His Faithfulness in Every Season

At the beginning of every year, our team takes time to ask the Lord for a word or phrase for the upcoming year. Normally, I love doing this and eagerly wait for the word the Lord wants me to focus on. Well, last year it was contentment. And boy, was it a hard word with a lot of difficult life lessons. So this year, I honestly didn't ask. I didn't want to face another year where I was so incredibly challenged to grow and mature🤦🏻‍♀️. 

But that's not how God works. And I am so thankful. 'Word of the Year' or not, things will happen in life that will challenge us. We can either learn from it, leaning on the Lord and His understanding, or we can run and try to deal with it in our own strength and intellect (this has never worked out well for me, tbh). The best part - He is faithful to with us through it all. He is faithful in the fun and joyful times. He is faithful when you genuinely have no idea what the next step is. And He is faithful when sorrow knocks you so hard to the ground you don't know how you can get back up. HE. IS. FAITHFUL!

So, my word for this year (a little after the fact), is yield. Full surrender to follow His lead. And in it, there has been so much peace.  

Visit to Wisconsin
My dad died on February 13th. Nothing could have prepared me for what that would do to my heart. I know as you get older, this is something that you have to start preparing for, but I didn't want to think about that being a possibility, especially after just getting him back. But over the last couple of years, he had really struggled with his health, and in the end, his body just couldn't handle it anymore. The only thing that has kept any of us going is knowing beyond a shadow of a doubt that He is with the Lord, worshipping and dancing free of pain. It was not goodbye, just a 'see ya later'. 

One of the things that my dad was adamant about was how we honored his life. He refused to have a sad funeral, but wanted us to celebrate his life, in all of its ups and downs. So, with the crazy support of many of you, Little Miss and I were able to go to Wisconsin. It was a bit of a whirlwind, since Little Miss could only be gone for 7 days, but we packed in as much as we could. Aside from my dad's celebration of life, we spent time with friends at the Madison zoo, visited my home church, and celebrated my oldest niece turning 20 (how on earth is she that old already?!). I hope to be back soon, this time spending a bit longer than a week 🤞🏻​.

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Major Miracle!
Y'all, I don't know if I have ever had a miracle happen so suddenly and in such a crazy way! When I got back to Texas, I arrived to a car that no longer functioned, and with a repair cost so far beyond the value that it made no sense to get it fixed. I needed a reliable car for ministry, basic personal needs, but mostly for foster care. I had no idea how it was going to work, but with all the crazy and hard that had just happened in my life, I had to trust the Lord would do something. And WOW did He! When my home pastor in WI told the church of my need, a couple sent me a message and told me they had a car and I would have it in a couple of weeks!! I'm still trying to process this magnitude of generosity, honestly. I never would have imagined I would be given a vehicle. And it's more than I would have ever hoped for myself. God is so good! She had been given the name Dorothy, which means 'Gift of God'. And boy is she!  

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Spring Break Outreach
While I was in Wisconsin, our staff held our annual Spring Break outreach. They prayed over parts of the city that typically have the most spring breakers, did treasure hunting in the mall, helped serve dinner with a local church that has a weekly ministry to the unhoused of Corpus, served at a local pregnancy center, and held a fun evangelism activity at one of the busiest parks in town. They handed gave out hot dogs, Bibles, prayed over many, and shared Jesus with anyone they could. They even had someone give their life to the Lord! 

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4th Annual Staff Retreat
At the beginning of March, our staff got together for a time of prayer, worship, fellowship, and relaxation. We stayed at a beautiful ranch about an hour outside of town with a lake for fishing and kayaking, and acres and acres to explore. Little Miss loved playing with her friends, climbing on everything she possibly could, and even got to see an armadillo and deer for the first time. I am so very thankful for this amazing group that I get to do life and ministry with. Goodness, our little group of 3 adults and 3 kiddos has grown a lot since we first started here in Dec. 2019!

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They're Officially Ours!
At the end of last year, YWAM Ships Corpus Christi was given 2 vessels!

The s/v Redemption is currently in Panama, where she is being made ready for ministry to the islands. If you would like to be part of getting her ready, we are accepting teams! Check out the link below:

Bring a Team to Panama

​The m/y Glory Bound is almost ready to make it's voyage from San Francisco to Ensenada, Mexico, where we will be using it as a training vessel for missionaries wanting to learn the basics of navigation. This is a huge step toward launching biblically-trained mariners to the isolated and unreached. 

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During these last couple of months, I have been so blessed by the outpouring of love and support! Thank you, for being the hug I needed, a shoulder to cry on, and someone to laugh with because I couldn't cry anymore. May the Lord bless you all richly!