Seasons

Last night I had the opportunity to speak to our Studio 412 students. I began by talking about how life reflects the changing seasons in nature. We are constantly moving between seasons before we can get too comfortable in our current one. And it's the same in life. Life is constantly changing seasons. Sometimes we wish we could stay in a particular season forever - when things seem to be going our way and everywhere we turn we find excitement, and joy fills every moment. Then there are seasons that are dark, and joy seems nowhere to be found. It is in these seasons that I am thankful we can know a new season is coming.

I then invited them to walk with me through some different seasons of my own life. I recapped how the Lord was sovereign in specifically placing me at Studio 412. How Bentonville, Arkansas was the last place I wanted to be after I graduated college, but God knew I needed to be home for what the next four years would hold.

I shared with them my season of singleness, my season of meeting David Street, dating him, marrying him and now our current season of expecting our little Hank in January! I also shared in more detail what these past 10 months have looked like since losing my mom in December and how the Lord has recently changed my perspective. That I now realize God never promised us easy. He promised us hardship and trials, but He also promises us His grace - His perfect sufficient grace.

For those of you who weren't able to attend last night, I wanted to use this post to share with you this newest season that the Lord is calling my husband and I into. It has been our desire for me to be able to stay home and raise our children when the time comes - for our children to be my main focus and ministry. As you all know, that time is coming very quickly when Hank will greet us with his sweet little face - only 11 weeks away! With that, I will officially be stepping down from my position at Studio 412 in December. This is such a bittersweet time.

I am so thankful that God changed my heart 4 years ago and brought me home. By bringing me home I was able to meet and marry my husband, and I was able to be right by my mom's side through her entire battle with cancer. I can't imagine having been anywhere else. I have needed my family more than ever on this journey, and I couldn't have asked for a better church to come along side us through every season.

These students at Studio 412 have truly made life so fun. It's crazy that my life has been on display for them all to see, but I have so loved sharing every part of it with them! Their love, their joy, their excitement, their support and their tears have blessed my heart more than words can say. I mentioned last night that I feel like I have 100 little sisters, and somehow in that tearful moment with a bunch of girls on the front row, I failed to mention that I also feel like I have 100 little brothers!! I have such a BIG FAMILY!!! I am so blessed!

To all you Studio 412 students, guys and gals, thank you for sharing life with me. Thank you for all your love and support through life's many seasons. My intention has been to invest in you and lead you and challenge you to love Jesus more. You guys have invested in me and challenged me to love Jesus far more than you realize! You have kept me on my toes. And by watching you guys grow over the years, my heart has been so filled. I have no idea what words to use to express how deeply I love each and everyone of you.

I have so many mixed emotions about this new season. Most of them consist of excitement and sheer happiness. I cannot wait for our little Hank man to get here in January! I am also ready to join and support my husband at his church in Siloam Springs. Since he became Youth Pastor in August we have been attending separate churches, and now I will have the opportunity to be right by his side and to support him in his ministry there, and that is exactly where I need to be. But there is a big chunk of my heart that will be left at Studio 412 and FBC Bentonville. My roots and my heart have been established and cultivated here since I was just 8-years old. So this will be a very bittersweet transition for me.

And hey! Don't forget we aren't moving anywhere! Our faces will still be around, and I plan on all of you getting to meet Hank as soon as possible! Just because life will look differently in this new season does not mean we can't still share life together. It will just be different, and different doesn't always mean bad and sad. I believe God has great plans for me and my family, and I believe God has really great plans for Studio 412!

Please pray for David and I as we transition into this new season together. There is so much excitement that fills our hearts, but there are also so many unknowns that tend to allow anxiety to creep in as well. We have so clearly seen the Lord work out so many details these past few months concerning several details in our lives. Please pray that we will continue to trust His plan and provision for us in the weeks, months and years to come.

Officially in my 3rd trimester!

"This is the day the Lord has made, I will rejoice and be glad in it."