Saying yes

T-minus 1 1/2 weeks until we pack and load our things and start our journey south.  

When Shawn first got the phone call in March of 2015 asking us to pray about taking the job and relocating our family to Texas, both of our initial reactions were to say yes.  Although I never pictured myself living anywhere but the midwest, one of Shawn’s deepest desires was to spend his days using his time, talent and treasure making an impact in God’s kingdom.  The leadership of Time to Revive had such a clear understanding of Shawn’s strengths.  I was deeply humbled to listen to them talk about his giftedness with so much understanding of who he is as a man. I know how hard he works, how much he loves people and how deeply he desires to serve God with his life.  I didn’t expect a tiny ministry from Texas to know those things about him too! For me, that phone call gently reminded me that God has plans for my life that I have never even thought of or considered.  For Shawn, that call was confirmation of all he had been longing to do.  

We wanted to say yes, but my excitement quickly turned into lots of questions.  As I started asking those questions and praying through the answers (or in many cases, lack of answers), I became hesitant.  I knew that God had big plans for Shawn and for our family but it really didn’t seem like this move to Texas was part of those plans.  One phone call didn’t seem like a substantial enough reason to quit our jobs and relocate our family. 

Someday I’ll let you in on the 9 months it took for us to say yes to this job.  But for now, that time and those emotions are a little too close to home to write about in a productive way.  You can know that in the process of praying, talking, seeking wise counsel and praying some more,  there were a handful of days when this seemed like a sure thing.  But more often than not, I wanted to hang a large sign in front of my house that said ‘NO WAY!’.  

In the end, we said yes because we want to be the kind of people who love God more than we love ourselves. Shawn is going to be working every single day to unite the church and introduce people to who Jesus really is.  We serve a God who loves us deeply and we want others to know and experience that love.