5 Things You Should Know About Abilene

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After five years of living in Abilene, Molly and I will be departing in just three days. Needless to say, with all of the packing of boxes, farewells with dear friends, and the realization that there is no Blue Bell ice cream in Ireland (WHAT?!?!), I will admit to feeling a little nostalgic about this city. Ok, maybe very nostalgic. Hey, if you had received two degrees, lived in a house named the "Bromansion" with five incredible men with many crazy stories, met your wife and married her,  learned how to be fully in the Body of Christ, and watched lives get changed on a regular basis because of God's kingdom coming to earth; you would too.

So, here we go, five things I would tell freshman me about Abilene five years ago.

1. The weather is incredibly bipolar, except in the summer.

In Abilene the weather will switch from below freezing one day, to mid 80's the next day.....in the winter. And in recent news Abilene weather has discovered how to have a city-wide hailstorm during the summer. Suffice it to say, in all seasons Abilenians learn quickly to heed the weather report, many times, each day.

The only constant I know in Texas is the surface-of-the-sun heat in the summer ALL SUMMER and the sweet taste of Blue Bell ice cream all year round.

2. The people are just so darn friendly.

Sure, maybe this is just a Texas thing, but it needs to be pointed out. After living in Abilene for one year, you will not be able to go to any restaurant or store without seeing someone you know. For extroverts this is incredibly thrilling, for introverts.....moderately so. If you make eye-contact with anyone in said store they will most likely smile and say "Hi", or the ever popular "Howdy". Southern hospitality is not just a value in west Texas, its more of an uncontrollable reflex.

3. Abilene is a launching city.

With Dyess Air Force Base, ACU, HSU, McMurry, and several technical and community colleges in town, most of the Abilenian population looks completely different every 4 years or so. Also, the three Christian colleges and many churches send out missionaries all over the world for short and long term missions regularly. For most people, Abilene is meant to be a launching pad into what God is calling them to do for the rest of their life. So what better place than Abilene to have a church equipping and sending out people to the ends of the earth? We are so blessed to carry on this legacy in the years to come.

4. The Christian churches are surprisingly united.

A little known fact about Abilene: At least once a month most of the Christian pastors in the city will meet together to pray over each other and discuss Christian ministry in their beloved city as friends. This blows me away. Lets be real, most churches, if left unchecked, can have a sort of unspoken rivalry. For example: "I heard so and so left the church to go be with such and such a church...." However, this is not the case when it comes to the majority of the Christian church leadership in Abilene! I was actually able to participate in one of these meetings and the camaraderie was unreal. It is such a blessing to have such humble, genuine, and passionate leaders at the helm in Abilene for Abilene.

5. While the landscape is a desert, the community makes it an oasis.

This is the mantra of all small towns, "There is just not much to do here." As a man who grew up in the suburbs of the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex, I completely agree. Abilene will have maybe one chain restaurant for every ten in DFW. We have only one drive in movie theater, one Buffalo Wild Wings, and no Chipotle.

Don't forget to breathe...

However, as a town where there is not much to be entertained by, Abilene provides an even better way of life: learning how to create good times with those around you. In Abilene I have truly begun to learn how to live a satisfying life by connecting with church, spending lots of time with people who stretch me and cause me to grow, and then pouring myself into that community as much as possible. And this is what I plan to do for the rest of my life.

So there you have it, Abilene. I will miss you. I may have doubted I would ever really feel at home here, but as I prepare to leave I can honestly say you were my home.

Stay tuned for more Ireland updates,

Viva Abilene.

Our Video Debut

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Hey everyone! Here is a little video made by the talented Phil Dosa. For those of you who we have not been able to meet with, or who may not have been able to explore the website yet, this video is the short-and-sweet synopsis of our mission to Ireland. We hope you enjoy it!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rhv3gbP9qFY

In other news... as of today we are 70% funded. This includes monthly pledges and donations, except for those of you who have given through Modern Day this past month. We will only get the total numbers from Modern Day at the end of each month.

Thank you all so much for your prayers and support. Only 18 days and counting till we are off to the Emerald Isle!

The Countdown Begins

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We have an official departure date, finally, it is (drumroll please) September 10! We wanted to share that with you all so that we can begin our countdown together. 33 more days. A little over a month. This is getting real.

On another important note as many of you know we are fundraising for our living expenses while in Ireland. We budgeted for a total need of $74,000, which you can see in our Support Us page. As of today we have been generously given and pledged 65% of that total number. We are overwhelmingly grateful for everyone who has chosen to give. Some of you who have given have walked with us for a long time, some hardly know us at all, but your willingness to give to us and our mission has been greater than we could have ever dreamed.

At the same time, according to the countdown that leaves us with 33 days to raise 35% more. So for those of you who haven't given and have been wanting to, now is the time, this is your moment! If you are planning to give, please send in the partnership card  to Beltway or personally let James and I know. This would be very helpful for us as we finalize our plans this month.

If you have given through Modern Day, our online giving site, (again check out our Support Us page) during the month of August we just wanted to let you know that we will be receiving record of those donations at the end of August. So currently any donations given in the past week have not counted towards our total percentage of 65% unless they have been sent through Beltway. Modern Day gives us a record  at the end of each month of all who have given through their organization because of that this next month we will not be able to have an accurate estimate of where we are in our fundraising until the end of August.

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Finally, I have to take a moment to brag on my amazing husband who is graduating with a Master's in Marriage and Family Therapy from Abilene Christian University today. I am so proud of all the hard work, dedication, and perseverance he has put into obtaining this degree. We got married three weeks before he started this program, two years ago, and we can honestly say God has been faithful to sustain us as we built a foundation for our marriage while James' poured his time into this program. We were surrounded by a loving church community, selfless families, and one beloved cohort. Yesterday as I was humming across Psalms, I came across this passage and I felt that it described the way James and I have felt quite often these past two years it says...

"For you, O God, have tested us; you have tried us as silver is tried. You have brought us into the net; you laid a crushing burden on our backs; you let men ride over our heads; we went through fire and through water..."

Then it goes onto say this, and I think the ending is a spot on description of how we've come out at the end of this journey, it says:

"Yet you have brought us to a place of abundance." (Psalm 66:10-12)

Man, it is good to be brought to the place of abundance after one long hard road. Congratulations to the Marriage & Family class of 2014, it has been a blessing to walk this road with you all!

The Proud Wife of a Master's Graduate,

Molly

 

 

Our First Mission Update!

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Hello friends and family, We cannot imagine living any other life than the one before us now. Even as we prepare to pack up all of our belongings and cast off from Abilene, we are truly amazed by what God has done in the past five years and what He will do in the years to come. This is such an exciting time with an incredibly faithful God!

So here is the first of many testimony updates.

Thus far, after raising funds for about 3 months we have reached just over 60% of our total financial budget!!! This percentage includes the monthly pledges added with the one-time donations that have been given up to this point. God is definitely at work here! Thank you all so much for your partnership and prayers! Additionally, recurring online donations through Modern Day are now possible so check it out on our Support Us page.

Also, we wanted to provide a more specific glimpse into what our ministry will look like in Ireland through Alive Church. Through our communication with Enda and Angela Long we have more fully developed our primary and secondary goals. The primary goals of our ministry in Ireland will be for James to establish a self-sustaining and dynamic worship ministry, and for Molly to develop the structure and curriculum of the pre-existing Children's ministry at Alive Church. Our secondary goals will be to start up vibrant and multiplying lifegroups and also to grow the incredible youth ministry Alive Church has already created.

Finally, we wanted to give you an update on when we will be moving to Ireland. We have narrowed it down to the second week in September and are about to buy plane tickets. So that means we are a mere 6 weeks from our launch date!

We just want you all to know how much we appreciate each one of you! We know that this next step in our journey would not be happening without the prayer, encouragement, and generosity of our family, friends, and the church. We literally cannot wait for you guys to get a front row seat in watching the church of Ireland ignite through all that you have poured into us and our ministry.

Till next time,

James and Molly