Unfortunately, our other "baby" is not making the trip with us to England. Libby, our 6-year old dachshund, will be staying with the grandparents this next year. We will miss her terribly, but know that she will be royally spoiled in our absence!
Tuesday, August 28, 2012
Left Behind
Unfortunately, our other "baby" is not making the trip with us to England. Libby, our 6-year old dachshund, will be staying with the grandparents this next year. We will miss her terribly, but know that she will be royally spoiled in our absence!
Sunday, August 26, 2012
Getting Out of the Boat
A few months ago, I went on a spiritual retreat that included times for meditation on the Word. In one instance, our leader was guiding us through the passage when Jesus walks on the water and approaches the boat that holds the disciples. We were encouraged to picture the scene and where we might be in it.
I imagined that I was sitting in the boat with the rest of the disciples watching Jesus approach. I remember feeling awed and amazed by the whole scene. Here we are in the boat, and Jesus is walking right up to us! There wasn't a sense of fear or trepidation. I was at peace just observing the scene.
Even though I am familiar with the story and have heard it more times than I can count, I still found myself surprised when I looked over to see Peter getting out of the boat. I thought, "Oh wait, we can get out of the boat?" I found my surprise to be quite humorous, but also very telling. For several years now, the boat has been my home. I have mainly been an observer of late watching others take steps of faith. So here I was, watching Peter get out and realizing that getting out of the boat had not really occurred to me.
Then I looked from Peter out to Jesus on the water. Jesus was looking right at me and said, "It's your turn!" And immediately, I thought, "He's right! It is my turn!" As the meditation continued, I saw myself getting up and moving to the edge of the boat. It was scary and yet peaceful all at the same time. My vision ended as I began to lift one leg over the side of the boat and step onto the water.
I was reminded of this meditation this week as I read another blog where someone referenced the book, "If You Want to Walk on Water, You've Got to Get Out of the Boat." I started reading the book this week to see how it might speak to where we are right now.
One point the author makes is how fear is always part of growth. In fact, he says, "The choice to follow Jesus - the choice to grow - is the choice for the constant recurrence of fear. You've got to get out of the boat a little every day." This is exactly how I feel right now. Every day presents a challenge to do something I have never done before or something that sets me outside of my comfort zone. And every day, I have to make a choice of whether I will give in to fear or move forward. Many days, I have the thought, "This is too hard. Let's just stay here." But then I remember that neither one of us have jobs after this month and our house is under contract. The only option is either to move to Oxford or to move in with one of our parents! So that spurs me on to get done what needs to get done!
The author goes on to say, "Each time you get out of the boat, you become a little more likely to get out the next time. It's not that the fear goes away, but that you get used to living with fear. You realize that it does not have the power to destroy you." Growing means taking new steps and doing new things, and that is scary. Fear isn't necessarily bad. It's just part of the deal. And faith is not the absence of fear, but making the choice to keep following Christ anyway. Knowing this helps me to put fear in the right perspective and not think that I am doing something wrong or handling all of this badly. It just is what it is!
I thought about this idea of fear accompanying growth in this life, and I began to dream about what God's eternal Kingdom must be like. Where there is no fear to inhibit us from approaching God or living out His good and perfect will. What an exciting idea this is! I look forward to that day!!
But for now, we will keep taking one step at a time no matter how scary it is because the goal is Jesus. To keep our eyes on Him. To be obedient to His call. To be willing to step out of the boat and go!
I imagined that I was sitting in the boat with the rest of the disciples watching Jesus approach. I remember feeling awed and amazed by the whole scene. Here we are in the boat, and Jesus is walking right up to us! There wasn't a sense of fear or trepidation. I was at peace just observing the scene.
Even though I am familiar with the story and have heard it more times than I can count, I still found myself surprised when I looked over to see Peter getting out of the boat. I thought, "Oh wait, we can get out of the boat?" I found my surprise to be quite humorous, but also very telling. For several years now, the boat has been my home. I have mainly been an observer of late watching others take steps of faith. So here I was, watching Peter get out and realizing that getting out of the boat had not really occurred to me.
Then I looked from Peter out to Jesus on the water. Jesus was looking right at me and said, "It's your turn!" And immediately, I thought, "He's right! It is my turn!" As the meditation continued, I saw myself getting up and moving to the edge of the boat. It was scary and yet peaceful all at the same time. My vision ended as I began to lift one leg over the side of the boat and step onto the water.
I was reminded of this meditation this week as I read another blog where someone referenced the book, "If You Want to Walk on Water, You've Got to Get Out of the Boat." I started reading the book this week to see how it might speak to where we are right now.
One point the author makes is how fear is always part of growth. In fact, he says, "The choice to follow Jesus - the choice to grow - is the choice for the constant recurrence of fear. You've got to get out of the boat a little every day." This is exactly how I feel right now. Every day presents a challenge to do something I have never done before or something that sets me outside of my comfort zone. And every day, I have to make a choice of whether I will give in to fear or move forward. Many days, I have the thought, "This is too hard. Let's just stay here." But then I remember that neither one of us have jobs after this month and our house is under contract. The only option is either to move to Oxford or to move in with one of our parents! So that spurs me on to get done what needs to get done!
The author goes on to say, "Each time you get out of the boat, you become a little more likely to get out the next time. It's not that the fear goes away, but that you get used to living with fear. You realize that it does not have the power to destroy you." Growing means taking new steps and doing new things, and that is scary. Fear isn't necessarily bad. It's just part of the deal. And faith is not the absence of fear, but making the choice to keep following Christ anyway. Knowing this helps me to put fear in the right perspective and not think that I am doing something wrong or handling all of this badly. It just is what it is!
I thought about this idea of fear accompanying growth in this life, and I began to dream about what God's eternal Kingdom must be like. Where there is no fear to inhibit us from approaching God or living out His good and perfect will. What an exciting idea this is! I look forward to that day!!
But for now, we will keep taking one step at a time no matter how scary it is because the goal is Jesus. To keep our eyes on Him. To be obedient to His call. To be willing to step out of the boat and go!
Wednesday, August 22, 2012
Leaving Home
As of Monday, our house is now under contract! This is a great answer to our many prayers! We are hopeful that everything will go through as it should so that we can take this next step while leaving for Oxford. Yet, even though it is exciting, it is also sad.
Moving is not a new thing for us. Johnny and I moved 5 times in our first 5 years of marriage. We know how to move. We got really good at it. But this move is different. It has been overwhelming to me, and I haven't been exactly sure why.
Now that we are 4 weeks away from boarding the airplane, I have been thinking that it is time to get serious about packing. :) We've done an initial cleaning out of our house, but now the real work begins. Logistically, it is a little more complicated than our previous moves. Instead of two categories (take it or get rid of it), there are really three (take it, store it or get rid of it). I assumed that it was this added category that had me struggling to know where to start. Plus, you add to it trying to pack while also trying to keep the house in order for showings, and I felt stymied.
But with the contract on the house and our short-time frame, I have been trying to get organized and figure out how to really get serious. My mom and I were having a conversation today about logistics and afterward, Emily asked what Grammy and I were talking about. It was when I was trying to explain it to her that I realized the other dimension of this move that I had not realized yet: the emotional factor.
This is our home! "Our" home for the last 5 years. We came into this house as a family of two and are leaving a family of three. I love this house because of the memories we have here and the community we have found. Our little girl came home from the hospital here and learned to walk here. We became a family here! And that's why I feel overwhelmed by leaving it.
I was explaining to Emily that selling the house means that we will move all of our stuff out and someone else will move their stuff in. As I told her how we would not live here again, she and I both started crying.
And it was then that I realized that in helping her to get through this transition, I am also helping myself. I explained to her that it is okay to be sad about leaving. It doesn't mean that we are not excited about our new adventure. It just means that we have loved living here and have good memories here. And as I am comforting her, I am comforting myself too.
My family will tell you that I don't like change. However, much of my adult life has been all about change. Since leaving my parents' house for college 18 years ago (was it really that long ago?), the last 5 years in this house are the longest I have lived anywhere. So obviously, I have learned how to adapt to change and even seek it out. But it still doesn't mean that I like it. It really stresses me out. But I am thankful that we get to walk through this with our family and friends and tell each other that it is okay to grieve. It's okay to be sad. It doesn't mean that we are not excited. It just means that we have loved and been loved and really connected with people in our communities here. And that is a great blessing that we will carry with us as we go!
Moving is not a new thing for us. Johnny and I moved 5 times in our first 5 years of marriage. We know how to move. We got really good at it. But this move is different. It has been overwhelming to me, and I haven't been exactly sure why.
Now that we are 4 weeks away from boarding the airplane, I have been thinking that it is time to get serious about packing. :) We've done an initial cleaning out of our house, but now the real work begins. Logistically, it is a little more complicated than our previous moves. Instead of two categories (take it or get rid of it), there are really three (take it, store it or get rid of it). I assumed that it was this added category that had me struggling to know where to start. Plus, you add to it trying to pack while also trying to keep the house in order for showings, and I felt stymied.
But with the contract on the house and our short-time frame, I have been trying to get organized and figure out how to really get serious. My mom and I were having a conversation today about logistics and afterward, Emily asked what Grammy and I were talking about. It was when I was trying to explain it to her that I realized the other dimension of this move that I had not realized yet: the emotional factor.
This is our home! "Our" home for the last 5 years. We came into this house as a family of two and are leaving a family of three. I love this house because of the memories we have here and the community we have found. Our little girl came home from the hospital here and learned to walk here. We became a family here! And that's why I feel overwhelmed by leaving it.
I was explaining to Emily that selling the house means that we will move all of our stuff out and someone else will move their stuff in. As I told her how we would not live here again, she and I both started crying.
And it was then that I realized that in helping her to get through this transition, I am also helping myself. I explained to her that it is okay to be sad about leaving. It doesn't mean that we are not excited about our new adventure. It just means that we have loved living here and have good memories here. And as I am comforting her, I am comforting myself too.
My family will tell you that I don't like change. However, much of my adult life has been all about change. Since leaving my parents' house for college 18 years ago (was it really that long ago?), the last 5 years in this house are the longest I have lived anywhere. So obviously, I have learned how to adapt to change and even seek it out. But it still doesn't mean that I like it. It really stresses me out. But I am thankful that we get to walk through this with our family and friends and tell each other that it is okay to grieve. It's okay to be sad. It doesn't mean that we are not excited. It just means that we have loved and been loved and really connected with people in our communities here. And that is a great blessing that we will carry with us as we go!
Friday, August 17, 2012
It's All About Faith
"Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see." Hebrews 11:1
We bought our plane tickets to England this week, so we have our official departure date: September 19th! It's exciting and surreal, all at the same time!
Knowing the date is great, but it also puts the pressure on for all that we have to do before we go. To help Emily get a sense of when we are leaving, we have calendars on the refridgerator so that we can count down the days. So we have a visual of just how little time we have left!
It's been a full week in that we also got an offer on our house this week as well as found out that we are able to rent, if necessary (our HOA has a cap on rentals)! That is a real answer to prayer and gives us options. We are in negotiations with the potential buyer, but also looking toward rental possibilities in case it doesn't work out. All of this is requiring major faith on our part as there does not seem to be a decisive way that we should proceed. Plus, we are really having to trust the Lord with our finances.
It's hard to see the way forward many days and understand how all of this is going to work out, so we are just trying to trust the Lord one step at a time and trust Him to bring it all together! It's really stretching our faith, but we know that the Lord is in the middle of it and that He has not left us alone.
I asked Johnny this week how many more steps of faith we are going to have to take in this process! I am sure there are many more to come, but hopefully, we will get more confident in stepping out and seeing how the Lord will provide!
We bought our plane tickets to England this week, so we have our official departure date: September 19th! It's exciting and surreal, all at the same time!
Knowing the date is great, but it also puts the pressure on for all that we have to do before we go. To help Emily get a sense of when we are leaving, we have calendars on the refridgerator so that we can count down the days. So we have a visual of just how little time we have left!
It's been a full week in that we also got an offer on our house this week as well as found out that we are able to rent, if necessary (our HOA has a cap on rentals)! That is a real answer to prayer and gives us options. We are in negotiations with the potential buyer, but also looking toward rental possibilities in case it doesn't work out. All of this is requiring major faith on our part as there does not seem to be a decisive way that we should proceed. Plus, we are really having to trust the Lord with our finances.
It's hard to see the way forward many days and understand how all of this is going to work out, so we are just trying to trust the Lord one step at a time and trust Him to bring it all together! It's really stretching our faith, but we know that the Lord is in the middle of it and that He has not left us alone.
I asked Johnny this week how many more steps of faith we are going to have to take in this process! I am sure there are many more to come, but hopefully, we will get more confident in stepping out and seeing how the Lord will provide!
Thursday, August 16, 2012
Peru training
The training covered a number of important topics, such as culture learning, culture shock, and communicating the gospel cross-culturally. We also learned more about coaching, spiritual warfare, and participated in community visits around Huancayo where we were able to put into practice some of the things we were learning.
One particular highlight was studying 1 Thessalonians in community with our Peruvian brothers and sisters using inductive Bible study methods. We were excited to have the opportunity to read Scripture with those of other cultures! The Lord revealed powerful insights about the sacrifice of living out the gospel and the love that we as the Body of Christ should have for one another.
Emily really enjoyed the kids' program! She learned lots of new songs and was even quoting a scripture verse by the end: Psalm 139:9-10! She also told me one day as I was putting on her shoes: "Mama, God is with us wherever we go!" This has become a popular mantra around our house. We are so thankful to the wonderful MK leaders! The picture above was taken one day when they dressed up in traditional Peruivan dress. It has quickly become a hit!
We're back in the US now preparing for our quickly approaching departure! Thank you for your prayers as we work through the many details of this transition.
Psalm 139:9-10 - "If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there Your hand will guide me, Your right hand will hold me fast."
Sunday, July 22, 2012
A Leap of Faith!
“I see the
three of you standing on the edge of a cliff about to jump. It looks impossible, but the Lord is with
you. And when you finally decide to take
that leap of faith, you find that it is not a chasm at all, but only a small
step forward. And God is with you the entire way.”
This prayer was prayed over us this fall and it had a great effect on our lives! We already knew that God was calling us out, but we had not been brave enough to really take the leap of faith. But now we’re ready!
Our current timeline looks like this:
Mid/late September – Move to Oxford, England
We value partners in ministry and know that God has not called us to do this alone. We would love for you to join our team!
This prayer was prayed over us this fall and it had a great effect on our lives! We already knew that God was calling us out, but we had not been brave enough to really take the leap of faith. But now we’re ready!
After 8
years in Atlanta, God is opening the door for a new phase of ministry for us. After being involved in others’ journeys to serve
in cross-cultural ministry, it is our turn to go! Like Peter getting out of the boat and
walking to Jesus in faith, Jesus is now looking toward us and saying, “It’s
your turn!” We are taking this leap of
faith to join what Jesus is already doing in other parts of the world.
We are
excited to be involved in global theological education wherever the Lord leads
us. It is our desire to see the church
flourish worldwide, and we consider it a privilege to be involved in empowering
leaders in the global church through teaching and discipleship ministries.
The Lord has
given Johnny a heart to encourage others to grow in their relationship with
Jesus. As you know, Jesus calls us in
our going to “make disciples of all nations” (Matthew 28). England and Europe present incredible
opportunities for discipleship as people from all over the world live there in
a post-Christian society where there is little witness of Jesus. In Oxford, Johnny will be working with a
local Anglican church in outreach and discipleship ministries to students and
families.
God has
placed in Amy a desire to teach Biblical Studies in a cross-cultural
setting. Because her main focus is the Old
Testament, she will be spending the next year completing further training in
Hebrew and Jewish Studies at Oxford University.
Long-term, Amy looks forward to opportunities to teach Old Testament
Studies in a seminary or university overseas and equip national leaders with a
strong foundation in God’s Word.
Our current timeline looks like this:
Mid/late September – Move to Oxford, England
October 2012
- June 2013 – Johnny
will be involved in student discipleship ministries in Oxford while Amy is
completing a Master’s degree in Hebrew and Jewish Studies at Oxford University.
Summer
2013 – We will
return to the states for additional training at Mission Training International
in Colorado.
Fall/Winter
2013 – We will
redeploy to our long-term assignment. We
are currently exploring opportunities with several seminaries and universities
across Europe where we could teach after our time in Oxford. These possibilities include Croatia,
Lithuania, and Spain.
We ask that
you would pray for us as we make this transition. Please pray that we would be sensitive to the
leading of the Holy Spirit and follow Christ as he is calling us into a new
phase of ministry.
If you are intersted in joining our financial support team, you can make a special gift or
set up monthly giving online at http://themissionsociety.org/connect/connectmissionaries/people/winkles. Please indicate that your gift is
for Johnny and Amy Winkle #3042.
If you would
like to receive ministry and prayer updates from us, send us your email address at johnnyamyw@gmail.com. We value partners in ministry and know that God has not called us to do this alone. We would love for you to join our team!
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