A Harvest

“Why should I be frightened and surprised by the plow of the Lord, which makes deep furrows in my soul? I know He is not some arbitrary or irrational farmer—His purpose is to yield a harvest."

-Samuel Rutherford

One day I knew I would write this post, though at the time I had no idea how much transformation would take place in my life or how great the lessons I would learn or how far I would be stretched out of my comfort zone. I had no idea how many ways I would watch and be apart of the Lord working and moving in my life and in the lives of those He placed in our paths. I had no idea how many times I would experience His faithfulness to me, in a myriad of different circumstances and situations. My heart, my very being, is forever changed by our Wonderful God because of the leap of faith and steps of obedience we took to move to South Dakota. While we were being used by God to plant a church here and reach the lost, the whole time He was chipping away at our hearts, chipping away at all the sin that entangles us, the selfishness, the pride, the ugliness inside… He was using this experience to make us more like Him. HE must increase, I must decrease (John 3:30).

I am humbled that He chose us.

I am humbled that He used us.

I am humbled by what He has done in my life.

Words cannot describe how incredible it is to look out on Sunday morning as we worship with our church family and see those who accepted Christ into their lives around our dinner table, to see those serving and teaching others who were brand new in their faith when we first met, to see couples whose marriages have been restored, to see people who were so broken from past hurts finding their way out of the darkness and meeting Jesus.

What a privilege and an honor it has been.

With bittersweet tears I am writing this to let you know that after much prayer, discussion with each other and with other people who know us well and give us wise counsel, Justin is passing the mantle of leadership at Hills of Grace to our associate pastor, Stephen, and we will be stepping out and moving back to Texas. Justin has accepted a position at a church in The Woodlands as their Pastor of Missional Living. This position encompasses all of the areas of ministry that Justin is passionate about, he will be training and assisting church planters and their church plants all across the U.S., helping with international missions, and focusing greatly on local outreach.

Moving away from South Dakota will be far harder than it was to move here. To leave something we poured our entire lives into is heart wrenching to do. To leave the friends who have been like family. To leave the memories of where we raised babies. To leave the beautiful landscape of this place. To leave the friends in my life who have forever changed me. I physically ache at the thought of saying goodbye to this place, and the people that we love more than words can say. When God called us here, He placed in both of our hearts a love for the city, and people. Truly, though hard and difficult at times, I have loved it here. I look back on the last 5 1/2 years as the best years of my life. How the hardest years of my life have been the best is not something I fully understand, but know that it is because this is exactly where He wanted us to be for such a time as this…

Because I knew that living in South Dakota wasn't forever, I worked harder than I ever have to make the most of my time, to invest heavily in people's lives, to love without abandon, to sacrifice for others, to be completely honest and transparent about who I was and what my struggles were… I did not want to have any regrets. And I don't. Praise only belongs to the Lord for giving us the strength to do all that we needed to do here. When I look back, all I see is what God did!

Please pray for us as we say goodbye and head south to the new adventure He has planned for our family.

And pray for these kiddos too… saying goodbye to such great friends and the only home they've ever known is not easy.