And They Devoted Themselves...

I have had the honor of being part of some amazing communities in my life so far. I had a wonderful group of friends all throughout high school who walked with each other through the awkwardness of puberty, first boyfriends, family heartaches and discovering relationship with Jesus. Then I went to college and found myself again in the midst of some amazing Jesus-loving community! We laughed together, cried together, prayed together, worshiped together, studied together, healed together and dreamt of the future together.  Those times of community were so beautiful and pulled me closer to Jesus and grew me so much as a person.

Community can look so different depending on the stage of life and the context you are in, but the heart of it should be the same. I have learned so much about community by living in Haiti. Christian community here isn’t just a nice idea or something you can take or leave or even something that you have to go searching for… community is survival. You just can’t make it here on your own. American culture is so much about the individual. The messages I received growing up were that it is good to never need anyone. You should just learn to do it on your own.  Figure it out. Be independent. Never truly need anyone. But here… in these mountains of Haiti “not needing anyone” just isn’t an option. If you have no water because you don’t have a water cistern, you rely on the kindness of your neighbor who has one. If you have no food because your crops failed, you have a tightly knit church family who will rally together to make sure everyone has something to eat. And really I think that is much closer to how God desires it to be for all of His people.

I had been told many times in my youth that in this life “all you need is Jesus.” And while it may be true that Jesus is the only One who can save me… the only One who can fulfill my deepest longings and desires… the only One worth living for… it is also true that He purposefully made us to need each other. The family of God goes deeper and wider than a physcial relative ever could – it is by His blood that we become family. Jesus talks about this in Matthew 12:46-50. While His earthly mother and brothers were wanting to speak to Him, He posed the question “who is my true family?” He answers His own question and says that the ones who obey His Father are His family. We who are in Christ are family. And in this family God has purposed it so that we need each other.  As followers of Jesus we are to be dependent on God while being interdependent on each other.

Acts 2:42-47

“And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.  And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. And all who believed were together and had all things in common. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.”

*Lord Jesus, teach us to live in such a godly expression of community no matter where we live. Oh that the beauty of our unity as Your body would be a sign and a wonder to the world that would draw people to Yourself! Be glorified Jesus and let your family grow!*

Home to Haiti

After a 2 ½ month long winter journey stateside, we have returned home to our mountain community in Haiti and have been here for about two weeks. It has been a good and at times difficult transition, which seems to be the norm. This time around has definitely involved a more difficult “yes” than in the past. We have been stretched even more to hear God’s voice, obey and choose to trust. And let me tell you… it’s been a journey.

We’ve lived in Haiti for around 8 ½ years now and have traveled back to the states as a family almost every year and a half to connect with friends, family and supporting churches. We have become accustomed to the transitions between cultures and all the conversations, questions and feelings it stirs up. But this past trip had so many extra situations swirling around it that the normal conversations, questions and feelings became deeper, more intense and felt a bit more risky.

Haiti has been in rough shape for quite some time, but in the past several years things have gotten really bad in just about every way. Currently the government is mostly non-functioning, gangs are in control of most major roads in and out of the nation’s capital (Port-au-Prince), the police are no competition for these gangs (and there is major possibility that some are connected with them) and kidnappings and vehicle theft are still happening on the regular which means travel is a no go for those who can help it. Haiti is the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere and with the state of world finances the worth of the Haitian Goud continues to fall. When we moved here in 2013 it was 1 USD = 46 HTG, now its 1 USD = 105 HTG. Prices on all goods continues to increase, and the gangs aren’t helping with this – as they block roads and charge vehicles to pass, transport trucks have to charge more for their loads which means the street prices increase to cover the cost.

 So while we were stateside (for holidays and a friend’s wedding) we had all of these risk factors of living in Haiti floating through our heads. Many missionaries have chosen to leave Haiti because of the increased risks and danger, including some close friends of ours in a neighboring village. And then while stateside we received heartbreaking news that a missionary friend of ours (he and his family lived about 25 minutes away from us in another village) died quite suddenly after being sick for a week. He and his family ran a clinic and helped so many people find healthcare in our remote area, but for now that clinic is closed. So we found ourselves stateside with all of these realities swirling around in our minds and the “what ifs” that came with them. It all just seemed like too much. We were constantly trying to pray, process and hear from God in the midst of living in other people’s spaces, having commitments to keep, parenting four, full of life, kiddos and doing our best to plan our next steps while not fully knowing what those should be exactly.

Have you ever experienced a time where you were SO desperate to her God’s voice for direction? Well, that’s exactly where we were (and still are). There were many voices speaking, but the one we needed (and need) was His.

It is His voice that we want to hear.

It is His voice that we want to follow.

In the midst of the confusion we were feeling His nearness and hearing His still small voice leading us back to our home in Haiti. We were able to take a few days of retreat as a family and Jesse and I spent some time in prayer and fasting (and asked our ministry board of directors to join in too). During those days (as well as before and after) God was so kind to confirm clearly through Scripture, wise counsel, prophetic words, past testimonies and His still small voice that we were to return home as planned.

During a time of solitude and prayer I was confessing all of my fears and once again asking God to speak about going home. His response to me was that he already had. He had already spoken in every way He was going to and now I just had to choose to trust. My hope was that if I just had one more confirmation then maybe all of my fears would melt away, but no. The fearful thoughts still came and what I needed to do was to fight through the fear and choose to trust Him.

And so here we are… home in Haiti doing our best to love God, love our neighbor and bring His kingdom wherever we go. We’re doing our best to obey and sometimes for me that means obeying a little bit scared. When the fear comes I get to choose to trust God, declare hope and believe for miracles.

Like I said… it’s been quite the transition and we’re still in the midst of it. And so I ask for your prayers over our family, our ministry and our community and I leave you (and myself) with this verse.

"The Lord alone is our radiant hope and we trust in Him with all our hearts. His wrap-around presence will strengthen us."

Psalm 33:20 (TPT)

Haitiversary

We recently passed our six-year mark of living in Haiti. With the current state of the nation it was an interesting day to celebrate. I usually post on social media about that sort of thing, but I honestly didn’t know what to say. The boys and I made cookies for our school staff and Jesse and I kept looking at each other throughout the day and would say “Six years, babe.” “Yep… six years.”  We honestly didn’t feel a whole lot of excitement about it. And not because we aren’t thankful for what God has done over the past six years in our community and in our lives, but because we just have no idea what the next six years will bring. We honestly have no idea what the next month will bring!

Haiti has been in a state of political turmoil for quite some time. Over the past year or so demonstrations (which include road blocks, burning tires, violence, increased gang activity etc.) have gone in spurts – a couple days here, a week there. But at the start of September it all intensified and really hasn’t stopped. Many schools have yet to open, different businesses have been targets of violence, fuel deliveries have been all but cut off to certain areas of the country and many clinics and hospitals are running low on supplies country wide. Hundreds of jobs have been lost due to the closure of several large hotels and businesses while other businesses are trying to stay open but have to layoff many employees to stay afloat financially. I read from a reliable source that in the past two months, 20 YEARS of economic advancement has been lost. Inflation continues to dominate and fear and uncertainty are the common theme. Haiti is a mess. So happy six year Haitiversary, right?

For the most part the atmosphere remains unchanged here in our mountain community. Stories from down the mountain are brought up and circulated by the students who have come home since school hasn’t opened. They are thankful to escape the current madness of “the city”. Trucks have started traveling once more, so that’s a comfort, but there is the constant fear of getting robbed once they make it down the mountain. Cornerstone School of Truth has been able to function as normal which we are so thankful for, but in order to stay open we have needed to switch up or usual way of getting cash and supplies. It will take more time and be more work, but it will be safer for now which is a good thing.

So here we are… going into our seventh year of life in Haiti. (Wait a minute. The seventh year should be a Sabbath year, right? So Biblically we can just take this next year off, yeah? Juuuust kidding.) Even though we have gotten used to the normal level of uncertainty in this country, the past several months have been a whole new level and our minds and bodies are feeling the effects of it. BUT we have to keep reminding ourselves that the circumstances around us do NOT dictate our life… God does. We have had many conversations of “what ifs” and we keep coming back to the fact that we have given our lives to follow God’s lead and we will give the rest of our lives to do the same thing. And for right now we hear God saying to us specifically “endure for the generations to come.” Even if for some reason we have to close the school for a while, God has called us to live in this community and love and empower our neighbors in whatever way He directs. The school is one way in which we do that, but it’s not the only way. The good news of Jesus and the truth of His gospel are best shared through our life… living and learning and growing together in community. So here is to the next year of life in Haiti. We have even less of a clue than usual as to what it will bring, but we are in it. We are in it with our community to see the Kingdom of God come to Haiti. And even if what God has called us to only affects one life and even if we never get to see the fruit of it all, by God’s grace we will endure for the generations to come.

Pray with us for the people of Haiti – so many of the poor and oppressed are suffering even more during this time and it feels like such a hopeless situation. But we continue believing and hoping and praying and working toward a better Haiti.  

First Week of School

During our last staff meeting before school started we all shared our hopes for this coming school year. A consistent theme voiced was that we would all learn to understand each other and work together in unity. God brought a picture to mind as everyone was sharing – I saw all of the staff members holding hands in a circle with all of the students in the middle. God spoke to my heart that as we stand in unity for these kids that He has placed in our school, then they will be protected. But if we allow division come to come for any reason and drop our hands at any place in the circle, then the children will be vulnerable to attack from the enemy. Unity is on everyone’s heart and so we pray that everyone makes the necessary efforts to maintain a unified culture. Our main desire is for our children to flourish and our staff remaining unified is one necessary component.

With that in mind we have headed into our fourth year of school with Cornerstone School of Truth… wow… so crazy! Jesse has been busy getting the Kindergarten – 2nd grade classes settled into their new schedules and getting the teachers more acquainted with the material. We do school a little differently so Jesse has to do a whole lot of on the job training with the Kindergarten and Elementary staff, especially since two of the teachers are new to the CST family. The Preschool staff has been doing well! With only one new teacher on that team it makes the flow easier since the majority of staff knows what needs to happen. It’s been so great having all our students back and now the school yard and classrooms are flowing with laughter and life once again!

We definitely weren’t 100% prepared, but when does that ever actually happen? Our team has worked beautifully together and we view every school year as a new learning experience. With each new year comes new challenges, new solutions and aaaaaall the growth and refinement. Jesse commented how each year it shocks him how chaotic the first couple days are and then all of a sudden a rhythm begins to happen and everyone knows where they are supposed to be and what they are supposed to be doing. One thing is very true about this first week… it has been messy. Just like most of life, right? So once again we get to make the choice to embrace it all and move forward with what God has called us to do knowing that in the mess God makes beautiful things! One thing we are certain of is that we are creating the space for our students to grab hold of their identity and destiny in Jesus. They each will know that they are loved, that their ideas matter and that their education is important.

Here is to an amazing fourth year of Cornerstone School of Truth!

Worthy Of It All

Summer has looked very different for us from year to year since moving to Haiti. We spent the beginning of the last two summers traveling stateside, which was great, but made preparing for the next school year quite hectic. We decided that this summer we would be staying home (which also influenced our decision to give birth to our sweet Felicity here in Haiti). We had been looking forward to the extra time we would have to settle in as a family of six and be way ahead of CST prep work as the school year approached. Building projects, though several, are not major ones and our current staff had been doing a great job so we were in a place to develop our staff training even more. Well… per usual things will not be working out how we first hoped and right now a trip stateside is looking pretty nice…

This summer is going to be an interesting one for us – difficult and frustrating conversations to have, tough decisions to make, changes in school staff and unknowns to discover. I’m not necessarily looking forward to it… ok I am ZERO looking forward to it. And you know why? Because (a) CONFLICT and (b) it’s going to be difficult.

Conflict is not something that Jesse or I were raised to deal with in a healthy way. Avoidance or explosion were our examples. And our personalities tend toward keeping peace and going with the flow – being non-confrontational is in our DNA. BUT as we have experienced life and been thrust into a leadership position, dealing with conflict has been and continues to be a huge area of growth. Though we both have leadership capabilities, honestly neither of us want to be the leader… we both would MUCH rather be a helper to the leader. I think partly because we know handling conflict is part of the package when you’re in a leadership position. My anxiety level shoots up immediately even at the thought of it!  But we are where God has us and it seems to me He has us here because He knows that is exactly where we need to grow. Yay. (insert eye roll)

Difficulty. I am not looking forward to the difficulty that lies within the next several months. I mean… I know we can handle it. God is with us and our number one priority is to hear His voice and do what He says. We are confident He is with us, but I would much rather run away from the hard things right now. There is so much mess to be sorted out relationally and within ministry and the only part we can control (obviously) is on our end. I want to put the brakes on, take a step back for like a year and focus in on our family. Make home renovations a priority. Put up all the walls (both emotionally and physically). Keep all the mess out. Build our own little world that is full of joy and peace and a culture we understand and agree with. Hard things? No thanks.

This past Sunday during our morning worship time, my heart and mind were just not engaged. My head was spinning with all the ins and outs and what ifs of all the situations that are going on in ministry. I was angry and sad and asking God why and telling Him that I really just wasn’t up for dealing with it all. And then the last song of the worship set came on:

“You are worthy of it all

You are worthy of it all

for from You are all things

and to You are all things

You deserve the glory”

 And as we sang that chorus over and over, my heart softened, tears began to fall and my eyes saw clearly once again why we are even here in Haiti in the first place. We are here to bring Jesus glory – through conflict, through difficulty, through joy and celebration… it’s all for Him. As we handle conflict, invest time into conversations with difficult people, love those who only want to use us and start over in some areas, as we do it all in a Kingdom way, it is all for His glory. He is worthy of it ALL! No matter how much I don’t want to deal with it… He is worthy. No matter what it costs us… He is worthy. No matter what it looks like… He is worthy.

Keeping Hope Alive

Life is filled with ups and downs… this fact doesn’t take long for most of us to acknowledge. But the older I get, the more life I experience and the more I choose to see what’s going on around me, the more my eyes are opened to the reality of this sin-torn, fallen world.

I am a sensitive person. I take in what other people are feeling or dealing with to such a degree that I have to be very careful even with the kind of media I consume. Like I get INVOLVED with the story line and have a difficult time compartmentalizing the story from reality. So I’m sure you can imagine how all-consuming real life situations can become for me – whether happy or sad. It is usually quite easy for me to rejoice with those who are rejoicing and mourn with those who are mourning. I view this quality as a gift, but also am continuing to learn how to steward it because there is the potential that my emotions could be controlled by the situations swirling around me.

Within the past year or so there has seemed to be an onslaught of difficult situations that have either touched my life directly or the life of someone very dear to me (which with how I function is almost the same thing). I say this NOT to stir up sympathy for myself because I fully recognize that we all go through difficult seasons. I say this only to give context. There has been child-loss, miscarriage, breakdown of relationships and family, confusion within ministry and difficult decisions. There has been country-wide (Haiti) chaos and increased national instability. There has been community issue on top of community issue and the ever-present evil of poverty that loves to rear its ugly head in a manifold of ways. I hate to sound so pessimistic, but these are the realities that we have seen and been walking through.

I have had several conversations with different friends (both in and out of Haiti) about how to keep hope alive with all of these terrible things staring you in the face. I do NOT want to become that old angry missionary who has lost all love for people and all hope for change. How do we look at the harsh realities of life and keep hope alive? How do we endure the same conversation with the same person for the hundredth time and hope that maybe THIS time they will understand? That maybe THIS time there will be breakthrough? That maybe THIS time change will happen?

I have so many questions and am continuing to process through this (and honestly think I will be for a long time), BUT the truth that God keeps bringing me back to is that love “bears all things, believes all things, HOPES all things, endures all things.” (1 Corinthians 13:7) I want to be a woman filled and overflowing with the love of our perfect Father. That means that hope will flow through me into any and all situations. Hope that God will show Himself faithful. Hope that healing and restoration will happen. Hope that things can and will get better. Hope that today is the day of salvation. Hope that a miracle will happen. Hope for revival. Hope that Love will have His way.

I don’t have many practical answers on how to keep hope alive, but one thing I am standing on is that “in His great mercy He has given us new birth into a LIVING HOPE through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.” (1 Peter 1:3 NIV)

To keep hope alive in my heart and life I must continue clinging to Jesus. I must remember that although it seemed that all was lost as Jesus hung on the cross, that He rose victorious over death, over sin and that He resurrected as our Living Hope. And as we follow in His footsteps, no matter what may come, HOPE is alive within us!

Perspective Change

Living cross-culturally can be exciting, interesting, humbling, eye-opening, fun aaaaand completely and utterly frustrating. We have some situations going on right now that are stirring up the later feelings…

I have learned over the past five years of living here, that my perspective on MANY things needed changing. It has been a humbling and freeing experience that has caused me to let go of many things I thought I knew about life, ministry, the church, family, friendship, serving, leadership - just to name a few areas – and forced me to really seek God and His word for answers. I needed to get (and still do at times) the American-culture mind-set out so that I could see what true Kingdom of God culture actually is. I am of course still in process with this. It takes quite a bit of work to deconstruct mind-sets and thought patterns that have been second nature to me for over twenty years. Now don’t get me wrong there are so many things I appreciate about American culture and I am very thankful to be an American citizen with the different rights and privileges I have. But I want the reality of my Kingdom of God citizenship to come way before any citizenship I have here on earth.

I admit that in this journey of deconstructing and reconstructing mind-sets I have always felt a little guilty looking down on different ways of doing things here in Haiti. I figured that most of my disagreements came from a biased, prejudiced, white-American, middle-class way of thinking that I knew was wrong. But now that I can see the motivations of my viewpoints a little more clearly I can honestly say that there are plenty of cultural things in Haiti that are just plain wrong. And there are probably so many people who would shout a huge “DUH!” to that statement, but for me I am ultra-aware of my heart and my motivations for certain thoughts. So yes “duh” but also pure heart motives are good.

I won’t make a list of all the things that are wrong with culture in Haiti, but I am becoming ever more aware of such a list being formed in my mind. And this list is not in comparison with American culture, because American culture (in ALL areas) has its own list of issues. My comparison of culture as a follower of Jesus should only EVER be compared to the culture of heaven. THIS is the main change that has happened in me since living in Haiti. Instead of “well, in America we…” its “well, in God’s Kingdom we…”

God’s Kingdom, the Kingdom of heaven, the world where Jesus is King…. however you want to say it… THAT must be our standard for living. How would God want me to respond in this situation? How would God want the church body to function within a community? How would Jesus treat someone if they were threatening and talking bad about Him? How would Jesus bring justice to this unjust situation? How does God want me to treat this person who is so utterly different than me? How would He celebrate with those who are celebrating and mourn with those who are mourning?

As I look at the (ridiculous) cultural situations lying before us where adults are acting like complete children and there is SO much “he said, she said” kind of talk and note writing and power playing and manipulative scheming, I honestly just want to slap everyone and tell them to stop being idiots. I can see that’s not exactly what Jesus would do, so don’t worry I’m not going to act on those feelings. But honestly there are moments where hope for change seems so very, very far within some situations and some individuals. But I am choosing to cling to the hope of heaven on earth and I choose to do my part in walking out my life in such a way that would bring God’s kingdom to earth (which definitely doesn’t include physical violence or name-calling).

My continual prayer is that I would see every situation, every person through the lens of heaven. I also pray for wisdom… we want and desperately need all the heavenly wisdom our minds can contain! Praise God we have full access to all the wisdom and all the thoughts of Christ (1 Corinthians 2:16)!

Oh God help us let go of every cultural thing that is not in Your Kingdom. Help us be Kingdom culture bringers in whatever situations we have going on. It’s not easy, but it will be worth it. So, so worth it.

Political Unrest

For most of its existence, the country of Haiti has been in a fragile state. Instability and corruption seem to infuse most aspects of culture and it is difficult to know who to trust and what to think of the issues that arise within the government. Who is actually trying to do what is best for the nation and who is simply striving for power?  I don’t even pretend to know the answers to those questions…

Around three weeks ago the city of Port-au-Prince and the surrounding areas were mostly shut down for just under two weeks due to wide-spread violent protests and road blocks. The opposing parties of the current President were behind it all and were saying that these protests wouldn’t stop until the President stepped down. Our way of life up here in the mountains was basically untouched other than needing to close down school (due to rumored threats) and almost running out of propane. But we were safe and could go about daily life without fear. I know those in Port had a different story. Food and water were short for much of the ordinary Haitian population and more suffering and fear was added to their already difficult lives. Our ways of getting news was through phone calls with Haitian friends who were “in the know” and through other ministry/missionary posts on social media.

During those weeks (and even now) my heart hurts. It hurt for all of those in the middle of the violence and suffering, but it also hurt for how different ministries misused this difficult time to bring in more funding. There were several missionaries who chose to leave the country with their families when they had the opportunity. Because of road blocks there were some who needed to take a helicopter in order to get to the airport. I pass zero judgement on those who left and zero judgement on those who stayed. For those living near the chaos, either decision would be a difficult one. But I couldn’t help but get angry when I saw ministries post truth mixed with drama along with a donate button. Is this how we as followers of Christ should act? There were even foreign “mission” teams who started Go-Fund-Me pages because they were stuck somewhere (even though they were thoroughly warned by locals NOT to travel during those weeks). Unreal.

I could rant about more, but I won’t. I’m not sure how helpful it is. But here is the thing that is most helpful… the TRUTH. The truth is that things got crazy in the nation’s capital. The truth is that there was and still is a whole lot of political unrest (just like there has been the entire history of Haiti). The truth is that people were making road blocks everywhere in hopes to make money from the vehicles that tried to pass (and they used intimidation and violence to get it). The truth is that the general Haitian public was suffering and scared during those weeks but was stuck and had no plan ‘B’. The truth is that many missionaries left because they were scared or because the ministries they were apart of wanted them to leave. The truth is that even more missionaries stayed because they were safe tucked behind the walls of their mission base. The truth is that several ministries and foreign “mission” teams misused this situation to get money. The truth is that we who claim to follow Jesus should be honest in all things. The truth is that even though there aren’t any demonstrations right now, the political situation is still extremely unstable. The truth is that even though it seems impossible, the situation in Haiti CAN change. The truth is that our Heavenly Father loves the people of this nation and has a beautiful dream in His heart for them. The truth is that it is going to take the Church rising up in integrity, obedience and faith to see this dream come true. The Truth. What this nation needs, what we as people need is the Truth.

Five Year “Haitiversary”

When we first arrived in Haiti on October 23, 2013 we had been married a little over five months, we were four months pregnant with our first born, we were full of dreams and had zero clue about SO many things. The thing we were confident in was that God called us to make Haiti our new home and that we were to love Jesus and love our community in whatever way He asked us.

Five years later and things look so utterly different than what we had thought… WE look so utterly different! The amount of growth, refinement, perspective change and learning that has occurred over our time in Haiti is not necessarily something I expected when we began this adventure. I obviously understood that God would be at work in us, changing us, growing us… but the speed and intensity in which all that change has happened is quite crazy! And even though it has been very difficult at times, we are so thankful! There are things we have learned here that I don’t think we could learn anywhere else. Refinement has happened here that I don’t think we could have experienced anywhere else. There is glory and joy here that I don’t think we could share in anywhere else. God has truly given us His clear vision for our life and ministry in Gwo Cheval and we love seeing how He works!

The road we have walked these past five years have been full of celebration, great victory and God’s miraculous provision. We can’t help but be in awe! The road has also been filled with unmet expectations, loneliness and great difficulty. But like apostle James says, “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” (James 1:2-4)

We look at the road ahead and know that it is filled with even greater victory and even greater difficulty and we choose to celebrate, be thankful and persevere in it all. Would I sometimes rather be eating cheese in a hot tub watching Netflix all day? ABSOLUTELY. (And that’s why we take vacations.) But we sacrifice and give because Jesus is SO worth it. His kids here in Gwo Cheval are SO worth it. Seeing His kingdom come as it is in heaven is SO worth it.

Five years in…. so excited to see what the next five bring!

First Week of School

Ever experience that feeling of excited anticipation mixed with slight dread before something begins? I tend to get that feeling on specific occasions and the start of the school year is definitely one of them.

I do my very best to ignore the slight dread because I am 100% sure that the feeling comes from the enemy and I don’t want to entertain ANYTHING he wants to introduce into my life. It seems that whenever we are to enter into something that God has called us to or take the first step in obedience in what we have heard God say, the enemy scrambles and tries to do whatever he can to get us off course. And if he can’t do that then he tries to bring fear to mess with our emotions. BUT because in Christ we are overcomers... because in Christ we have the victory... because in Christ we are covered in pure love which drives out all fear... we know that the enemy loses. We know that as we move past the feelings of slight dread and embrace the excited anticipation as we enter into the “new” we will experience the most beautiful joy of our God!

And THAT is what this first week of school has been for us and our staff... pure JOY! 

Was it hectic? 

Yes.

Did everything go perfectly? 

No.

Are there areas for growth?

Plenty.

Were there issues with students and parents? 

For sure.

Did kids cry and pee on themselves?

You already know the answer.

 But our days this week have been filled with such joy in all that God is already doing and will continue to do this school year! And this is the way our lives should be lived. No matter what is going on we can have joy unspeakable. Now I hope you know I’m not talking about happy unspeakable... I’m talking about joy. That deep, unwavering hope in the goodness of our God which sometimes manifests in happy and sometimes manifests in quiet contentment knowing that we are victorious even during despair.

So Cornerstone School of Truth year THREE is under way. We have 54 students, 5 classes, 10 full-time staff and so much in store for this year. Pray with us that we would remain in the joy and peace of our God as we follow Him and bring His kingdom to earth in all that we do!