Intro. to Life Out West...

Hello to everyone back east and around the world! Sorry it’s taken me so long to send an update on everything that’s going on with us. Just to catch some people up: after going on a trip around the world to do humanitarian/missions stuff (you can see pictures and stories of this trip at http://www.wheresamanda.blogspot.com/), I married my best friend and soul mate of 10 years on July 7, 2007 in the middle of a river/creek in TN. Wow!—and I thought traveling around the world was an adventure! I’m beginning to think that marriage will prove to be one of the biggest adventures of my life—inwardly and outwardly. It’s already presented more challenges, learning experiences, and self-growth opportunities than I could have ever expected. It’s an adventure in long progress: an adventure of love—and not just the sappy stuff—learning to be more selfless, more patient, more self-controlled, more honest, more humble, and more loving in everyway for everything. Our capacities to love are stretching and growing constantly. It hasn’t been easy by any means, but most refining fires are not, and I think it will prove to be one of the most worthwhile experiences of our lives.

The great thing about this marriage is that we make a good match—both just a little (ok—maybe a lot!) crazy but sane enough to keep each other in line, both outdoorsy and adventurous, both with the same values—religiously and morally, both with similar dreams and visions, both with history together—10 years worth, and both were a part of each other’s families long before the marriage (and I ain’t talkin’ kissin’ cousins either—gotta clarify that for some—we were such close friends our families kinda unofficially adopted each other…). Most importantly, both of us have a strong desire to continually seek after God. It even made an appearance in our vows when we said, “Above all, I’ll strive to seek God with you everyday, because I recognize that I love God best through loving you, and I love you best through loving God. I serve God best while loving you, and I serve you best while loving God. I’ll seek His face everyday, striving to grasp His love, because you deserve to be loved as He loves you.” As marriage continues to teach us about love, we want to exemplify 1 Corinthians 13:4-8: “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails,” and embody 1 John 4:11-12: “Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.”

We both have a heart for ministry, and we have followed this heart on an adventure out west. Jason’s calling is to youth, and we wanted to get him back into youth ministry. We both wanted to stay in TN near our families, but the doors just weren’t opening for a youth ministry position there that could support us financially. Through the grapevine we heard about a youth ministry opening in Worland, WY, and after lots of prayer and seeking, we moved out west at the end of March this year (2008). We are hoping, through this opportunity, to learn to work together in the ministry. We’ve both worked individually in the ministry for a number of years, but working together in ministry is a whole ‘nother story (as you well know, if you’ve ever tried it…), and we want to work out the kinks so we’ll be ready to tackle whatever task God places before us in the future. So please pray that we’ll learn the balance in service that we need in order to work together.

The youth ministry position is officially Jason’s, but we’re trying to work as equally in this position as the church will let us. Jason’s heart’s desire is to work with youth, and he’s doing an excellent job at it. My need, desire, and calling right now is to continue to mentally unpack my adventures overseas in the form of a book—in order to more fully share the trip with my supporters, as they’ve requested, and also to bring clarity of understanding and remembrance for myself. As I’m helping Jason with the youth ministry, he’s also helping me with the book through his continuous support, encouragement, and help in freeing up some of my time to write. My apologies and thanks to everyone who’s continuing to faithfully wait on the book. Please pray that I’ll find the discipline and time to balance our ministry at the church with my calling to write this book.

Thanks to everyone who’s taking the time to read this. Thanks for your prayers, encouragements, and continued support throughout the years. Please keep in touch—it always does our hearts good to hear news from home. Contact our families in TN for our address (if you don’t know them, post a comment with your info or refer to the avenues for contact on http://www.wheresamanda.blogspot.com/ ). Please continue to lift us up in prayer—you can find our prayer requests on the right side of this webpage.