So here we are in Florida, having gone from one end of the country and back again. We have finally laid some roots. We unpacked our car with the distinct pleasure of knowing that we will not need to pack it up again for at least 2 years! I put dishes in cupboards and toiletries in cabinets! Woohoo! Simple pleasures, I guess.
We are here in Sebring, FL to work with The Great Commission Bible Institute, a 10 month discipleship and Biblical studies program committed to taking a small group of young people, equipping them with the ability to understand the Word of God, and sending them into their circle of influence to make an impact for Christ. We’ll be living on campus with the students and in charge of their day to day life and ministry activities. 
We also get the distinct privilege of having one on one discipleship relationships with each student, helping them to get the most out of their experience of having one year devoted to letting the Bible shape their worldview. We are so excited to be a part of this program because it was life-changing to both David and I when we were students in 08-09. Now we get to be a part of that in other people’s lives.
We are also excited because it means we get to invest into a community; we have spent the last year traveling from place to place, staying with new people every week. What an adventure it has been! But, oh, how we have longed to have more than a few days to invest into people’s lives and then move on. We have missed that all important piece of life that God has designed us to have: Community. And as we have had a community deficiency this year, we feel especially passionate about making it a priority now that we are in Sebring. We want our lives to be shared. We want our doors to be open. We want to sit down to meals with our fellow Sebring-ites. We want to be poured into and to be poured out into the lives around us.
So what does this mean for my music? I don’t know exactly yet. I know that I am still ready and willing to share the songs God gives me whenever the opportunity arises. I know that I want to continue to write music as the Spirit leads. So we’ll see what happens with that. We also have summers off, so maybe there will be a chance to have some mini tours during the summer months… also a good excuse to escape the heat of the Florida summer 
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So please continue to follow what God does in our lives in this next chapter together!
Category Archives: community living
different jobs, common goal
Since I last gave an update, we have been from a suburb of DC to the rural forests of Maryland to inner city Philadelphia. It has been interesting to be in such vastly different environments in such a short time. Just when we begin adjusting to one place, it’s time to move along and acclimate to another. But slightly jarring though it is, it has been very exciting to see thriving ministries in each place; the Body functioning in some very different jobs, but with a common goal.
As I sit to write this, outside our Urban Hope guest apartment is a symphony of sirens, battling sound systems blaring regetone and hiphop, and the occasional playful screams of neighborhood kids. We are in North Philly. On Sunday, I led worship at Urban Hope Community Church, a ministry in the heart of the inner city that my step brother and his fiance (Tommy and Magie) have recently moved into the neighborhood to be a part of. It has been inspiring to be around people who are committed to seeing the gospel lived out in a place where life is raw and struggle abounds. But there is a pure beauty to seeing the lives in this place that are being transformed. People who were once wrapped up in a life on the streets, who have seen the power of Christ free them from addiction and hopelessness. Even in the service on Sunday, many people stood to receive Christ and many stood to express a desire to walk more closely with Him. We shared a meal together with this congregation during a communion service that night. People were asked to share their most deeply cherished promises from the Word that keep them going when things are hard. Person after person stood to recite verses that had become like anthems to keep them marching forward. It was very encouraging to be reminded of the power of the Bible… God’s words are living and active, transforming us and renewing us, and His promises to us are certain no matter what rages on around us.
Rewind a few days and instead of sirens, sound systems and screams, all we were hearing from our room with a view was the intermittent neighing of horses and Adrielle’s (Ben and Chrsitina Ogden’s baby girl) sweet little voice in the other room. We were in the hills of River Valley Ranch in Manchester, Maryland. It was a very peaceful setting and our time with our friends there was equally as peaceful. It was a pleasure to be around their little family; David especially got his baby fix (he’s counting down the days til he gets to snuggle his nieces and nephews in Montana). We got a glimpse into their world there… we went hiking, ate some meals in the cafeteria, and David tackled the climbing wall. It was fun to be around that kind of a ministry that really reminded me of my dad’s love of outdoor education. He would have loved this place, with it’s bon-fires, high ropes course, and it’s mission to use the outdoors as a learning ground for our need for God and each other. I shared a concert on Thursday night with a room full of staff and interns at the Ranch. Afterward we sat around drinking hot cocoa and answering their questions about what we have experienced in the course of our journey. An added bonus of our time there was that a few years ago, Ben and Christina did the job we are about to step into at the Great Commission Bible Institute, so we picked their brains about that and left feeling more prepared and confident in our role.
A few days before that we were a short ways from DC, staying with our very dear friends who I recorded The Coming Glory with. During this time we also made a trip to Lusby, Maryland, where I had a chance to meet some more Nickisch’s! David hadn’t seen this particular cousin since highschool, and since they both began a walk with God. We were so encouraged to get to know some family who are also walking out a relationship with Christ. They set up time for me to share in a college group in their church. Somehow, people were singing along by the end of the concert! And it seemed like God, that through this small group of broke college students, He provided above and beyond what we expected financially, instead of through the mega-church that we were counting on for some CD sales. He continues to keep us on our toes and remembering that He knows far better than we do. He is ultimately the One that provides.
So tomorrow we leave for New York City and we will get to spend Easter with my brother, Matt. We have a week to explore the city and then on Tuesday I will share my songs and our story with Matt’s Fellowship Group from Redeemer Presbyterian.
It has been to cool to see how God has allowed us to bring what we have to offer into so many different types of environments, and yet it has translated to each one because we are lifting up the Word. And no matter where you are or who you are serving, the Spirit of God moving through the Word of God is what unites us and keeps us moving towards a common goal.
the middle of the circle
Tonight we sat in the middle of a circle of people we do not know well, and yet we are family. The precious people of Thunder Mountain Community Church surrounded us with prayers and gratitude, thanking God for bringing us to their church to encourage them and challenge them with a call to preparation. I had only just finished singing and sharing the stories from the Word that have inspired these songs, and the group had already began to surround David and me to pray for us and thank God for sending us. As I sat there holding tightly my husband’s hand, my eyes were closed, but I could see so clearly. I caught a glimpse… one of those rare and beautiful moments where it all makes sense and you can see what God has been doing in you. God has been putting this vision on my heart for over a year to share these songs in churches to bring encouragement to the discouraged and the distracted. The vision has grown and been refined as time has gone on and as steps have been taken to move forward. So many nights I laid awake on my bed and I imagined what this ministry God was entrusting to me would look like. I dreamed and hoped and then laid all those thoughts at His feet, knowing from the beginning that he had told me to let Him define success. And tonight as we were being prayed for I thought, “this is happening. God, you are doing this…. for realsies!” Tonight we sat in the middle of the circle of His will for us.
more to come about this last leg of the journey soon… but now, bedtime so we can wake up and drive to San Diego tomorrow.
Stop. Build A Team.
About 2 months ago my Pastor preached a sermon that I don’t remember at all. I couldn’t tell you what scripture it was from, what his key point was, or the powerful story he no doubt closed with, but there was one sentence that he said that I can’t get out of my head. Seriously, for the past 2 months this one sentence has been haunting me and has become the key point of this season of my life.
“You become the person God wants you to be as you spend time alone with Him. But you CANNOT accomplish the work God’s given you to do unless you function in the community of the local church and build a team of the people around you.”
Okay, so it’s 2 sentences. And he probably said it much more eloquently. But this idea, this word…TEAM…has been my default thought in recent months.
You see, my instinct is to be the lone ranger. I want to clear out on a crusade, with my cause and convictions, through the country causing change and challenging the Church (sorry, i got really excited about alliteration in that sentence). But God has grabbed firmly ahold of my hand as I try to run ahead, and He has shown me that this thing is going to go differently than I thought.
I cannot do anything on my own. I will not accomplish the calling of God on my life without the people of God in my life.
I am still in the process of figuring out what this means specifically for the ministry that I feel God is giving me, but He has my attention in this area. As more and more of my generation decide that they can do Christianity without the structure of the community of God, I am increasingly aware of the fact that it is only in the locking of arms with each other that we will accomplish what God has given to the Church for such a time as this.
K
(this wasn’t meant to offend your sermon-writing skill, Pastor Randy… God used your mouth to say the words I needed to hear that Sunday .. so thank you.)
