The Miracle of Mason

Friday, we celebrated Robin and Christian's son, Mason's, first birthday!  As if a sweet baby turning one is not enough to celebrate, it was also a time for us to look back as a spiritual family on one of the biggest ways we've seen God's provision and intervention in this last year.  If you are looking for hope, for trust that God is big enough or in control, or if you just want a little look into a major stone of remembrance for us as a house church, take the time to click the picture below and listen to this podcast!

Praise God!  He is Gracious, Powerful, Sovereign and Compassionate.  He cares for those in need and He knows our hearts.

He knows everything inside and out... and He is good.  Isaiah 40.

We Want to See Jesus Lifted High

This is one of our house church's favorite songs... and it is the prayer in my heart right now!  Jesus is so good and faithful and in the midst of watching friends and loved ones transition and trying to transition myself, I can't help but be struck by God's faithfulness and sovereignty.  He is so gracious to let us know Him, and He really is our security!


Tuesday, we had the privilege of hearing from a few of our interns in chapel, and I'm so thankful for their boldness and willingness to share with the OMS community about what God has been teaching them this summer... whether it was His faithfulness, our frailty or His goodness in the midst of crisis, these women had open hearts and I'm so proud of them for their transparency and desire to let God grow and shape their hearts.


Thursday, we went to the Refuge, a local food and clothing shelter where the interns and I have been volunteering this summer.  It was so good!  What an encouragement to see the impact these women have made even in just this short few weeks they've had in Greenwood.  They are so great at jumping in and helping wherever and the staff at the Refuge so appreciates them.


Heather, one of the client's I met during a previous visit, dropped by to pick up some school supplies for her daughter, and I was so thankful to see her.  We talked until the staff turned the lights out on us and then we prayed.  She is a beautiful woman in need of boundaries and security in her life.  Would you pray for wisdom for her and for Jesus to open her heart to Him?  Would you pray for me that God would root me more deeply in His Gospel and that I would know and communicate His character for what it really is and not just what I want it to be?


Our house church has started meeting in a hotel that has become a home to a lot of low-income families that are without a place to live.  It has been a beautiful opportunity to get to know the people there and eat, pray and cry with them and love on their kids.  Sunday, I had the huge blessing of praying and listening while my friend Christian shared the Gospel with a sweet family, Pete, Courtney and Skyla who had just arrived at the hotel a few days ago... and I just found myself wanting to know Jesus more and be equipped more to share who He is.  Would you pray for Pete and Courtney, whom we'll be seeing again tonight?


Throughout this week, I've been thinking about old blogposts and times I've asked you to pray in the last few months for my restlessness and processing how the things God had been teaching me could fit into action here, this week was such a beautiful answer to prayer and so nourishing-- thank you for praying!


Finally, I just want to thank you so much for your prayers for our intern program.  It is only because of Jesus and your prayers that there has been fruit from this program.  Thank you for praying for them-- God is so faithful and good.  It has been hard to say goodbye to them and other dear friends this week, but I know the tears are really just an answer to our prayers for deep community during their time here.


This weekend, I'll be sharing at retreat for high school girls in Bloomington!  Would you pray over their time Friday and Saturday?  Would you pray for me as I prepare for the session I'm leading on Saturday?


We want to see Jesus lifted high!

OMS Reunion Pics

I'm going to have to set aside more time to blog- because there are a lot of exciting things happening and you all are a part of it!  I've written a little about our OMS Family Reunion/ 110th Anniversary- now here are some pics!  Above is a picture of most of our summer interns- it has been so great to get to know them and I can't believe the first two will be leaving this week!  Thanks to those of you who have been praying over them and me as I've been leading them this summer.  We were lucky to get some time away with Bette Crouse, whose husband is OMS' former president!  She had great stories and wisdom to share with us!  Bette is on the far left, and next to her is my friend and co-worker Cat, who's funding to join the Mobilization department at HQ!

Bette and Dawn, my sweet friend and our director of Mobilization's wife.

There were a lot of people at the reunion... over 300 missionaries gathered from the US and around the world to worship, learn and deepen community together!

Paul, Cat and I were in a skit the first day to share about OMS History.

Kids at the reunion

Our interns were an awesome help with the kids program and skits!

Amanda, Megan and Sarah rocking the skits!

 Hillary is our Mobilization intern and Jody is serving in Hope61

Emily is serving in Communications

Brianna's family serves in Haiti, Tiffy's family at HQ

Jessica, Cat and I got to know Tania and Sergii during lunch one day.  Tania's from Australia and Sergii's from Ukraine, where they now serve with their three kids.  They're going through CROSS Training as a family right now, so be praying for their prep for the field.

Bruce Bennett, director of OMS South Africa, shared about the Into Africa Project and the thousands of churches being planted throughout the continent!

 Travis is our CFO and Patrick directs eXtreme Walk!

Robin!

Cookout on OMS Campus

Emily is serious about cornhole

Another update is coming soon!!!  In the meantime, join me in praising and thanking God for this nourishing time during the reunion!  I am always so happy to hear what is going on with you, too!

110

Tonight, Jesus met with us as we celebrated the 110th anniversary of One Mission Society.  He is so good!   Beth Kinlaw Coppedge spoke, starting by reading excerpts from 2 Corinthians 4-6.  Then, she asked God to come and take over the time, to speak to us "nose-to-nose and face-to-face" and to speak to us and teach us by name and individually instead of in general. She asked Jesus to come not as our guest but as our host, and as she prayed, I could tell... this woman loves Jesus.

Praise God, through her, His Word penetrated my heart, and seemingly the hearts of many others there, and brought me to tears before she was even a quarter of the way through.  My heart had been hungry for this teaching, and as she spoke, sharing about a desire for fresh healing, wisdom and annointing, I found myself yearning for it, too.

OMS is an organization that has a Wesleyan/Holiness background, and so, our speakers have been focusing on holiness and sanctification- some of which I can have a hard time sorting out or resting in... but tonight we digested the fact that Jesus wants all of us and he wants 100 percent-- why?  So that He can dwell in us, and so we don't go reproducing who we are but instead who He is.

What a great time processing with the Lord about sanctification and His transforming power.  His power to transform our hearts, mind, desires and even our belief in the lie that things can never be different.

A couple of weeks ago, a friend shared with me about being encouraged by the fact that we are not to temper or balance truth and emotions by reigning either in, but instead God calls us to be fully invested both in truth and an emotional relationship with Him.  Last night was a great example of that for me.


I don't think I've ever heard a woman speak with such power, while maintaining such a sweet voice and tender spirit.  Beth shared that she was caught up in her own needs and fears when God told her,


"Give those to me and let me make you bigger than your coping mechanisms."


Whoa...  I don't know about you but I think that's good news!


I think the part that stood out most to me about all this was just the call to a love relationship with the Lord and a reminder that He is waiting for me to soak up His presence and spend time with Him in His word, and in the midst of serving him in full-time ministry, it is not a worker that he is looking for but a lover-- Wow, what a pointed reminder!  He cares more about us having the intimacy of the presence of Jesus than us being busy serving.

What a generous blessing tonight was!  I'm so thankful for the encouragement, depth and healing He provided for us tonight through His truth and presence.

I hope some of this translates and encourages you more than seeming like a whirlwind recap.  Thank you for those of you who read along and journey with me.  Thank you so much for those of you who pray as you read.  Please pray over the next two days of our Missionary Reunion/ 110th Anniversary.  May tonight just be the beginning of more deep moments with Him!

Hello, friends!

Hello, friends! It has been an exciting few weeks!! Thank you so much to those of you who have been praying over my transition to Mobilization. I'm loving it and have felt so supported by the headquarters staff in this   move :)


One of my favorite parts of this job so far is getting to sit down and pray with candidates and come alongside young women as they are seeking the Lord's leading in their lives!! What an exciting place to be... in a front row seat, watching God develop His people and reveal His next steps for them. It has been such a gift to get to host these candidates, and to get to know my new co-workers in our department!


This week, we had our first summer intern, Hillary arrive-- she did a great job! I'm looking forward to meeting the rest of the interns that we've been praying over and preparing for! Our director of Mobilization, Paul, and I have been preparing a summer program for the interns, so that they can have the opportunity to dig into spiritual formation and build community despite the fact that they are serving in different departments.


…And in the time since I started writing this a week ago (shame on me), four more interns have arrived and there’s been a Hispanic marriage retreat at headquarters where I served alongside some dear friends that coordinated the weekend.


Needless to say it has been a busy time, but God has been doing exciting things. I’ve been reading Ephesians recently, which started a couple of weeks ago when I found myself clinging to Ephesians 4… boy did I need to hear all of it: a call for unity in the body through compassion, yielding and forgiveness alongside the need to be rooted in Christ in the midst of the waves of life.


Would you be praying this over our team, house church, our interns, OMS and the couples that attended the marriage retreat? I will certainly be praying it over you… what a crazy time some seasons can be, but God is unmovable and unchanging and that’s one of the reasons I want to be more rooted in Him.


In a lot of ways, my heart still feels shaken up and unsettled since being in Africa. I feel a sense of urgency in my heart which I know could just be transition, but I also think it’s me struggling to see how the things I saw there and the truths I believe about wanting to radically follow the Lord fit in with the culture or life here—even within some Christian sub-cultures. This makes it a little hard to write recently, because even at times when the schedule has settled down, I haven’t. It has been more of a seeking and striving phase than one of conclusions. I’m still waiting to see where this change in perspective and desires fits exactly, but maybe that’s just how it’s supposed to be… because it requires dependence.


I guess that’s all for tonight---except that I’m finding myself overwhelming thankful for the good examples of disciples that Jesus has put in my life. What a blessing to live life with them and learn together.


Thank you for praying and for seeking Jesus and for being a part of my life through this team!