Hi friends!
I’m currently sitting in the back of my parents’ car, with Greg beside me, and my parents in the front seat, driving down to Atlanta for our last few days of training before heading out on our World Race! It’s crazy to think that this day has finally come, after so many months of preparation and spending the past few weeks saying our goodbyes to family and friends for the year.
A lot has been going through my mind lately, but I’ve been constantly reminded to completely trust the Lord in this new chapter for us, and His faithfulness throughout our lives has been so apparent after doing some reflecting lately.
One part of our story that stands out was back when we got married in May 2015 and moved to Richmond. After spending a lot of time in prayer, Greg and I had a peace about moving to Richmond and knew that God was calling us there for our newlywed chapter. People told us that it wasn’t a smart or safe choice, since we were both quitting our jobs in Washington, DC and Atlanta to move there, and we didn’t have anything lined up for us when we got there. But we knew where God was leading and we were trusting that He would show up. He did show up in big ways, and we saw His faithfulness and provision for us throughout our whole move to Richmond — just a few examples include Him leading us to the perfect apartment, an amazing church and community, and such wonderful jobs for each of us — and our marriage has thrived from trusting God and putting Him at the center of our relationship.
I’m sharing this story with you all because I believe that our stories are testimonies to the Lord and His Faithfulness. Our stories reflect His greater story.
When we leave our safety nets behind, and fully trust God in the calling He has for us, that is when we can live full, abundant lives in Him. This is where He gets the greatest glory!
Like the author Francis Chan says, “God doesn’t call us to be comfortable. He calls us to trust Him so completely that we are unafraid to put ourselves in situations where we will be in trouble if He doesn’t come through.”
I know that it’s counter-cultural to want to live a life that is marked by being uncomfortable, a life that is risky and where your decisions are not based around safety or ease. But the way Jesus lived was counter-cultural, and I want to follow his example in everything I do.
In these next 11 months, there will be a lot of unknowns for us and many opportunities where we will feel way out of our comfort zone. I pray that we really press into those instances and approach these times with boldness! That we embrace the unknown and fully trust where God is calling us to each day!
We may not know God’s plan for the next year or how He is going to use us, but we know that He will use our stories to bring Himself glory. The better news is that He uses everything, every trial and heartache, every victory and praise. Since we know that He will use everything in our lives to glorify Him, we must be ready at every opportunity. Ready to get up and go.
As we have just a few more days in Atlanta before leaving the country, the song in my heart right now is River by Josh René. The lyrics say “Take me out to the middle of the river, I want to drown in the good ol’ river of Your love.”
I love the imagery here, because when I think about the middle of a river, I see mighty, rushing water, a place that is not seen as a calm, stable, safe place. I pray that this year, Greg and I would have the boldness to step out into that river, the place that might not be viewed as safe and comfortable, but where we can be right smack dab in the middle of His mighty, rushing love. Because drowning in the middle of the river of His love is so much better then being off to the side on the shore, with just the tip of our toes in the water. We are all in. We want all that He has for us this year, and we want to show everyone that we meet the power of His mighty love — a love that brings freedom, truth, light, and all encompassing joy and fulfillment.
Grace & Peace,
Alyssa
Ministry Update:
Our first month of ministry will be in Bali, Indonesia! We will be working with an English speaking church there that has an English service every Sunday at 11am. Our team of 6 will be staying in our tents in a room at the pastor’s home for the month and our food will come from traditional, local markets and we will prepare our meals in the pastor’s home kitchen. This ministry partner has been doing a lot of outreach and church planting, which we could be helping with, and the previous team that was working here helped out with the refugee camps from northeastern Bali, Sunday service, leading small groups, teaching English, outreach, and Bible studies. We could also be helping with any/all of these things for our ministry this month. Please pray for our team and ministry partner in Bali as we meet him next week and come together to do the Lord’s work!
