Farewell and Hello

We knew the Lord was saying "Go" we just didn't know why or where.

For the past 5 1/2 years we have lived in Mooresville, NC, serving at Eastside Baptist Church. The Lord has been so kind to place us in such a loving, caring Church family. Tyler and I came to serve in the youth ministry at the church just before we welcomed little Leo into our family. This job was never on our radar, but the Lord knew what He was doing when He placed it into our hands. We grew in so many areas while in Mooresville. The list seems endless so I'm going to share one from each of us.

I (Tyler) was sitting on the skid steer at work. It was a beautiful day and the work was rewarding. The Lord had been working on my heart for some time now, but this day a decision had to be made. Would I trust The Lord and step toward a life of full time ministry and therefore full financial reliance on Him. Or would I continue to work my full time job and fit ministry in where I could. I wanted to be part of what God was doing, that I knew for sure. But I also didn’t want to have to rely on others to take care of my family. I honestly enjoyed the hard work and saw the Lord time and time again give me opportunity to have ministry even in my secular job. But there was always a part of me that longed to be more a part of what the Lords was doing. I wanted to be in the action and give myself fully to whatever He asked of me. It started I think for me when we had the opportunity to lead a mission’s trip to the Philippines. This was the first time we took a trip that was completely unrelated to family or church connections. We were going to serve the Lord and help our missionary friends to build their house. It was a great trip, but I came away from those 15 days with different mindset. The Lord showed me that full time missions was something that indeed was attainable for us, if I would surrender. It was there my heart was softening to the Lord’s call of full-time ministry. Now on the skiddy, it was time to respond to that call. I could say nothing but, "here I am Lord, send me" anything else would have been to walk in disobediancee to what the Lord was clearly asking us to do.

As a young girl I had a desire to be a missionary, as I grew that desire did as well. However, in the last five years God has taught me that being a missionary is synonymous with just living the Christian life. I was so set on being a "Missionary" that I started holding that occupation as an idle in my life. I needed to learn that all God asked me to do was Love Him and love others. He brought me to a place of surrendering that idol. With the idol of "missionary" out of the way I was able to truly enjoy living with, serving and loving the people around me. I had no more longing for more. I know I needed to learn that lesson of contentment before I was ready for the next step of obedience. My heart is overjoyed that the Lord is leading us into full time ministry.