4 Stream Living

[patriotrich78]

Processing Through Suffering and Struggle

What do you do when it feels like God is waking you from your sleep to talk? Some mornings, I will have to admit, I will lay there and maybe go back to sleep. This morning, that was impossible, so here I am. It has been 5 years since I have shared anything in this way. I have written off and on, but did not feel like anything was ready to be shared. This morning felt different. I have always…

Processing Through Suffering and Struggle

[patriotrich78]

Set Like Stone

Set Like Stone #4Streams #WalkingWithGod #ReceivingGodsCounsel

This has been trying a season.  As I wrote in the last couple weeks, I really felt God shaking the ground under my feet to get my attention.  With circumstances as they are right now, and not having the margin I had to pursue the hearts of others the way I had hoped, this week, I found myself very discouraged.  That feeling of, “how will I get out of this situation?”  I realized what the evil one…

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Shaking Under My Feet

Shaking Under My Feet #4Streams #WalkingWithGod #ReceivingGodsCounsel

There have been a lot of good things that have happened these last few years.  2 years ago, I completed my Counseling Masters and have been working with people the last 3 years.  That has been very fruitful and challenging all at the same time.  At the same time, I partnered with some brothers to begin leading weekend men’s boot camps (not your normal retreat).  During all this time, I’ve held on…

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A New Day On the Horizon

A New Day On the Horizon

Will you consider partnering with us with a monthly contribution to our mission? Donations of any amount are accepted and very much much appreciated.

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[patriotrich78]

Distraction or Calculation

Distraction or Calculation #4Streams #SpiritualWarfare #WalkingWithGod

A friend set it best the other day. “2019 has been unique.”  We’re only at the end of March and it feels like a years worth of things have already happened.  When I last wrote in January, I was in a place of excitement for what I knew God was beginning to open up and what we were stepping into.  By February and into March, it seemed that their was so much opposition being thrown our way.  In…

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[patriotrich78]

Giving God Your 'Yes'

Giving God Your 'Yes' #4Streams #WalkingWithGod

Last weekend, I was blessed with the opportunity to spend a weekend with ministry allies.  It was a weekend filled with men who were moving on the same mission God has led me and lead ministry movements in different capacities.  It was such fruitful time of getting to have good conversation with like-hearted men and even get an opportunity to reflect with God on where I am in my own journey…

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[patriotrich78]

Rooted and Steadfast #4Streams #WalkingWithGod #GodsCounsel #RootedAndSteadfast Well here we are, the end of a another year.  Another trip around the sun.  There are so many things to reflect on as I look back on what 2018 had. 

[patriotrich78]

Learned Along The Way

Learned Along The Way #4Streams #WalkingWithGod #Parenting

I’ve learned all there is to know about parenting and being a dad…..False.  This morning, I find myself doing a great deal of reflecting about life as a parent.  Today, my oldest son, Shawn, turned 21 years old.  21…Wow!!!  I look back and think where did it all go?  How did 21 years pass by so quickly?  When going through some pictures for a birthday post, I ran across a picture from Shawn’s…

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[patriotrich78]

The Numbers Don't Lie - Manhood Crisis

The Numbers Don't Lie - Manhood Crisis #4Streams #WalkingWithGod #DeepRestoration

It should be no mystery to any of us that there are many in this world that have lost their way and are checked out of what’s going in their families. There are many men that have simply abandoned their families.  Think of the sheer number of households with single mom’s is staggering.  According to statistics in 2017, nearly 10 million households in US are single-mother homes.  Now lets couple…

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Seeking More of God

Seeking More of God #4Streams #WalkingWithGod #MoreOfGod #FreeToLive

As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God. Psalm 42:1.

There’s been a lot going on of late.  A lot of busyness, a lot of struggle, a lot of suffering.  A lot.  It seems that everywhere we turn, we have friends that are getting knocked down in one way or another.  At the end of last week, we hit a big challenge, as the transmission of my truck, which I depend on for…

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[patriotrich78]

See and Don't Be Anxious

See and Don't Be Anxious #4Streams #WalkingWithGod #Worry #Anxiousness

A few months ago, my Bride and I rented a cabin the mountains of North Georgia for the weekend and got away for a few days.  It was a much needed break as we were fixing to enter a very busy season.  There was so much joy in the weekend.  First, to just have time away with Amber was nothing but good.  It’s something that we are trying to make a more intentional part of our marriage as our kids…

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The Introverted Extrovert - What is that?

The Introverted Extrovert - What is that? #4Streams #WalkingWithGod #Introverted #Extroverted

So, I was just going back through some of my posts from years past.  It’s always cool to see where my thoughts have been and the growth in the way I’ve been able to see things as I’ve ventured into the more with God.  So as I was reading, something struck me.  That is just how God has shifted my overall personality as I ventured along with Him.  It’s even more striking to be on the outside and…

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[patriotrich78]

Is This About Me?

Is This About Me? #4Streams #GodsCounsel #WalkingWithGod #SelfishDesire #WithGodLife

There’s no doubt and no denying that we are in a self-driven culture.  A self-sufficient, self-reliant culture.  This life, each and every day, tells us to figure what I can do, to make life work for me.  Achieve success.  Achieve, win, go faster, be on top.  You get the idea.  Living and working in two different worlds has led me to learn that it does not matter what line of work we are in or…

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Choosing to be Fathered

Choosing to be Fathered #4Streams #WalkingWithGod #FatheredByGod #WildAtHeart

As I’ve said before, the word God had for me this year was, intimacy.  Choosing to take the year and learn what it looks like to walk closer to God and learning to keep margin in my life so that this intimacy can be intentionally cultivated. So God’s been bringing back to something significant in the past weeks.  The idea of being Fathered or Sonship.  My buddy, Chris, brought this up recently in…

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Taking the Winding and Narrow Road

Taking the Winding and Narrow Road #4Streams #WalkingWithGod #NarrowRoad #WithGodLife #Running

Over the last 6 months, I’ve ventured back into the world of running.  I could probably , over the last 20 years, count on one hand, how many times I had ran up to a mile.  I began the journey to get healthier in 2013, along with my wife and last fall, decided to kick it up a notch, challenging myself to train for and compete in a Spartan race.  Needless to say, it has been quite a journey.  It’s…

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[patriotrich78]

Joy as a Dad

Joy as a Dad #4Streams #WalkingWithGod #DeepRestoration #Parenting #Kids #Joy #Prayer

I have been a dad for 20 years now.  Over half my life.  I became a dad when I was 19 years old, when Amber and I welcomed our first born, Shawn, into the world.  We were on the early parenthood plan.  By the grace of God, we’ve made it over 20 years as parents and nearly 21 as husband and wife now with 3 children.  I had someone ask me recently about want to take parenting classes.  It was…

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Lost to Leader: God's Call Is Real

Lost to Leader: God's Call Is Real #4Streams #WalkingWithGod #Discipleship #LostToLeader

I’ve done a lot of reflecting over the last month of what God has done in my life and where he continues to lead me.  As I’ve written previously, this is a year of stepping back and seeking deeper intimacy with God and cultivating a real interactive relationship with him.  At the same time, I look with eager anticipation of what may be coming next.  I’ve learned however, that I cannot rush…

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