Lyrics to a song that is quickly becoming our anthem. United Pursuit Band, many of you are probably familiar with, came out with this song on a live album they produced last year- and has grounded us over the past few weeks.
"I'll lean not on my own understanding,
my life is in the hands of the Maker of Heaven...
I'll give it all to you God, trusting that You'll make something Beautiful out of me.
I will climb this mountain with my hands wide open..."
Thanks UPB for allowing the Lord to set a vision before us through your community of worship.
It is now Friday night, and we are still trusting the Lord to bring in the last bit of our financial support. We will keep you updated as He provides...( and He always does).
In the process, we will climb the mountain that God has set before us according to His strength and ability- with our hands wide open to His promises and presence. Come with us!
17.2.11
Jehovah Jireh
Our Provider...
wow. Here we are, some 7 months after joining staff and having our world flipped upside down. Hearing the call to Denver, Colorado to work with Latino college students was a distant dream back in July. Now, the day it becomes a reality is rapidly approaching. We began praying last week to be finished with our initial support raising process by Friday (yes, tomorrow). We sensed God drawing us toward a date that we would pray for His provision to be accomplished by, and that day was tomorrow. The Lord has been our truth this week, communicating and affirming His promises to us despite our drastically inconsistent emotions. He continues to press into us His steadfast love and faithfulness, as He "binds it around our necks, writing them on the tablets of our hearts." He will provide. We can see the finish line. Only 3-4 percent left to raise, and we will be calling U-Haul hoping for the cheapest rate for a cross-country haul. ;)
We are so thankful that the Lord has been building this house (both of spiritual and financial depth). He will not allow for us to work in vain as long as He is holding the hammer. Our foundation is the Rock, Jesus. Praise Him for being the cornerstone that we will always look to and find our stability.
Let me speak some of the words of our Rock over you, as He has done for me over the past few days...
"When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion, we were like those who dreamed.
Then our mouth was filled with laughter, and our tongue with shouts of joy;
then they said among the nations,
"The LORD has done great things for them."
The Lord has done great things for us; we are glad! " [ psalm 126:1-3]
"Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain. Unless the LORD watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain..." [ Psalm 127:1]
and the verses that He constantly brings me back to,
"Thus says the LORD,
Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength,
whose heart turns away from the LORD.
He is like a shrub in the desert, and shall not see any good come.
He shall dwell in the parched places of the wilderness, in an uninhabited salt land.
Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose trust is the LORD.
He is like a stream planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream,
and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green,
and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit....
The heart is decietful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?
' I, the Lord, search the heart and test the mind, to give every man according to his ways,
according to the fruit of his deeds.' " [jeremiah 17: 5-8]
Our hearts will fail us, giving way to not trusting in the Rock as the provider, but the Lord is the strength of our heart and our portion forever. I am so thankful to be journeying with Jesus in this, and with my sweet husband. We pray that God will continue to teach us as he has in this process. We know He will.
Pray for us over the next few days as we trust God to raise the last bit of support and then head to Denver to see what He has prepared.
A&K
wow. Here we are, some 7 months after joining staff and having our world flipped upside down. Hearing the call to Denver, Colorado to work with Latino college students was a distant dream back in July. Now, the day it becomes a reality is rapidly approaching. We began praying last week to be finished with our initial support raising process by Friday (yes, tomorrow). We sensed God drawing us toward a date that we would pray for His provision to be accomplished by, and that day was tomorrow. The Lord has been our truth this week, communicating and affirming His promises to us despite our drastically inconsistent emotions. He continues to press into us His steadfast love and faithfulness, as He "binds it around our necks, writing them on the tablets of our hearts." He will provide. We can see the finish line. Only 3-4 percent left to raise, and we will be calling U-Haul hoping for the cheapest rate for a cross-country haul. ;)
We are so thankful that the Lord has been building this house (both of spiritual and financial depth). He will not allow for us to work in vain as long as He is holding the hammer. Our foundation is the Rock, Jesus. Praise Him for being the cornerstone that we will always look to and find our stability.
Let me speak some of the words of our Rock over you, as He has done for me over the past few days...
"When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion, we were like those who dreamed.
Then our mouth was filled with laughter, and our tongue with shouts of joy;
then they said among the nations,
"The LORD has done great things for them."
The Lord has done great things for us; we are glad! " [ psalm 126:1-3]
"Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain. Unless the LORD watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain..." [ Psalm 127:1]
and the verses that He constantly brings me back to,
"Thus says the LORD,
Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength,
whose heart turns away from the LORD.
He is like a shrub in the desert, and shall not see any good come.
He shall dwell in the parched places of the wilderness, in an uninhabited salt land.
Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose trust is the LORD.
He is like a stream planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream,
and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green,
and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit....
The heart is decietful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?
' I, the Lord, search the heart and test the mind, to give every man according to his ways,
according to the fruit of his deeds.' " [jeremiah 17: 5-8]
Our hearts will fail us, giving way to not trusting in the Rock as the provider, but the Lord is the strength of our heart and our portion forever. I am so thankful to be journeying with Jesus in this, and with my sweet husband. We pray that God will continue to teach us as he has in this process. We know He will.
Pray for us over the next few days as we trust God to raise the last bit of support and then head to Denver to see what He has prepared.
A&K
23.1.11
Back to Tennessee tomorrow...
"We are always in transition. Never stable. And fighting with God." I (kayla) love my husband's transparency during what could be a time where we just run away and hide. Don't get us wrong, life is rich right now. We are learning some incredible things, and we laugh often. Yet, our life certainly is not what we would call "typical."
But if you could follow the God that created you and interacts with you intimately to forsake "typical", would you?
We kind of laugh, because we didn't really have any other option. Jesus is the only real person to follow in life- and He has led us on this adventure. We are just holding on to seats. Learning to trust God in the process often looks like wrestling, thus the "fighting with God" bit.
We think we might be moving to Denver soon. We are so excited that an opportunity has arisen for us to rent out a friend's apartment in the city. Our directors (chad and bekah- we love them!) have graciously offered for us to move in there while they attempt to sell it. We think this will allow us some time to get to know the city, and then make a better decision on where we want to be for the longer haul. Speaking of Haul...we will be driving a U-Haul with my (kayla) mother and aunt when we take the long trek across the country. It will be A HOOT! The four of us, 1 car, 1 u-haul, and what will probably be a million stories (that we will either want to share or want to hide by the end of the trip). We are so looking forward to it when the day comes!
We are currently in Fort Worth, Texas doing some support raising in Austin's hometown for the week. It has been an amazing time to this point. We have had some VERY significant conversations with people here; mostly family (thanks, Kim, Kelly, and Paula!!! We love you!) and we couldn't be more grateful. The Lord has also put us into partnerships with some new families here in town. We are blown away at his provision- and these people are so cool.
We'll be heading back to Knoxville tomorrow (monday) for what will hopefully be one of the last legs of our initial support raising process. We just have a little bit more to raise, yahoo!
We look forward to being back around family in Knoxville, and will certainly miss Austin's side here in Texas. We know that this is probably the beginning of the "see you laters" as we look toward packing up the U-Haul. I know the Lord will provide as He always does. He is so gentle and powerful. Praise be to the God we serve.
P.s. We just got back from the Destino National Conference and decided that we should allot an entire blog entry just to that once we can get the pictures up and running. So, hang tight! ;)
But if you could follow the God that created you and interacts with you intimately to forsake "typical", would you?
We kind of laugh, because we didn't really have any other option. Jesus is the only real person to follow in life- and He has led us on this adventure. We are just holding on to seats. Learning to trust God in the process often looks like wrestling, thus the "fighting with God" bit.
We think we might be moving to Denver soon. We are so excited that an opportunity has arisen for us to rent out a friend's apartment in the city. Our directors (chad and bekah- we love them!) have graciously offered for us to move in there while they attempt to sell it. We think this will allow us some time to get to know the city, and then make a better decision on where we want to be for the longer haul. Speaking of Haul...we will be driving a U-Haul with my (kayla) mother and aunt when we take the long trek across the country. It will be A HOOT! The four of us, 1 car, 1 u-haul, and what will probably be a million stories (that we will either want to share or want to hide by the end of the trip). We are so looking forward to it when the day comes!
We are currently in Fort Worth, Texas doing some support raising in Austin's hometown for the week. It has been an amazing time to this point. We have had some VERY significant conversations with people here; mostly family (thanks, Kim, Kelly, and Paula!!! We love you!) and we couldn't be more grateful. The Lord has also put us into partnerships with some new families here in town. We are blown away at his provision- and these people are so cool.
We'll be heading back to Knoxville tomorrow (monday) for what will hopefully be one of the last legs of our initial support raising process. We just have a little bit more to raise, yahoo!
We look forward to being back around family in Knoxville, and will certainly miss Austin's side here in Texas. We know that this is probably the beginning of the "see you laters" as we look toward packing up the U-Haul. I know the Lord will provide as He always does. He is so gentle and powerful. Praise be to the God we serve.
P.s. We just got back from the Destino National Conference and decided that we should allot an entire blog entry just to that once we can get the pictures up and running. So, hang tight! ;)
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