Changes

As I type this I am surrounded by equal parts empty space and boxes.  We are packing up life in Illinois and though the accumulation of six years and 2 kids later will fill the U-Haul, we find that we are leaving much behind of ourselves with the people of Central Bible Church with whom we have loved and invested ourselves.

Six years ago, after much prayer and waiting, God called us to Illinois to be on staff at Central Bible Church for Aaron to fill the position of Youth Pastor.  Much has happened since then, barely a month after we arrived the Senior Pastor, Ken Weddle, was diagnosed with cancer and died a mere 2 months later.  Around that time we discovered we were pregnant with our first child.  We grew in our ministry, our marriage, as individuals and in so many other ways as we learned ministry while the church grieved and was refined through the pastor search process.  One more son and senior pastor later, we were watching our first class of 7th graders in their Senior year when the Lord began to tug on Aaron and mine's hearts individually toward our next step in His will for our lives.

Again, with much prayer, we are responding to His call on our lives to serve Him at the ministry of Friends of Alcoholics in Jackson, Mississippi.  This is, of course, the ministry where we both grew up, our parents serving at F.O.A.  While as Youth Pastor, Aaron led his youth group in two missions trips to the ministry of F.O.A., and last year had the privilege of leading a teaching conference there as well.  Though F.O.A. has always been so much a part of our hearts, we were not expecting to be called there to serve and while we are sad to leave the people at Central Bible Church, we are delighted to be able to see God's clear direction for our lives and to be walking in that.

Please pray for us when you think of us-we anticipate moving very soon.  The drive, the settling in, the selling of our current house all need prayer.

Please pray for CBC as they search for a new Youth Pastor.

Also for our family as we adjust to our new life/ministry in Mississippi. 

Please visit F.O.A.'s website at www.friendsofalcoholics.blogspot.com and explore and acquaint yourself with it's amazing ministry!

Thank you!

Brittany (for all of us)

P.S.-Also, we will be needed a new blog name-any suggestions?!

Trip to MS/Open House

We recently go back from our trip to Mississippi, here are some of the pictures!

We spent much of the time playing and hanging out with family...

Luke really enjoyed his cousins

I had a special treat-to go watch Hannah cheer!

Luke with his Popaw and Momaw

visiting at Grandma Lu's house
(Grandma Lu, Aunt Linda and cousin Lisa, not pictured-cousin Danielle)

Luke playing at Aunt Amy's house, Momaw and Madison reading

Luke playing and hanging out with Hannah

Luke with his Popaw

Luke with his cars on the slide

Then, of course, our reason for going-the 50th Open House at Friends of Alcoholics where Aaron and I grew up!

this is the main building containing the offices and living areas for the students

Mike Bonner (Director) and

Rick Barth (Founder's son, former Staff, and Speaker for Open House)

the afternoon service

a wall of memories in pictures

the grounds from the main road

grown up F.O.A. kids (minus a few!)

(oh, and bonus-pic of me 6 months pregnant!)

I think its safe to say that Luke had a blast

the picnic after the morning service

Luke and Madison

those handsome men again

Luke at the end of the day...looking quite...interesting-"train wreck" fits perfectly. ;)

We had a great time with our family, vacationing at "home", fellowshiping with other believers, catching up with old friends, and taking part in praising God for this ministry!!

F.O.A.

When I was eleven, my family moved to a ministry called Friends of Alcoholics, a Christian drug and alcohol rehabilitation center just outside Jackson, Mississippi. God had brought us there to be a part of this ministry, and He used my dad's experience to help them rebuild their main building, which was also the dormitories for the men who were a part of the program. We lived on the grounds, nextdoor to where the men in F.O.A.'s two-month program stayed.

Aaron's parents had already been ministering there for 13 years when we arrived. Actually, they lived on the other side of the men's' housing facility. He had lived there since he was two years old, and though I was older than that when I came, I still would say that we both grew up there. (I have pictures, but I can't get to them right now, maybe a future post?)

FOA is an amazing ministry, its focus is teaching the gospel of Christ to all who come through it's doors. Recognizing addiction as what it is, bondage to sin. Showing the way of freedom from all sin through salvation Christ and the new life one has in Him. And spending the necessary time teaching them, and living in front of them, and with them, the life of a Christian growing and maturing in his faith.

Aaron and I are so grateful for the unique experience we had growing up there, being a part of that ministry as children, then adults, and then even as fellow ministers (when we took our youth group there for a missions trip).

At F.O.A. I learned that these men are just that-men. They are dealing with a sin issue, as we are all. Their sin, addiction to drugs and alcohol, has affected their lives, their families, their future, as has mine and your sin. A difference can be seen in some of the consequences of their sin, but I think the biggest difference is not that their sin is worse than mine, but that my sin struggles are not as visible as theirs are.

Aaron and I (and our siblings, and now even our nieces) have grown up with these men; our families have befriended and cared about them. As much as we have ministered, we have been ministered to. Since I have been a part of F.O.A., it has also been my experience that everyone has loved someone that has, at one time or another, dealt with an addiction to drugs or alcohol. This is really something that affects us all, our culture, our families, our lives. The battle with drugs and alcohol is worldwide, just as the struggle with sin is.

All this to say, this weekend is Friends of Alcoholic's 50th Open House. We are going to drive down and be a part of this special time! So please pray for us on our trip, and for the time there. I will put something up here when we get back!