Obedience

Since the announcement that we were going forth with this process and heading to Vienna to be a part of the ministry at the International Christian School of Vienna, there have been a variety of responses, naturally. However, one of the most common responses has been something along the lines of "Wow, you two are brave. Props to you for giving up your life here to do this. I can't believe you would in such a short time frame."

I find that I could never properly respond to this, well, because it's...awkward. WE are not 'brave'. WE are not to be praised in this. GOD is. He is the author of this.

In reading the book Follow Me by David Platt (sequel to Radical, another great read), this quote struck a chord with me...

"You take a big chance if you ignore an assignment given to you from your boss at work. Most of us would never consider it. So how can we ignore the King of the universe who will one day return as Judge?"

Amen. To us, it wasn't a choice. God placed this calling on our hearts, and it was a command, through and through. I'm not going to lie...it was scary, and we were considering turning it down in fear of the rushed time frame and large amount of support we have to raise. But, we both agreed and discussed that if we didn't follow through with this, we would be INTENTIONALLY ignoring the God of the universe. We heard Him loud and clear... saying no just wasn't an option in our faith journey.

So there you have it. Aaron and I aren't brave or merely adventurous. All glory be given to our Father who brought us together to this point in life.

And of course, not to mislead anyone, it has not been all butterflies and rainbows so far. Far from it. We are incredibly overwhelmed, stressed, and experiencing a daily up and down roller coaster of emotions... mostly stemming from support raising at this point. But, the Lord is caring, loving, and holds us in His palms. We are sure of this.

We have spent the past several weekends traveling to the church Aaron grew up in and the church I grew up in. Graciously, we have been given opportunities to talk and share about the ministry at ICSV. Though we've had many conversations with a large number of people, I still couldn't help but feel overwhelmed by how far we have to go in support raising.

Until today.

An ordinary Monday morning, I woke up to an email from the recruiter at ICSV, boldly stating that we will see God's provision of finances increase drastically in the next two weeks because our God is faithful and good, all the time. [Now I certainly agree that our God is faithful, but it intrigued me how she so confidently proclaimed in two weeks time..]

A few hours later, I was working my shift at Panera Bread. My coworker was helping this woman by slicing the bread loaf she requested to buy. I had just come back from my break, so I told the woman I could ring her up on my register while my coworker was slicing the bread. She looked at me funny for a few awkward moments, and then she looked me dead straight in the eyes..."Ma'am, are you a Christian?" Having no idea where this conversation was going, I simply said, "Yes I am." Tears then filled her eyes, and she went on to say how she just knew from the second I opened my mouth. As she is talking, I'm racking my brain trying to figure out if I was wearing anything that would indicate my faith, had said anything, etc...nope, nothing. Then she told me that even though she didn't know me from any stranger on the street, there were angels surrounding me at that moment. She explained that she had been having visions since she was a small child and considered it a gift. I'm already taken back by her boldness and proclamations, but I let her continue without interrupting. She continues to say that in the next two weeks the Lord is going to provide money for whatever is going on in my life, and that I should not worry because I am covered in Him and have the angels' protection. Tears are flooding my eyes as she says this to me....I have given this stranger NO indication of my life circumstances. This was God speaking to me, encouraging me. She ended with saying that the spirit of God moved her to tell me all of this, and she asked if she could pray for me. Of course, I said yes. How could I not?! The most beautiful, raw prayer was said. I'm sure that my coworkers who witnessed this thought it was all crazy. I used to not believe these kind of experiences were real. I would always doubt others and chalk it up to being a result of someone not in touch with reality.

But there is no doubt in me that God spoke through this woman. She walked away before I even got a chance to explain how spot on she was about everything and how applicable her words were to my life.

Thank you, Jesus, for that reaffirmation of faith. May we continue throughout this journey with childlike faith. Thank you for using others to speak to us, especially during those times we need that comfort the most.

Prep Work

"And I will live to carry Your compassion, to love a world that's broken
to be Your hands and feet
And I will give with the life that I've been given
And go beyond religion to see the world be changed
by the power of Your name"

Since God led us to say "yes" to Vienna, life has been an incredible whirlwind. We feel like we are drowning in a sea of paperwork, support raising, work schedules, trying to set aside time for each other...it's all pretty stressful. This urgent timeline. Yes we seem crazy by the world's standards, but since when did we want to be of the world?

Never.

We are His.

"If his grace is an ocean we're all sinking..."

This line from one of my favorite songs has been on nonstop repeat the past couple of weeks. We are in need of SO MUCH grace. It is such an indescribable gift!

So to update everyone, we have finally sent out support letters (well, most of them--the rest are going out tomorrow). With the help of our dear friend Amy (& Aaron of course), I put together our support brochure and letter. We sent them off to be printed...and we were blown away by the service! Since they found out what our printing was for, they folded everything for us for FREE. And were just the sweetest people ever. :)

The paperwork has been intense and gathering documents has not been easy, but I am so grateful to have Aaron lead us through this. He is such an incredible leader...something I need to constantly remind him. We have to get the apostille on several documents, so Aaron is heading down to the secretary of state's office later this week to do that.

In the midst of this support raising and paperwork, we are continuing to work at our jobs until the departure date is closer and defined. Though it's been a difficult balance (mostly with Aaron's schedule), I am thankful for coworkers and bosses who are fairly accommodating and understanding. :) Another positive thing to note-- our church is having a garage sale to support the missions of the church. Perfect timing! :) Just as we're beginning the process of purging and packing, I was able to get rid of stuff AND support a cause that's pretty dear to our hearts ;)

We talked to the missions committee at our church this past week and have plans to travel to our 'home' churches in the coming weeks, so prayers for that would be appreciated.

Lord, we are SO thankful for this journey and your faithfulness to us. You are our rock and redeemer, and we pray that we embrace your ways each and every day and breathe only for you. Thank you for speaking encouragement into our lives through others. We are grateful to be surrounded by people who constantly push and inspire us, drawing us closer to you. May we continue to fully trust in your sovereignty and provision and remember that we wait upon you in hope.