Here we are, we are in the process. It is a long process. This is a whole new experience for us. It is both sad and exciting for this process to be moving forward, with each step we face a new emotion, a new thing to deal with, and our faith ever increases. Each step makes this life altering decision even more real and big. To live in this moment in time is exciting, sad and awkward. We don't know how long we have left in our home, in our town, in our church and Chris in his job. However we do know that God is good, He is trustworthy, and He is faithful. We do know that He will continue to move us forward in His perfect timing, with His perfect vision of what we need and where we need to be. He is caring and all knowing.
Recently we had a Christmas Party/ House Celebration Party to basically say goodbye to our house. It hasn't sold yet, but we wanted to make sure to celebrate the blessing this house has been to us. One of my closest friends in the whole world is in a new secure, and peaceful time in her life (much like the season we are coming out of) and she shared how this is the most secure she has felt since her and her husband were married and how wonderful it was. I am so happy for her, and I totally get it, that is how I felt when we closed on this home. I then had a twinge of sadness and fear rush over my heart, because this is probably the most insecure I have ever felt since I was a child. I am very good at being in control, and having a plan. We do have a plan right now, but it is not one we have lots of control over, and it is a plan to turn our lives upside down. Not a lot of security in that! Then I quickly was reminded of how big, awesome and great my God is, and how he meets us where we are at, and He is the source of my security.
This last week I was reminded of the security I have in Jesus because of the authority I have through Him. The authority He has gives my faith a place to stand and in turn shows me who I truly am in Him. I also have seen how far he has brought me in this season of refreshing, comfort and peace, I get it. I get that He is so good, and so trustworthy that I have very little to worry about, because He will take care of me, He will take care of my family, and He will guide us and protect us.
Lean in, He is good, He is trustworthy, He has never failed and He won't start now. Lean in, let that be your security. Trust Him. He has this, He loves you, and He won't fail you.
Tuesday, December 8, 2015
The Counting the Cost of Dwelling in the Land
As we are moving forward in our lives and our following of Jesus, we are finding the cost of dwelling in the land God plants us in. This cost is way worth the product and the reward but there is still a cost. As we prepare to sell our house and eventually move to Cambodia I am reminded of this cost at every turn. I am reminded of the relationships we will be leaving behind, unfinished work that God is calling us away from, moving from one season of joy, peace, and contentment into the next season full of unknowns and I am sure lots of discomfort. There is also a slice of regret sprinkled in there because of how long we lived here in Durango without truly dwelling here, doing life with others. There are some relationships that I feel like I have missed out on how deep they could of been, or how much more I could of learned from others. I have loved living in a small town and as we move forward to a large city I find myself feeling nervous, and a little bit lost just at the idea.
I also find myself looking at the what we have spent here, our time, our money and our hearts. I feel invested in the future of our church, and little sad to not being here to see all that God has for it's future. I find myself looking to make a lasting impact in our children's ministry. Which leads me to the cost. The cost of dwelling in the land.
It cost time, time spent with people. We have had more people that we have shared meals with in this wonderful house than anywhere else we have lived. We have had more people stay with us, and even for short amount so of time call this place home.
We have experienced heartache with family of choice, and come through it with an even better understanding of our awesome God. We have cried about dreams unfulfilled and cried about dreams God is fulfilling. It costs to pack up, and leave what you have known. Especially when you have truly dwelled in the land God has planted you in. However it is so worth it, and I am excited as we enter this next season to jump in with both feet and truly dwell everywhere he leads us, even though I now understand this cost of heartache and sadness when that season ends.
Dwell where He plants you. It is worth it.
I also find myself looking at the what we have spent here, our time, our money and our hearts. I feel invested in the future of our church, and little sad to not being here to see all that God has for it's future. I find myself looking to make a lasting impact in our children's ministry. Which leads me to the cost. The cost of dwelling in the land.
It cost time, time spent with people. We have had more people that we have shared meals with in this wonderful house than anywhere else we have lived. We have had more people stay with us, and even for short amount so of time call this place home.
We have experienced heartache with family of choice, and come through it with an even better understanding of our awesome God. We have cried about dreams unfulfilled and cried about dreams God is fulfilling. It costs to pack up, and leave what you have known. Especially when you have truly dwelled in the land God has planted you in. However it is so worth it, and I am excited as we enter this next season to jump in with both feet and truly dwell everywhere he leads us, even though I now understand this cost of heartache and sadness when that season ends.
Dwell where He plants you. It is worth it.
Sunday, October 11, 2015
Dwell In The Land God has Planted You In
Since I was a little girl I have had dreams of becoming a missionary. I have dreamt of overseas missions, and from about 6th grade on saw the public schools which I attended as my own personal mission field. This was true all the way through college. After college I struggled with what my personal ministry should look like as a public school teacher and a wife. Then later as a mom too. I knew that I was/am a missionary anywhere I went but I no longer had the captive audience I had while in school, and the work place was such a different environment as a teacher verses a student. I did my best and wanted to impact the other teachers I worked with as well as my students, but it was different and hard. Through the last 6 years God has taught me so much about how my own personal ministry isn't all about leading bible studies, prayer groups or even strictly defined discipleship, but is about loving people where they are at, for who they are. It is so much more about authentically living a life that reflects Jesus and shows my love for Him, being who He created me to be. As I have been learning this I have grown so much in my relationship with Jesus. I have experienced Him in so many new ways, and trust Him more now than I ever have before.
Now here is the interesting part, as an overflow of my love for Jesus, and a product of trusting Him I am compelled to lead a Life Group through our church with my husband, and pour so much of who I am into the children's ministry at my church. I love children's ministry and never really thought I would ever be involved in it, I now understand the deeply rooted seeds of truth I get to plant in these little kids' lives and it is amazing. I never thought simply taking time to just be and do life with others was so important until we learned to do just that with our family of choice and our Life Group. I am so thankful! As I have learned to "dwell in the land and cultivate faithfulness" (Psalm 37:3) God has also taught me to trust Him more and lean into living intentionally right where He places me, being apart of my community.
In the last 2 years or so I have been more content and happy than I ever. I think it boils down to this, truly "dwelling in the land" trusting God to do His part as I do mine, and connecting with people. This has included not knowing or caring if I was only here another year or if we would be here another 10 years. I will say learning this key, this huge key in my life of being all in, being all there, wherever I am, has made this dream of mine for overseas missions a little harder to swallow now that it is being met. (Leaving a place I finally put roots into is sad, no matter the exciting journey we have ahead!) It has also made me see how valuable this key is, and that it is not about how long you are somewhere, or protecting your heart, but about rooting yourself where God has planted you. It is about planting yourself wherever God plants you and enjoying the people, the time, and gifts that God has given you to see what God is doing, and enjoy it! I am determined to do this over the course of the rest of my life, and as we are transitioning into our new season of overseas missions I am determined to do this wherever God takes us, beginning in Cambodia.
My encouragement to you is: be planted, enjoy the people God has in your life this season, and do it with all your heart. It is risky, it is dangerous, but it is also so valuable! It may be more painful when that seasons ends, but the joy and the love you feel during it, the things God will teach you through others is amazing. Who knows you may end up with another life long friend in the process and those are so priceless.
Now here is the interesting part, as an overflow of my love for Jesus, and a product of trusting Him I am compelled to lead a Life Group through our church with my husband, and pour so much of who I am into the children's ministry at my church. I love children's ministry and never really thought I would ever be involved in it, I now understand the deeply rooted seeds of truth I get to plant in these little kids' lives and it is amazing. I never thought simply taking time to just be and do life with others was so important until we learned to do just that with our family of choice and our Life Group. I am so thankful! As I have learned to "dwell in the land and cultivate faithfulness" (Psalm 37:3) God has also taught me to trust Him more and lean into living intentionally right where He places me, being apart of my community.
In the last 2 years or so I have been more content and happy than I ever. I think it boils down to this, truly "dwelling in the land" trusting God to do His part as I do mine, and connecting with people. This has included not knowing or caring if I was only here another year or if we would be here another 10 years. I will say learning this key, this huge key in my life of being all in, being all there, wherever I am, has made this dream of mine for overseas missions a little harder to swallow now that it is being met. (Leaving a place I finally put roots into is sad, no matter the exciting journey we have ahead!) It has also made me see how valuable this key is, and that it is not about how long you are somewhere, or protecting your heart, but about rooting yourself where God has planted you. It is about planting yourself wherever God plants you and enjoying the people, the time, and gifts that God has given you to see what God is doing, and enjoy it! I am determined to do this over the course of the rest of my life, and as we are transitioning into our new season of overseas missions I am determined to do this wherever God takes us, beginning in Cambodia.
My encouragement to you is: be planted, enjoy the people God has in your life this season, and do it with all your heart. It is risky, it is dangerous, but it is also so valuable! It may be more painful when that seasons ends, but the joy and the love you feel during it, the things God will teach you through others is amazing. Who knows you may end up with another life long friend in the process and those are so priceless.
Wednesday, October 7, 2015
Here We Go!
The First Assignment
We're Headed to Cambodia!!
with Engineering Ministries International
Over the last few years God has been teaching us greatly about trusting Him and investing our hearts into all that He calls us to. We have always had a heart for overseas missions and God has provided an opportunity for us to serve with Engineering Ministries International (eMi). The ministry utilizes God given talents to address the physical needs of people in order to gain access to meeting their spiritual need for Jesus Christ.
eMi is a non-profit Christian organization made up of architects, engineers, and design professionals who use their skills to help children and families around the world step out of poverty and into a world of hope. They directly serve Christian ministries through designing development projects that are necessary for the ministries to function, grow, and thrive in their region. Each of the ministries eMi serves has a focus of helping the poor and sharing the good news of Jesus Christ. eMi helps design projects like schools, hospitals, orphanages, bridges, clean water systems, and other technical designs.
We, as a family, will be helping launch a field office with eMi in Cambodia where we will be living full time. This office will serve the Southeast Asia region that includes Vietnam, Laos, Thailand, Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, and a few other countries. Chris will serve as a civil engineer while in the field office with a primary focus on designing clean water systems, wastewater management, and site planning.
Chris will also be leading three project trips each year that include a team of 5-10 design volunteers from all over the world to work directly with a ministry in the region. The volunteers will spend two to three weeks in country. Then over the next four months Chris will manage the final design and construction documents to meet the needs of the client ministry. During those four months Chris will work closely with local Christian interns not only to mentor them with the design process, but also disciple them to encourage their spiritual growth. We are really excited to partner with eMi and join in their investment into God’s Kingdom.
Though God has called us into this ministry, we need people like you to partner with us. We need people who will pray for us and people who will make a financial investment in our ministry. We ask that you prayerfully consider partnering with us through prayer and financial support at $100 monthly or some other amount. Thank you for considering partnering with us in obedience to God’s calling on the next stage of our lives.
Go to the Support The Mission page to setup an account and begin your monthly support at your earliest convenience!!
Chris and Kayle Hardrick thehardrickfamily@gmail.com
The purpose of this blog!
Hello!
This is my new blog set up to track with my families new adventures. We are currently building our ministry team as we prepare to move overseas to Cambodia with Engineering Ministries International (eMi). My husband Chris is the a civil engineer and we are excited for him to be able to use his skills set to bring hope to the poor and the needy in South East Asia. However, the girls and I are not engineers and will be walking out our normal day to day life and ministry while living in Cambodia. I am so excited to see all the ways God will use our daily life to glorify Him, just like He has taught me to do here in the states. Living intentionally, to glorify and trust Him holds true regardless of your geographical place. How exciting!
The purpose of this blog is the more day to day of the lessons God is teaching our family and even more specifically me through out our daily lives. I have had an older blog that I began this on, but to make everything more fluid have switch to this website. :) To read my older posts you can click here. Now as a stay at home mom, and soon an overseas missionary I hope to post much more often.
If you are more interested in the project trips Chris will be doing, and the more technical engineering pieces of our personal ministry you can head over to Chris's blog by clicking here.
I hope you can ride along and enjoy the adventure with us.
The focus here is the dwelling, dwelling and living faithfully wherever God plants you, and trusting in Him.
Here is our family:
This is my new blog set up to track with my families new adventures. We are currently building our ministry team as we prepare to move overseas to Cambodia with Engineering Ministries International (eMi). My husband Chris is the a civil engineer and we are excited for him to be able to use his skills set to bring hope to the poor and the needy in South East Asia. However, the girls and I are not engineers and will be walking out our normal day to day life and ministry while living in Cambodia. I am so excited to see all the ways God will use our daily life to glorify Him, just like He has taught me to do here in the states. Living intentionally, to glorify and trust Him holds true regardless of your geographical place. How exciting!
The purpose of this blog is the more day to day of the lessons God is teaching our family and even more specifically me through out our daily lives. I have had an older blog that I began this on, but to make everything more fluid have switch to this website. :) To read my older posts you can click here. Now as a stay at home mom, and soon an overseas missionary I hope to post much more often.
If you are more interested in the project trips Chris will be doing, and the more technical engineering pieces of our personal ministry you can head over to Chris's blog by clicking here.
I hope you can ride along and enjoy the adventure with us.
The focus here is the dwelling, dwelling and living faithfully wherever God plants you, and trusting in Him.
Here is our family:
 |
| Me (Kayle), Amirah (2 1/2 years old) Chris, Layla (5 months old) |
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)