Realizing more & more about this move...

I guess it was about 5 years ago that I visited Angel Fire, New Mexico for the first time. It was summer time but not hot & humid. Nights were cool and mornings were fabulous for running. I remember asking Jay several times that visit why we lived in Georgia. I thought it was absolutely beautiful.

I mean beautiful. Mountains that take your breath away, beautiful scenery everywhere you look. I wish I could describe it better than I am. God is evident that’s for sure.

How could God not be evident? The name of the village is Angel Fire and the surrounding mountain range is Sangria de Cristo (the blood of Christ.)  Obviously HE has a heart for this region.

We fell in love that village. We love how quaint it is, how slowly the people do life, and we see how God longs to take back that area.

Now, keep in mind. We fell in love and looked forward to many years of VISITING this area.

Fast forward to this past August we went back to visit again. It was the place I chose to celebrate my 10-year anniversary. I chose the mountains over the BEACH, y’all, it’s that gorgeous. As we were getting in the car to leave our friend that lives there said, “if you ever want to plant a church, Angel Fire would be a great place.” Pretty sure she’d said that to us before but this time it stuck in our hearts and minds.

I’d thought a lot about it but didn’t say a word to Jay. In late September Jay told me he hadn’t stopped thinking about it and had actually asked our friend what a church plant in Angel Fire would look like. This began months & months of prayer and fasting to see if this was truly something we should explore.

Our friend mentioned it to another precious lady from Angel Fire and she said “oh we have prayed for a Spirit filled church for 15 years.”

We invited our Pastor and Executive Pastor to pray alongside us. We also asked family and a few friends to join us in prayer. At this point it was distraction to us that we wanted either God to take off our hearts and minds or give us direction for the future.

We went back out to Angel Fire in December and met with 15 or so Christians who live there and meet regularly for prayer. It was a precious time. We took Gabe this trip. This was his first visit. He loved seeing snow! We shared with him that we were praying about moving there and asked him to join us in praying.

The friends we met that week agreed to fast and pray with us. We went back again in January and began to feel God confirming this may be our next step.

One confirmation was a guy Jay had never met walking up to him at the church we attended in Red River saying, “I don’t know you but I felt like I should tell you this is where you are supposed to be.” Well…ok.

Another confirmation came straight from Him. A friend asked me to do soaking prayer with her. I wasn’t completely sure what that was but I was willing. She ran to get her journal and me some paper (she brought two big sheets for me and I laughed…I wasn’t as confident as she was that I would hear!)

But we got our paper out and asked Him to speak to us. I simply asked, “Lord, what do you have for me to do in Angel Fire?”  Y’all he answered!

He told me that I could “laugh and make people feel comfortable.” He also said, “For 15 years the people of Angel Fire have prayed and for 15 years I have been training you through Teen Advisors and Young Life how to build relationships and love people to Christ.”

Without God it makes NO SENSE. There is no reason (other than the beauty) that we would want to leave our families, our beloved church, our friends and move ourselves and five year old son to a town that doesn’t even have a Chick-fil-A or Target!   Only God could call us to do this.

I have to say - Gabe has been faithful to pray and to ask us if we’ve heard anything from the Lord. One of the sweetest times we talked about it he said, “mom, I’ll move to New Mexico if God says to but I sure will miss my toys.” That sweet boy was willing to leave everything (to him… his hot wheels are everything!) to follow Him. I almost wept. Now he’s started telling people, “my parents are moving to Angel Fire but I’m not.”

Here are some other ways God has confirmed this calling for us:

He has very clearly given us Isaiah 61 for this village. We are taking a HUGE risk of faith and leaving everything we know and love to bring the truth of the Gospel to these precious people.

The Year of the Lord’s Favor

61 The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me,
    because the Lord has anointed me
    to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
    to proclaim freedom for the captives
    and release from darkness for the prisoners,^[a]
2 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor
    and the day of vengeance of our God,
to comfort all who mourn,
³     and provide for those who grieve in Zion—
to bestow on them a crown of beauty
    instead of ashes,
the oil of joy
    instead of mourning,
and a garment of praise
    instead of a spirit of despair.
They will be called oaks of righteousness,
    a planting of the Lord
    for the display of his splendor.

⁴ They will rebuild the ancient ruins
    and restore the places long devastated;
they will renew the ruined cities
    that have been devastated for generations.
⁵ Strangers will shepherd your flocks;
    foreigners will work your fields and vineyards.
⁶ And you will be called priests of the Lord,
    you will be named ministers of our God.
You will feed on the wealth of nations,
    and in their riches you will boast.

⁷ Instead of your shame
    you will receive a double portion,
and instead of disgrace
    you will rejoice in your inheritance.
And so you will inherit a double portion in your land,
    and everlasting joy will be yours.

⁸ “For I, the Lord, love justice;
    I hate robbery and wrongdoing.
In my faithfulness I will reward my people
    and make an everlasting covenant with them.
⁹ Their descendants will be known among the nations
    and their offspring among the peoples.
All who see them will acknowledge
    that they are a people the Lord has blessed.”

¹⁰ I delight greatly in the Lord;
    my soul rejoices in my God.
For he has clothed me with garments of salvation
    and arrayed me in a robe of his righteousness,
as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest,
    and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.
¹¹ For as the soil makes the sprout come up
    and a garden causes seeds to grow,
so the Sovereign Lord will make righteousness
    and praise spring up before all nations.

God has given us His eyes, His heart and His hope for these people.

God has used friends, family, scripture and more tangible things to confirm our calling. Our house went under contract after being on the market for three days. Do your thing, Lord!

We had one set back that lasted less than 12 hours. But it was HARD. And the Lord gave Jay this scripture hours after our hearts were broken, “God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them.” Hebrews 6:10

We went back last week and had supper again with 20 or so friends out there. It was an amazing ending to a HARD 24 hours. We ate, talked, laughed and prayed together. I know that God is at work in this tiny Village. I am so thankful that we get to be a part of what He wants to do.

We are excited. We are scared! We are nervous and we are ready!

PLEASE pray for us. Good grief we covet your prayers.

We won’t lie. We’ll also take your financial support. Just do whatever God leads you to do! (Lead on Lord!)

We’ll gladly add you to our email list for updates but we won’t be offended if you aren’t interested in that!

We plan to head out June 1. We have A LOT of furniture to sell so stay tuned for pictures!

PRAY!!!!! We love and appreciate you!