WoRtHy Of ThE gOsPeL...

It has been a super rainy week... super rainy.
But that meant lots of resting, board games, and food! :) 

For the 4th, we heading to Lake Martin with the in-laws for the day. We had lots of fun... good conversation, yummy food, lots of rain, and games in the camper.  Jacob and I rode bikes for a little while - we now understand how we were so fit as kids. Riding bikes is a killer! Thighs were throbbing after scooting around the whole campsite...

Friday we headed down to Fort Walton Beach to hang out with Patrick and Amber. It was super fun and relaxing.  And again... lots of rain. We knew it was going to rain and we probably weren't going to get a tan but we decided that a rainy weekend with a pretty view was better than a rainy weekend cooped up in Troy. 

Friday night we ate at Floyd's in Fort Walton. It was scrumptious! They had all you can eat shrimp for $14.99! can't beat that! We got to sit, chat, and watch surfers bust = entertainment! 

Patrick's family lives on the bay so the view was spectacular! And... Friday night when we got back, we hung out on the pier and then sat in swing on the porch and listened to live music!! Their house is close enough to a bar that you can hear the live music!! FREE ENTERTAINMENT!! It was great! We did get to kayak in the bay for a little while on Saturday before another monsoon came... I definitely thought I was going to get flooded and sink in the middle of the bay... and then get eaten by a shark. But... we survived. 

Isn't that view great!?!?! How do people just live here??? So great! 

Last night, we had our first July Family night for the church. We ate, played games, and... JACOB WON A PIE EATING CONTEST!!! I'm definitely a proud wife! 

He was miserable after... and all night. BUT... there's no glory without pain! Haha! 

So... this next thing I haven't really told anyone because it's kinda odd to bring up. And... it's just kind of a strange concept for me right now. I don't really know how to talk about it yet because I don't have the answers, but I have to tell it because it's part of HIS story. So... what better way to tell it than on this here blog... 

Last weekend at camp -
The last night of camp wasn't your typically mushy, let's all cry and sing "Kumbaya"... it was a call to ACTION... a call to full-time ministry. Ergun Caner delivered a message on our callings and purpose in life. It was one of those messages for me that made me just squirm in my chair and want to hide in the bathroom the whole time.  It was a call from the mediocre to ministry. A call from settling to soaring. I knew it was for me. At the end of his message, he challenged those who believed they were called to full-time ministry to stand up.  He gave a list of requirements including: if you stand up, you MUST go before your church and do the same the next sunday. if you stand up, you are committing to go anywhere, do anything, at anytime for the spread of the Gospel. if you stand up, you are promising to not listen to idiots who will want to speak logic and opposition to you.  
So... what did God make me do? STAND UP. Ugh... I was terrified. I told Him I just wanted to sit down. This was a youth camp and I didn't need to be standing. I knew that He was going to use me and I was fine with just knowing that, and not making a scene about it.  Nope... He kept me standing. I HATE those awkward moments with God when He forces me to just obey and shut up. I was standing and Jacob was sitting beside me. He just smiled at me. I was thinking, "What in the world does this mean, God? I have no idea what I'm doing standing up? I'M FREAKIN' OUT!"...
Then, Ergun made all of us standing - there was about 15 of us (AMAZING!) - go outside to meet with him. I frantically grabbed Jacob's hand and headed outside. Also heading outside was one of our youth, Caleb, and Barrett from our church. God is crazy and beautiful. 
We met with Ergun and talked with each other. We were all terrified and excited. We were deemed ministers of the Gospel, prayed for, and then celebrated with. Ergun was PUMPED when Jacob told him that me, his wife, just stood up to respond to the call.  Ergun said his wife did the same... and it changed everything! He even texted his wife to tell her! :) God is good at confirming decisions... 

So... what does this mean? 
I HAVE NO CLUE! God knows because He is the one who made me stand up! All I know, like I told Jacob, is that I am tired of living a mediocre life. Some may say I'm not, but I know I am NOT made to sit in an office and just answer emails and interpret at times.  I am not made to settle.  I am made to speak truth to women, to invest, to equip others for mission, and to go on mission myself- local and international.  I feel most alive with I am free to minister and serve... so why not live like that all the time? I believe standing up was about SURRENDER... SURRENDER to the call that God has placed on the Morgans' lives. To SURRENDER to fully supporting my hubby's dreams and his vision for our future... to SURRENDER to WHATEVER God has dreamed for us... to SURRENDER to feeling totally freaked out standing in a room full of youth and adults committing my life to full-time ministry... yea... surrender. 
He'll show us the way... He is faithful. We know that PEACE comes from full obedience. We know that Joy is found in His presence and in His path. We know His path takes PATIENCE and WISDOM and PRAYING and WAITING. So... here we are... two people surrendered the call of full-time ministry... waiting for God to move so we can follow. 

So... because we stood up... we had to go to the front of the church yesterday... like we promised... (Not pictured: Barrett... he had to leave early)

Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ... without being frightened in any way by those who oppose you.

Philippians 1:27-28

Getting There...

 

Well... we made it back from Costa Rica.  It was the BEST week ever. It was absolutely amazing.  I have a hard time putting into words what we experienced and all God did... but I'm going to try to on my lil' bloggie here! I have to split it up of course... it's just too much.  Basically this passage sums the week up: 

Many, Lord my God,

    are the wonders you have done,    the things you planned for us.None can compare with you;    were I to speak and tell of your deeds,    they would be too many to declare.

Psalm 40:5

Here's our amazing team ready to hit the road Jack... for ATL to board the plane! 

(WARNING - picture overload may begin over the next few posts... prepare yourself)

After a 3 hour drive to ATL and waiting in the airport for our plane that left at 6:00pm, we arrived in Costa Rica at 9:00pm their time! We boarded a bus and headed to Quepos to spend the night at a church there. WE WERE POOPED once we arrived and didn't have enough energy to fret about the sleeping arrangements.  11 girls in one small Sunday School classroom and 6 bigger boys in another... on the concrete floor. GO HARD OR GO HOME! ...Jusy sayin'

We were able to go to church where we slept that next morning.  This church was a TOTALLY different sight than what would be our surroundings for the remainder of the week. This church was like the Brook Hills of Costa Rica - complete with a sound system, worship band, A/C, and fanciness!!! 

After church we ate at a 
yummy yummy restaurant and then kept driving to a church in Paso Canoas where we stayed the night.  Check out our bedding!!!! Hammocks and sleeping bags! Woot woot!!! I have to say this was a first for me... sleeping in a hammock hanging from the rafters. LOVED IT! 

We had a really sweet worship service that night... talked about each of our stories of even being on the trip, what God was already teaching us, and our fears for the week.  We sang to Jesus and spent time together. 

The next morning... we knew what awaited us... THE HIKE UP THE MOUNTAIN.  

We had NO CLUE what it was going to be like... but we suited up with our packs on and headed to the start of the trail! 

Here's our team before the hike... HARD CORE I tell you.  Most teams would take a group photo all clumped together with the beautiful ocean being showcased... not us! We found weird looking poles in the ground and decided that was the perfect place for our portrait!!! It looks great too... duh! 

So... we hiked... and hiked... and hiked! 

It was a 2 hour hike! We were nasty and tired... and realized how out of shape we were.  NOTE TO SELF: next year... training hikes will be required! haha! 

At least we had BEAUTIFUL views to go along with our aching hamstrings. 

Pretty much the hike consisted of crazy climbs like this! 

BUT.... WE MADE IT!!!!!!!!!!! We are looking fresh here, huh???? 

We finally made it to our destination... the village of Alta Mira... the home of the Guamyi people. 

We couldn't wait to get our hands dirty in ministry and I can't wait to tell you some of what God did! 

But first... I want to introduce you to a few VERY important people and locations for the trip...

This is Laura and Amanda... 2 of our leaders.  Tracy isn't in this picture but she was a leader too! They were AMAZING!!!!! The led us well, loved us well, and were just awesome in general! Laura was our leader from Praying Pelican when we went to Belize in the summer as well! It was great just being with her again and ministering with her and this team last week! 

This is Pastor Marvin - the pastor at the church we stayed at in Paso Canoas (the church where we slept in hammocks).  He is an amazing man of God. This trip was his vision. After Praying Pelican brought a team to his church a while back, he told Laura that he would prefer that a team be sent to GO OUT... to help the community... and to minister specifically to the village of Alta Mira! 

This is Paster Manuel and his family.  This is the pastor in Alta Mira! We felt so honored to minister to and with them in their home.  The girls also stayed in their house, which served as the church, each night. So amazing that they let us in their house... strangers... and were so hospitable.  So awesome how because of Jesus... the language didn't even matter! His little kiddos were so precious!!! Pastor Manuel and his wife are also one of 2 or 3 couples that are married in the village. 

 NOW INTRODUCING  PASTOR ANABELLI!!! Our trip would DEFINITELY not be the same without this woman! She was amazing and a one-of-a-kind!!! She is a Praying Pelican staffer in Costa Rica! I'm convinced that she is on SPEED DIAL with Jesus!! This woman LOVES the Lord and doesn't take a single moment for granted when sharing His story! I learned so much about loving the Lord, loving the people, and living in FREEDOM from this lady!!! She also prayed, while touching my womb area, that I would get pregnant!!! I'M FREAKING OUT! I told her to take it back... she looks at me and says, "Umm... I do not think I can do that..."  AHHH!!! So... if I get pregnant (along with getting TWO boys) it's all Anabelli's fault!!!!!!! I love this woman and her spunk!

 This was our waterhole hole for the week.  Each time our water bottles ran dry... we trotted down to this water source, filled them up, and then ZAPPED them with this handy dandy UV thing! They said it cleaned the water... so we believed them! No one got sick so I guess it was the truth!  

And this was the el bano! AKA the bathroom!! The one of the left (with the palm leaves) was one the people built for us when we got there! :) We got to stink it up all ourselves! The one of the right was a little more experienced and had a nice tang to it already! BUT... I can now say I have used the bathroom in a village in the rain forest... pretty cool in my books! 

Not a bad view!!! 

Breath-taking!!!!!! I got to watch the sun set over the Pacific with my hunny. 

Yea... I could definitely get used to this... sweat, funk, and all! 

Thankful for this man, our marriage, and our ministry.  

Life doesn't get any better. 

...can't wait til Eric and Ziggy are by our sides next year!