hospital and see what they say about this.”

He was in shock and started praying in tongues. He prayed loudly. Every time he could feel the pain, he would scream in tongues. He was crying out to the Lord. The Spirit was interceding for him.

Throughout the drive, he was shaking and praying in tongues. When I stopped, I would lean over and touch him. The shaking would stop. I’d say, “Okay, we’re almost there.” He’d be okay for a while. Then he’d start praying in tongues. We got to the emergency room. I had to park the car, so I dropped him off and he ran in.

Bill: I had no shirt on. It was cool. Raye threw her coat around me. She loosely tied the arms around my neck like a cape. I went running through the emergency room door kind of like Superman….

There was no one there; no security guard, nobody waiting. I looked into the triage office…. I was freaking out. The pain level with burns is something that you wouldn’t wish on anyone.

I ran to the back of the ER room. Somebody was inside, so I knocked on the door and loudly stated, “I need to see somebody.” The lady inside… pointed to go someplace else. So, I ran back to this triage office. There were two desks…. One was empty. Another was around the corner. Someone was… there!

So, I ran in. With burned hands, I had to pull my wallet out and throw my identification and insurance cards on the desk. I said, “I’ve been burned! I need help!”

Raye: Right about then I came in. They just kept looking, staring at him, not really getting what was going on.

Bill: I was wet, no shirt on.

Raye: We’d been splashing water on him. The whole thing combined to make him look rather odd. I said, “He’s with me. He’s been badly burned. They hit a gas line. There was an explosion.”

That’s when they took him back into the triage area. I had to sit in the waiting room for quite a significant amount of time, the better part of an hour.

Bill: As much pain as I was in, they were not giving me medication. They needed to draw blood, to make sure I wasn’t on something…. They took chest X-rays to see if my lungs had been burned. All of this before they were going to give me any intravenous pain medications. It was a significant amount of time.

If they hadn’t previously heard speaking-in-tongues, they understand what they are now. We were right across from the nurses’ station, just a little thin curtain between us. My choice was between screaming or speaking-in-tongues in a loud voice.

Believe it or not, I didn’t have to try to speak in tongues. I just was!

Anytime someone came in and needed to ask me a question, I could speak in English. But as soon as they were gone, I began speaking in tongues again. It was probably for the better part of two hours.

After an …hour they put pain medication into the IV. It took time for that to slowly work the pain level down. At some point … I said, “You know, my wife could come in.” They said, “Oh! Okay,” like they didn’t know anybody was out there.

Raye: When I walked in, a man was working on him. He said, “My name’s Ted and here’s what’s going to happen…. We are going to airlift your husband to a burn center. The closest burn centers are in San Antonio, Denver, Tucson and Phoenix.

First they had to contact the centers and say, “Do you have room? And can you send a helicopter?”

So another hour and a half later they came in and said, “Okay, the burn center in Phoenix has an opening. You’ve already been here two-and-a-half hours, almost three. We can walk you through fixing the circumferential blisters here.”

To explain, circumferential blisters go all the way around your finger without stopping. They tend to swell up and cut off the circulation. Since Bill’s a guitar player, they were concerned that his fingers would suffer and not recover. So, they were going to airlift him.

The burn center said, “We can walk you through that procedure and then he just has to be observed for three more hours.”

Bill: So, they took the blister material off of my hands. I don’t think there was 360 degrees of blistering; an area was charred but never blistered. In the release papers they talked about an area with superficial burning, which must have been on my face, where I’d lost part of my beard, an eyebrow and about a half an inch of my hairline.

They put a triple antibiotic on me, wrapped ‘em up, and sent me home with Percocet.

Raye: They sent him home with six Percocet because the next day was Thanksgiving. Not one pharmacy was open in this small town on Thanksgiving Day. They were concerned that my brother-in-law and Bill, would be in pain. So, they sent us home with Percocet, ibuprofen and Tylenol. They said, “…you can come back the day after Thanksgiving and we’ll check everything out to make sure everything’s going well.”

Bill: As we left, they said, “The pain is hard to knock down, so don’t let it come back. Use these Percocet and we’ll keep you in good shape.”

I took the Percocet before bed, assuming I’d wake up in the middle of the night with pain and have to take it again. They wanted me to use Percocet and also take two Tylenol and two Advil at the same time every four hours.

It’s amazing that I didn’t wake up in the night with pain. I woke up in the morning with no more pain than the night before. It was unexpected…. Instead of taking another Percocet I dutifully took two Advil and two Tylenol. Within a couple of days, I dropped the Tylenol altogether. I simply wasn’t dealing with pain, which was amazing to me.

Friday we went back to the hospital as they’d asked…. I thought they wanted to inspect my hands for circumferential blistering, so even though I had no pain to speak of, we went back.

Photo by Tima Miroshnichenko on Pexels.com

The attending emergency room physician was someone we hadn’t seen before. He unwrapped a couple of fingers on my left hand, then became upset saying, “Well, what are you doing here? You’re supposed to do this at home.” We said, “We’re here because we were told to come in so that you could take a look.”

He got so upset he just kind of left….

They sent in the same guy who had done the bandages in the first place…. He opened up my hand. It still looked about the same. But there wasn’t any pain. Evidently, it didn’t look how he expected.

My face looked like it had been in the sun. The redness on my neck was all gone. In fact, before we’d left the first time, the coloration had turned almost natural. I’d had a sunburn look around my neck where the shirt blocked some of that flame. So, we were seeing accelerated healing right from the from the start.

As you might expect, I was a basket case. There was fear and panic….

The first time we were there, I’d taken one look at the back of my left hand. It looked like a steak that had been grilled at 500 degrees. When you pull the steak off the grill, before it turns brown, it turns an off-white color. No knuckles anymore. My hand had these funny striations going in the direction of the fingers.

This second visit, as he was demonstrating the wrapping process he told us, “It’s not going to be a quick fix…. You’re going to be looking at six to eight weeks anyway. So, plan on the long haul. As soon as you get back to Seattle see your doctor. Have him refer you to the Seattle Burn Center. You can continue there.”

Any questions so far? Anything I missed?”

Me: I remember, when hearing this before, you made a comment about the burn on your face and on your neck. You said, “I wanted my wife to be able to look at me.”

Bill: I snuck a peek in the mirror while we were splashing water. I was fearful of what I was going to see. I saw my face. I just praise God that my wife has a face that she can look at. So that was wonderful!

Raye: Yeah.

Bill: When I was in that hospital the first time, I looked at the back of my hand. My fingers were stiff, almost like somebody had taped popsicle sticks to the back. There wasn’t any ability to bend them. I was freaked out that there could be an issue with me ever playing guitar.

At some point while we were in the hospital… I got a little flash of myself playing the guitar. It was as if I were looking over my shoulder, seeing myself with a guitar in my hands. I believe the Holy Spirit was giving me a glimpse into the future to settle me, to let me know that I can count on doing that again.

Raye: Also, he’s mentioned trauma and fear. Thanksgiving Day we just had soup for dinner because none of us wanted to turn on the propane barbecue. We were all like, “No. Way, too soon for that! We are not going there.”

Friday, we got up early and joined an online prayer meeting. After that we felt like, “Okay, time to break off trauma, fear, timidity; anything that could have made an entrance because of the trauma…. So, we did. Floyd, Faye, Bill and I prayed for one another and broke trauma off all of us. It was a real thing; it really left us at that time.

When we got home, without thinking, Bill turned on the gas stove and put something on it. We looked at each other and started laughing. “Oh, my word. We just overcame, you know!

Bill: I want to make sure everybody knows, Floyd and Faye’s brand-new kitchen was unscathed. Nothing caught fire. It was remarkable! The biggest mess was from the fire extinguisher. Ha, ha! That took a while to clean….

Now, there’s another thing before we go on. Usually when there has been some kind of emergency, I tend to lock down emotionally and get stuff done. Then later I’ll think about the emotions. That was not the case at all here. I was simply beyond myself. I was making noises.

Either I stepped back quickly or angels may have pulled me back. I don’t know, but it was quick. I was back. I still can envision this orange ball of fire that hit me in the face as I backed up. You can’t get back fast enough. It comes faster than you can move. Suddenly, I was back. And I remember seeing orange flames coming off my arms and hands. It was a bizarre, incomprehensible image.

I was totally in shock.

Me: Your clothes didn’t catch on fire, right?

Bill: No…. Floyd’s vest, I sent you a picture of that. It was a mess. It burned up the back towards his hair. He didn’t remember taking off the vest. Had he not taken it off immediately, it would have probably melted to whatever he was wearing underneath.

Me: I’m glad you’re talking about the pictures you sent. I will put them in the video. Which picture is of you, and which is of Floyd?

Raye: There’s one that shows a big blister on the wrist: that was Floyd. It was taken after a couple days. Floyd’s skin did not present immediately with much damage. He looked like he had a very slight sunburn. Bill was bright red; his hands were all blistering before we went to the hospital.

Photo of Floyd’s wrist sent by Raye Gray.

Floyd felt burning, but it didn’t manifest the way it did with Bill. Floyd took a shower. Then finally his wife convinced him to go to the hospital. So, Floyd was in a room with one doctor, and we were in a different room with a different doctor. They were being treated completely differently. They told Floyd, “We’re just going to loosely bandage this, Go on home.” They were talking about airlifting Bill because of circumferential burns.

Bill: Floyd was actually closer to the action.

Raye: So, for Floyd, during the next couple of days he started to badly blister. His entire face swelled up. The skin burst open. It was horrendous.. It all peeled off and now he’s got baby skin; nice and soft. So, the reactions behaved differently. We still don’t know why.

The Lord used that traumatic incident to show both Bill and I some things that we were afraid of. Maybe we’ve had these fears our entire lives. So, when we started praying to break off trauma for different things, Bill said, “You know, I feel like I need to break off a spirit of timidity that’s been with me my whole life.” So, the Lord was bringing up other things for us to address, as though they were traumatic like this incident. It’s been a life-changer for both of us.

Bill: I want to go briefly back to my state of mind in shock. I want anyone who listens to understand what I learned from this situation: You may not be the person you think you are. I bought three more fire extinguishers. If there’s a fire upstairs, I may not have the wherewithal or the time to run downstairs, find a fire extinguisher in the garage or in the laundry room, or wherever I happen to have one, and get back up. I believe that something as simple as a fire extinguisher should be in multiple places… where you don’t have to think about it. You can grab and go. Then there’ll be time to think about it….

We pray that nothing like this happens to others. I just found for myself, I was unable to be the person who I previously thought I would be. Does that make sense?

Me: Yes.

Raye: It’s not because we’re such great spiritual people. It’s all God. Because at your worst, your lamest, your weakest, your most fearful, your most traumatized; he comes and rescues you. That’s really the message. Like Bill said, it wasn’t that he decided to speak in tongues. He just started. So, I guess the only thing would be to make sure you’re well versed in your prayer language because when you need it, you want to have more than just a couple words.

Bill: I’m so happy that I have that relationship with the Lord. The word of God says what’s in us comes out of us. Tongues was in me. It’s the first thing that came out once I got a hold of myself, once I quit just making noises…groaning. I was doing some of that up front. But it was so wonderful that tongues came out.

Raye: Yeah… if anything could be marked to our credit, it would just be practicing the art of staying in contact with the Lord. Outside of that, there is nothing that prepared us for that situation.

Me: I’m thinking, you might not have known where the physical fire extinguisher was, but tongues was your spiritual fire extinguisher! You got that ready!

Raye: That’s good, Mary. So good!

Bill: That’s true.

Me: So, can we pick the story back up with the recovery process, go a little further into that?

Bill: This is when it started to become amazing. All I knew is that I didn’t hurt. That was so surprising! But I set up an appointment with my local MD…. I saw him Wednesday morning…. He unwrapped the wraps.

He looked quizzically at me and said, “Now when did this happen?”

Photo of Bill Gray’s hand sent by Raye Gray

I said, “Well, a week ago today, in the afternoon.” He shook his head and said, “We don’t need to contact the burn center. I think you’re going to be done with this in about a week.” He was stunned!

I just went, “Praise God.”

He showed me how to rewrap. We did it for a week. We started not covering those parts that were healing.

Fourteen days after the event… It was Tuesday night when we typically attend the healing rooms at church. For a number of years now, I’ve played a couple of songs there to set an atmosphere. I had not picked up a guitar. At that point I had a band-aid on each of two fingers.

I felt compelled to go there, to share this testimony and to give God the glory. In strapping on the guitar and singing a couple of songs I started to realize that something amazing had taken place a few days or a week earlier.

We’d been home for a couple or three days. And the way our minds are built, we tend to forget the negative. As things were getting so much better, this thought came to my mind: maybe it just wasn’t as bad as what I think it was. About that time, Raye came with the release papers that they gave us at the hospital. The papers said they’d treated us for superficial burns, smoke inhalation, (which I’m not sure I had much of), second-degree burns, and third-degree burns.

All of a sudden it kicked me back into miracle mode.

We were fortunate enough to have had doctors that wrote… what it was, what the natural says. And here is what the kingdom of God says, where God meets the natural world. The supernatural is His natural. It’s only supernatural to us.

So, I’ve been walking through this incredible acceleration of healing. I’ve spoken to so many people in the last few weeks who, at some point in their lives, had burns. Some of them were serious. I talked to somebody a couple of days ago that has scars that have never healed.

Yet there are no scars!

It’s absolutely amazing and unbelievable except in God. Our Lord is so good! Beyond all we can ask or think.

Raye: Yeah. Remember, he said he had no movement in his hands. Look at that!

He was able to play a week later at the healing rooms…. It just sounded wonderful!” Now he’s released a new Christmas song and his hands are working perfectly….

Later in the interview…

Me: Raye, I’m wondering… This was super traumatic for Bill. He went through all of this, but you were right there experiencing this with him, and seeing what was happening to him. You have your own processing and your own story. I think we’d like to hear a bit from you, too. if you want to share.

Raye: Sure…. It’s probably one of the hardest things I’ve ever gone through; seeing my husband hurting so badly, not having anything that I could do for him, just knowing that it had to be God. And the trauma of walking in, seeing everything that’s going on, and hearing him literally screaming like a wounded animal. It was nothing you ever expect to hear from your husband or from anyone that you care about, or love.

So, when that happens, oh, it grips your heart!

There’s such heaviness about it. And you know, just flailing around in my own natural mind, thinking, what can I do?

My first reaction was, “Why are you screaming?” I thought he was trying to tell me something to do, like how to put out the fire or something. My mind was kind of suspended. I’m like, “Why are you screaming? Why are you screaming?” And then he says, “I need water.” And then I realized, “Oh, he’s burned.”

It was out of the realm of my brain to try to solve. And so, there was that immediate trauma. And then when I walked into the emergency room and saw that they had not been taking care of him, or helping him, and they were discounting him, because of thinking maybe he was on meth or something. Yet he was still screaming in pain.

I didn’t understand what was going on. When I finally got back in the ER they said, “Here’s what’s going to happen. We’re going to airlift your husband.” I just heard that word, “we’re going to airlift him to a burn unit.” I got out my phone and started texting every prayer group I could think of.

Me: The word got around fast!

Raye: I was like, “We need help. We need people storming heaven because this is beyond me. I know it’s not beyond the Lord. And I felt like he was saying, “Hey, you’ve got lots of resources. Reach out to them. Get them on the job.”

There were people praying in Somalia, people praying in Pakistan, people praying all over the United States of America and Europe who belonged to the Corey Russell small groups. They were all alerted. The word was spreading like wildfire. All of those groups, and the groups at Eden, and the groups at Hope community in Burien; all were praying for one person, not just one, because I mentioned Floyd of course. These two people had been burned. I know God used that network of people.

Bill: I want to thank each and every one for your prayers. The fervent, effective prayers of the righteous accomplish much. And they did; they do; they have and they will. Yeah. And God bless everyone.

Raye: Yes. It’s so wonderful! It’s wonderful to have access to that kind of support, those kinds of warriors, that kind of army.

Me: Yeah. It’s a great illustration of the body of Christ working. When one-part hurts, everybody gets involved. And how important it is to be networked, to know other people, right?

Raye: And Mary, none of these people said, “Well, what’s his theology? Does he believe in this, this, and this?” No. They were all just like dropping everything and praying for him. I felt this unity of the body of Christ. No bickering about details. No, no bickering about what you believe or don’t believe. None of that.

It was just that we love this person or at least someone who loves this person, we love them.

Hey, the body’s coming together and… every joint supplies. What a wonderful thing! Life started flowing through Bill’s arms, his hands, his face and Floyd’s face, his arms and hands. What wonderful unity I felt with the body of Christ.

When we prayed with a prayer group online that next day, we felt this belonging. One told me later, “When we saw your name pop up; that you guys had joined the prayer meeting two days after the fire, she said, “There was great rejoicing in the camp, rejoicing that you were on there.”

So, it was such a powerful time. The Lord is faithful to reveal mindsets that we don’t realize we have, unbelief we don’t realize we have, things that traumatized us earlier in our lives; all this stuff. The Lord gently uses your circumstance and situation and says, “Okay, now is a good time to take care of this. Let’s just get it all cleaned out.” He’s so faithful.

Me: In that regard, the people watching have probably experienced trauma of some form in their lives, or they know someone who has.

Bill: Absolutely.

Me: Could the two of you who experienced this prayer for the healing of trauma, pray for our listeners; for the Lord to bring healing in whatever way they need it? As we’ve been telling this story, some people may be remembering trauma they’ve been through. It might be on the surface right now. They might need that touch and that comfort. So, if you could do so, that would be awesome!

Raye: Thank you, Lord. Hallelujah…. You know there is absolutely nothing that can stand before the power of God.

You (listeners/readers) are filled with the same power that raised Christ from the dead. When he brings that to your remembrance, that power will rescue you and draw you nearer to God. And there is nothing, no trauma, no pain, no sorrow, no grief; there is no darkness that can stand before the mighty, unlimited power of the Almighty God. He is just hovering, so to speak, waiting; waiting for you to open your eyes, look at him, and say:

“Okay! Mighty power of God, break that trauma off me. Release me from the grief… that keeps sucking me down. Release me into your joy.”

And he will do that. In fact, I believe he’s going to do that now, if you will turn to him this minute.

Say, “Jesus, I acknowledge I’m filled with the power that raised you from the dead, and I am going to let that power work within me, deliver me, and set me free once and for all.”

Jesus never went back down into the grave repeatedly. He was raised once and for all. And so, right now we take that opportunity. “We say… God, I’m yours. I’m filled with God and you are working in me to release me from those things.”

So, Lord, break off every trauma. Break off every grief. Break off every sorrow and depression and anxiety in your name, Jesus.

Me: I want to point out, for those who are listening, Raye just used the word, “release.”

When you’re hurting, if you shove the emotional pain down, it’s going to pop back up. But if you do what Raye said, release it; release the hurt, the grief, the fear, the trauma, and the pain. If you will release it to God, then he’ll take it.

Raye: He will.

Me: Then he’ll release back to you what you need in its place. Might be peace, might be joy, might be comfort; it might be all three. But give him the painful feeling and receive his feelings which are way better.

Raye: Amen. Haha! Hallelujah.

Bill: A verse came to my mind when I realized that I didn’t want trauma that holds so many people back to be something added on to the things that have held me back. The verse the Lord brought to my mind was, “I did not give you a spirit of fear.”

Fear is a spirit. Related to that is trauma. Trauma is a fear related spirit. Timidity is a fear related spirit.

Me: Yes.

Bill: So, I said, “Gosh, this is a spiritual matter. But he gave us a spirit of power, of love, and of a sound mind.”

It was that sound mindedness that was particularly highlighted for me when I was not in that sound minded place. When I was filled to overflowing, not with the peace of God, but filled to overflowing with fear, anxiety, agony, terror; all those kinds of things.

And so, I want to speak and anyone who is listening to this now, or at a future time, in the mighty name of Jesus:

Photo by KATRIN BOLOVTSOVA on Pexels.com

“We command any spirit of terror, trauma, fear, or timidity… go now in the mighty name of Jesus. You have no authority in this person’s life. Be gone from them now. Yes. In the mighty name, we command you to do so. Hallelujah!”

Bill: Even after the enemy’s been kicked out, it seems too often he comes back to kind of jabber in your ear, you know, and see if you’ll let him back in; to give you fear about this or that. I try to visualize. I’m somewhat a visual person.

I remember when Jesus rebuked Peter and said, “Get thee behind me, Satan.”

We have authority when a thought comes that is not of the Lord. We know where it’s from because it’s not an edifying thought. We have authority to take that thought and cast it out. And so, I tend to see the cross, the foot of the cross, right over here (to the right) someplace. These last few weeks, I can’t tell you how many times I’ve declared, “No, not doing that.’ Taking my hand, I grab and toss the thought or feeling down at the foot of the cross.

I just imagine the blood of Jesus, roll down the cross over that.”

If others can utilize that same visual, it’s a prophetic act. If you ever see me at church motioning a toss down, that’s what I’m doing. I’m removing whatever is trying to establish a foothold that is not of the Lord. I just take that out. I give it to Jesus. I just drop it at the foot of the cross. Then I thank and praise the Lord for removing it.

Me: Amen. Well, thank you so much for being willing to share what you have gone through with the world out there so other people can learn and be blessed by the amazing things God did. I appreciate that. Thank you very much. Yay!

Bill: Thank you for doing what you’re doing. This is great. This is so wonderful! I’m excited that you’re doing this, Not for us, for everybody and for what we have to look forward to in all that you’re going to do in this way.

Me: Thank you.

Later in the interview…

Me: When you release these songs you’re got, do you know what your platform is going to be or how you’re going to do it?

Bill: We have a Facebook page that we will be telling everybody about. It’s called, “Bill Gray Worship.” And we will be putting things out on YouTube, Spotify, and Instagram…. I’m looking forward to releasing something every two weeks.

Me: Wow. Okay.

Bill: I do have a large number of songs that I’ve wanted, for years, to get into people’s ears, into their lives; so that they can listen, sing, and speak these words over themselves and over those they love. That’s where the power comes, in doing that. So, the Lord has given me all these beautiful talents that I believe he wants put into service.

Raye: Yeah. The Lord told him a long time ago, “Revealing His Healing.” That’s Bill’s ministry. It’s coming to pass.

Me: “Revealing His Healing,” yes, through music and worship. Amen. Well, thank you for your time and God bless you abundantly. Amen.

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Reviving Lives: The Impact of Jesus Coffee House in Spokane, an Interview with Linda Meissner

October 16, 2025November 18, 2025 / Fire Starter for Jesus / Leave a comment

Me: We are here in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. I am with my precious and dear friend, Linda Meissner. We’ve known each other since Linda returned from Europe. What year was that?

Linda: 2013.

Me: So, twelve years. We used to work in ministry together, in Tacoma particularly, doing a whole variety of things. Linda and her family moved to Idaho during the time that COVID hit.

Linda: Yes.

Me: They moved to continue to serve the Lord, because everything they did was stopped by the government. They came to a place where they could continue their various ministries. Linda’s son Dan is a gifted musician. He was giving music lessons that couldn’t continue. Altogether, we were starting a church in Tacoma. Suddenly, we weren’t supposed to meet. So, it just got awkward, painful and difficult. So, Dan, leading his family, decided to move here (not to Coeur d’Alene) but to Post Falls, Idaho. Linda set up a brand-new coffee house in the Spokane area. Dan went looking for God’s opportunity for him in various places. What has come out of that search is a new school called River Tech in Post Falls. It’s been running for about how long now?

Linda: I think this is the fourth year. We’re very thankful for this school. We’ve seen the hand of God. Beginning with nothing, God showed us the location. Then after putting up some posters for the idea, God has really blessed it. Especially going into the fourth year. We have 77 students and seven teachers. We’re seeing not only academically, the youth growing and learning, but also spiritually. We’ve seen broken families come back together. My granddaughter Evelyn (who’s 13) and her friend have been very evangelistic. They’ve gotten about 13 kids from the school to attend the youth group in our church. It’s a new church plant here in Post Falls called Sun City. Luke, my oldest my oldest grandson at 19; he is a full-time teacher in our school, River Tech. And he’s very active in the new church plant, also worship team, youth group, etc.

Me: He’s amazing. Went on a mission trip this summer, right, this last summer?

Linda: Right. He went to Africa.

Me: Lake Victoria, right?

Linda: Yes, in Uganda. Lake Victoria is gigantic. Out in that lake there are many islands. Luke, together with a little team, went out to those islands and preached the gospel. It was very effective, and they were really happy to have that team. Luke plays nearly all the instruments. He had his guitar, and they sang to the kids. They found witchcraft there. They had to pray the prayer-of-faith and power to get that out of the way.

Me: I bet he has some great stories.

Linda: Yeah, he does. Now he’s planning to take a mission trip to Mexico around Thanksgiving time. He really cares about the people. He helps me at the coffee house a lot. And the coffee house, of course, is for the homeless and for the poor. I’m glad that he has a heart for the people that Jesus has a heart for. So, it’s wonderful!

Me: Let’s tell the people about the coffee house a bit more.

Linda: Well, God is great! When we came here, I didn’t know anybody and had nothing except our own stuff. The first thing that happened was that God miraculously gave us a location in a church that didn’t require any rent. I knew one person. That one person introduced me to another person and that’s how it went. Without having a team, or knowing anybody, one by one God bought brought volunteers or missionaries to help with the people in the street.

Spokane is a desperate city with 2,000 homeless and fentanyl is the killer here. We had nearly 400 people die on the street last year from fentanyl. We also have a lot of suicide here. They jump over the Spokane Bridge. I talked to a man whose job it was to throw dead bodies out of the Spokane River. He said he pulled one out, one or two out, every day. And now fentanyl has even a worse chemical that they can add to it. I don’t remember its name, but it’s a fast killer.

We have a great burden for these people. God loves them and we love them. God miraculously not only gave us a team, but he has given us two Jesus vans that hold 15 passengers. We have two drivers and two co-pilots. They drive to the very worst locations where the homeless are laying in the street, on drugs, and it’s most awful. They drive there, pick up a van load, and bring them to the coffee house. God has expanded us so that we were serving hot meals, and donuts and coffee, and bottles of water.

Friday before last we fed 200. Last Friday we fed about 150. There aren’t very many places now in Spokane that feed the poor. So, we’re really needed. We’ve added clothes to it. I didn’t have any way to get clothes, but miraculously people bring by bags of clothes, blankets, sleeping bags, and shoes. One family bought us a whole big box of socks from Amazon. Whenever the clothes get low, don’t you worry, somebody comes to the door bringing a new bunch of clothes.

Me: He’s also been bringing the food to you.

Linda: Oh, he brings the food to us, too! We don’t have to buy very much food. We have a different cook every Friday that cooks three big oven pans full of food. But that’s not enough because we’ve doubled in number since December. So, the church, Full Gospel Mission for All Nations, Pastor Steve Cannon; they also cook food on Friday. So, we have different cooks from the north, south, east and west that cook for it. Then we have the church also making food. And we get this food free from Dream Center, which is a terrific church and a terrific rehab place.

I used to buy the donuts; but Dan and I get these four dozen donuts free from The Dream Center. And God just provides. Also, people bring by things like chips, or a cake that they’ve made, or a pie that they’ve made. Yeah. It’s a wonderful feeling to give!

Me: So, the people are picked up in a van. The driver takes them to the church where you have the coffee house laid out with tables, an area for clothes, an area for food, and up front you have worship.

Linda: Yes. But we’ve had to enlarge our facility. The pastor is so good. He has a folding wall between our location and the church sanctuary. I kind of grin, because at the beginning he wouldn’t allow one soul in the sanctuary. But now, when he sees what God has done with the different individuals and how many there, he lets us fold down that wall. We have moved the clothes, the music, and the microphone into the sanctuary. This gives us two more long tables for people to have space to eat.

Me: I get it. So, you’ve reoriented the focus from this way to that way. It’ll be fun to see it tomorrow night when I go there and check out all the changes.

Linda: Yes. The front is still where we have a microphone, where we have terrific testimonies of people that have been living in the street a long time, been on drugs, you know, been in jail. They tell how God has delivered them, set them free. They volunteer in the coffee house, telling people about Jesus. We always have someone bring the word of God. I’m really insistent that we give an altar call in which we ask everyone to be quiet.

I ask everyone to bow their heads. I ask, “Is this the day that you will make a change, that you’ll invite Jesus in your heart? If you need prayer, raise your hand.” And then several raise their hand every week.

Me: And so, what happens? What happens when they’re ready to get off the street?

Linda: Yeah. Well, first I say, “Now I’m going to ask you to do something very courageous. You’ve raised your hand, but now I want you to come up here in front and sit in a chair in front of me.” And we always have four to eight or whatever. They come up. They sit in a chair and the Spirit of the Lord touches them really double heavy. Most of them cry. And I have a counselor work with each one. I shut the whole coffee house down as far as feeding and the clothes are concerned. I ask all the volunteers to move around the homeless, to meet a friend, and talk to them about Jesus.

So, we have those eight in front getting prayer. Then we have different ones that didn’t come up getting prayer. At that point in the coffee house, it’s very wow! The conviction of God is very strong. The love of God is very strong. It’s a marvelous thing to see!

Then, workers are down around the tables and up in front with the chairs; they’re talking to the people individually. They’re able to ask the men, “Are you living in the street?” And they’ll say yes. Then we’re so happy for the Lord’s Ranch and the Director, Janice Simili. Any there who say, “We want off the street, and we want rehab, and we want to follow God.” The Lord’s Ranch comes down with a big van every Friday with men to help us with security and to evangelize. If the homeless men want that change, they can just go with the van 40 miles north to a beautiful place where there’s animals and fresh air and Bible study every day, clean clothes, and food three times a day.

The truth is, not every single one we send up there, stays. But even when half of them stay, it’s still a win-win. The others that say they want to go back down to the street, they’ve got in the back of their mind; there is a place I can go… Often then, they make a second choice to go back, they stay. We’re so thankful for the Lord’s Ranch. That’s a good solution for the men.

We also have women that are weeping. Their condition in the streets of Spokane is even worse. They’re being used by the men in the street. They have to sell their bodies to get money to get food. Some of them are trafficked. They have to obey their boss, whoever’s got them. We have these women too; they weep before the Lord, and they cry out to us, and tell us their situation.

I had a person tell me this week and it broke my heart. They said, “Oh, well those people are just lazy.”

No, no, no, no, no! Each one of them has a story. And their story will break your heart. They’re living in great trauma: No dad, no home, parents – alcoholics, parents – drug addicts, no one to take care of them even from a young age, on drugs. Their stories are just heartbreaking, and the women’s stories are especially heartbreaking to me.

Excuse me while I tell you that it’s very heartbreaking because we have no place to send the women. After they’ve prayed and really met God for two hours at the coffee house, then they have to walk out the door. The van takes them back down to that street where they were laying, and its hell!

Well, I can testify that some of them have made it even without going to rehab. We’ve had many make it and go to the church where we’re located. Others that come back every week, the coffee house being like their church; they have pulled themselves through. They look tremendously better, comparing the first time we met them with three months later. Yeah, but we have no rehab for them.

And you say, “Linda, are there no women’s rehabs?” I’m telling you just the raw truth. Yes, there’s a Union Gospel Mission. They have a good rehab. And Teen Challenge has a good rehab. The Dream Center has a good rehab. Salvation Army has a good rehab. Well, you say, then what’s the problem?

The problem is, there’s such a long distance between where we’ve picked them up, from laying in the street on drugs, from bringing them to the coffee house. Now they’re going to choose a new life. They’ve still got drugs in their veins. They’re not good enough.

Me: What do you mean?

Linda: They’re not good enough to go to these good Christian rehabs! They will not take them unless they’ve been drug-free for such a long time. They can’t smoke. They can’t use their phone. They must have recommendations. They must have an ID, which is good. I’m I mean, I’m for it all. But our kids that just come in that night to our coffee house, they don’t have that.

We need a transition place, or we need a down-traffic place. Well, yes, there is a down-traffic place in Spokane, but the report I get from everyone is, it’s full of drug addicts. I mean they don’t get any help there. Drugs are everywhere in that place. They’ve got to go to a place where they can down traffic, where it’s clean. We desperately need this place. We thought that we had found one this time, that time, that time, and that time. But no. None of them ever worked.

Me: So, it needs to be a unique place where people can come while they’re detoxing from the drugs, where they won’t be able to get more drugs while they’re there, and where they can get some help getting ID. What else would they need, to be able to get into one of these other places? They need ID. They need to be drug free. Is there anything else?

Linda: They’re not going to be able to smoke. That’s not so bad. Just a few things, like that, a recommendation.

Me: So, somebody who’s good at getting people free of addictions would need to be able to run a place like this, and have the skills to know how to work with these people, and keep them safe.

Linda: if they’ve been trafficked, keep them safe from the men that have been using them and the temptations that are in the street. It’s a transition house, actually. If we could get a transition house, as soon as they go through it, now they’re free of drugs. Now we help them get ID. Now we can recommend them, and da da da da da. Then they could fit into the Dream Center or into the Union Gospel Mission or into other places like that.

Me: Many years ago, back in the 60s when you were working with David Wilkersonson in New York City, didn’t you do that with that ministry? I mean, you’ve seen that happen successfully, correct?

Linda: Yes. We did it right at Teen Challenge. We worked the streets several hours a day, six days a week, and when we found one that was on drugs, we could bring them home with us. We had a special room in Teen Challenge, the detox room. We had good Christian music in the detox room. It was comfortable. We had different ones of us on Dave Wilkerson’s team. One or two of us would stay by their side. For example, if you’re on heroin in 72 hours, you would have broken the habit basically and then of course you have to be taken care of after that. But we did that right among us. But nobody will do that here.

Me: Do you know why?

Linda: No. We thought we could try it. I mean Dream Center’s been really good to us. They give us the food. They thought they would try it. They took…. They tried it; taking them from our place, the coffee house, over to their place, to their women’s center. But it didn’t work out positive for them because our women were so.… No, it just didn’t work. And finally, they had to say to us, we just can’t do this.

But the pastor there, a youth pastor, Rosie Peterson, she’s fantastic! She has spoken with me now. And I have another couple that work… I have many couples, but a certain couple that works at the coffee house; they have worked at Union Gospel Mission for almost 39 years. So, they’re really professional with the homeless. We’ve talked, “We’ve got to get our own place. We have to get our own transition house.”

The problem is, when we found a place, they wanted me to run it; to put it through my nonprofit, Faithful Five. But I am already booked to the full. I have so many people around me. So many people calling me and texting me; so many people to take care of, because I have 30 people on the team. I have their phone numbers, and I keep track of them. I talk to them and help them through their problems. And then we have a whole bunch of the first-fruits, many newly saved ones. And I get to have their phone number and help them through their situations.

And then just people calling: “It’s about my son. Can you help him? He’s in the street and da, da, da, da!” I’m in a full-time ministry right now. And I can’t be overseeing a transition place; just can’t do it. And I don’t have the money to do it. But this prayer which we’ve been praying…. All the other prayers, they get answered. Here comes the food. Here comes the clothes. Here comes the singer. Here comes the workers. Here comes the vans. Here comes the people to drive the vans. Here comes the security guys. Everything we’ve needed to run this thing. And it’s a big thing now. But no answer, no answer for the women! And winter’s coming.

This really breaks my heart. The winter’s coming! Its not fun to sleep out in the street when the winter’s coming. Spokane has closed down so many shelters. There’s not enough shelters at all! We need 1,500 more shelters to cover for Spokane.

Me: You mean 1,500 beds?

Linda: Yes. We have very few shelters. The city has not been good. That’s what I’m trying to say. It’s been closing down shelters instead of increasing the shelters and closing down the places where they can get fed food. Shalom feeds them. We feed them.

Me: Has the city been good for you, working with you in this feeding project that you’re doing?

Linda: Well, I have not had much contact with them until recently. They began to hear about it; that the Jesus Coffee House is picking these people up and bringing them in and giving them food, but we are not on their official list of helps.

Me: I see.

Linda: But we are going to knock that one, just automatically, because our first fentanyl addict was living in a hell and I’ve been working with her now for two and a half years. She’s been clean and she’s very well spoken, you know. Now we have other fentanyl addicts and other jailbirds.

Me: And I think I’ve met her, that one.

Linda: Oh, yeah. Well, she’s really strong now compared to them. And she works, she gets her money from a place that helps the homeless find housing. God’s been so good on housing. When they really pray to Jesus, he gets them housing, even without the rehab. So, God is working even without the rehab. We see many of them getting their housing, getting a job.

Me: But what you’re saying is there’s still a need.

Linda: Oh, there’s a gigantic need. I I don’t understand why God hasn’t answered this need. I’m just being personal. He’s no doubt working on something that just hasn’t appeared yet. And we say, “That’s great God, but hurry up, the winter’s coming!”

This is a beautiful sunny day here in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, North Idaho. And it’s not bad to sleep out here in a sleeping bag; but I’m telling you, the winter winds. They say we’re going to have a tough winter this winter. Um yeah, we need help.

Me: And if you have a sleeping bag, but you’re on the street and it rains, you’ve got a wet sleeping bag.

Linda: That’s it. That’s absolutely right.

Me: Wet clothes, no dryer, no roof.

Linda: The thing here is not just to classify them as the homeless. Talk to them! I encourage you. Meet some of them. Talk to them. Ask them, “How did you end up here?” Some of them had nice houses. One of our ladies had a nice job in the city. She has four children.

Ask, “How did you get here?” It’s a heartbreaking story; step by step, by step, how they got down there. It could happen to anybody. Yeah, I love those people and I’m not ashamed of it. And beside the rehab part of it, we’re doing what God wants us to do.

Jesus said, “I was hungry, you fed me. I was thirsty, you gave me a drink. I was naked, you clothed me.” So just on that level, we’re hitting the mark according to Jesus’ teachings. And then, as you’ve heard, we are discipling them and seeing them change.

I sat at the church where the coffee house is located a couple Sundays ago. I visited them. I sat in the back row, and looked around. Wow! I looked around. He’s been in jail. He’s been on drugs. They’ve been in jail. I counted 10 people sitting in the church pew that Sunday that I had met when they were in hell, in jail, on drugs, da, da, da, da, da! All of them were sitting there praising the Lord. That was so fantastic, I tell you!

So, I’m enthused about what we do and it’s growing! First, we were just our team with the coffee house. But now many other ministries and churches are helping us in manpower or by bringing clothes. or food. We’re six, maybe eight. We’re seeing a great love among the brethren. No division, about what denomination; we never ask that. It’s whether you have a burden for the lost and you want to help Jesus put some clothes on these people. We all work together in great love. The street people always tell us when they get back in the van to go home, “Oh, we felt so much love. Oh, we just love that place!” I mean, they love us. And they’re spreading the word. They’re spreading the news that we’re located there.

Me: That’s great! That’s beautiful.

Well, for our people who are watching this interview, there’s at least a couple of applications, if not more, to the story. One of them is, there may be somebody out there who would like to help by providing the transitional housing for women who need it in Spokane. Somebody who has the skills and would come and be a part of the answer to that.

There may be somebody else who has financing who would like to help purchase a property that could be used in this situation. There may be somebody out there working for the Spokane government who knows how to get through the legal loopholes and how to guide the ministry toward making this happen. Those are all really practical things that apply directly to what you’re doing.

But there’s also the general story that Linda has of this passion on her heart; how she came here to the Spokane, Idaho border area. She started this ministry to reach people who need it, and God has provided every single thing she’s needed; including a place without being charged any rent, including workers, including food and clothing. God has built this step by step. I have seen you do this more than once.

She did this in the King County area, too. More than once.

So, you may have some sort of vision on your mind, passion God has given you. It may be in the area of the homeless. It may be in some entirely different area of society. But you may be thinking, I want to do this… but I don’t have the resources. And Linda’s example is stepping out. As she steps out, God has been bringing solution after solution, over and over again, for years, to meet the need because he’s called her to do this.

Linda: Yes.

Me: If God has called you to do the vision that’s on your heart, then step out and begin moving forward in it. And may God bring to you all the resources you need in order to establish what he wants to do through you on planet Earth. We all have a purpose. We all have a destiny. We all have work to do to bring heaven to earth in a greater way. Every single person was created with a purpose, including you. And so, we want to encourage you to live for the Lord and serve him. Be blessed. And see the mighty eternal reward you will build in heaven that no one can steal from you or take from you, as you choose to lay your life down for him.

There’s a scripture that says something about how if we want to save our lives, we need to lose them. If we lose our lives for Christ’s sake, then we will find them. It’s this dynamic principle of the kingdom: Live for yourself; it doesn’t work out. Live for the Lord and vistas open before you because God is on your side to help you. You’ll get to know him better in the process of serving him in whatever capacity he’s called you, because it becomes a supernatural thing.

Linda: Amen. I’d like to say that if you would like to reach me, I am on Facebook, Linda Meissner, and Messenger. One way you can help, I have a few sponsors and that helps me with buying the utensils, coffee cups, coffee creamer; all the things we need every week. You can help us financially. If you ask me on Facebook Messenger, I can tell you how. My nonprofit is called Faithful Five. You can help that way. Also, I get many letters on Facebook. You may have a son or a grandchild that’s in a situation, or maybe my counsel, or maybe I can help you. So, don’t be afraid to reach out to me. Yeah, we could connect.

Me: Very good.

Linda: We did it!

Me: We did! So, go, go, go, go, and serve the Lord!

Linda: Yes! Amen. Amen. Amen.

Me: Bye!

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Note: Pictures are from the ministry, websites, or from pixabay.com.

RESOURCES

Websites:

Linda Meissner’s Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/linda.meissner.7

Faithful Five Nonprofit: https://www.faithfulfive.org/

The Lord’s Ranch, Spokane: http://www.worldharvestmissions.org/current/lords-ranch.html

River Tech School: https://www.rivertechschool.com/

Video playlists of the time Linda and I worked together in Western Washington:

Evangelism Team Training by Linda Meissner – https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL3omWYhSBhvnCyOxFUyqwB3bxRQW_yBTr

Catacombs at Tacoma Faith, Playlist – https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL3omWYhSBhvkhV_OlscHIuxCyzuYcsOIk

Tacoma Gospel Choir’s First Performance Ever, Playlist – https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL3omWYhSBhvm6J4b8hpMwqhIpeyfVtduH

Testimonies, Preaching, Etc @ Jesus People Coffee House with Linda Meissner, Playlist – https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL3omWYhSBhvltqD-bLt-PZcg2QmicTN9r

Prayers and Prophecies @ Jesus People Coffee House with Linda Meissner, Playlist – https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL3omWYhSBhvnCyOxFUyqwB3bxRQW_yBTr

Worship by the Evening @ Jesus People Coffee House, Playlist – https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL3omWYhSBhvlKElisit86RESvLpPaX2pL

Heidi Skagen’s Journey: From Loss to Lavender Farm Success

September 5, 2025November 18, 2025 / Fire Starter for Jesus / Leave a comment

Listen to Heidi’s interview on YouTube, or read this shortened summary here, or both!

You’re about to be introduced to Heidi Skagen. She has a new business; it’s the fulfillment of a long-term dream of hers. Hopefully this story of her dream becoming a reality will inspire you to embrace your big dreams for the Kingdom of God. You are an influencer whatever you do and wherever you go. You were created with talents and a purpose from God. You can use your career to serve Jesus and bring glory to him, while piling up eternal rewards in heaven! Maybe her journey will inspire you to trust God and take a leap forward in your endeavors! Perhaps you’ll be motivated to try something new or find a different way of doing what you’re currently involved with that brings greater glory to God.

Heidi’s Story:

Me: Heidi, you have created a lavender farm here on your property. Yes. What inspired you to do that?

Heidi: This has been a dream of mine for over 30 years. And frankly, I thought it had died. The reason I thought so was because in 2006 my husband was tragically killed. I had five children. I just thought, ‘I’ve got to get a job.’ And so, that dream of someday getting property to create this lavender herb farm… I just thought, well, that’s a dead dream. So, I went back to school, got my landscape design degree, and a c certification in horticulture, (ornamental horticulture) and started a business. I ran a landscape design business for many years.

Then in 2021, I moved out here to Kent, to this beautiful 10 acres. I got remarried to my husband David. Our living room overlooked this huge field. And I was standing there one day; it was like a little spark, I think the Lord was putting a little spark within. Maybe that dream is not dead. So, I asked David, “Could I plant something in that field?” And he’s so sweet. He said, “Sure.”

I don’t know if he had any idea what I had in mind or how serious I was about it, but I was serious. I immediately started designing it and implementing it. I realized this dream of a lavender herb farm had been resurrected. You know there’s timing for everything under heaven. So, this is it.

Me: So, when did you start preparing the field for your lavender farm which, by the way, is right back here.

In 2022, I started implementing it. The first six months of that year I spent coming up with a design. I wanted it in the shape of a labyrinth. I didn’t want one that I found in a book or something. I wanted my own unique one. So, I studied lots and lots of labyrinths and came up with my own design.

Me: So, for those who don’t know what is a labyrin? It’s hard even to say…. Go ahead.

Heidi: A labyrinth. Thank you. A labyrinth is an intricate pathway. It’s not a maze because it doesn’t have dead ends and you can’t get lost. As long as you’re going forward, you are on a journey to get to the destination. And it labyrinths have been around for centuries.… Cathedrals would put these labyrinths in, and they are symbolic of going on a journey to grow closer to the Lord. I have created mine because ultimately that’s what I want. I want people to feel drawn to the Lord without ever having to go step inside of a church or hear a sermon. They can go out there and feel the Lord’s presence without even realizing it. And it’s a place to meditate, to pray, to think about life; and it represents a journey….

Me: So, this year you opened your field for the very first time. Before that, it was preparation, right? It was clearing the land and bringing in soil and then ordering a multitude of plants and planting them… correct?

Heidi: Yes. In the garden world, there’s this little poem. It says that when you’re planting your garden, “first year it sleeps, second year it creeps, third year it leaps.” So, the first year I don’t know if they got that much sleep, because right after I got the plants in (they were tiny)…. I had a young friend that wanted to get married here on the property. So, we hosted a wedding here, and then (later) we had a concert. So, that was our first year.

The second year, amazingly, the lavender had grown quite a bit, almost completely covering the landscape fabric I had out there, which surprised me! So, it did more than creep, I thought. And we had another concert. I did decide to open up for one weekend, just to see what would happen and who would come. And I just put signs out on the road. I had people the whole day on both days, a constant flow of people coming just from seeing our signs. And every single one of them would comment on the peace they felt here, and the beauty they felt here, and how they couldn’t believe there was something like this in Kent! So, they were really excited about that.

This third year I opened up from June to August on Fridays and Saturdays. I just put out my signs and I put some notifications out on social media. Again, I had a constant group of people flowing through here from all over the world. That was interesting! I got to know a lot of people from the community around here, but there were people from India, from Hungary, from China, and a few others, the Ukraine. So, that was exciting!

Me: That’s amazing! Just from signs along the road.

Heidi: Yeah. Yeah. So, that was super fun! I was kind of … it’s coming to an end, but next year. So that was 2025. Yes.

Me: And during 2025 though you had it open on Fridays and Saturdays for a period of hours, so people could stop by. You had a table set up. You were selling some lavender-oriented things. What were those?

Heidi: Yeah, I had some linens, some candles, soaps and things I had made from the lavender buds. A lady came. (All lavender is edible, but some varieties are more desired for cooking). And so, she was excited to buy some of that to make sourdough bread. Then she brought me a couple loaves of that bread the following week. It was so good! Yeah, so that was fun to have the stand. Mainly everybody would come and do a u-pick. They would go out into the field, walk to the labyrinth and pick whatever different varieties of lavender they wanted and then I’d wrap it up for them to take home.

Me: Very nice. I also saw you had little bags that people could put lavender in. Were those for perfuming drawers or what?

Heidi: Yeah, they could make their own sachets. You can put them in your drawer or wherever you want the scent to be. I actually put mine in my pillowcase, so I smell it while I’m sleeping. It’s really great!

Me: Good idea.

Heidi: Yeah. Yeah. I have bees out here, too. I’m fostering some bees out in the field. The beekeeper had some products that I was able to put out. She had made them from her beeswax and stuff.

Me: Wow. Yeah. Awesome. So, tell us about the name of your farm and how you came up with it.

Heidi: That took a long time. My husband and I could never agree on anything. So, it was very frustrating. That’s probably the main reason I didn’t open last year more than just one weekend: I didn’t have a name for the farm…. And I wanted to have a name that was different from any other lavender farm. And I wanted it to have a good meaning. I wanted it to be unique to me. So finally, I was just frustrated frankly. And I thought, you know, Dr. Seuss makes up his own words. Why don’t I just make up my own word? So, I started making up my own words and I found one that I’d liked. I thought, well, I’m going to run it through Google in case it is a real word. I just want to make sure I know what it means if it is a real word. And so, I put it in. Google replies, “Did you mean Synnove?” And I looked at it. I just love how it looks even spelled out. But I wondered, do I mean Synnove? What does it mean? As it turns out, it’s a Norwegian word. It means kissed by the sun or gift from the sun, which I absolutely loved! And, when I mentioned it to David, he said, “Wow, yeah, that could work!” And I’m like, “Okay, I’m taking it.” So, I went with that word. And now I can’t even remember what my fake word was, because it led me to where I needed to go; bringing me to the right name.

Me: Excellent! So, what are your hopes for the future and what will you do during the winter?

Heidi: Well, we are in the process of doing some renovations around the farm. One of the renovations will be to add a place to do classes. And that’s what I would really like to do eventually. What I’ll probably do this winter is plan out the kind of classes I’ll do. And then next year hopefully I’ll have a place where I can hold classes throughout the year, and maybe even bring in some other artisans to teach different skills.

ME: So that would be great! You did have a craft day this summer. I came!

Heidi: Yes, that was another part of that leap. I forgot to mention that. We had the concert, and I had my open days. We also had a women’s event. It was a creative art experience where the women could go out into the labyrinth and listen to what the Lord was saying to them about how he sees them and what he calls them. Then we did a project related to that. It was impactful and fun.

Me: That was fun. The very next day, you had a concert here with a local musician and you had a huge turnout.

Heidi: Yeah, it was definitely a leap. It was a bigger turnout than any of our other concerts, so far.

Me: Yeah. And you’ve redesigned your parking area here, expanding it so more people can fit. That day of the concert, you had people going clear around here to park their cars. So, you can fit a lot of visitors here.

Heidi: Yes. Yes, we can. And that brings up one of my goals; in the future, be more streamlined with our parking arrangements. So, yeah, we’ll just see how that goes.

Me: That’s great. So, what would you like to tell the people about living life, lavender farms, or the Lord?

Heidi: …Well, one thing that’s special about this labyrinth, and it was something I had always wanted to do as a landscape designer, (but I always worked with small residential yards up in the Seattle area) I wanted to design something that could be seen in its own unique way from up above, like in an airplane…. And so, in designing this labyrinth I made it in the shape of a giant flower. So, if you were up in an airplane flying over, you’d look down and you’d see this humongous flower in the middle of this field.

And what I love about labyrinths is they’re a reminder, if you’re looking down, that life’s is a journey. When you’re in it, you smell the fragrance. You are walking forward. You hear the happy bees buzzing around you. Um, but you don’t have the big picture from up above, because you’re in it. You get to experience all this stuff. And as long as you’re going forward in life, you’re going to get to where you need to go.

And I want to leave the audience with this: If you have a dream or a goal on your heart, this is what happens in a labyrinth. You could be only one row away from that middle section, the goal of where you’re getting. You turn and the path will take you in a completely different area. It will take a lot longer now to get to that goal. You think you’re so close and then and then you turn. That happens a lot in life. We have a goal. We think we’re almost there. Then something kind of turns us in a different direction and it may take us a lot longer to get there.

But I can tell you in my experience, all those years of landscaping and planning gardens for other people, learning about plants; I am way more prepared now to be doing this farm than I would have been back in the early 2000s when me and my first husband were dreaming about something like this.

So, when the Lord puts something on your heart and it seems like it’s far away or maybe you’ve given up on it, or you feel like you should just give up on it; be in the present and ask him what he wants you to learn as you go on your journey, because you may end up revisiting that dream. That dream may be resurrected and you’ll be better prepared for it.

Me: God doesn’t waste anything.

Heidi: No, he doesn’t.

So that’s what I would want to say: Follow your dreams.

Me: Yeah. And let the Lord set the timing of your dreams and do whatever you do to bring honor and glory to him, to build his kingdom because God cares about every part of life. He cares about businesses. He cares about government. He cares about family. He cares about the church. He cares about media and entertainment, health care, and education. He cares about every sphere of life. He wants his people there being representatives of him. Somewhere in scripture it says we are ambassadors for Christ. Yeah. So, wherever you are, you’re an ambassador for the kingdom of God. And we bless you whatever your dream is and where you’re headed and what you’re doing. So thank you for watching (or reading) and God bless.

Note to the reader: This isn’t an exact transcript of the video interview, but it covers the dialogue well. If you watch YouTube, you’ll hear exactly what went on. Hope you enjoyed this.

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