Tag Archives: change

A New Chapter

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It’s been 2 years.

2 years since moving to Arizona.

2 years of ministry and life that changed the way we do ministry and life.

2 years of blood, sweat, and tears poured out so that Christ would be proclaimed and hearts would be ignited by the power of the gospel.

2 years of struggle, disappointment, disillusionment, and the kind of heartache that leaves you sobbing on the floor crying out for mercy.

Honestly, I have never experienced the fullness of God’s grace the way I have here. God has shown Himself strong on my behalf an innumerable amount of times, and in ways that only He is able.

2 years of laughter, joy, excitement, and resurgence while I watched God move in unimaginable ways.

My heart has overflowed with happiness, excitement, and joy unspeakable! I have been challenged, tested, broken, and in a word, transformed.

It’s been 2 years of discovering who I am in Christ and realizing we are all just recipients of great grace, privileged to be a part of God’s work no matter where it takes us. 

I can’t believe it’s only been 2 years.

2 years is just a breath. For this season, it’s been a lifetime.

After 2 years living in Arizona, our time here is ending… our family is going home.

It’s really exciting, and a little scary, but we are transitioning from Chandler back to our hometown in Albuquerque, NM.

This is a bittersweet transition.

We are excited.

Of course we are excited. We love Pastor Skip and Lenya and have remained connected to Calvary of Albuquerque during our time here. Our hearts beat in sync with them and we are just excited about all the crazy adventures up ahead. This is a homecoming. And we look forward to living and serving with our family again. 

But we are leaving a family here too. And it’s hard… really hard. The worst actually.

We can’t even begin to express the depth of gratitude for the people we have served with here in Arizona. They are truly some of the finest, most loving, sacrificing, faith-filled, and loyal people we have ever known. It was a display of grace that we were able to know them, never mind serve alongside them. They protected Nick and I from darts of criticism, held our hands while we wept, and lifted our eyes to point us to Christ. They watched our kids… a lot, joined us for meals, and filled our home with laughter and dancing… you know we danced! Nick and I marvel that we were able to be part of such a creative, passionate, and distinguished community. Seriously… you guys are the bomb. We will miss this place, this team, and the people here.

It’s funny how life’s course can change so unexpectedly. My husband preached an awesome message yesterday that is definitely worth your time listening (here). In it, he made this point:

The puzzle pieces of our lives don’t always seem to fit into our plan. But God is masterfully connecting each piece to make you look more like Jesus.

After 2 years, I am confident in this: 

In all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose. Romans 8:28

 

Thank you for your support, love, and encouragement. Excited for a new chapter.

Tiny acts of faithfulness and a great big God

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How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world. ~Anne Frank

I had a dream that I could change the world and then I got stuck. For years my dream sat rotten inside of me and fear I wasn’t enough kept me paralyzed. I knew my God was not too small but I was stuck.

Then, out of sheer frustration, I called out to God. It’s wasn’t a poetic cry for help with passion that would melt the faces off ice sculptures, it’s was more like a bratty teenage girl cooking dinner and wondering why no one else was helping. “Seriously God, I’m not the only one who wants to eat around here, could you please help me”. If I was God, I’d have smiled and walked away, mumbling under my breath, “do it yourself, you ungrateful punk”. But I’m not God, and that’s not His heart. Instead of condemning me, God sought to restore me. He opened my eyes to the truth of His word and this is what I heard.

Moreover, it is required of stewards, that a man be found faithful. 1 Cor 4:2

Look dreams are great. Wanting to change the world with anything God gives you is great! But know this, dreams are gifts. God gives us dreams to teach us faithfulness. If we walk in faithfulness, we don’t just reach the dream, we reach the Savior, and you don’t have to wait a single minute for that.

A dream is a driving force that catapults you through life. Like bumpers in a bowling alley that help keep us out of the gutter, but they are not the goal. The goal is Jesus. Don’t live for the dream, live for the Savior.

How do you know if you are stuck?

If you’ve ever had a dream to change the world, followed by the thought, “ as soon as xyz happens, I’ll begin living that dream”, then you are stuck. If God has put something in your heart, given you a dream, and gifted you to do it but you are not, it’s because you are stuck.

Getting unstuck.

The good news is, all it takes to get unstuck are tiny steps of faithfulness and huge faith in a capable God. Faithful stewards are conscious, confident, consistent, and committed.

  1. Be Conscious– Ask God to open your eyes to the areas of influence you already have. The cross is meant for the world. ( John 3:16) Right where you are is where God wants to use you! You want to be a missionary in Africa? Start raising money to send to the ones that are there now. You want to be a world evangelist? Start sharing Jesus with co-workers and classmates. You want to see more people praying? Start praying for them, and then invite them to pray with you. You want to help people become better parents? Open your home and let people watch you parent your own kids. Whatever you do, start now! Don’t waste a single minute. Consciousness is a tiny act of faithfulness.
  2. Be Confident– When you are confident that you are walking according to God’s truth, nothing can keep you from being faithful. Study His word as a lamp unto your feet and let Him guide your every step. Know this, if you can take a step without God’s help, your dreams aren’t big enough to change the world. Confidence is a tiny act of faithfulness.
  3. Be Consistent– Here is where it get’s tricky. Consistency is harder than it sounds. Consistency is a “butt in seat” principle of being faithful that nobody really wants to do. It’s about making choices and sticking to them. Ever start a diet you didn’t finish, or a work-out plan and then quit? Changing the world is harder than that, and only God can do it, so if you are going to be a part you’ll have to be consistent. Our flesh hates consistency, in order to be consistent, you’ll want to prepare for battle. Consistency is a tiny act of faithfulness.
  4. Be Committed– Commitment is the A-game, this is what it means to give everything you’ve got. Commitment requires more than consistency, it requires a desire to learn to be better that never goes away. Committed people strive for excellence even after the world tells them they are good enough, or have done enough. Committed people have God-sized dreams, and don’t settle for anything less. Committed people realize they can do nothing apart from God and all things through Him. Commitment is a tiny act of faithfulness.

So you want to change the world? Awesome, me too! Yes, I still want to change the world, but it won’t happen my way. To change the world we need tiny acts of faithfulness and huge faith in a great big God. If we can do it without Him, it’s not worth doing.

Praying for you this week, that God would increase your faith, and empower your faithfulness. This is how we change the world.

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What’s your dream? What tiny act of faithfulness do you need to do?

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