I haven’t been posting on here much, but I am busy preparing for my 3-week mission tour in Europe. I am so honored to be coming alongside Amy J. Fields and Meant for More Ministries to serve the military families and local church plants throughout Europe. We have a packed agenda which means I need to get lots of work done, soak in lots of sleep and love on my husband as much as I can before March 10th.

There’s something about knowing my time is limited that makes me work harder and be more productive than ever. Recently I’ve been accomplishing more in one day than I usually do in a few. I’ve been spending some sweet time with the Lord. Casey recently turned part of his closet into a little study and prayer room. It’s perfect for quiet times with the Lord. I don’t know if you’ve ever had trouble finding a space to shut out the world for your quiet times, but if you have yet to try your closet, I highly recommend it. We call our quiet time spot the beach because Casey put an awesome beach scene photo in there. I’ve been spending hours in there reading the Word and on my face before the Lord. I’m so thankful that God has given me the discipline and the time to prepare my heart for this trip. I pray that this continues after my return.

One of the most important things I can do in prep for this trip and emotionally connect with Casey. I remember one time when I was traveling for work during our first year of marriage. Casey and I weren’t emotionally connected when I left. Our conversations while I was gone only made it worse. It wasn’t long before I was crying, alone in a hotel room in Chicago. On the phone with a husband that didn’t care and was just thankful to be away from me for a while. Man was that a hard time in our marriage. So needless to say, our marriage is a huge priority for me before I leave and apparently it is for Casey too!

Take a look at what he’s been up to! I found these all over the house, and I bet there’s more where these came from. I can’t wait to find them!

It’s been a little over 10 years since I first believed in the love and grace of Jesus, and just over 6 years since I truly surrendered my life to Him. For the last 5 years God has been using me to reveal His love and mercy to the people of Nashville. Although I’ve always had a heart for overseas missions, God made it clear His work for me is here… until now.

It was just a few months ago that my friend, Amy J. Fields, and I were walking around her neighborhood chatting about her missions work in Europe and around the world over a hot cup of tea. We had no idea what God had in store for us. After a year of keeping her feet planted on US soil due to her new marriage and illness, the Lord started planning seeds for Amy, a full-time missionary, to return to Europe for another tour. In the meantime, God had renewed my desire for overseas missions and had laid Europe on my heart. Little did we know that God was soon going to say Go! And go TOGETHER!

After a month of prayer, God has made it clear that I’m to go with Amy on her Europe tour… in March, yes, this March 

Amy’s love for the Lord and His people overflows into everything she does. Her joyful spirit of faith and humility is infectious. A chaplain’s daughter, Amy’s heart for ministry was evident from a young age. Her gifts of speaking, singing and teaching God’s Word has encouraged thousands around the world and led many to accept Jesus as their Savior. She has devoted her life to serving the Lord with all of her being. She’s a dear friend of mine, and I’m honored that God has given me the chance to support her ministry in a new way.

After 7 tours in Europe and work in Africa, Asia, China, Korea, New Zealand, Australia, and across the US, God has asked me to come alongside Amy and her ministry Meant for More (501c3) for her 8^th Europe tour. In less than a month we will take off for a 2-3 week Christ-centered mission to various military bases and churches throughout Europe. We pray that God will work through us to make disciples of all nations (Matthew 28:19) and equip the saints (Ephesians 4:12).

Although this is a last minute trip, we trust that the Lord will work in a mighty way to provide financially for His work in Europe. I’d love for you to join me in partnering with Meant for More’s work in Europe. I have a goal to raise $4,000 in just 4 weeks. I ask that you prayerfully consider donating a gift of $100 to Meant for More, but truly any gift’s impact will be multiplied and used for the Glory of God.

Most importantly, please join us in prayer for…

• God to prepare the hearts of those we will encounter in Europe.
• Our hearts to be saturated in His Word and for the Holy Spirit to fill us and provide abundant energy.
• Protection over our travels and our friendship.
• That we will be sensitive to God’s guidance and obedient to His direction as we go.

There’s so much more I want to tell you about the work God is doing through Amy’s ministry. If you’d like to know more, visit MeantForMore.com. Thank you for your love and support!

Meant for More is a 501C3 non-profit organization, and therefore all gifts are tax deductible.

GIVE ONLINE: http://meantformore.com/interact/make-a-donation/

It’s been a whirlwind summer that culminated in two fantastic vacations. I don’t know about you, but vacations have a tendency to do two things.

1) Wear me out

2) Test my marriage

Although I know vacations should be a time of rest and relaxation, I’m never good at that, especially in an unexplored city. It was no different during our time in Boston and  Wilmington. We explored every inch of those cities. Ate at the most incredible restaurants. Saw lots of gorgeous architecture. Put our feet in the sand. Enjoyed a few history lessons. And most importantly, spent lots of quality time with some dear friends.

One thing was different about this trip though. It didn’t test my marriage.

The first fight Casey and I ever had was 3 months into dating on our first trip together when we went to D.C. for a friend’s wedding. It was one of those fights that leave most couples single. Since then, vacations have had a tendency to be a very trying to time for our marriage. It seems that one of two things is the culprit.

1) We finally get quality time together and realize that we don’t actually like each other at the moment since there are too many unresolved issues.

2) We think we’re finally going to get time together and instead stay too busy exploring and engaging others that we miss each other.

These two trips were a testament to the way God has refined us and repaired our marriage. We truly enjoyed each other’s company! In fact, this vacation even brought us closer together. I felt like I was in a completely renewed marriage. There were numerous moments on this trip when God reminded me why I married Casey. When I saw his confident trust that the Lord would answer his prayer for batting practice tickets when they were sold out (he got tickets for free by the way.). The way he offered to take me to the beach numerous times and forego his ideal vacation spot on the intracoastal. His childlike excitement while we watched the Red Sox from the Green Monsta. It’s incredible how I can look past all that on a regular basis.

So this vacation was like none before when it came to our marriage, but it definitely still wore me out. I don’t know if it’s remnants from the mono or what, but we’ve both had trouble getting back into the swing of things, especially with Casey jumping into teaching as soon as we returned. The blog has definitely suffered, but hopefully we’ll be back in the groove in no time!

Here are a few of my favorite photos from vacation.

Every year Casey and I make a trip up to North Dakota to visit his family for the 4th of July. This year we got adventurous and decided to drive so that we could bring Minny. Since our nephew had been visiting that week he was going to be on the journey with us too. Casey and I knew that we weren’t going to fit into my 2-door Accord so we took the plunge and purchased a family sedan a few weeks before the trip. So there we were, Casey, me, Minny, Liam and all of our stuff packed to the brim of our new car that we were praying wasn’t a lemon. Now I know why people drive minivans and SUVs. So we drove – correction: I drove and they slept, for 13 hours, from 6 pm to 7 am. Then Casey, took over for the last leg of the trip. Surprisingly, we made it to North Dakota in one piece and only 18.5 hours.

Since you all couldn’t go on the trip with us (there was no more room in the car), I wanted to recap the trip for you.

After that long drive, I needed a long nap. Minny kept me company.

Minny got spoiled by the in-laws. Check out that huge bone!

We had some R & R on the lake.

Minny LOVED riding in the boat.

I did some beginner wake boarding. See the video below.

We saw some amazing wildlife. Isn’t this Bald Eagle gorgeous!

We caught some awesome wildlife. Casey snagged a bass and we both caught nasty northerns.

Madi and I celebrated our birthdays together for the 3rd year in a row.

And of course, we did lots of driving. Minny was a good sport.

Check out Minny trying to figure out if she likes the water.

Take a look at Casey waterskiing and me wake boarding. There are two good wipeouts!

 

Now we get a little bit of time to catchup on life before we head out of town again. Why does summer always go by so fast?