Fresh...New...Exciting!!

This weekend I visited my in-laws in Arkansas.  They were doing a "conference" in their community called IMPACT.  My FIL is a pastor who has literally travelled all over the country..lol.  I am so inspired by his and my MIL's desire to just reach people.  I watch him preach and I see his passion to just love on people...to just reach one...it's an amazing thing.  I watch him and then I watch Ryan....then I watch Tim, Ryan's brother.  I watch them lead out and I watch prayers being answered from so long ago....I can't even describe every single thing....the excitement is just so great within me that this is probably sounding seriously all over the place...so, let me go back....

When I met Ryan he and his family lived here in Nederland (actually they were living in Beauxart Gardens....David was pastor of FBC Beauxart Gardens...but anyway...).  Tim was 5 years old and cute but to us, as teenagers, he was just an annoying little brother...lol.  Things happened and David left FBC Beauxart Gardens for Wicks Lane Baptist Church, Billings, Montana....quite a move, right?  They actually pulled out of Nederland the day after our high school graduation....very sad for Ryan, but he was determined to stay here with me.  Looking back I see how selfish I was for desiring him to stay for "me".   (Me, Me, Me...oooo...this is selfish!!!)  Anyway, we rocked along for the summer and Ryan decided that he needed to move to Montana to be with his family and as I saw God move I decided this would be best too.  I leaned on my friends at this time...more than they know (I don't know what I would have done without you, Jo...you were a rock for me...don't know if you knew that or not.  I should've told you).  This was a difficult time for me but God began showing me that I was NOT in His perfect will for my life...I was putting Ryan on a pedestal instead of God and making idols and worshipping them instead of the One, True, Pure God.  I've already talked a little about this in a previous post so I won't go into it further, but God changed me in those nine months that Ryan was gone.  I missed him, of course, and desired to have him here with me (which, I think, was ok because we both knew that we were gonna be together for forever....marriage was already a given for us, even though we weren't engaged yet).  We have now been married for 10 years and each day God reveals a new avenue of ministry to each of us.

Well, about 4 years ago our youth minister left our church to head to Florida to begin a new ministry there called "Immersed".  I was excited for him to fill me in on what he would be doing and how it worked.  It was so cool because about a month after he moved I began to feel God's pulling for me to do something.  Hmmm...I began to mull on this for a while.  Do what, exactly?  Well, that hasn't been revealed yet....fully anyway.  I talked with Ryan's mom a little about what I believed God was doing in my life.  I questioned her about how she knew that David would be a pastor (he had been many things in his past ministry life...i.e. youth minister, outreach, etc.) and she said these words to me:  "You know, sometimes God will call the wife before he will call the husband."  Whoa!!  What?  

She went on to explain to me that God began to deal with her before he ever called David to full-time pastoral ministry.  My MIL is really a wise woman...full of knowledge of scripture and wisdom that I wasn't aware that she possessed.  She explained that women usually have more of a tendency to hold on to family or whatever and God usually has to prepare her to "let go" before he will begin dealing with the husband.  This makes sense to me....not that this is ALWAYS the case, but I totally understood that.

Anyway, I began to pray.  God, what do you want for us to do?  How do you want us to serve?  What is it that you want me to do?  The only response I ever got was, "Wait.  I'm not ready to reveal it to you yet.  But, are you willing?"

"Yes, Lord.  I'm willing."

Back to now....I watch my husband speak.  I watch him speak with passion.  I watch him as he teaches from scripture.  I watch him capture audiences.  It is truly incredible.  He teaches IMPRINT (our Thursday night college worship service), I watch him teach Coffee House (our Sunday night college Bible Study), and I watched this weekend as he taught at IMPACT (Arkansas).  It was so......WOW.  How else can I describe it?  (**do not misunderstand...God has NOT called Ryan to ministry....this is just the view from my end.  I am still in prayer)

Tim has started a band with some friends called Marionette (I don't understand the name exactly...lol...but, they are really good).  I watched him and listened to him play and sing.  I was afforded an opportunity to sing with them and I just had a blast hanging out and singing and worshiping along with them.  It was truly awesome.  

Slowly...God is showing me what it is that He is preparing us for.  What exactly???  Hmmm.....still a little fuzzy (and I'm not quite sure I want to share ALL the details..lol), but it's definitely coming into focus.  I don't press, I don't ask, I don't pry.  God will be the one to work all that out.  It's like my FIL said to me this weekend....tears in his eyes "It's just an answer to prayers...Ryan, Tim, and now you....I just couldn't ask for any other blessing.  I'm so...**tears**"

At this point I don't know what it is that God has in store.  I am completely open to just whatever.  I am excited!!  I feel fresh and new and just recharged from the previous weekend.  Just what I needed.  

Sooo....I ask this:    What is God up to?