Reach, Empower, and Release

I am saddened to write this blog. I had avoided it for awhile, but after the day of grieving that I had it was time to release my emotions into the world of the internet and let them finally be taken out of my head and into somewhat organized chaos.

Our church is saying goodbye to Pastor Art, who has been with us for the past 9 years, to send him and his family where God has called them, Virginia. When the Lord calls you to do something, you had better listen and do it. I'm thankful to Art and his family that they are being obedient to Christ and to the direction He has given Art for his new church and for ours, no matter what lies ahead. I am definitely going to miss him. I hate to use the word grieving over someone (who is still alive) when I'm not sad or depressed. But the fact of the matter is that I am shaken by the realization that this family who has grown so close to my heart is not going to be around anymore (at least in the physical... thank you for technology and cell phones/fb). Art has truly become a mentor to me and I look up to his wife, Lori, so much for her gentleness and leadership. His sons, Silas, who sang with me on the praise team, and Noah, who was in our youth and thus claimed as one of my children, will also be greatly missed. I have known about this transition for awhile and have been praying for God's will to be done as I never want my will to get in the way. My will would be for them to stay forever until God comes again, but God has another idea.

Always Friends

As a reminder, Art is one of the pastors who married Robert and I. He performed the first part of our ceremony, the personal part where he introduced us as the couple we were and was able to give some background on our dating relationship and how God brought us together. No other person would have been perfect for that role except for him. He and his family have seen Robert and I through many changes and trials and prayers and fun times and hard times. I feel as though his kids grew up in school as we grew up in our young adult life.

The Gathering @ Midland, Releasing our pastor on his next venture.

There are so many things I could come up with that should be or need to be said to show just what an honor it has been to be so close to this family, but I would never sleep and thats not really healthy so I will just state the facts: God is magnificent and wonderful. His timing is always perfect, our understanding will just never stand up to how creatively He crafts every detail of our life. God has big plans for Art and the church in Virginia (and we will pray for you!), and God has something "crazy cool" for The Gathering in Midland. I absolutely love this church. Not because of my pastor, but because of the people and because of the way the Holy Spirit moves through the church. I love my church because its not about what awesome building we are in or what cool programs we have... its about the heart and the obedience to the Lord that draws us together as family. O yes I will probably find myself having some other days such as today where I was feeling so strong and comforted and then I just became suddenly overwhelmed with a sense of longing and tears flowing from my eyes. Its hard to put 9 years of mentorship behind you, but I must look to Christ for the "bigger picture" and see that Spirit is moving... will continue to move and impact lives as long as I am willing to be obedient to whatever God's plan is.

Robert just couldn't let him leave without a ride on the Harley

Thank you Art, once again, for teaching me how to Reach up to Christ so I could reach out to others. Teaching me what it means to be empowered by the Spirit. and Helping me to lean on the Lord for comfort and guidance as we Release the called to fulfill their ministries.

But just so you know I have already mapped out Virginia and how close it is to my other friend in North Carolina (5 hours away) so I will be getting with Lori to plan a vacation trip for 2013 :)

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight." Proverbs 3:5-6

A Good Weekend

Well this weekend was definitely fun :) We took Sadie to the dog park... where she loves to run and play with the other dogs... well... she loves to play... the running with the other dogs not so much as she is still a little chunky and gets winded easily haha... poor puppy... she just meanders from one group of dogs to the other as long as they are within a short galloping distance.

We also watched the Aggies debut this weekend in the SEC... yes we lost, but it wasn't a horrible game (well the 2nd half wasn't our best but what else is new)... I was just pumped to hear all the yells, see the maroon and white, and hang out with my family of Aggies. Don't count us out yet, we just want to enjoy this year!

We have also been trying to rearrange some items in the house... pictures and room furniture... I'll try to post some pictures and see what yall think! Enjoy the week!

A Sweet Reminder

The other day Robert was looking through some books in our house to decide if he wanted them in his office at the church. He has several youth ministry books that he has accumulated over the years and it was time to put them to use with his new position as full time youth pastor. So he pulled out one specific book called "Contemplative Youth Ministry." I remember giving him this book several years ago as a present. Well...  when he opened the front cover a letter fell out. It was the letter I had given him on our 4 year dating anniversary. We had just gotten engaged in November of 2005 and the date of the letter was April 27, 2006 just 4 years after our first date in 2002. In this letter I had written how I couldn't wait until we became one in marriage and how much Robert meant to me... blah blah all the gooshy stuff... but then I wrote: "I wanted to give you something this anniversary that symbolizes my support for you and your calling from God...I know one day God is going to give you a youth group that will allow you to expand your heart to the goodness of Christ...and that God is going to bless you with the knowledge you desire."

wow. just 6 years later and God would finally provide a way for Robert to enter full time ministry as a youth pastor. An opportunity we had prayed together for since he told me of his calling to youth ministry after our first year of dating. What a sweet reminder of just how much God is in control and how he uses us for His purposes even years in advance.
And yes we do have a youth group who expands our hearts because we love them... all of you. Thank you for letting us be a part of your life :)

 

Back to School

For the teens this year we wanted to give them a little surprise for back to school. Yes, its corny stuff, but with the help of Pinterest I was able to come up with some fun things to cheer them up for their first week. Included was:
-Take 5 candy bar: Take 5 and Pray
-Pencils: Stay sharp this year!
-Smarties Candy: Smarties for the Smartie
-Lollipop: Remember to "lick" any obstacles by sticking to the scriptures
-Witness bracelet: Be Bold and Witness (if you don't know what this is I have it pictured below, but it stands for He came, He died, He Arose, He ascended, He's coming back)










They thought it was pretty fun :)

*On another note: Its almost crunchy leaf season... which means fall is nearby... yay so excited!!

Into A Book...

Robert and I ventured tonight into the wonderful world of Barnes and Nobles... only we brought our own books to read....we settled in the comfy cushions with our tasty Starbucks...oh wait, excuse me... B&N Cafe drinks (thank you Passion Tea Lemonade :). I'm happy Robert has become more interested in reading (a new thing for his life haha) because of course I'm crazy about books and love to get lost in the stories I read. This year alone I have read over 15 books (that may not seem like alot to you but hey I do have a full time job). After I read each of the Hunger Games books like twice (ok I read my favorite parts of the books like three times), I began to read the Circle Series again by Ted Dekker... also The Help, The Vow, Crazy Love by Francis Chan... followed by an obsession with my new favorite author Francine Rivers from whom I read Redeeming Love and the Mark of the Lion Series (three books that are based off of the Biblical times after Acts and into Romans, very awesome). I am now reading Rivers' A Lineage of Grace about five women in the Bible from Jesus lineage... I'm only 4 chapters in and I'm hooked already! But all the above books were read on my Kindle Fire because I like to read with light apparently and I can read while I'm on my eliptical while Robert is still sleeping in the mornings :)

Also, Robert got me Illusion by Frank Peretti (Who is by far my all-time favorite author... I thought I had read all his books already until Robert came home with this one) for our anniversary in June. Since I'm such a book crazy person I was delighted to find another book by Peretti. I haven't been able to start reading it as its not on my Kindle and thus hard to read when its low light. But I started it tonight and am highly intrigued  and excited as always. After I venture off my current books I'm looking for new suggestions... have any to offer? :)

What a wonderful way to spend time with my husband... reading and enjoying the peace and quiet together :) have a great week!

Refreshed and Renewed

Well hello again! I realize that I haven't written since April (thanks to Dr. Courtney for reminding me :) but things really have been busy with lots of changes so I needed a refresher break. I know there is 5 months I left out to cover so I'll make this update blog short and sweet (which if you know my other blogs does not really happen so it'll for sure be long :):

April: I have no idea what happened in this month haha! It seemed like so long ago... but what I do remember is that on the 27th Robert and I celebrated our 10th dating anniversary. 10 years ago I was a junior in high school going to the prom with a sophomore in high school (who had longer curly hair that he could whip up into a fro...lol)... how time does fly and how time has been good to us. We are so blessed!... We also had a teen event (shocking I know) that included a 30 hour famine or fast. yes... we convinced our youth group to travel to Odessa, hang out with some other teens playing weird games and such, and to NOT EAT ANYTHING FOR 30 HOURS... somehow they participated and it worked out great... the event was to raise money and awareness for hunger in third world countries. We will be participating again :)
The 30th of the month also marked the first year anniversary without my precious Mema (grandma). I miss her still, but her memories will never be forgotten. 

May: My dad turned 50 this month so my mom, brother, and I planned a HUGE surprise party! I unfortunately wasn't able to take pictures at the event but it was themed "Oldies but Goodies" in honor of how much my dad loves music. He was definitely surprised too!
This month I had a terrible incident with my eyes... apparently I scratched my cornias and had a major infection in my left eye so I was unable to wear my contacts for 6 weeks. I never thought I could survive that long without them, but my glasses proved worthy enough and I was able to withstand the world without my contacts. 

June: Our 5th Wedding anniversary! We didn't get to take a trip because of course like every year we have youth camp to get ready for. But youth camp was great this year as we had 18 teens go (way more than last year) and a wonderful experience with worshiping Christ!

July: More youth activities! We had a very packed summer with several activities for our teens. We felt it best to provide them some great opportunities to bond with each other instead of getting into trouble elsewhere :) We took them to Dallas for fishing/shopping, Balmorhea state park, swimming, had a lock-in at the church where we played hide and go seek for literally 2 hours in the dark from midnight to 2 am, and then took them on the most killer of all road trips... Amarillo, Oklahoma City, Dallas, then back home. All in 4 days which included: horseback riding, eating at famous venues, spray painting cars, looking at one of the largest crosses in the USA, OK City bombing memorial, touring and staying at Southern Nazarene University, a Texas Rangers game, and Hurricane Harbor. Yes we are tired :) But we love them and we had a blast!

August: Rock the Desert and several special events for our church. We have had a sweet time getting to know Christ's plan for our lives more and in digging deeper into our full surrender of our lives and our marriage to His works.

Yes the summer was busy, but the biggest piece of news is that I am now the wife of a youth pastor!! Robert began full time with the church in June. I'm so happy for him and this new adventure with the teens. I mean they are like our children after all ;)

Oh I forgot to mention that Robert and I had to dye our hair for camp (Robert blue and I pink, but I only did some highlights because I mean I can't destroy my hair!!)

Till next time and I do mean it because I have much more to write about!

April

Hello April and when did you get here? I literally just finished putting out my spring decorations- meaning I just braved the attic by myself (and I'm proud) to find the box of spring stuff and carry it down the ladder (successfully without breaking my neck). It was just time to put away the poinsetias and holly berries and replace them with my bright colors. It looks peaceful in here now. Maybe I'll take some pictures and then in July when I remember to upload them I'll post them (haha)

Although, speaking of the attic... that place gives me the creeps. Ever since one of my friends told me a story about someone who was living in someone else's attic, I have been thoroughly creeped out when I think about that place. When I went up there to get the decorations I was so sure that someone was hiding in the crevices... needless to say I was in and out of there as fast i could. No, there is no one living in my attic, but you never know!

On another note... the summer is almost here and we are busy getting the activities ready for our kids (you remember the 18ish teenagers we have right :). Yes it is that time of the year again for camp and roadtrips and cookouts and all that fun stuff. Its a busy time of the year... but I sure do love it!

And another note... I finally saw the Hunger Games in the theater... Love. This. Movie! I read all of the books in less than a week and have read them all again (I know you aren't surprised really by this). I realize that the concept of the book and movie is a little morbid, but when you get into the book its such a neat concept and I love the story line. Team Peeta all the way haha! I actually want to go see this movie again... anybody ?

On the last note... I'm now reading a book that I've already read once again... The Circle series. Since getting my Kindle Fire (thanks again mom :) I have decided that only books that I can read on my Kindle are worthy as I can read them in any light and take a whole collection with me wherever I want without it being so bulky. So currently on my Kindle I have read: Reedeming Love by Francine Rivers (amazing.), The Hunger Games (and Catching Fire and Mockinjay), The Circle Series, The Bible (the best book of all), Sherlock Holmes, Pride and Prejudice, Treasure Island, Crazy Love by Francis Chan, and some others that I can't remember. I'm always open to more book ideas though!

Well I hope you all have a great April and that God blesses you all!