Fill Us Up & Send Us Out: January 2012

I don't even know where to begin! It's been nearly two months since our last blog and there is a lot to update you on! These past two months have literally flown by. I'm not even sure where the time has gone...

February 1st will mark 6 months of us living in Louisville. We have mixed feelings about this.
On the bright side:

We both enjoy our jobs and count the fact that God has continually provided for us during our time here as a complete blessing.
We have met some incredible people that we wouldn't have had the opportunity to meet otherwise--our friendships are growing and deepening, and for that, we are grateful.
We have had the chance to experience a different culture than what we have been accustomed to our entire lives and that has been a great opportunity for growth.
We are absolutely in love with the body of believers of Sojourn Community Church and their zeal for Christ.
We have found this season of study at SBTS to challenge and encourage our personal spiritual lives.

Some negatives:

Our family is far away...and that's no fun. We miss them all the time.
We haven't been able to wear flip flops for months--and winter isn't even over yet! And we are going through some serious beach withdrawal. We have never been so white in our lives ;)
Often, we reflect on our life at USF and we miss being carefree college students. We miss our friends there and the spontaneous fun we used to have.

It is obvious: the good outweighs the bad! Please continue to pray for us in these areas as we continue to stay open to wherever God leads!

Lately, our faith has been challenged in many areas. We are confident that this is the Lord's way of pruning us as radical followers of Him--as always, it is tough, yet exciting.

As many of you are aware, we will be going to France in May for a short term mission trip with our church. Last month, we met our team for the first time and we are enthusiastic about the group that has been assembled. We need $3,000 at the end of February for our airline tickets and another $3,000 by May 10 to cover the rest of our trip expenses. To date, we have $845. We are so grateful for those of you who have given generously and sacrificially!! But obviously, there is still a need, and there have been times lately where we have been getting discouraged. We need to continually remind ourselves that we have a God who can create the universe with a powerful word, who can raise the dead and give them new life, and who can save a lost and dying world by giving his very own Son--and we are worried about raising $5,200 more for our trip?!? Pshh...He's got that one in the bag!

We have also recently completed our preliminary applications with the International Mission Board. The process is very lengthy--complete with several interviews (together and separate), medical assessments, spiritual assessments, and a lot of paperwork. We are totally excited for this process because it means the beginning of our journey overseas. Our first interview with our regional coordinator with the IMB will be on February 7th. We are also prayerfully considering initiating a long-term sponsorship relationship with our church here in Louisville. While we would still be IMB missionaries, this would mean that we would be sent from Sojourn--something that the pastoral leadership does not take lightly. It would require a very high level of service within the church itself while we are here in Louisville (something that we have no problem with), high accountability to the leadership of the church, and being held to a very high standard while on the field--as we reflect Christ (ultimately), the IMB, and the church. Overall, we are extremely excited about the possibilities that God has set before us and request your continued prayers for our growth!

Classes start this week for both of us! We are actually pretty excited about this. Brian is taking another full load of 12 credits and he has already started working ahead. I am taking two more wives classes--the first 6 weeks will be Cross-Cultural Ministry (super excited about this because it is taught by the wife of the dean of the missions school here on campus and former missionary) and the second 6 weeks will be Hospitality (I've heard this is good from others who have gone before me...but I'm interested to see how it goes)! I am also planning on sitting in on one of Brian's night classes with him...we'll see how long that lasts ;)

Well to wrap up this lengthy post, we'll leave you with a few pictures of our festivities throughout the last two months. If you've actually read all of this, count yourself loved because that was A LOT to fill you in on!

-AM