Saturday, June 5, 2010

Three Weeks Till Take Off...



Warmest Greetings,

Here at YWAM Montana, the SBS students and staff are are busily nearing the end of the 09/10 school year. The SBS Students graduate on June 26th. Justin and I have both finished teaching for the year, and are now busy planning end of the year activities for students, grading their final books, and most importantly using the time we have left to prepare students to take what they have spent nine months learning, and fly with it.

I have to admit that for various reasons, these past nine months have been some of the most difficult of mine and Justin's personal lives. It is hard, when you are going through difficult things personally, to know whether or not you are successful in your ministry. When things don't go as you expect, you begin to ask yourself questions like, "Is what I am doing making a difference? Am I doing enough to invest in the people God has brought to me? Will my students ever know how much I truly love them?

The answer to these questions, I am learning, is YES and the reason is because God is FAITHFUL. The following is a testimony of how God choose to remind me of that:

Each staff person is responsible for a small group of 2-5 students that we look after and meet with weekly throughout the year. Last Wednesday, my small group decided to bless me, so they surprised me by taking me out for my favorite dessert, and blessing me with words of affirmation and prayers. I cannot tell you how much it meant to me to hear these ladies say to me how much my influence has meant in their lives. I am blown away when I see how much these young women have grown since they first came here in September. Each of them has become a stronger women of God. They seem to have gained such a greater awareness of who they are; their identity in God and what that means for them as they are taking the next steps in their lives after SBS. God has done amazing things in them, and I am SO proud of them!

I do not say this to to make you think that I am somehow great, or deserve some kind of credit...because I don't, and I am not. My reason for sharing this, rather is to remind all of us, myself included of the INCREDIBLE faithfulness of God. Even when we feel inadequate or unprepared for that which he has called us to, God is faithful. Our calling is not about us! Rather, it's about God wanting to do something through us. Our job, is to obey him when he asks us to do something, whatever it is, no matter how out of control, or difficult life might seem, when we walk in obedience, He will fill in the gaps.

What an amazing breath of fresh air for me, to send out these amazing students, knowing that is will be the same with them. As we have been obedient to invest in them, God has been faithful to bring about his purposes for them in this season. Now, equipped with truth, and eager for what awaits them they are going forth to the places where God is calling them, and He is going to be faithful to use them just the same. Wherever they go he will fill in the gaps where they need it. He will use them to influence people all over the earth with the life transforming truth of God's love that they have just spent nine months soaking in.

As Justin and I prepare for parenthood, this same thought carries over. As much as we feel inadequate or unequipped to be parents, the fact is that God has called us to this. This is the next greatest call that God has placed on us, and if we are trusting him, and walking in obedience, it is HE who will be faithful to our daughter and future children. He will be faithful to fill in the gaps where we lack and bring about his beautiful plan for our children's lives.

This leads me to challenge you. What is the area of you life where God has called you? Is it right where you are currently such as your work? ministry? school? your family? Maybe it is somewhere new that he is leading you; some change that he is stirring in your life? We all struggle with fear, self doubt, busyness, distraction...but my encouragement to you is that God will fill in the gaps. Don't concentrate on where you lack, but rather where God is strong. Give yourself grace and know that God is going to be faithful to bring about his plans for your life. No matter how much you doubt yourself, remember that our job is not to have it all together, but to obey. If we all waited until we had it all together, The Kingdom of God would not be what it is today, and we would all miss out on the incredible opportunity we have as believers to aid in God's work of transforming lives.

Thank you to all of you who have been obedient to your call to invest in Justin and I through your prayers, encouragement and financial blessings. As you have walked in obedience, these students' lives have been changed. You have played a part in the many things that they will go on to do for the Kingdom of God throughout the world.

Prayer Points:
  • finances
  • healthy baby and mommy (baby will be here in 10 weeks)
  • we are still waiting to move- please pray that this process speeds up so that we can be settled in before baby comes
  • our marriage - please pray for strength and growth, especially with all the changes in the coming season
  • students- that they would finish strong, and also that God would provide for them and prepare them for the places they are going next
Our Plans for Summer/Next Year:

With a baby coming soon...we plan to spend July here in Montana. Since SBS doesn't run in the summer, we will help out logistically with other departments here on the YWAM base that continue to run in the summer time. The rest of our time will be spent preparing for baby, moving into our new home, and enjoying the beautiful Montana summer. August is when Baby comes, and also when staff training and preparation begins for the next SBS which we will be staffing. The next SBS starts in September.

Thanks for tuning in! We love you all so much!

In His grace,

Justin and Annie (& Baby Girl)