Better Together

What We Were Made For

Ever wonder what you were made for? Yep, me too! I can remember sitting on my bed as a young girl asking God to show me His will for my life. I don’t ever remember hearing anything in response, so I always feared I had missed it. For the longest time, I thought it was up to me to figure out God’s will. If I didn’t, God would be unhappy with me. Thankfully, it’s never been up to me. My part all along has simply been to trust God; His part has been everything else. He’s a good Father who finds great happiness in giving us the Kingdom! Psalm 32:8 declares that God will instruct us in the way to go. We don’t have to search for His will; God will reveal it to us step by step. Our part is simply to trust and obey.

Traveling through the country, passing from one gathering to another, he gave constant encouragement, lifting their spirits and charging them with fresh hope. (Acts 20:2-3 TM)

We just returned from an awesome week of ministry in Waynesville, NC with our dear Vine of the Mountains church family. We served; we prayed; we preached; we taught; we laughed; we cried. We LOVED! Words can’t even express how wonderful this week was for us.  As we drove back to Texas and reflected on all God had done, I remembered this verse from Acts 20 the Lord had stirred my heart with a few weeks ago. THIS is what we were made for: giving constant encouragement, lifting spirits, and charging others with fresh hope! ALL for His glory! I’m excited to see how God will bring about the first part of this passage: traveling through the country, passing from one gathering to another.  Thankfully, ALL is in God’s hands and not mine.

A New Day is Dawning

I’m really thankful to be called into ministry with my best friend. Richard and I have always been quite a duo together. For years, we’ve been intentional to pray together, and usually before every ministry opportunity, we dialogue extensively on the things Richard will be speaking on. I’ve always enjoyed coming alongside and being a helpmate behind the scenes. A new day is dawning though. God is changing things up a bit and calling us both to step out together. It was a joy to partner in preaching and teaching this past week.  It was an anointed time for us because we both sensed this partnership was going to be an important element of what God has in store for us in the future, which is something we are very excited about.

So What DOES the Future Hold?

We are thrilled to be attending YWAM Together next week. It’s a global gathering with YWAMers from all over the world in Kansas City, MO. Although deep down we wanted to attend, we hadn’t been planning on it because we didn’t see how it fit into our budget. Yet God’s budget and mine are often two different things. Sunday, Richard and I both sensed the Lord asking, “Do you trust Me?” as He nudged our hearts to move towards attending this conference. Within 48 hrs., all has come together, and we are set to leave Saturday. We believe this conference will give us vision and perspective on YWAM as a whole and equip us to work within our department of Mobilization at the Tyler base even more effectively. Please be praying for us. May the Lord stretch us in new ways, filling our minds with His dreams and plans for our lives, our nation, and our world.

Audrey started soccer practice last night! She had a great first practice, and her coach had nothing but words of praise and encouragement for her! She’ll be playing on a county league in Tyler. We’re thrilled for her to continue to develop in this area. We also have all our homeschool curriculum in place. I am in awe at how God provided for the curriculum.  We were able to borrow the majority of it, only having to pay a little shipping cost to cover postage. Every time I went to order online, the price was always more than we could pay at the time, so I kept looking and asking for God to provide. One thing led to another, and God connected me with individuals that had all we needed for this school year. Yay Jesus! Another great praise report is regarding our Emily. God provided ALL that she needed to attend another year at WCU. We are so thankful for the ways the Lord met this need. Please join us in praying that this year will be the best one yet in her life. May she climb to new heights, depths, widths, and lengths of God’s love like never before!

Thank you to all who pray for us regularly. We could not do this without you going to God continually on our behalf. Your prayers make a difference!!!! We also want to say thanks to all who give sacrificially to help us financially. We are thankful for all the partners God has put in our lives! As I get older, I’m realizing my self-sufficient attitude doesn’t work in God’s Kingdom. The body of Christ is meant to be intimately connected to God and each other. Truly, we are better together!

“May the Lord bless you
    and protect you.
May the Lord smile on you
    and be gracious to you.
May the Lord show you his favor
    and give you his peace.” (Numbers 6:24-26)

You are Loved!

Amy