New Adventures!

Jared and I have some exciting news to announce. No, it is not a baby (Courtney! Haha.) but we are embarking on a journey of faith to minister to those enslaved in human trafficking! We have been called by God to work with Redeemed Ministries full time.

Redeemed started in 2005 just simply reaching out to women who were trapped in sex trafficking and showing them the unconditional love Jesus shows us. Many times, these women come from very broken homes. 90% of girls trapped in sex trafficking have been abused sexually as children. They never learn that behavior is not normal. Pimps then exploit that past to take advantage of these girls and the cycle is brutal and often fatal. While these women are forced to serve up to 30 men in a day, they often turn to drugs to cope and/or also get beat by their pimps to make sure they obey whatever the pimp tells them to do. 

While many ministries go out to the brothels with the intent on “extracting” girls from their situation, we simply go in to offer the love of Jesus to them. Many times these girls are in denial that they are in a dangerous place and until they realize that, even if we “extracted” them from their situation, no change would take place. When they would leave our care, they would go right back to what they were doing. We believe by going in and just ministering and sharing love with them allows God seeds to be planted in their life to realize they are loved, but not by their pimps. This process of change allows them to be an active participant in their life change. Then, if they want to leave the life, we can help provide them a safe place, in the form of a safe house, to get away from their pimp AND increase their chance of not going back. Jesus is the one working on the inside to heal and change their hearts. We are simply servants to help provide the environment for that change and the voice of reasoning when the tough times come. 

That brings me to one of the most exciting parts of Redeemed, our aftercare program! We have a safe house out in the country where we can house girls for a year long program. We have partnered with Rutgers University to develop a program that specifically helps heal trauma associated with trafficking and we have seen God use that tremendously! Just in the last year we have seen two women baptized and graduated. One is even entering the missionary field and ministering to others. It’s the most amazing thing to watch God completely transform the lives of these women who were so broken and now they flourish in the love God has for us! We are working to build a new, larger safe house so that we can minister to even more women. 

I first heard about human trafficking in my car (go figure!). I was working at a winery as a part of my research project in college and the drive was an hour one way. I listened to podcasts by Christine Caine while I drove. She runs a global anti-human trafficking organization called A21 and hearing about it tugged at my heartstrings like nothing had ever done before. The thing I most identified with was the fact that the fear these women have for their pimps paralyzes them from trying to find any other alternative to their situation. This fear allows them to be abused over and over again. I have battled with similar fear in my life and sitting there in the car, I wanted to reach through my stereo to the women and tell them they didn’t have to be governed by fear anymore. However, I was in College Station, TX…not Athens, Greece. Nor did I ever see God sending me to where A21 was going. 

Fast forward to me getting married and moving to Houston. My husband and I were looking for a church. We visited one down the road one Sunday and the topic was human trafficking in Houston with the featured ministry being Redeemed. I found out that between Dallas, Austin and Houston, 25% of girls trafficked found themselves in Texas at some point. I instantly knew I was supposed to be involved. I have since volunteered with them over the last three years and have never looked back!

I’ve had the opportunity to mentor girls, work on the social media team, help market the ministry and teach others about trafficking. Honestly, it has been the biggest and most fulfilling thing in my life. I learned so much about myself and about trafficking and I was given the opportunity to bring it with me when my husband and I moved to Dallas. As I look at 2015 and really start to build the ground work for what we are doing, I am so excited for what I believe God will do in Dallas. 

One thing that has been a bittersweet point in this transition is that my position has been a volunteer position for so long. But the ministry is growing to the point where I cannot hold my current position as a Children’s Pastor and do Redeemed at the level of excellence both ministries deserve. I’m truly sad to leave the amazing community God has allowed me to be a part of. Yet, God has already been faithful by providing not only a new community, but financial funding through monthly donations.

This is where you can get involved! While I will receive a small stipend from Redeemed it is not enough to cover expenses Jared and I have, even with his job. If you heard my story and my heart for this ministry and would be willing to support me monthly, please take a few minutes to sign up and pledge to fund this ministry Jared and I will be building. This is a direct way you can help...by giving me the financial funding for me to work towards helping these women full time! It will have a huge impact for us, and for allowing us to advance the kingdom of God!

Ultimately, we see ourselves as an extension of the church; where we are bringing the gospel to some of the deepest and darkest of places and hopefully, seeing God transform the lives of those we meet. Jesus said he didn’t come for the well, but for the sick. From the women that are enslaved, to the pimps that do the enslaving and the men who buy, the people are plenty for God to reach and the gospel is so desperately needed on all fronts of this situation.

Thank you all for supporting us, whether that be through prayer or by financially supporting us. We are so grateful for all of our community. Here's to what God has in store!

Polly Want a Plant?

One of my favorite movies, Pixar's Wall-E, where one little plant becomes a huge hope.

I feel like sometimes I am just a parrot, repeating things that others have spoken faithfully into my life.

Thankfully, this is not a bad thing!

Growing up one of my favorite bands was Newsboys. One of their songs, “Stepping up to the microphone” has a line that says:

“I say hello
To anyone who's listening
The message ain't nothing new
I don't decide what's true.”

The story of Jesus doesn’t change. People, especially in the “Christian Culture” are looking for the newest revelation, the coolest new song, the hippest new message. Sadly, this becomes their pursuit instead of the pursuit of their relationship with Christ. So if your coming to my blog for the newest thing in Christian culture, I’m sorry but you are going to be gravely disappointed.

Recently, I’ve been going 100 miles an hour with work and volunteering. It’s been exhausting. But having God work through my life and seeing the miracles that have happened has been amazing. I’ve recently had the privilege of talking to one survivor of human trafficking that sought us out and wants to help others like her. We put a call out for musical instruments for our safe house and God provided a piano!

However, I’m starting to get to the point where I don’t know if I can give any more of myself. I feel like I’m giving and giving and giving. On the inside, I feel like a used rag that keeps cleaning up messes.

Then I see a tweet from Christine Caine, “When you ask God to use you, don’t complain when you feel used!”

Touché Mrs. Caine. Excellent point. I did ask God to use me and I am super excited that He has!

However, the way God has used me has been much different than I anticipated. Thankfully, I’m normal. God’s grace and plan for our lives usually looks different than what we expect. I was reading John chapter 12 today. Jesus dines at the table of Lazarus (whom he raised from the dead) with his sisters Martha and Mary. Mary, moved by Jesus’ love and affection for her, took a pound of expensive ointment and poured it on Jesus’ feet. She then proceeded to wipe his feet with her hair. Many, including the man who eventually betrayed Jesus, were appalled at this action. They said, “This ointment could be sold to raise money for the poor.” But Jesus called them out on their lust for money and prestige rather than their compassion for the poor.

How many of us in ministry think that the only way we can reach people is to have an event or a fundraiser? Then, we use the "success" of our event or fundraiser to give us the prestige or honor we feel we deserve in the Christian community. All that ends up happening is we create a "formula" to ministry and if an idea doesn’t fit, we immediately strike it down. Then we never reach people who eagerly await to hear about the love of Christ they have been searching for!

Mary was showing her love for Jesus and didn’t care if it fit a formula or what people thought of her. Ironically, when we reach out to women in brothels as a part of our ministry, feet washing has been the key to getting in the door in the first place and showing love to these women. Jesus don’t exist inside the box. We, in ministry, shouldn’t confine ourselves to it either. We are creative beings by design and we should also be creative and open minded in how we minister to others.

Hawk Nelson says it well in a song called “Outside the Lines:”

"Don't worry, you'll do just fine.
Our God is working all of the time.
And when the sun comes up,
You'll see He paints outside the lines.
He paints outside the lines."

I’ll conclude with this. Jesus frequently used parables, metaphors and the like to get the lesson across. Later in John 12, he talks about a grain of wheat. Essentially, a seed. He says in verses 24-26, that a grain of wheat has the potential to become a plant and bear much fruit. However, unless the grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it will remain alone. But if it does fall into the Earth and die, it will make many more seeds which can also have the potential to bear much fruit.

However, biologically speaking, the seed has to actually die in order to transition from a seed to a plant. If the seed isn’t in the right soil, it will never have the opportunity to die. Unless the seed dies, it will never become a plant. Unless the plant gets the nutrients it needs, it will never produce fruit. If it never produces fruit, there will never be another wheat plant.

We have heard of this process a million times both in biology class and the church. We are created as humans to have the ability to produce fruit of the Spirit that overflows into others who need it. However, unless we die to ourselves and our pride and be transformed by the love of Christ, we will never have the ability to transition from a seed to a plant. Unless we take care of ourselves spiritually as well as physically, we will never grow. If we never grow, we will never produce new fruit and give others the ability to transition from seeds to plants.

Unless we put ourselves through the process of being used by God, we will never see the greatness and the glory of Christ. God never works the same way. We should never put a boundary or a box around how God can work. And when other people are eating the fruit we produce and learning about God, we should smile and know God is using us to reach others.

And that’s what it’s all about. :)

The Journey or the Destination

Hi everyone! I hope you are doing great!

So yesterday was my long run. I completed SEVEN miles. Never in my life did I think I could do that. I remember seeing an Instagram from Christine Caine talking about how nothing clears her head more than a seven mile run. It was like, no big deal, I just ran seven miles ON A TREADMILL. Just a day in the neighborhood. I was floored and thought, "Yea that would clear my head...because I would be too dead to think."

So I employed every mental trick I had up my sleeve yesterday. I knew I had run six miles and I wasn't THAT tired at the end, so I shouldn't be that dead at the end of seven. It didn't help to think about the fact that I had enough time to run to listen to three podcasts. Add that it was going to be too far for our dog to go and that we could actually park the car at the park, run back to the apartment and let her stay and run back to the car with pavement to spare. 

We ended up spending an hour and a half to run. Nothing for an hour and a half but the sound of feet pounding the ground, cars if we got to the street, and birds if we get to the trails.

What I found is that I severely doubted my ability and I went REALLY slow. Yes, my legs hurt. But my loving husband pointed out that I could have pushed myself a little harder and then gotten that much more out of my run physically and psychologically. I also found that I could either think about two things. 

1) I could think about what was going on now. I could listen to my podcast and learn and enjoy the trail I was running on. 

2) I could think about how far I had to go and feel the panic start inside of me. 

If we think about life, we are on a long road. Personally, if I look at my life right now, I've got a ton of things going on. We are moving to Dallas. I've got to train and transition my team at my current position. I've got to meet and transition into my new team in Dallas. I have to find an apartment, a second job. Jared's going to be gone at training leaving me by myself for a good portion of this change. I feel like my biggest obstacle is to go through my apartment and clean and pack everything up! But with this current change in life, I could think about it two ways.

1) I could think about what's going on now. I can listen to what's going on around me and help those who are transitioning due to my transition. I can still teach and love and learn. I can enjoy the time I have. 

2) I could think of all the stuff I have to do and the things to come and the uncertainty and feel the panic start to creep up. 

See the parallel?

No matter what's going on in your life, you have the opportunity to enjoy any circumstance you find yourself in. In running, circumstances change. Pains come and go, environments change, you get faster and slower. In life, circumstances always change. You can get frustrated about the pain, or you can stay obedient to the race you are living and put one foot in front of another towards the call that Christ has placed upon you. God has orchestrated so much already in my transition and I know He will continue to take care of everything else in the meantime of my change. 

So I'm making a choice to not just survive through the crazy times. I'm going to flourish by enjoying the time I'm in right now and working step by step to be the best God has called me to in the future. 

Running in the Rain

One of my favorite songs growing up was "Singing in the Rain." It made me smile all the time when I thought about it and the other songs from that musical. Today though I made a little switche-roo in my head and made it "Running in the Rain." Because that's what we did today!

I was a little frantic as I kept watching the radar. It had been thundering and lightning all day. Jared actually came home early because the weather wouldn't let him fly. So when he came home the big question was, "Are we going to be able to go out today?" With him being the resident weather man...he got his fancy flying radar maps out and saw that the weather was dissapating. So we waited an hour and we finally got our chance to go running without being hit by lightning! I consider that a plus!

It was a fun run as we were not hot and our dog was in heaven. Plus there were no people there so we had the park all to ourselves. We pushed ourselves for sure and made the same run we did on Sunday... except we shaved four minutes off our time!

I also had a very important quiet time today. As I have been going through a slight identity crisis since my whole life changed this last year (you know...no big deal), I have had a hard time defining my identity. But today I was reading Christine Caine's Undaunted book and I remembered something very profound.

Isaiah 49:1 "Listen to me, O coastlands, pay attention, you peoples from far away! The LORD called me before I was born, while I was in my mother’s womb he named me."

Before I was born, before I went to my schools, before I graduated, before I got married, before anything that I ever did or experienced God knew me! He already loved me and knew what was ahead. He had arranged everything already. He had given me an identity. While I love my parents my identity goes much further than just being a part of their family. I am His child too. I am a daughter of the King! He died for me so that we could be together.

Many times we think about things that have been said about us that are negative. Weak, stupid, unqualified...whatever! But what gives those words power is if we start using them ourselves about ourselves. However, if we choose to believe what God believes about us, that we are special, planned and worth dying for, there is a whole new ball game!

So just like today when I was running in the rain and I was thinking, "I can't do this," then I was never going to break my time from Sunday. But when I remembered what I had learned today, that I was strong and my body was made by Christ and could do things like run fast, then I could! And I did!

There is nothing more powerful than the brain. We are in a spiritual battleground and that battleground is your mind. If the devil can make you think that you are not what God says you are, then you will never become what God has planned for you to be. But, if you choose to believe the truth of God, that He loves you and cares for you, then you have the power to battle through the hard parts of life and live the amazing life God has for you! That's why Paul says in 2 Corinthians 10:5 "We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ."

Keep pushing yourself to be better. Don't let the devil bring you down. Hold on to Christ and get ready (as my old pastor would say) to go to a whole 'nuther level!

The Push Through

Today was one of those days I wanted to turn off the alarm and go to sleep. But man am I glad I got out of bed.

Staff meeting...great. To do list...whittled down significantly!

Then I got to my run and it was the quintessential 'butterflies in my stomach.' I didn't know if I could do it. I was nervous! The training was supposed to be the same intensity, but longer. The last run left me in pain and wheezing. I really didn't know if I could do it!

About 30 minutes in, I only had two running segments of training left and I wasn't nearly as exhausted as last time. I found it amazing! We logged 3.56 miles and I am so proud!

This reminds me of a biggest loser episode where Ashley looks at her mom and wonders, 'What if I go in there and I can't do it?' Don't we all ask that from time to time? We don't know if we can do the next day, that next task. We feel like we can't get up for work or we can't have that conversation or we can't do the thing that God asks us to!

What we need to do is change our mindsets to how Ashley's mom answers her back. 'What happens if you go in there and you can?'

If that's the case, the implications are significant.

If we can get up, go to work, do our ministry, get that workout, we have accomplished something very significant. We have allowed our minds to not put limitations on our actions.

It's kind of like what I have heard Christine Caine say:

'God told Moses to go free God's people. Moses' answer was 'I am not eloquent enough!' As if Moses' eloquence had anything to do with God sending the plagues or parting the Red Sea!'

We can't put limitations on what God can do through us. His is all powerful! All we have to do is be obedient and think of what can happen if we can push through the hard part!

I've passed the Marathon marker on my run Across America. That's a long way! Here's some pictures to kind of see my journey thus far!