Fire Recovery Update - Feb 6, 2023

“Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed
Because His compassions fail not.”
-Lamentations 3:22

We have committed to, Lord willing, journaling each Sunday an update about the fire recovery process, getting Seeds For Generations up and running again, progress on our lives, and the rebuilding of our shop building. Our desires for this is because we want those who have supported us to know that we do not take for granted the generosity of your giving and want you to see God at work in the area of “restoring what the locusts have eaten.”

First, there are no sufficient words to describe our thankfulness to so many people who have shown up physically, financially, and prayerfully this week for us. We have seen the hand of God. We have felt carried through your prayers, emails, messages, phone calls, meals and acts of service.

Here is a short list of tangible ways we have seen God’s hand this week:

We have had 15 people drop food and treats at our home in eight days. We have had gifts of honey, credit added to two accounts that we use for bulk food pick up/delivery, the company we order our T-shirts from printed and mailed us a big box replacement shirts, a friend fabricated a jig we need for printing seed packets, and obviously donations that have astounded and humbled us.

We met with a few folks from our church, one of which has been through a fire, whom we trust to get advice on how to move forward. We desire accountability with the donations that have come to us and to honor God with our actions. The consensus from everyone was that getting the seed business up and running as soon as possible was the number one priority.

We went to work cleaning the house, basement and storage area to move things into as we clean out the shop. We have literally not stopped cleaning and organizing since Wednesday. We are tired. We have purged, donated, cried many tears, cleaned up messes, done more loads of laundry that I can count!

With the funds donated, we have so far been able to replace Jason’s computer and monitor, printers, seed envelopes, and ordered what bulk seeds we can replace. But the most significant thing has been the Lord’s provision of a 12×24 shed that we will use to set up our business in temporarily until we can rebuild the shop. The Lord provided an almost new shed for us from very close to our home and a person willing to deliver it for a great price. We spent the past few days clearing the area that the shed will be placed, a load of gravel is being delivered Wednesday, and the shed should be delivered Thursday. Things are moving quickly! We will need to finish the inside of the shed to prepare it for setting up the business again, and we hope to be moved in and be able to receive and ship orders within a couple weeks. Your donations have made it possible to accomplish this quickly so we can serve our customers again without having to wait on the slow insurance process to play out. This has been a huge blessing and stress-reliever for us!

Thankfulness

Many of you have stayed at our home in the guest space above the shop, eaten meals at our table, and found respite here in the mountains of Virginia. We cannot wait to have that available again. One thing I have thanked God for over and over again is that no one was in the shop when it caught fire. Fire is not merciful and spreads so fast. Lives were spared and protected that day and I am eternally thankful for it.

“When through fiery trials thy pathway shall lie,
my grace, all sufficient, shall be thy supply;
the flame shall not hurt thee; I only design
thy dross to consume, and thy gold to refine.”
– How Firm a Foundation by John Rippon, 1787

We will keep you updated as much as possible through this journey. We covet your prayers. We trust God that His glory will be shown both in our physical and spiritual lives. We love you all and thank God for your support, friendship and care for our family.

~The Matyas Family