Get ready for a long one people!!! I’m in the mood to write:)
We went to Disney world this summer as most of you already are aware. Well, we chose the hottest day to go to the Animal Kingdom Park and boy did we regret it the moment we walked in. It was so hot that the kids didn’t want to do much of anything but we pressed on because we didn’t just spend their inheritance so they could walk right back out!!! Have fun dang it! Just kidding. They had fun.
Anyway. I’m tired. Bear with me. So the big highlight of the day was Amos getting the Fast Pass for the Expedition Everest ride. Five Fast Passes. Five. We have five in our family, including Hannah. HANNAH! The 5 year old girl who has never been on a roller coaster. Is there a vision coming to mind now?
So. We get in line. Hannah keeps telling us she is “essited for the Snow Mountain rower coasser”. We are getting closer. The carts are coming into site. Hannah begins a little sway…one leg lifts….sway…the other leg lifts…sways are coming faster now….as are the leg lifts….no bathroom is in sight and you KNOW we ain’t getting outta line! Hold it girl! She adds a little nervous look as she peers at the ride in front of her. There is a look of excited fear? Does that make sense?
The ride comes and she chooses to go with daddy. With death grip on Amos’ hand, she has that Hannah smile going and we are off…into the unknown.
“Snow Mountain” or Expedition Everest, is a great example of my life right now. As you know, we have moved. But you all think we are in Louisville because I haven’t updated my blog in forever. We knew Amos was called to be a Senior Pastor for some time. We have searched for churches and been so close so many times. But nothing ever happened.
We were living by hope, not faith. Hope that God was going to give us our desire. We were so excited to be a pastor. Hannah being excited about Snow Mountain.
But until we stepped out in faith (live by faith, not by sight) and took those steps of unknown and a bit of fear, God was keeping us where we were. Choosing to go to Louisville was our step of faith. Hannah choosing to “hold it” and get on that ride fear or not. We didn’t really want to go there. We didn’t want to take a family back to school. We wanted a church. But we went.
We wanted our hope to be granted. God wanted our faith.
So He tested it. It was not easy to accept. Quit searching for a church, leave our church where Amos was a minister, move from where we loved the people more than anything, and go back to school. We reluctantly did it. But we wanted to be faithful, accepting the path He placed in front of us. We quickly became excited to be challenged in this way and knew that if we stayed the course, God would provide and bless.
We took that step of faith. Surrendered what we wanted. The Lord blessed.
One week after we came back from finalizing our Louisville schooling and housing, we got a call. A church in Waco Texas. They had talked to us at the beginning of the summer, but chose a different guy. The story of our life! Everything fell through with him and they wanted to revisit the option of us coming. We took it gingerly, we had been “rejected” before. Amos went down to Ft. Worth and preached for the committee, then came back. We waited, but were still making plans for Lousiville. We waited some more. They called. They wanted to bring us down to preach for the church. So we went to Waco to spend a weekend with the church and with 99% of the vote, we became the new pastor and wife for Park Lake Drive Baptist Church. We were thrilled and nervous at the same time. Snow Mountain.
So nutshell, here we are. In Waco. So happy with where the Lord has placed us. Park Lake needed us to be here, but they have no idea how much WE needed THEM. They are a loving group of people that have welcomed this family in with open arms. We are so thankful for them.
We have work ahead. No doubt. But we are workers. So bring it on. Our Daddy’s got our hand so no worries.
At Disney, Snow Mountain was a great ride. Hannah went from smiling to crying to laughing to probably peeing her pants to closing her eyes to wide eyed all to get off with the biggest smile on her face. All the while never letting go of daddy’s hand with the death grip. To us it wasn’t a big deal. To her, life changing. She talks about it all the time.
I think I have felt every one of those emotions this past year. Maybe not peeing the pants part, but. The Will of God can be such an adventure. It’s unknown. It has twists and turns. It’s dark and He may slow you down awhile to let you soak in what you just went through, then take off again. He may even stop you with some light and all you can see is the broken road ahead but He has other plans, another direction. He was there, making sure we got through it okay.
Snow Mountain may make no sense to you, but it such a clear picture of this portion on my journey, this journey of being in God’s Will. The ride isn’t over. He has more excitement for us. And we are ready.
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
What a beautiful post! Thank you for sharing your experience, your faith and your journey! Life is so mysterious and without faith we have nothing. As a terminal cancer survivor I understand the power of faith.
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Yay! Love the Hannah face. I love to hear how things are going. I just spent the day with Heidi and had such a nice time and NOW I get to read a Mariah post. What a day!
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