Coastal Callings

Carter and I LOVE mission trips…and many of you have been waiting to hear more about our Guatemala mission trip.  Here is the first of many more blog entries to come about this opportunity we had full of blessings.  It wouldn’t be much of a mission if we kept it all to ourselves, would it?  Many of you have heard little bits here and there, have seen some pictures, or will read more with days to come in our blog.

We get super excited about going and sharing the Lord with others through our words and actions.  Is this easy for us?  Yes and No!  It depends on what we are referring to honestly.  Weeks and months leading up to trips, I pray, pray, pray for the faith and trust to lean on where the Lord has called us and to prepare us…and to take away all anxiety that fills me.  If I am not careful, anxiety of the unknown and cultural differences (and we can fill in the blank with other things) would prevent me from sharing as well as experiencing what God wanted me to.  I think many of you have caught on by now that Carter and I make no decisions without prayer being involved.

On our first day of work in Guatemala, I couldn't help but smile as Carter asked our mission team, "Why are you here?" and "Where do you see God?" We used to ask this every day when we were constantly traveling with youth on mission trips.  Here's how it always worked with the youth...he'd ask those questions, and it would get super quiet.  Total silence. However,  as the days continued, our youth began eager to share where they saw God that day.  Guess what…this was the same with our Guatemala teammates.

Carter and I are constantly asking ourselves these questions, not just on mission trips, but also in our daily lives, as individuals and as a couple. We want nothing more than to make sure we are aligned with God's will and His plan for us as well as Glades.

So…why did we go to Guatemala?  We noticed pretty quickly through our prayers and God's answers that Glades was doing wonderfully in supporting local missions but not internationally.  So we continued to pray about where our support should go outside of FL. Next thing we know, our friendship with the Coopers kept strengthening and the door was wide open for us to join Chad and the rest of the G13 team from Michigan (where Chad, Janet, and Wyatt just moved from) on this journey.

We continued to pray about that opportunity and as you know, God led us to go and we obeyed.  Boy were we blessed beyond measures from this obedience. (Aren't we always blessed when we follow through with what God is calling us to do?)  More about this in upcoming blog posts.

And where did we see God at work while we were there?  Ya’ll, we would be here all day.  The quickest response is “Where did we not see God?”  I have page upon page of notes for possible upcoming blog entries on what all God was teaching us and others on this trip.

This is only a kick off of some of our Guatemala stories of where we saw God throughout this adventure, but as I wrap up this entry, I have 2 questions for you: Why are you here?  ("Here" could mean a variety of things...your job, at Glades, in FL, in SC, in GA, etc.) And “Where do you or have you seen God at work today?” I pray that these answers are not because of temporary selfish happiness, but because we want to obey God, be filled with His Spirit and joy, and strive to glorify Him in all we do.

To Our Prayer Warriors,
I just got word from our soon-to-be The Reverend Doctor Robinson that his thesis defense went well and the defense was approved!!!!! Yippee! Woo hoo!

His next steps are to make some minor edits on his paper and then turn it back in to be published.

Ya'll have been asking for it, so....here it is:

2015 in a Nutshell

2015 was another year full of fun, laughs, challenges that only made us stronger, and new adventures.  It was another year covered with God’s blessings. 

We stay pretty busy with work, but as you will see, we always make time for friends and family, too. 

Jan: I kicked off another semester of teaching at HGTC.  I say it time and time again, but I never thought I would love and enjoy teaching as much as I do.  It hit me the other day that I jumped on the teaching train back in Fall of 2012…where has the time gone?  Boy have I been blessed in so many ways.  I thank God all the time for calling me back into the classroom. 

Speaking of classroom, Carter wrapped up his last residency for his doctorate in February.  It feels like yesterday that he started this amazing experience full of learning that has helped him continue to grow as a pastor, person, and counselor.

February was also a month full of weddings: Carter officiated a wedding in Virginia.  Not only did snow continue to fall, but we got to spend time with Evan and Calvin while we were there.  

And then, we had another wedding in Pawleys.

March:  Dad and Thea came to visit us in Murrells Inlet.  We always cherish family time!  

We also packed up our house to begin our new adventure in Florida.  We knew without a doubt that God was calling us to Boca.  

April:  Easter weekend was only the beginning of our Glades excitement. 

Then, Carter was installed as Glades 2^nd pastor on April 19th.  We are super blessed at the love, support, prayers, and encouragement our Glades family has surrounded and covered us with.  They know there’s life outside of the church and continue to remind us of that.  They know that our family is far away and they continue to encourage us to visit them.  They knew that Carter’s doctorate was going to take time, but they kept supporting and encouraging him through the process.  They love that we are a team in ministry.  They pray for us constantly and know that we pray for them.  They get overjoyed about us starting a family one day.  The list goes on and on…  We have been blessed that we obeyed God’s calling and that He trusted us to be a couple of His hands and feet down in Boca.

We put our SC house up for sale and I moved in with a dear friend for just over a month so the house could be shown whenever.  Carter and I were quickly reminded that long distance marriage wasn’t for us.  It was tough being apart.  He was in FL and I was still in SC.

May was a bittersweet month for me.  I missed Carter desperately but I also had such a hard time walking away from my HGTC family…people and a job that I loved.  (Thankfully, I am still working with them…now just teaching online and back as part-time.)  I have colleagues there that will always be mentors and/or friends for life!

Dad, Thea, Jenny, and Cameron came to Orlando.  We were super excited to join them at Animal Kingdom.

June:  We got to hook up with my aunts and cousins up in Cocoa Beach.  I can't say it enough...We always cherish family time!  

You have probably guessed already, but whenever we have free down time, we are normally at the beach or scuba diving!!!!

July:  I made my annual trip home for some Momma time and then returned back to FL to have a dear friend and her family close to us in Clearwater.  It is always awesome to catch up with Laura, an undergraduate college girlfriend of mine.

August:  We went to Charlotte for some time at the lake and with the Robinsons.  Duke is definitely our son…he’s part fish and loves being in the water as much as we do!  

We also took off to a Writing Conference up in Boston to help Carter with his thesis. Loved touring Boston…

We sold our SC house and bought our FL house!  Moving is always a challenging, time-consuming task, but we couldn’t wait to move out of our rental and make this house our home.  More blessings than we can count have already occurred under our roof…in this house God provided for us at His perfect timing!  (The FL market is something else…houses go on the market one day and are off the next.)

Sept:  I started volunteering as Carter’s secretary at church.  

Carter started really putting the pedal to the metal with his thesis.

Oct:  Some North Augusta buddies were at Legoland…so of course we had to go and see them.  We love the Rodgers!

I took a trip back to SC to connect with friends there.  That visit flew by super quickly.

I started teaching an online class with TESC.  It has been pretty cool to bring Veterinary Medicine back into this “Man’s Best Friend” course.

Nov:  We had an amazing first trip to Guatemala.  What a mission trip!  You will hear more about this with time through us sharing whether it be in person or off and on in our blog. 

We got back from Guatemala and Laura and her family were in Orlando so we had to go play and see them!!!

We spent Thanksgiving in Charlotte with the Robinsons and Carter’s family in NC.

Dec:  Not sure how December got here so quickly, but it was here before we knew it.  Guess what Carter mailed in on Christmas Eve?  His thesis!!!!  (He will defend his thesis Feb 2016 and graduate in May.  I am so proud of him!)  We had a fabulous first Christmas in FL with the Robinsons and then wrapped up the year in GA with my family. 

We can only begin to imagine what 2016 will hold, but we hope you enjoyed our 2015 in a nutshell (and…that’s only a snippet of our year).

Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. Hebrews 11:1

Here's another Duke story for you. Remember how I mentioned we were working with Duke on his fetching? Whether on land or water now, Duke runs and is taking off eagerly to get his frisbee, ball, or stick BEFORE it’s even thrown.  What if we were like that?  What if we jumped out in faith with endurance and courage knowing that sometimes we don't 100% see where God is sending us?  What if we trusted God no matter what, even when we are unsure of the whole story of where  His next road curve in the journey He has paved for us will lead us? Duke trusts us and knows his toy will be thrown for him to go fetch.  As believers, we know that God has a plan and that we can trust Him to continue to lead the way.  His plan is way better than what we could make up ourselves. Do you trust that truth fully? 

In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. Proverbs 3:6

Most of us have heard the verse "Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.” Proverbs 22:6  Many of you have met our sociable, out going, loving child, Duke.  While visiting Carter's parents in Charlotte this past August, this verse came to mind...Not only with how Bob and Mary raised Carter but also how we continue to work with our "baby boy."  I know many of you are thinking, "He's just a dog."  Yes, you are right.  However, we have to take time to work with him and train him so he is a good dog and fun for us (and anyone for that matter) to be around.  This can be challenging because he is still full with puppy energy. (We can't believe he turned one already at the beginning of May.) We still practice his "sit," "stay," and "down" commands that he learned in his obedience class a while back.  We have taught him how to shake, give kisses, and ride on a boat and wave runner as well.  The boat ones took a little longer than some of the other things cause he isn't exposed the those as often.  But he happily jumped on and was ready to go.  (He wondered why he couldn’t just jump off and swim when he wanted.) 

This Charlotte trip, Duke loved fetching the ball or a stick we'd throw into the lake. He would have fetched it all day had we let him. "Fetching," "bringing back," and "drop it" are still in the “working on” phase.  But boy has he come a long way!!!!! Has improved drastically.  Again, we have to train him and work with him. We enjoy training him. We know it will continue to make a difference...a big difference!  

The more I think about it, “Aren’t we all still in training daily to be more and more Christ-like?”