Part Two: My Backyard

Ugh, I did it again. I vowed to be more committed to my little blog but let it fall to the waist-side once again. But thus is life, and praise Jesus I'm not perfect.

I want to deliver the three-part story (as originally promised) about the journey that lead me to move to CO, and I've gotten motivated and a moment so it is now or never for me to tell you part two.

If you read Part One: True North then you know that my first big lesson in my journey was learning to listen to God's voice telling me where to go, what to do and who to be in EVERY area of my life- a lesson applied that ultimately lead me to my first summer spent in Fort Collins.

It was 2010. I just finished my freshman year at Texas A&M University, and my role was to be a summer missionary helping church planters reach their communities.

I was fresh and excited and had much to learn about well, everything really (still do). But there was one major thing that I needed to better understand that became the theme of that summer, then that fall, then the next spring, then the next summer, then the next year, and the next thing you know, the theme of my life.

What was this simple yet monumental life-changing lesson?

That missions is not only over "there" amongst the hurting and the lost and the broken in the desperate places around the world. It's also every conversation, every flight I miss, every long line at the grocery store, and every cup of coffee amongst the hurting and the lost and the broken in the desperate places  in my own backyard that I encounter everyday. 

As I gleaned from the wisdom of mature believers living their lives for the purpose of spreading the Gospel through church-planting in Colorado, I was stretched, prodded, and challenged to get away from the A-B-C, three easy steps, "pray the prayer" way of showing people how to know Jesus. I learned that there is no formula for following the Holy Spirit, taking on the messy but necessary investment of a person and walking with them as the God who seemed distant, scary and make-believe before, becomes real and true and an integral part of their life. 

What was so powerful about it all was that I was learning this as I was doing the most ordinary things. Myself and fellow "summer mishes," as we were nick-named, played at the park, rode bikes, went to coffee shops, served at church and offered a helping hand. In these practical, ordinary moments we saw God turn them into extraordinary divine appointments. We saw our own lives change and got to see God at work in the lives of others. 

Beneath the surface, something inside of me was also shifting. At first it was hard to explain, but later I realized that what I was feeling was what it's like to be exactly where God wanted me. This place and who God made me to be just fit like a glove. As the summer wrapped up, I knew I would never be the same. 

The Lord had given me a new-found passion to see Christ made known wherever he placed me, but also gave me a very special place in my heart for Colorado and those that are lost here. 

That's really what it comes down to- Summer 2010 and the Lord beginning a call on my life to the place He would later plant me for the long haul to invest in people and to serve him. 

Here are a couple of snapshots from my adventures during that season:

On top of my very first "fourteener" (peak over 14,000 ft). After this I was hooked. 

This is Kayla. She was a huge part of that summer as God taught me how to teach, love and care more.

Jared, one of my co-summer mishes that summer, and our friend Jeremy at The Alley Cat Cafe.

HA! Crazy to think that that was 4 years ago. What a journey it has been! So now you know another little segment of what lead me to move up to the Rocky Mountains. 

So who is in your backyard that you can be an encouragement and messenger for Jesus to? 

Part 3 coming soon.. 

Part One: True North

Surreal is the only word that I can think of to accurately describe my life at this moment. The accumulation of a four year journey has come to fruition in a move to Fort Collins, Colorado. I live here now. This is no longer a passing thought or conversation but the actual beginnings of a new chapter that I am now watching unfold as the Lord continues to orchestrate my life.

Few know the full story of what lead to this born-n-raised Texan packing her bags (while still jobless) and heading north to join in the ministry of a collegiate church plant called Insideout Church. It has been too long since my last post, so I thought this would be the best place to hash out the story for everyone. This going to be the first of a three part story so hang tight! I'll try to keep it to the highlights but not making any promises. My blog is the only place I'm not limited by word count so thanks in advance to tracking with me ;)

Four years ago I was in my second semester as a freshman at Texas A&M University where I found myself in the midst of my first "what-to-do-with-my-summer" frenzy. I grew up going to Pine Cove Christian Camps in Tyler, Texas, and it had been my longtime dream to eventually become a counselor there and be one of the cool college women I looked up to year after year of camp.

As soon as I got word that Pine Cove was on campus recruiting, I signed up for an interview that would get me to what I knew would be my summer time destiny. You can probably guess where this is going, but much to my dismay I was rejected from the position and left wondering what on earth I could have done to deserve this dissapointment. My way of dealing with the heartbreak was throwing myself into a tizzy of applying for every summer job I could get my hands on an application for. Finally, a dear and truthful friend of mine wisely stepped in and told me words that ultimately lead to one of the most pivotal summers of my life.

Katy Shaver lovingly but bluntly said, "Amber, it's great that you are so eager and everything but why don't you just try to stop applying for everything and just let God show you something?"

I smiled, nodded and thanked her for the suggestion, but on the inside I was rolling my eyes and telling myself that Katy just didn't understand. I wanted something big to do with my summer, and I wanted an answer to what that would be yesterday. Anyone else know the feeling?

Her truthful advice eventually sank in and I realized how much I was relying on self and attempting to direct my own path. I decided that I would "fast" from applying for summer jobs until I felt the Lord reveal something specific for me to do.

MONTHS WENT BY. I was starting to sweat it. Most of my friends were either signed up to take summer classes, work at a camp, do an internship or go home for the summer. I still had no idea, and it was getting late in the game. It was about the same time that I had begun doubting God's leadership once again and made up my mind to ditch this little break from applying when my freshman Bible study leader, Devon Lee, approached me.

"Amber, I feel like God wanted me to tell you that you should apply for Go Now Missions," she told me one Thursday night at the Aggie BSM.

I didn't know much about this organization or others who had participated in it quite yet but I took this as the divine direction I had been anxiously awaiting. I praised Him for coming through and speaking to me in His perfect timing and applied to summer missions through this Texas Baptist initiative to mobilize college students for the purpose of spreading the Gospel.

At the time all I wanted to do was go into the great unknown and only checked off interest in the international jobs from the missions list. Long story short, I did not get offered a spot in any of the exotic places working with orphans or remote villages that I had picked out for myself. Instead, I received an offer to spend 10 weeks in Fort Collins, CO working with church planters. In my limited perspective this was the exact opposite of where I thought I should be doing missions.

I called Brenda Sanders, Director of Go Now Missions, and probed for a better explanation of what seemed to me like the strangest of appointments. God used Brenda's encouragement to push me to commit to a summer of serving in FoCo. Don't get me wrong. I loved me some Colorado, but it wasn't what I pictured for that summer-- all part of God's master plan to set me on His path for my life that leads to immeasurably more than I could have ever asked or imagined. (Eph. 3:21)

Praise God he didn't give me what I thought I wanted because Summer 2010 radically changed me. Stand by for part two!

Moral of this part of the story:

Ditch your broken internal compass and instead listen to God's voice pointing you to true north.