Hi, friends. I’m taking time today to share a family update. Many of you have read my blog for years, and even though we don’t know each other “in real life,” you have assured me of your prayers for me and my family. So I wanted to give a little life update. 

Over the past several years, God has increasingly burdened my husband’s heart with the desire to pastor. Several years ago, when he began work on a Ph.D., we began praying that God would lead us to a church Jonathan could pastor after his degree was completed.

This past May, when Jonathan graduated, we began praying even more earnestly that God would lead us clearly and unmistakably. Some verses I repeatedly prayed to the Lord were Psalm 25:9 and Proverbs 3:5-6:

He leads the humble in what is right,
and teaches the humble his way.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
    and do not lean on your own understanding.
In all your ways acknowledge him,
    and he will make straight your paths.

I wrote several posts about finding God’s will because it was just the overflow of what God was teaching us. (How Can I Know God’s Will? & When God Calls You to Something You Didn’t Expect) And over the last few months, God has consistently proved himself faithful to answer our prayers and clearly lead us. (Why am I surprised?)

 

Get to the News

This past Sunday, Jonathan accepted the call from a church in Concord, NH to be their pastor. We are planning to relocate towards the beginning of October, so our house looks like a pile of boxes at this present moment.

The reality of moving is that it’s often bittersweet.

The Lord gave us a good gift in allowing us to serve with my family here in Richmond, VA. Both Jonathan and I have grown in our dependence on the Lord during this time and we’ve been grateful to see him reveal sinful blind spots in our hearts. We have loved having special times with my family and serving with the body of believers here. Sometimes the Lord brings people in your life who are such an encouragement to bolster up your faith, and he’s certainly done that for us as we’ve served with our church body here in Virginia. It’s bitter to say goodbye to people you love.

But there is a sweetness in obeying the Lord that cannot be matched by any worldly pleasure. I firmly believe that not only because the Bible says it, but because God, in his grace, has allowed me to experience it. We have loved getting to meet our new church family and have already been encouraged by their dependence on the Lord. We are looking forward to getting to know them, love them, and serve with them.

 

Are You Excited?

A kind friend asked me this question yesterday and I didn’t answer with the typical yes or no reply.

I am excited to know God’s will and follow it with along with my dear husband and children. I’m excited to see my husband do what God has called him to do. And I’m looking forward to getting to know the church body he’s called us to minister to and serve with for the future.

But I am sobered.
And I am desperate.
Desperate for God’s strength as I seek to love and support my husband in this new position. Desperate for God’s wisdom as we seek to shepherd our children through this change and help them through changes of their own (new home, friends, & school). And desperate for God’s grace as I seek to die to myself and surrender my own way through the many upcoming changes. (hello, cold weather that offers the chance to die to myself for several months out of the year)

 

The More You Trust…

As I was driving my kids to the dentist this week, a song began playing and I was so encouraged with these words:

Jesus, Jesus, how I trust him,
How I’ve proved him o’er and o’er.
Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus,
O for grace to trust him more.

You know when you’re in a relationship with someone and you experience something new and scary with them? When you come out alive on the other side, you often have a closer bond with them. I’m experiencing the same thing in my relationship with Jesus. Over the last few years especially, when he’s brought me through difficult, scary times, (like my water breaking at 20 weeks & Jonathan’s Ph.D. degree) he has drawn me closer to himself, taught me to trust, and as a result I trust him and love him more the next time a difficult circumstance comes around. It’s a good cycle: the more you trust, the more you love, the closer you become.

 

A Little Break

I’m going to take a few weeks away from publishing on this site as I finish packing, say goodbyes and hellos, unpack, and work to help my family settle into a new routine. I will still send out a Read. Think. Learn. newsletter with some quotes I’ve been chewing on lately, so if you’re not already in on that, you can sign up here.

I’m so grateful for your encouragement. So many of you have been such a help in your prayers for me and kind words to me. The Lord uses all sorts of avenues to bless his children and I’m thankful for the way he has blessed me through you. May the Lord help us each to be faithful wherever he has called us.