Jonah

One day God asked a man named Jonah to go to a place called Nineveh and tell the people living there to stop being bad. The only problem was that Jonah didn't want to help the people there. He knew they were bad and he wanted them to be punished for their mistakes.
So instead of listening to God, Jonah thought he would run away from Nineveh and not do what God asked him. He ran to the sea where he found a ship that was going to another city. He paid the captain, went in the lower part of the boat and went to sleep....
Hmmm.... This is the boys first bible lesson of their new school year. All they were concerned about listening to was how the big fish swallowed up Jonah, pretty cool to a 4 and 6 year old! All I was thinking about, is how Jonah tried to run away from what he knew his Lord was calling him to do! Sounds pretty familiar in my life right now.
We know the calling our Lord has put on our family, and something we used to be so excited about has turned into such a battle. A battle we have been fighting for almost a year now! We pretty much "laid down" and went to sleep just like Jonah, but we are now starting to feel the waters around us raging up. We are feeling Him calling our hearts once again to Uganda, knowing we were stopped not by Him, but by others before.
Will you please join us in prayer as God is opening new doors around us, paving the way for us to Uganda? Building up a team that we are to placed with! We have learned so much over this past year, and trust me, have way further to go.. but we just want to be obedient. There is no greater feeling than being in the center of our Lord's will, a feeling we are slowly regaining.
Please pray He will continue to open doors for us and we will hear our Maker's voice loud and clear! The last thing I want, is for my family to be swallowed up by that "big fish" :)
God Bless.

Pressing on?!?

Oh wow, where to begin....... So, so much has happened in our lives over the past few months I would not even know where to begin. I actually deleted this blog back in November. I feel we had such a hard year there was really not much I wanted to remember about it! Don't get me wrong, we are a blessed family, but feelings have been hurt, by people that we felt very close to, things have changed, we have felt loss and went through many, many changes.
Long story short I am not so sure I even want to continue this blog, but as I look back over previous blogs I realize I don't want to shut these memories out, but continue to make new ones, hopefully better ones! In our personal lives we are chugging along with these 3 amazing, beautiful little men! Sam is now 6 and is currently in kindergarten (with momma) doing home school. Zachary will be 4 next month and is in preschool here at home too! Peter will be a whopping 6 months old next week and proudly displays his new beautiful little teeth! We are still living here in the missionary homes in FL until June, at that time we have NO idea where we will go. We need to find a rental home and re- buy everything to put in it! Literally!! We thought we would be in Uganda by December 2009, which did not happen. We were forced to resign with World Gospel Mission because our funds were not raised within their time frame. We are confident where God has called us to serve, however we feel hurt and unwilling to trust again. We are praying now God gives us a renewed heart, that we will be able to trust another organization and lean on Him who has placed this burden on our hearts. We have learned so much over the past few months, and honestly, we thought about giving up, not wanting to put our family through the trials missionaries usually face, but the thought of doing that just isn't right with our hearts...... so, here we go again. Please pray for us as we seek God's guidance in our lives, we have actually applied with another organization are in the beginning process of heading to Africa again. But, just like before, we cannot do this on our own! We know God is more than able to provide, He owns the cattle on a thousand hills! Now having an organization that is behind us, teaching and helping us we are praying we will be able to make our dream, our calling a reality. Little by little, day by day, God is rebuilding our hearts and our abilities to open up and trust again. Thank you all in advance for your prayers which have carried us through to this point and will carry us all the way to Africa.
God Bless,
Josh and Angela

New changes!

New changes are here! Thank you all for your love, thoughts and prayers during this time of change. We are officially in the process of changing organazition and will no longer be serving with WGM. We are still heading to Africa to fulfill the call the lord has placed on our hearts! We are excited to continue our journey where everyone is part of working on this great commission, part of "His team"! Thank you for all those who continue to pray and support us, your prayers have truly been felt through this time of transition!
God Bless,
Josh and Ange
please contact us with any question you may have!

Changes!

We are so excited about the new changes going on in our lives right now. As many of you know we are in the process of a major redirection in our lives and would truly appreciate your prayers. Stay tuned...........

Shine a Light!

As I was reading today, God lead me to Luke 11. Sometimes scriptures you've read over and over become new to you, when God is trying to show you something!
Luke 11:33-36
"No one when he has lit a lamp, puts it in a secret place or under a basket, but on a lamp stand, that those who come in may see the light. The lamp of the body is the eye. Therefore, when your eye is good, your whole body also is full of light. But when your eye is bad, your body also is full of darkness. Therefore take heed that the light which is in you is not darkness. If then your whole body is full of light, having no part dark, the whole body will be full of light, as when the bright shining of a lamp gives you light."
I love the first part of this scripture! When night falls and we turn lights on throughout the house, do we cover them up with a dark blanket? Or do we hide the lamps under the bed? Why is it we can go on for hours, days, even years, and never share our light that He has lit in us? Who have you shared your light with today, when is the last time you led someone to our Savior, we have a tremendous job as Christians to share this amazing light with those who are sitting quietly in the dark, waiting for that bright light to touch them. I know I never want my light to even flicker, but always shine brightly for Him! Lord, may you always remind me of that, and continue to show me ways that I may shine brighter, especially to those around me. Amen

A Thankful Heart!

O.K. Not that I am complaining, but since we have started on this road to Uganda 1 year ago now, we have went through a lot, we have lost a lot, and we have gained a closer relationship to our Lord as a result of this. My heart has pretty much been fine throughout all the transitions we have made, until recently! I don't know if it's just hormones, having a new little one or what, but lately, my heart has been a little broke, and it's not something you want to admit, it makes me feel a little less godly for some reason. The other day I found Samuel going nuts with a marker coloring all over the dresser in his bedroom! This is not the characteristics of our 5 year old! I went in a blaze, with my spanking hand ready! I said "who did this?" Assuming it was my three year old and Sam immediately spoke up saying "If I tell you it was me, will I get a spank?" Tears filled his eyes, and I said "why? Why would you do such a thing? This isn't even our dresser, it belongs to the missionary homes!" He replied " I know, that's why I did it! I want my old dresser back, my old house, and my old toys, I don't want drunk neighbors anymore mom" the whole time, tears are just pouring down his little cheeks, which again, if any of you know Sam this is just not him! My heart broke into two million pieces as I tried to choke back the tears and not cry along with him. I wanted to tell him "I know, I miss our home, the home Josh and I worked so hard for, my huge front porch where I could sit and rock my babies, our back yard, my dad stood in the pouring rain staining that fence for us". My boys have given up so many of their toys, their cool bed with the sliding board, their swing set, their dog, their cat, their mamaw and papaw's who love them so much! Peter will never even get to know his grandma and grandpas, never get to see them on a daily basis. And all that is going through my head is..... Is this really worth it?! I'm so sorry to even think that God, but my children's hearts are really hurting! Why do we need to go to Africa now?! For seven years, we had no children, no home of our own, that would have been a better time! So, as I choked back my tears, I explained to Sam and Zach, for now this is our home, temporally until God says it's time to go the Africa, and we must be happy and have His joy in our hearts. When Josh got home from work I explained what had happened, and immediately he to began to cry. It was a couple of days later when we were flipping through the channels and an infomercial came on, it was for Feed the Children. We've all seen it, the hungry children in the streets of Africa, flies on their eyeballs, ribs protruding, it is heart breaking. I turned it right away, and told Josh, I honestly don't even want to think about Africa right now! But something made me turn it back! There she was, a momma, just like me, she had two boys the same age as Sam and Zach with a small baby strapped to her back. She was so proud of her children. They had found a mud puddle with a small amount of very dirty water, the cow's back foot was standing in the mud puddle, and it had actually just pooped in it. The mom stood by, as her two little boys scooped that water up and drunk it with smiles on their faces. The tears again started flowing from my eyes, as the man hosting the show said "this mother loves her children just as much as you love yours" I repented for the sadness I had in my heart for crying over material things and realized how much we are needed and called to be a part of what God is doing in Africa. No, I cannot take clean water to everyone there, I cannot feed the starving, or give medical help to all those who need it. But what I can do is go with a happy heart, telling people like that momma standing there, God loves her and her children so much He sent His only Son to die for her. I can give that hope through Jesus Christ. I will praise and thank God right along with her when a mud puddle is found and the children's pains from hunger are gone for that very minute. Josh and I agreed we would never be sad again when our children cry over material things, that is not how we want to raise them, that is not what we want instilled in their little hearts. It was a couple days later, I laid the boys down for a nap, we didn't talk any more about the dresser or anything and Sam came into the bedroom with the tiny little bible he got when he was dedicated as a baby. I was singing to Peter, Sam didn't know I was listening, and he opened that little bible, not knowing how to read yet, and said "Yes God, I will go to Africa and tell the children you love them, because that's what the bible says".
I am so proud of my boys and the life God has called us into, I am so thankful for continually being drawn close to Him and realizing what truly is important. I thank you all for your prayers and partnership in helping us reach a country through God who confirms our calling in our hearts everyday.

Concert of Prayer!

Please be a part of The Concert of Prayer beginning 9.14.09! Go to wgm.org to check it out!