What I've Learned

In the last year, I have learned that life with Jesus can sometimes feel like a roller coaster, but you have to be willing to get on the ride, or you will miss the best parts.

Brian and I have been committed to getting on the ride, and since last November, there have been times of excitement and times of great disappointment, times when we were sure about what God was doing, and times that we were very confused. But I wouldn’t change it, because Jesus is on the ride too, and that’s the only place I want to be!

A year ago, there started to be some talk in Brian’s work group about sending us to Australia in the Spring of 2015. I was very excited about the possible adventure that would be for our family. My list-making, always-be-prepared, organized self wanted to start making plans right away, but I felt God calling me to always be present in where He has us today. So, I resisted as much as possible until we got the final word. And several months later, the final word came, or at least what we thought was the final word. So, with eagerness and excitement about what lay ahead, I began de-committing from several volunteer activities, I quit my job, and I starting making my lists. 

Then things changed. Oil prices dropped and the Australia project was put on hold. We weren’t moving after all. We were so disappointed, and confused. Why would God set us up with such excitement and anticipation just to take it all away? What was He doing? I felt lost for a while, but then I again felt God calling me to be present in where He has us today. So we decided to go ahead and grow our roots in Houston a little deeper, since we obviously weren’t going anywhere anytime soon. We started a new study with our small group and invited several new couples, we continued our work in the KidZone, I began volunteering with Young Lives and re-committed to Carenet, and Brian decided it was finally time to start playing the drums with the worship band. We felt good. We were committed to being where God had us, and although we were still disappointed about not going to Australia, we knew that God had a purpose in all of it.

Then, a couple of months later, Brian asked me what I thought about moving to Bakersfield. And my response was “Are you kidding me!?!?” I turned to God and asked “What are you doing?” But the real question for me was “Are you going to get on the roller coaster ride or not?” So, now we are moving to Bakersfield. And again, we are excited. Not because Bakersfield is a beautiful, adventurous place (not hardly!), but because we know that God has a ministry purpose for us there, and we are committed to keeping our minds and hearts open to the good works that God has prepared in advance for us to do (Eph. 2:10).

John 10:10 says: “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” For my family, that means that sometimes we will feel so full of life and love, surrounded by friends and community, thankful for our many blessings, and other times God will pick us up and put us in the middle of a dry dusty oil field where we don’t know a soul, where we will start over making a new community, where we will face periods of loneliness and longing but continue to be thankful for God’s blessings. It’s all part of the roller coaster ride. And we will stay on this ride so we can experience the best parts!

Take 2

Well, never mind about that Australia thing. Turns out, we are not moving to the other side of the world after all. Not yet anyway. The project has been delayed 1-2 years. So potentially, we could be moving down under in another year or two, but so much could happen between now and then, I'm not going to get my hopes up. Actually, it will be really difficult for me to get my hopes up about any future opportunity after the hit my heart took this time.

So, now what? I've been in a difficult place this last month, trying to figure out the purpose in all this. I know that God always has a plan and a purpose, but He doesn't always share it with us. I've quit my job (which I wanted to do anyway) and de-committed from all my volunteer roles, so now I have a fairly clear schedule (as clear as it can be with two busy girls and lots of great friends) and I'm wondering if God has a big thing that He wants me to do. I hope that He does, because honestly, I was all set and ready for a big change, and now I'm not really content just going back to the same stuff I was doing before. It was good, don't get me wrong. But I was looking forward to something different, and now I need something different. Does that make sense?

Hopefully I'll have some ideas and answers in the next couple of months. My mind is open and searching for what God has planned for me and my family, but my heart is still a little guarded. To be continued...

Telling the Girls

We found out on Tuesday that the transfer to Australia was official, but we kept it our own little secret for a few days. We didn't want to start telling friends and family until we had a chance to talk to the girls. And with our busy after-school activities, we waited a few days until it was a good time to sit down with them and talk. So, on Good Friday afternoon, we called a family meeting.

The girls could tell that we had some exciting news to share and they immediately started trying to guess what it was: "Are we going on a vacation?", "Are we getting a new pet?"

Brian said, "Well, we are sort of going on a vacation...a really long vacation. We are moving to Australia!" At first both girls were excited! In fact, Katie jumped up and screamed, and then ran outside so she could scream some more! Sarah jumped up with a look of elation on her face, but that quickly turned into sadness when she realized what was actually happening.

Then she looked outside and saw that Katie also had started crying. Katie came back inside and, through her tears, cried "I don't want to move!"

I knew it would be a hard pill for the girls to swallow. Everything they know is here: their home, their friends, their school, their family. Brian and I are very excited about this opportunity, but change is always hard. I know the girls will be just fine, and even better than fine, in the end, but I can't discount the challenging road it will be to get there.

We will have many more tears in the next several months, and much joy too I hope. We have already begun to cherish moments with friends and family, and we are making plans to fit in as much time with people as possible before we leave.

I know it will be difficult, but I plan to continue relationships with our friends here as well as we can while we are gone. Through skype and facetime, we will have monthly appointments with our firends and family to keep that connection. And I really hope that we will have some visitors. I hope I hope I hope!
We have already started praying for friends to be waiting for our arrival in Perth as well, people we don't know and haven't met yet, but who will be an immediate easy connection with our girls. We are praying for a like-minded family there to connect with and a church to attend and get plugged into.

Brian and I are confident that this is God's plan for our family and that he will provide everything we need to live an abundant life in Australia, including sweet friendships! 

John 10:10 "I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly."

Big News

Brian informed me back in November 2014 that he might have an opportunity to be transferred to Austrailia in 2015. I was very excited about the possibility, but told myself that I wouldn't really start diving into the idea until it became more certain. I started praying that we would get the opportunity to go, and that God's will would be done.

Then, in late February, Brian told me that it looked fairly certain that the transfer would occur in June or July. But again, I was not going to get overly excited until we knew more. Brian traveled to Perth in March to meet the management team and make more solid plans about the move. When he got back to Houston, I expected him to tell me that it was absolutely going to happen and we could start telling our friends and family that we would be moving to Austrailia.

But, he didn't.

He said, "It's not certain until I get an offer." He expected the offer to come sometime that next week.

Well, the week came and went, and no offer was made. Needless to say, I was on a roller coaster of emotions. On pins and needles waiting for an answer. I was praying constantly, everytime I thought about Austrailia. I would even wake up in the middle of the night and pray. Praying for an answer, for God's will to be done, and asking for patience in the waiting. But the longer the week went on, the more doubts crept up.  By the end of the week, I told Brian I didn't even care anymore if the answer was YES or NO, I just wanted an answer.

Early into the second week, when we still did not have an answer, I was beyond frustrated. I began to pray again, and this time it was not just me talking. I heard a question: "Would you rather wait for a YES or get a NO right now?" I don't know if this was God's voice or my own voice in my head, but I want to believe it was the Holy Spirit talking to me. I responded, "I would rather wait for a YES!" Then I asked God, "Why? Why are you doing this to us? Why are you making us wait so long for an answer?" And I heard the voice respond to my question: "Amy, you have not stopped talking to me since Brian came home from Austrailia." Then I realized that I had been praying nonstop for over a week. I had felt closer to God in the previous week than I had at any point in the previous year. So I went to bed that night knowing that God was with me in the waiting, and even though it was not fun for me to wait, it was good for my faith.

The next morning I felt Peace. I felt in my heart-of-hearts that we would get a YES, and I was committed to waiting for the YES. I shared these feelings with my dear friend Pam in an email and then also with my husband. It was about 30 minutes later that Brian called me and told me that they had accepted the transfer. The answer was YES!

I told Pam that I think God just wanted me to experience His peace before giving us His answer, and she said, "God is so faithful to give us the desires of our hearts when we truly seek Him." Amen! YES!