Coastal Callings

"Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path." Psalm 119:105

Early one morning, Carter and I enjoyed what seemed like a private beach.  So quiet.  Relaxing.  Peaceful.  We couldn't believe that we were the only ones out there for a while...just us and a crab.  We sat and watched Mr. Crab work pretty hard as he dug and dug sand out to form his home.  He went in and out repeatedly and kept tossing his claw full of sand.  Over time, the sand was building a mound.  It's neat what God spoke to us while watching this crab.  Mr. Crab peaks, slowly inches out, and then tosses the sand. Over and over and over again.

"Are we digging and digging into scripture daily to see what God guides us to do to become more and more like Christ?  Are we learning more about God’s heart?” As we dig, we are increasing our knowledge of what scripture says like the increasing size of Mr. Crab’s sand mound.  Once we learn more, it's not only helping us grow in our relationship with Him, but it also makes it easier for us to share what He is teaching us/what we are learning with others.

Kristin was asked to write a devotional for Fairview youth, who are doing some local missions this week.  This is a church family that will ALWAYS be near and dear to our hearts!  Five different folks wrote a daily devo that the youth will work through each day during their quiet time.  We figured, "Why not post it and share it with all of our blog readers?"  So...here it is.  Enjoy!

A Story To Tell (Day 1 Devo for the Youth)

Romans 10:15: "And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!”

First off, hello. We are sending love from Florida!  If you are reading this short devotional, God stirred your heart to go participate in the community missions this week as well as other days to come.  God has sent YOU!  Just like He has sent Pastor Carter and me down to FL now to spread His kingdom, He has sent you throughout the area right there!

Normally, we ask, “Why me?”  “Am I equipped to spread the good news?”  “What is the good news?”  Great questions, huh?  However, we don’t always like how God answers these because we are scared.  God trusts us to be His hands and feet and to get out there and share what He’s doing in our lives.  I don’t know about you, but I am pretty honored that He would call me to do this!  And we all know that if He calls us to do something, then He’s going to equip us with the words and tools we need to succeed in glorifying Him.  Just lean on Him.  Listen to what the Holy Spirit is leading you to do and say.

What’s the good news?  The gospel of Christ!  God’s Word!  “Well, what if I don’t know scripture well?”  Hey, it takes years (actually a lifetime) to learn what all is in this awesome Love Letter to us.  But…that also means we have to take the time to read and dig into scripture so we know what it says.  It’s a lot easier to share the good news when we are aware of what it says, right?  Pastor Carter and I are still diving into scripture daily.  We are still learning…it’s a lifetime responsibility.  We challenge you to jump on board, too.  We can’t wait until we know scripture perfectly because we never will know it all.  We just have to start sharing what we do know RIGHT NOW.  He doesn’t give us His word and a testimony just to keep it to ourselves.  He wants us to get out there and share it with others!  Nothing beats bringing knowledge of The Lord to sinners.  It can save them just like it has for me…and YOU!

We are so proud of you for hearing God’s calling to send you out to participate this week in community missions!   Be confident as you share your story (your testimony) and His word (the Bible) of love, peace, hope, joy…  It’s YOUR story that God has formed just for YOU!  Therefore, you are the only one who can share it.  Most likely, it will be the exact story someone else needs to hear TODAY!  After all, when we are walking with Him, His Word and our testimony fall hand in hand.

We will be lifting ya’ll up in prayer this week!  We are praying for our forever Fairview family constantly.  We love you!

-Kristin Robinson

A few weeks ago, Carter and I throughly enjoyed every minute we had with Dad, Thea, Uncle Alan, Jenny, and Cameron.  Of course like always, this family time flew by quicker than we would have liked.  However, thinking back, we were thankful for the time together, even if it was short.

As we reflected on new memories made with family, God asked, "Do you get that excited with your time you spend with Me?" Whoah. I admittedly can say that I did not used to. Several years ago and even every now and then, making 'God time' was more like a chore.  More than not now though, I get more and more excited and eager about what God is going to teach me during my quiet times and in scripture.  Or what prayers He is going to answer.  Or the closeness I feel when I am singing praise songs (normally in the car...wink.).  Or how awesome the fellowship is during Sunday worship or during bible studies with others.  Or what He speaks to us through Carter's messages.  The list is endless.

Mark 1:35    And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed. 

Jesus could never seem to get enough time with His Father.  What about us and our Heavenly Father? How’s your daily quiet time with Our Father going these days? Do you cherish that time? What's He sharing with you lately?

While relaxing and enjoying the beach one afternoon, we noticed a dad and his son (guessing the little boy was probably 5 or 6 years old..we’ll call him Ben for the sake of the story) come up and put their towel in the sand.  They began to build sand castles, make “sand angels” (like you do in the snow by lying on your back and flapping your arms and legs for the wings), take a few pictures here and there, and would cheerfully go cool down and rinse off in the ocean.  Over and over again.  (Makes you tired just thinking about it, doesn’t it?)

A couple hours later, Ben was down at the ocean’s edge while his dad was taking a break.  A non-English speaking mother and her very timid son slowly walked down to the ocean, right next to where Ben was playing.  It looked as if this little boy (also about Ben’s age…we’ll call him Sam) was being introduced to the ocean for the first time.  Sam was definitely unsure of the ocean and its waves.

Ben started jumping the waves that were crashing against the shore.  He was laughing and having a good ole time by himself.  Some waves would knock him over, and others he jumped over easily.  Next thing we knew, Sam started jumping waves, too, holding his momma’s hand still.  Ben walked over, tried to talk to Sam and his mother, and grabbed Sam’s other hand.  About 10 minutes later, Sam had let go of Mom’s hand, and just Ben and Sam were playing together…laughing, smiling, making sand castles, running back and forth between where the two families had their stuff, and had a grande time together the rest of the afternoon.

As we were sitting there, God whispered, “How cool is that?  What if we shared our Joy like Ben shared his joy.  We aren’t talking about the ocean now, but what about sharing our Joy of Christ?  Ben couldn’t wait to take Sam’s hand and share the fun of jumping the waves and playing in the ocean.  Our relationship with Jesus is so much more exciting than that so why aren’t we as excited as Ben was to share this gift with someone else?   Why do we let fear or worry get in the way?  Why does “sharing your story” turn into such a big deal instead of easily flowing from our mouths?  God’s word states in Acts 1:8, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”  

The kids made it look so easy that day…didn’t even speak the same language yet they talked through their actions.  All languages exchange smiles and laughter.  Jesus calls us to share Him through our actions, lives, and stories. What are my actions showing others?  Let’s get out there and share our stories with hope of bringing others to Christ!  When was the last time you shared part of your story?  If it’s scary at first (like Sam was to the ocean), know that God will speak through you.

In my last blog post, I asked if you were running from anything.  I think for the first time ever, I hadn’t been just running from something, but I was also running towards the same thing I was running from…CHANGE.  Carter and I just entered another phase of life full of changes.  Is this a good thing?  Yes!  Is this change full of lots of unknowns? Yes! (That’s where having faith comes in.)  Does change come with a variety of emotions?  Of course!  I couldn’t have been more eager to get down to Florida to be with Carter and our new church family…BUT, I had a super hard time leaving the friendships I truly cherish as well as a job that I love!  It was so obvious that God was calling us to Boca though.  Did that make the move easier?  YES and no.  God, like always, kept teaching me and reminding me of a variety of things over these last couple months, which helped shift my mindset.  Instead of the dread of leaving some awesome buddies, I started cherishing the time I had with them even more as we continued to add memories to relationships.  I continued to be thankful for what many would call “the small things.”  I really did start to look forward to what God had in store for us and the church down in Boca.  He was The One who called us here in the first place…He always has a plan.  But back to my title, one of the biggest reassurances I received over and over again was that despite all the changes going on in our world, Hebrews 13:8 says, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.”  He isn’t going to change!  He will remain who He says He is!  He will keep His promises!

Boy was I enjoying the sunshine for all of about 5 minutes until the brightness was pushed aside by dark thunderstorm looking clouds and a cool wind.  I get up from my chair, grab my towel, chat with my friend’s dog Harlem, start heading towards the door, and guess what catches my eye?  An atleast 4 foot snake!!!!  Coming right towards me. If you know me, you know what came next…  I let out a loud screech.  Froze in my tracks for a few seconds.  Stomped my foot. Felt my heart rate jump up to about 350 bpm (okay, maybe not that high.).  Heavie geevies covered me head to toe.  Leaped (like a split I would have done back in my gymnast days).  And ran to the door hollering for little sweet Harlem to follow me.  I am pretty sure all of this happened in about 5 seconds!

As I continue to think back to all this (over and over again), God asked me what I was running from these days?  Are you running from God or anything right now?  What are you afraid of?  What’s making you run away from God instead of towards His open loving arms?

Jonah 1:10 This terrified them and they asked, “What have you done?” They knew he was running away from the Lord, because he had already told them so.

Jonah was asked to go preach repentance to Nineveh.  Instead of following God’s command, Jonah’s stubborn self ran from the Lord. God sent a storm.  Jonah was thrown overboard and then the water calmed.  Jonah was swallowed by a whale.  While in the belly, Jonah repented and cried out in prayer.  God had the whale spit Jonah out to dry land.  Before, Jonah thought he was better than God, but after 3 days in a large fish, Jonah realized how important it is to obey the One who loves him the most!  Jonah heads to Nineveh this time. He warned the people that they must confess their evil deeds to God. Otherwise, God would destroy their nation. The people obeyed Jonah. So, God forgave the people in Nineveh and did not destroy the land. God wanted nothing more than to bring Jonah back to a place of fellowship and service.  He wants the same for us!

Are you running from God’s direction?  If so, talk to God about it.  He’s listening.  He’s in control.  He knows best.  He never leaves us.  I believe He is always there ready for us to stay close to Him and not go in the opposite direction.  However, if you steer away, it’s never too late to run towards/back to Our Father.

We have news!!!!!!  Guess what?  Guess again.  No, we aren’t pregnant.  (That’s always the first guess coming from a friend, colleague, or family member with the biggest grin on their face…or we can hear the smile on the other end of the phone.)

Yep, you are right!  I feel like I could start this entry the same as I did almost 3 years ago.  “To be perfectly honest, I could begin and end this with a short and sweet sentence by saying, "God is constantly at work and continues to shower us with blessings!"  Done.  The end.”  

Boca Raton, here we come!!!!!!!  We have accepted a new church call!  Carter will be the pastor of Glades Presbyterian down in Florida.  We can’t praise God enough for His hand and guidance in this whole process.  Carter starts April 1!!!!!!  Yes, you read that correctly. ; )

Back in April of 2014, we received a random unexpected phone call asking Carter about his interest in becoming the pastor of a church plant.  Talk about being caught off guard.  We weren’t thinking whatsoever of a new church call at that time.  Next thing we knew over the next couple of months following, we had a couple other calls.  At this time, we knew God was opening a door that we kept ignoring and fighting against.  We began some hard core praying as a couple and individually.  Within the same week, Carter and I had both heard God whispering, “The doors are open; I’m sending you…!”  We agreed that when God says, “Go,” that we, as His children, need to go!   Scared. Sad. In awe and wonder.  Excited.  Eager to see where we were going next. Then, out of the blue, we were asked a few times, “Are pastor nominating committees coming to see you?”  In all honesty, we could confidently say, “Not that we know of.” (We, of course, now know that they were!!!!  This just reinforced another life lesson to us again…folks are always watching you…more of that in a future post.)  As we like to say, that was just another God wink towards this new adventure.  We eventually started truly pursuing what options were out there.

Over 6 months, we started hearing from churches galore along the southeast…ECO, PCUSA.  We met some amazing people along the way and travelled through some beautiful areas.  (You should see the +/- lists we made.  Miles long.)  We prayed to hear God’s direction throughout the whole journey.  And we definitely did.   What great experiences we had!  It was difficult to tell a few of these places that God was calling us elsewhere, but we knew that’s what we were supposed to do. We were loved from day one from so many.  We were seen as a team in ministry right away.

Bottom line: We kept coming back saying, “We’re supposed to be going to FL.”  Boca’s PNC kept calling us back, too.  Talk about an immediate, with no hesitation, loving family bond!!!!  We have already made more memories than we know what to do with with our new Boca family!!  What an overwhelming feeling it was to walk back into Glades arm in arm that Sunday, hand in hand, after being accepted by their congregation with everybody singing the Doxology!  Tears welled and streamed.  God’s presence was felt by all!  I couldn’t be more proud of my husband!  He was glowing in a way I haven’t seen in a while.  What a day!

A few of the most popular questions that have followed hearing our news are:

1-Kristin, what about your job?  I am having a difficult time saying goodbye to my awesome colleagues.  I’m finishing up my current contract, and as of now, I am going to shift from full-time back to part time and still teach a couple online courses.  : ) 

2-So are ya’ll thinking about starting a family?  OF COURSE!  Being parents is a desire of our hearts for sure!  We know that God has control of that (just like everything else).  We pray that when our day comes, we will be the parents God wants us to be!  (We can’t believe we will be celebrating our 4th anniversary in a couple weeks! Yea!)  Glades is very supportive of Carter being a daddy.  (Talk about melting my heart!)

3-Can we pray for ya’ll?  ALWAYS!!!!  People know pastors and their families spend many hours in prayer for others but forget that pastoral families need prayer as well.  

4-What about the house?  Our moving truck comes THIS WEEK!  Then, we’ll finish getting the house ready and put it on the market.  We pray that with this still being a booming, growing, newer area that it will sell quickly and for the right price. 

5-Have ya’ll found a place to live there?  With much exploring, we have found a house to rent.  Yippee!

Like always, I could continue to lengthen this storybook, but I’ll wrap it up.  Thanks to all of you who have been lifting prayers alongside of us yet weren’t 100% sure why we were asking for prayer.  (God heard all of them…even those that were about trying to keep us here in SC.)  Thanks for the sincere excitement for us and this new adventure.

LOVE YOU!

Kristin and Carter

P.S.  Duke can’t wait to run in his new fenced yard, make new friends at the big beautiful dog park, meet his neighborhood buddies, and more.