Yes Man

Ten years ago, I discovered the Christian author Jennie Allen and she has been changing my life since. A decade ago, I read the book Anything which says we should be willing to do anything for God. Deep in my soul, I just wanted to do big things for Jesus. Abigail had just been born, I was working in the preschool at church and teaching piano at Spring Arbor, but I wanted to do something bigger. Then Allen put out the book Restless which is a follow-up to Anything which, to me said: sometimes "anything" is raising a family, but I didn't believe this was true for our lives. Feeling this pull towards something more, I had no idea where to look or what to do, so I kept on living just as I had been.

Then about 4 years ago, I heard a quote by Jennie Allen that said; "I don't want to get to heaven and have God ask me why I didn't do more." In that moment, that is when I decided that I would say 'yes' to everything. So the journey began and it happened quickly. Shawn and I signed up for a membership class at our church where we learned about our Spiritual Gifts (Shawn's gifts are in leadership and shepherding and mine are in pastoring and missions.) I began teaching Sunday School and then was asked to lead the Women's Ministry at our church. Also within that time, I joined two committees at church and we started Small Group at our house. This all happened in about six months time and I just knew God was preparing us for something.

Slowly God began revealing mission work little by little. I decided to go to a Leadership Conference and the stories of ministry overseas broke my heart and this is when I knew that God wanted us to be missionaries. There are so many more details that have led us here and as we continue this journey, we can see how God is working to prepare us and surround us with prayerful people.

What I have learned over the last decade is saying 'yes' is exhausting. (This is 50% a joke), but saying 'yes' to God's will is fulfilling and being surrounded by others who want to live for Christ is comforting, and having people pray for you is one of the best things to have in life. Looking back on my life, I see how God has worked every step of the way and each new step I will take has already been carefully placed to bring until, one day, I am home.

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