Abiding and Thriving
“I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.” John 15:5
One of the most beautiful gifts that the Lord could give us is an awareness of our dependence upon Him for everything. As believers, we agree that we are to rely on Christ, but that agreement is only as important as we actually believe that it is true. The less we feel our need for Christ, the more likely we are prone to fall into the snare of self-reliance.
When Mark was first working for the bank, we acknowledged God as the provider of the job and thanked Him for it. Over time, it became easy to expect every 2 weeks that the check would come because Mark was a hard worker. How quickly self-reliance can sneak in and rob us from the hunger to abide in Christ! One of the greatest mercies that the Lord has taught us, and is still teaching us, this year has been an increased felt need to abide in Him. He has given us eyes to see our many weaknesses and helplessness. The direct result has been passion to abide in the Vine for we know apart from Him we can do nothing. The blessings that have come from learning to abide have been far too numerous to put in one post. I will share the greatest blessing with you. It has been Christ Himself. We now have an even deeper knowledge of His love that surpasses knowledge (Ephesians 3:19), His peace that guards our hearts and minds( Philippians 4:7), and satisfaction for every longing of our souls.(Psalm 107:9) Abiding has led to greater contentment as Christ has become our joy and portion. Christ is our prize!
As we approach March, we are reminded of how we took the step of faith with Mark leaving his career at the bank so that we could be “all in” with the mission the Lord has called us to. Last year, we marked that decision with the “All in April” campaign. To celebrate all that the Lord has done, we will be doing another All In April Campaign this year for the month of April. We will send out an update next month Please be praying how you can be a part of this campaign through prayer, a special gift, or joining us monthly in support. We continue to rejoice how our great God continues to work through the investments you make in his kingdom. We appreciate each and every one of you.
Praises:
We want to give a shout out to our 6 supporting churches: South Church, Grace Bible of Marlette, Praise Community Church, New Community Church West, Capitol City Baptist and our newest supporter Charlotte Assembly of God! We are so honored to be partnering with them!
Jesus is continuing to finish the work that He has started in us! (Philippians 1:6) We are rejoicing in His faithfulness!
Reese, our 13 year old autistic daughter, has started a new communication program called Spelling to Communicate. We have been amazed at how the Lord is proving to be her Helper and He is growing her in numerous ways!
On Dec 15th Maddie, our 19 year old daughter, was baptized at her church. We are praising Jesus for the way He has saved her and is maturing her love for Him. He has given her a particular hunger for His Word and it has been a joy watching her daily digging into the Word!
Prayer Requests:
Please pray for the Lord to assemble teams for trips this summer and fall to Northern Africa, Romania, and Southeast Asia. If anyone knows of a soccer coach that has a social media presence that might want to go on a trip please contact us!
The Lord will continue to help us to make great connections with more churches and individuals in support/supporter raising. If you know anyone who may be interested in supporting us, please let us know. We love recommendations.
Support update: We are currently at 59% of the monthly support we need to raise to be fully supported for the work we are doing.
