Some time for Reflection...

When I was single and working in New York, I was so diligent about emailing people about all that was going all and all that God was teaching me. I would email every week almost. I have realized that I have been bad about that as we have been in Oswego. In the beginning we sent out newsletters, but we have badly fallen behind. But, it is not because God hasn't been teaching us and doing amazing things in our midst. Quite the opposite! We have been learning to trust God for so many things and He has kept us quite "busy" with the ministry and people here. Most of our friends and family get to here some of the updates, but I wanted to share more intimately.

God has been sooooo good to us! Do we struggle sometimes, YES! of course we do. We are human after all. There are some things about living in a small town with no couples are age that leave us feeling like we are doing this alone. But God has provided for us and blessed us in ways that we are still finding out! We can't help but praise Him. We are learning to trust Him anew. Austin and I get the joy of spending lots of time together, but we have also had to learn to minister alongside one another in away that most couples never do. We have our differences of opinions at times, but I have been so blessed to have a husband who loves me and respects my opinions as much as I do his. We have had to learn to put aside ourselves to serve each other and the others around us. We are still learning, but God is a faithful and patient teacher. We both realize that we will probably never ever have this type of opportunity again, so starting off our marriage this way has been so fun!

The Outpouring Church struggled to find its place our first semester, but since the spring we have seen God truly outpour His Spirit among these people in this place. People are responding to God's call, so thanks to the faithful among you who pray for us and our ministry. We have seen many of the students raise up into leaders who are willing to learn and grow from us and with us. This church is seen as an experiment to many, and if it is, I think that we have found something that works! But I think it is more that God is at work and He is bringing people to himself. We have seen 3 students baptized and several come to Christ. The church is averaging around 50 to 60 people! We were given favor with the campus and they let us use this state of the art auditorium to meet in every week for our worship service. Since we moved our service to noon on Sundays, we tend to have less students "sleeping in"! Austin and I are both ecstatic every Sunday morning to get up and see what God is going to do that day. We love getting to meet with students one-on-one and hear there hearts and also to share the gospel. We have gotten to build amazing relationships! This summer we will continue to meet with the group of about 20 or so who will be around for the summer. We will still have small group Bible studies and worship on Sunday. Pray that God uses this time of less busyness to build up the leaders and help us refocus the vision.

Another huge prayer request for Austin and I is that we are in the midst of waiting. God has been speaking to us all semester about obedience and following after Him. Before school began this January, we attended a service at a local evangelical church. During the sermon, the pastor talked about being ready for God to move you wherever he chooses. Austin and I were both deeply impacted by the message and felt it was speaking to us, but had no earthly idea what it was saying to us. So we went about the next few months when we received a phone call from the Pentagon. A Chaplain manager told Austin that he really needed to think about putting in a packet and that they would not give him a practicum (training time in the summer). We were kind of taken back and Austin felt surely that they would not accept him yet into the chaplaincy. We were under the belief that we had to do two years of post-seminary ministry to qualify. We prayed and called the North American Mission Board. Our contact there said he would get back to us and after several more conversations told Austin he believed he was ready and qualified to put in a packet.

Whoa! God? What? Is this from you? We discussed and prayed and discussed and prayed...What were we to do? According to our NAMB title we were "committed" here for 2 years. Things were going so well and we had plans already for the second year. Then God brought the earlier message from the local pastor to our minds. After much deliberation, we felt called to at least put in our packet and see what would happen. We talked with our mentors and supervisors about this. And although sad, were supportive. We talked with our student leaders, sad, but also very supportive. We were confident, after acting quickly, that we would know something by May 6th, just in time for the end of school...but no still waiting. We are in this holding pattern, but we are learning to trust God in this and believe in His sovereignty. We are both committed individuals so it is hard to say we are leaving early. But we also believe we are just a piece of God's puzzle that He is using to reach Oswego. We don't believe our service was in vain. We have to trust Him! I think about when the disciples were there with Jesus after many "followers" had abandoned Him and He asks them, "Do you want to leave too?" And Peter replies, "Where would we go?" That is how I feel. I can't go anywhere else except where God wants and calls. There is no where else to go! Please pray for us during this transition time and I will keep you updated. Sorry for the long post!!