The path ahead

I have been meaning to finish the rest of what I started writing back in February. Whoa I can't believe It has been 2 months already. It amazes me how time flies. I wanted to sit down and finish my thoughts a few days after I posted the first part here. You might want to go back and refresh yourself with that post if this one doesn't make sense. :)

****************************************************

In order to explain where God is leading us now (for those who don't already know) I need to go back in time just a little bit...

Bill and I lived in Michigan the first 6 months of our marriage while He finished his schooling at New Tribes Bible Institute. After his graduation we moved back here to get involved in the church that he grew up in (the church that we are still currently apart of). Our intention was for this to be our sending church. We worked in the church for about 6 months. We had all our paperwork filled out, and were even penciled in to go to the missions training school (with New Tribes) in August of 2001. All we were waiting on was a recommendation from our Pastors. I still remember clearly the day we met with our Pastors to get what we thought would be their approval to move on. However, we were given the news that they were not going to send us. After much prayer they felt that it wasn't the right time for us to go. They wanted us to get more involved in our church before we went on.

I think we both felt shocked and a little dizzy...we never saw that coming. We both loved and respected our pastors so much and trusted that the Lord, for whatever reason had led them to this decision. Honestly it didn't make much sense to us, but we trusted them and the Lord's leading.

After about a year and half had gone by and we were involved heavily in the church...we came to a crossroads. Our church still had not decided to send us on. Bill was having trouble keeping a job without having any degree (other than a Bible degree). We prayed about it, not knowing if God was ever going to let us go. We came to the decision that Bill needed to go back to school. We were unprepared to have a back up plan, but it appeared that now one was needed.

This was a hard decision for both of us to make. That meant even if the Lord lead us back to overseas missions, it was going to be a very long time before that ever happened. It also meant that quite possibly we would never go. My heart broke. Was the Lord really asking us to lay aside our dreams of how we thought we were to serve Him...and just trust Him? We had peace about Bill going back to school.

To make a long story short after several years Bill finally had a degree. Over the next few years Bill had many ups and downs with jobs. We had some really tough times. It just seemed that he was never going to get anything permanent. Finally a ray of hope came and he was offered what he thought at the time would be his dream job. Well as most of you know that dream shattered and ended on a bad note...for no reason it seemed. Bill was once again without a job. Of course unknowingly to me God was working in the midst of this with a plan that was far bigger then I could have seen.

After loosing job after job, God laid it on Bill's heart that this was not the direction our family was to be going anymore. Bill came to me one evening in November and said that He believed after much prayer that God wanted us to pursue missions once again. It's hard to describe the emotions I felt at that moment. I was surprised, but not so surprised. I was excited and then extremely sad and overwhelmed. But I KNEW the second that Bill told me what God had been impressing on His heart that this was it. I just knew it was right. It just made sense. I had not not seen my husband so full of life and joy as I did at His realization of what God wanted us to do. I knew that God had been preparing my heart for something for months, I just hadn't expected it to be this. I had not not seen my husband so full of life and joy as I did at His realization of what God wanted us to do.

We have prayed about this step as a couple. This is a HUGE life changing decision and not one we took lightly. We sought the counsel of wise men. We went to our Pastors. We talked to the missions committee at our church. We contacted New Tribes Mission. Over the last 5 months God has done some pretty amazing things on our behalf...and He has made it so clear this time that this is what He wants.

So what does this all mean? Well, in less then 4 months we will be packing up our family and leaving this place we have called home for the past 8 and a half years, and headed to another state to complete our training with New Tribes mission. We will be there for 1 to 2 years. This whole thing still seems so surreal to me. I feel such a range of emotions. Trying to downsize our belongings and pack up is overwhelming. Thinking of having to leave our church for a time and our friends brings me to tears...every time!! But I do feel excitement deep in my heart. I do feel peace. I have prayed over and over that the Lord would use our family to glorify Him, and I am honored and blown away that this is the capacity that He would see fit to use us.

I know that the path ahead might be scary at times. We have to depend on the Lord to provide for us. I know that the path ahead is going to be full of twists and turns. But I know that wherever He leads us He will be there to guide and protect...and there is much joy to be found in walking a path of obedience...even if it wasn't what I expected.

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

If you want to keep up with the ministry in which God is leading us, Bill and I have a blog here. He mostly publishes updates on there, but sometimes I do too. :)