Him We Proclaim

I'll just go ahead and use the fact that we are now at 71% of our monthly support as the reason we haven't posted. With that being said, we've been blessed to see God work. We've gained 11 new partners and are praying for more as our campaign comes to a close soon...   When we were in Knoxville for a prayer conference, we had lunch one afternoon at Chick-fil-a. After receiving our yummy food, Patrick went up to the counter all by himself and asked "Can I please have some ice cream?" Jonathan, the lady at the counter, and I all laughed, and we went on our way to the play ground. About 20 minutes later, the lady came up to Patrick with a bowl of ice cream with sprinkles (I didn't know they had those at Chick-fil-a). I had Jonathan take a picture of Patrick with the ice cream he received by simply asking. It brought to mind the following Scripture:  If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be...

Happy Easter! We had a wonderful day celebrating our Risen King at church in the morning, and with family in the afternoon. It was a great time of reflection and worship. May the Savior ever give us eyes to see the depth of his unwavering love and the heights of its cost. -Jonathan, Maggie, and Patrick

I recently watched the following video and had great food for thought. Please watch the video below and know that Jeff Gordon (the driver) is a professional racecar driver. Also, sorry for all the bleeping. After watching this funny video, the car salesman's final remark stuck out to me, "Can we do it again?" This was coming from the man who freaked out during the whole ride. Why the sudden change of heart? Because he knew that he could trust Jeff Gordon in the midst of the crazy driving. Part of him probably knew that he would have enjoyed the thrill of the drive if he had felt secure with the knowledge that he could trust the driver. So true is this for our experience with God. If we forget that we can trust Him as the driver (and He has the track record to prove it) we're in the same boat as the salesman during the driver... we're scared out of our mind. But if we remember God's faithfulness and that we can trust Him, we're on the best and wilde...

This week we launched a campaign to find 35 new partners in 50 days. It is an endeavor lead by the Spirit and saturated in prayer. As you read this, would you pray right now that the Lord would bring these people into our path and onto the team of partners He has built?

On Sunday, I had the privileged of speaking to a group of students from Greater Atlanta Christian School (GAC) who leave on Friday for a short term missions trip to Ecuador. Of all places, they will be in the same general area where Jonathan lived when his family first moved there! I was really excited to speak to this group of students because it was 9 years ago on a missions trip to the Czech Republic with GAC that  I sensed the Lord leading me into missions. It was that trip that launched the journey of God giving me a heart for the Nations and for me to anxiously wait for where He would lead me.Presently, I am eager to be serving the students of the International Youth Group where Jonathan and I strongly feel is where the Lord desires for us to be. I shared with the students my journey into missions and challenged them to pray that the Lord would use this trip to speak to them and give them direction into the future. We talked about Ephesia...

Recently I've had very short nights of sleep. There's some inner drive that keeps me up at night working on getting to Costa Rica. When Patrick falls asleep I am able to work with much less distraction, and I guess I just go on auto pilot. All of a sudden 8:30 becomes 11:00! I think to myself, just a minute more. Next thing I know, 11:45. Oh yeah, and I have to get up at 4:30 to open at Starbucks. I'm really grateful that The Lord gives this to me. It's a much better option than being stuck in a rut and not wanting to do anything. But I have to be careful to schedule in times or days of rest. Otherwise, I get burnt out surprisingly fast. If I go a week or two without time of rest and refocus, I crash. It reminds me of my utter reliance on Christ. I can't do anything, even take a breathe, without him sustaining every moment of it. And at the same time, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. I hope I never lose sight of this. I fear that if I ever ...

It's strange to think that we started the journey to go to Cost Rica 2 years ago.  Two years ago we started seriously praying about applying to work with the AMCA youth group. We were out of school just over a year, married 11 months, Patrick wasn't born yet, and we were living a cute duplex with a roof shaped like that of a caboose.  And then we prayed. We left promising jobs. Sold our stuff. Moved in with friends (and later family).  Two years is a long time when it's 2/3rds of your life outside of school. Where does the time go? Two years spent trying to live a dream that was given to me and has become my own.  Of those 24 months, we've lived in our own place for 8. Newly married with a child. What were we thinking? Has it been worth it? Heck Yeah