'Tis the Season

I hope you’re all doing well this Christmas season. I just wanted to write you as we wrap up the semester here in Trek-X. It’s been a semester full of surprises.

For starters, I want to thank all of you for your prayers. Without prayer warriors and the help of the Holy Spirit, I could by no means survive this amazing journey the Lord has given me. I know many of you have been praying for the second half of Trek-X, which will be spent overseas, and many of you have asked me over the past few months exactly where I’ll be those two years. So, with much excitement I want to announce that Josh, Monica, and I will be moving to… 

                                                                  The Philippines!!!

It is so clear that God alone has orchestrated our lives up until this point preparing us for the Philippines. Their culture seems to be very similar to Burmese culture. Praise God He’s given us lots of Burmese friends and many hours we’ve been able to spend with them here in Nashville. It also just so happens that our partner in the Philippines, Barry Philips, has been praying for more missionaries. He already has a couple of dorms/apartments just waiting for believers to live in them! Praise God for answering Barry’s prayers. The Lord has certainly opened the door. So as of now, we will begin walking toward that door and Lord willing we will move at the end of next summer. We’ve already been communicating back and forth with Barry concerning the ministry in Aurora Province as well as about what kind of things we should bring when we come. I can hardly wait to be there! So again, thank you for your prayers and please continue to pray that our Father will prepare us for the next few months leading up to our move and especially for our lives in the Philippines. Check out www.lifttheburden.org to see more of the ministry already happening in the Philippines.

Many of you may know I’ve joked about school being “the thorn in my side” for the past year and a half. This is obviously an exaggeration, but I am pleased to say that I have completed one more semester and only have one more left! I really must admit that I enjoyed my classes this semester and really sought to learn for the sake of knowledge, not just to get a good grade. Nevertheless, please join me in praying that the Lord will give me the endurance and diligence to finish strong. Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ. Colossians 3:23-24

 Lastly, I am very excited to announce that Josh and I have set a wedding date! We will be getting married June 2, 2012 in Corinth. Since I finished up school last week, I have been hitting the planning pretty hard (and enjoying every minute of it!). Josh and I would appreciate your prayers for us as we plan the celebration of our marriage. We desire for it to be an amazing celebration of our Savior. Marriage really is a picture of Christ and His bride, the church. And we want to celebrate that with our friends and family. But, we also want to be good stewards of the money the Lord has given. I ask you to pray for wisdom for us, as we will be making a lot of decisions over the Christmas holidays. Also, for any of you recent brides out there, I’m wide open for suggestions and tips! Thank the Lord for Pinterest!  (www.pinterest.com)

I want to wish you all a Merry Christmas! I love this time of year. As we celebrate the coming of Christ and ponder in our hearts the salvation that he brings, I am trying not to get wrapped up in the glitz and glamour of our world. Instead, I hope to see Christ in all things this holiday season. He is the light of the world. I want to give because of what I’ve been given. I want to enjoy the community and fellowship that comes with all the sweet eats. The Lord changes the seasons and turns the warm to cold. Songs about our Savior’s birth are joyful and offer peace. I could go on and on. It all points to Him. And as I pray for the many people I know who struggle through this holiday because of wounds that it often opens back up, I hope that they will see Christ through the midst of it all. And hallelujah- it doesn’t end with His first coming. He lived sinless, He died, He was raised, and He’s coming again! This calls for celebration! Merry Christmas, friends.

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Isaiah 9:6