HIS POWER IS MADE PERFECT IN WEAKNESS...

it feels like moving, but we are not moving to a new town.

more accurately, it feels like it's the end of high school and i'm going to college

(since i stayed in the same town for that transition).

and you should know i really, really loved high school.

and i was very emotional about leaving.

likewise i really, really love the wonderful church we have been a part of the last two years.

and i was very emotional about leaving it last week.

but when God speaks, i want to listen.

our search for a "church home" was a long process when we moved to houston.

evan and i weren't always united on where we would become members.

we visited more churches than i can name.

there were many teary conversations and lots of pouting on my part,
because it was hard and stretching and i didn't like it.

eventually we both knew where we were supposed to be.

and when God speaks, i want to listen.

but from the beginning evan said he felt like our time at our previous church was "for a season."
we really didn't understand what this would even mean.
and while i could have spent all my time trying to figure out what the future held our family,
i never could have predicted what would really happen.
but when God speaks, i want to listen.


not even six months ago,

i was listening to a powerful story of how God spoke so clearly to someone else.
i kept thinking i've NEVER heard God like that.
soon after, i heard someone say,
"to hear God speak, you need to be in his Word."
and someone else shared with me some powerful advice,
"to get in the practice of hearing God, 
listen and act however small and inconsequential it seems."
in a matter of weeks i felt like i was supposed to pray with several different people in several different situations.
each time i found myself arguing with God.
really? now? are you sure you mean me? 
this is so NOT in my comfort zone.
but when God speaks, i want to listen.


while at our church we became part of a bible class that challenged, grew and stretched us.
but this time i wasn't pouting about it.
i found myself breathing a big sigh of relief.
now i know why you brought us to this exact place.
thanks Lord.
but just about the time i felt completely "comfortable" where we were,
an opportunity to help plant a church was shared with us.
at first we shrugged it off.
but when God speaks, i want to listen.


one afternoon evan and i prayed specifically about this new church,
i found myself arguing with God all over again.
really? now? are you sure you mean us? 
this means stepping out of my newly found comfort zone!
we just recently became a part of a small group.
they encourage us to grow closer to you.
surely our season in community with them isn't really supposed to be this short.
but God's answer was clearer and quicker than anything else i can ever remember.
and when God speaks, i want to listen.


some of the people that were a part of preparing us for this next chapter,
gathered round us last sunday morning.
they put their arms on our shoulders and prayed for us.
they didn't hold on and beg us to stay.
they continued to encourage us, as they have since we met, 
to move forward and go confidently in His plans for evan and me,
because when God speaks, we want to listen.

it was a day full of hard endings, but also an extremely exciting beginning for our family.
that sunday night we gathered with the friends in our new church community.
others to whom God has spoken clearly, this is the next chapter for their families too.
we prayed together as we prepare to go confidently in His plans for us.
i was encouraged by others' stories of how He has been knitting together this core group
(for example, you can read our pastor and his wife's awesome story here- part ONE, TWO, THREE).
through it all we were reminded,
when God speaks, we want to listen.

this quote was one i thought of often when we moved from austin to houston-

"beginnings are usually scary, endings are usually sad, but it's the middle that counts.

you have to remember that when you find yourself at a beginning."

i've found myself thinking of it often again.
it's scary starting something new.

even if you already know a few people doing it with you.

even if you know others have done a similar task before you.

it's still scary.

you know your story will be different than anyone else's.

the unknown can be overwhelming.
emotions come and go,

but the Word of God remains forever.

and when God speaks, i want to listen.

i believe His plans are far greater than anything i can imagine.
i believe He continues to use me in spite of how hard-of-hearing i can be.
i believe He will use each of us in spite of our inadequacies.
i am holding onto this verse from 2 corinthians 12:9-

“my grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.

therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, 
so that Christ’s power may rest on me.that is why, for Christ’s sake, 

i delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. 
for when I am weak, then I am strong."
whenever God speaks, i want to listen.

 here's my first view of our new church family- bayou city fellowship.

thank you debra for capturing the moment on camera.