Today is our last day at North Woods. 9 years ago God laid this congregation of believers on our hearts. Today they are not simply a congregation but family. We were touched to see a video of baptisms that have happened at NWBC since that time. Almost half of our sanctuary was pictured in those clips...what a gift.
Last month when Christi and I shared it with the kiddos- Connor was strong, but what I saw in Ashley may have been her most beautiful moment. 13 years old- she has gone to elementary and now middle school with the same group of friends. She has people to whom she admires at church. Her band teacher has taught her to dream about the role of music in her life. She had it all planned out. In one moment playing HI/LO at the dinner table (each night we share our high and low of the day with one another) everything changed. When we shared the call that the Lord had placed on our hearts... at the same time she expressed sorrow, pain...and trust. As I watched her battle with what she felt and what she believed my heart broke and sang at the same time. What a godly young woman I have as a child. I couldn't be more proud.
Last night, we heard Connor in his room. The first tears were being shed by him. This was a surprise. Not the tears, but that these were the first. Today is our last day at North Woods, our house had a contract put on it last week, and we are talking about where we are gong to live. North Woods has been his home...maybe his world...for as long as he can remember. Two of his friends are getting baptized today. The most important people in his life...that he isn't related to...all dwell in the family at North Woods. His closest friends. What a blessing they have been. What a joy. Last night it set in...as I heard his quiet tears last night I called him to me. We sat prayed, talked, and shed a few tears together. He went to bed with a smile on his face. Although we are leaving his home to follow God into the unknown...there is a trust.
As a family we all have had it set in at different times...me on a drive, Christi at a conference. Yet the Lord has brought us all to the same place. A place of trust, not knowing exactly what God has laid before us, but certain that His will is good. His love is enduring. His calling is true. We are excited to go on this new journey and have already felt the love of Christ through many in Pearland.
2 Timothy 4:5 says, "But you be sober in everything, endure hardship, do the work of the evangelist, fulfill your ministry." This has been a verse of comfort through this time in our lives. I know all of these things lay behind and ahead, but God's greatest gifts thus far has been the way that He has spoken to each part of our family over the past couple of months. Our life is His...joyfully...He can have it all.
It has finally set in!
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