A little of this and a little of that....

Well, Jerrod and I have been fairly busy lately with him back into the swing of things in school.  We've attended several Second Baptist volleyball and football games :)  I  especially love going to the volleyball games, it brings me back to my high school days, LOL.  I girl that I mentored last year is a senior now on the team so I've been going to see her play.  Saturday night we went to the Miller Outdoor Theatre in Houston.  It's basically an amphitheatre...and maybe one of my favorite things about Htown.  You bring a blanket to sit on, a beverage and enjoy the show!  And did I mention it's FREE!!!  We went to see the Chinese Acrobats which was awesome, packed, hot, but a great date night!!  We stuffed ourselves with burgers and shakes before hand at Prince's Burgers.  It was so much fun!  Here is a picture from that night.

On my previous post I mentioned that I began reading "Same Kind of Different As Me"....well I FINISHED it already!  Which is really impressive for me to read a book in a little over a week :)  It is now one of my top 3 all time favorite books.  I HIGHLY recommend you to read it.  It's an amazing story, message, and has made me realize I really need to be grateful for every day that I wake up!  Seriously, go buy it now!!!

Also in my last post I mentioned that Jerrod and I are praying about serving the Youth Group at Houston's First Baptist.  Well, we went last Wednesday night and Sunday morning and LOVED it!  Wednesday night as I was worshipping I felt complete peace about serving there....I know that's exactly what God has for me right now.  The other crazy part is that we are serving Middle Schoolers grades 6th, 7th and 8th.  Okay, this is such an awkward time in a preteen's life, but I LOVE them!  I thought I wanted to do high school, but after being there I'd much rather serve in middle school.  They were so welcoming, loving, open, talkative, etc.  It was awesome!  I've already started building relationships with a few 7th grade girls.  So anyway, Jerrod and I are meeting with the middle school youth pastor Wednesday night to discuss our passion, vision, heart, etc for this ministry.  I'm so excited for Wednesday to get here and to see how God will use us!  Please be praying for us in this!

Lastly, we heard from Billy and Darlene this weekend.  They are the missionaries that we will be going over to Africa with.  They sent out their newsletters/support letters last week because they are leaving in January.  So far they've had a great response and are very optimistic!  While we are in South Africa for 6 months we will need around $2,000 to $2,500/month for our living expenses for the two of us.  This includes food, housing, ministry supplies, etc. and the big chunk of it is health insurance!  So this is about $15,000 for 6 months.  We are still trying to figure out how much we will need in Kenya, since cost of living is different there.  So, we have plenty of time to raise support, save our own money, plan fundraisers, etc.  We will probably send out support letters in January but please be prayerful in this because we not only will need one time gifts, but also monthly supporters.  We are already trying to brainstorm fundraising ideas so if you have any, please comment on this post or send me a facebook message!  Ideas are greatly appreciated!  Someone asked me how they can be praying so I'm going to start putting prayer requests periodically.

Prayer Requests:


-Billy & Darlene Honc as they raise financial support
-that the Lord will use us with the middle schoolers (Hub Ministry)
-constant protection from satan (we know he is trying to attack us individually and as a couple as we prepare for the mission field)
-sweet time with Jesus every day!

I'll keep you updated but I guess that's all for now....

This past weekend was a lot of FUN!  Jerrod went to Austin with his guy friends to visit another friend for the weekend so I had the place to myself.  I think that's only the 2nd time we've spent the weekend apart since the wedding so it's a little weird, and of course I missed him and was so excited to see him on Sunday!! :)  It was awesome though because I was able to have a GIRLS weekend!  I spent pretty much the entire weekend with one of my best friends Lauren Crawley.  We talked, drank wine, stayed up late having girl time, laid by the pool, ate sno-cones, had dinner out, watched Bride Wars and went to church together.  Literally, we hung out from Friday evening till noon on Sunday, and it was awesome :)  God has blessed me with some amazing friendships and I am so grateful for our friendship Lauren!!  

Here's a pic of us, for those of you who don't know who I'm talking about :)

On another note, I am just starting to read "Same Kind of Different As Me" because it has been recommended to me by several friends.  I'll let you all know what I think once I'm done!

Another new favorite christian music artist is Kari Jobe.  A friend a work gave me her CD and I've been hooked on it. :)  It's great to listen to on the way to work, and it gets my Spirit in the right mindset.

One other thing I forgot to mention....Jerrod and I are praying about volunteering in the Youth Group Ministry (Hub Ministry) at our church (Houston's First Bapstist) but are still trying to figure out exactly to what capacity. Please be praying for us as we figure this out and let the Lord guide us if He wants us serving there this year. We would just like to be serving while we wait to leave for Africa! That's all for now, have a great week!!!

Proverbs 31: Wife of Noble Character

 Lately I've been thinking about ways I can serve Jerrod better, and I have been studying Proverbs 31:10-31.  There is SO much to be grasped, and I am so far from being that kind of wife.  Only by God's grace can I even attempt it, but that's the fun part.  The Lord brought me to this verse and it spoke to me about something else that he is mending in me.  Verse 25 says "She is clothed with strength and dignity; she can laugh at the days to come."  As you know from the previous blog I posted there is a lot to be done in the days to come in preparation for moving across the world!  Most of it is out of our hands, and it will require us to FULLY depend on the Lord.  That's tough.  There have only been a few times in my life when I can say I had to do that, to actually get through my day.  If some of you don't know, I am a PLANNER!  I love to plan our meals, our weekends, our schedules, our future, our finances, our kids lives (that we don't even have yet!), etc etc.  Jerrod has to tell me quite regularly, "Amanda, don't worry about that yet" or "why are you stressing over that?".  Therefore....at this moment in our lives as we begin to prepare for this journey I want to have a plan.  I'm not saying there is anything wrong with planning, being organized, etc but at some point you have to ask yourself "am I really trusting God with this?"  Can I really laugh at the days to come?  This woman spoken of in verse 25 is free of worry and anxiety.  How freeing is that?!!!  I was talking to my friend Kyleigh tonight on the phone and she reminded me that God will take care of all the little details that I'm worrying about.  There is no reason for me to worry about all the little things we need to get done because look how far he has brought us in a year and a half!  I'm pretty sure He knows what He's doing :)  So there ya go...that's my heart for today, lets rest in Him today.

Starting a Blog!!

Hey everyone!  I decided to start a blog for Jerrod and I so that we can keep our friends and family updated on what's going on in our lives.  There are some huge changes that are brewing and I can't wait to share them with you!  Check back soon for updates.  Here's a recent picture of us in Riviera Maya when we went in June!