Update!

Ok! So! Things are picking up here! This is the deal:
I leave Jan. 29th for Romania!
My commissioning service is the 24th!
My last day at Walgreens is the 6th!

I know I should be better at updating this, and my plan is to do it more once I actually arrive in Romania. In the mean time, God's love and faithfulness continue to amaze me even as I look at the scary months ahead. I'm so thankful that HE will go with me, even when I leave everyone and everything else that is familiar and comfortable.

Oh, yeah...I also have 100% of my support!! :-) :-)

The Echoing House

I'm sitting on the floor where my desk used to be. My room looks empty. There aren't even boxes here anymore. Just bare furniture and a few things I need for tomorrow. The rest of the house is just kind of chaotic as the last little bits are packed. Why is it that there are always so many more boxes than I feel like there should be?? At any rate, the house won't ever be the same. WE won't ever be the same. Everything is changing. Tomorrow.

Tomorrow is the day that I've known in my gut was coming since way back in March. When my parents told me about a church in Michigan that was pursuing them, I just knew somehow that we'd eventually come to this day. I remember lying in my bed and wondering how in the world I would handle it when that day came. And now it has. But you know what? I've handled this the same way I've handled other situations that have been hard and scary. One step at a time, with the realization that God is GOOD and He is in control. He walks with me every day and gives me the strength that I need for each hour. Which isn't to say it hasn't been difficult, or that tomorrow won't bring tears. But if I really DO believe that God is good and gracious, I can move ahead with confidence. Including tomorrow. Gulp.

It isn't just saying goodbye to the house that is hard. I mean, we've only been here for a few years. It is the realization that things will never be the same. A good, and fairly easy part of my life is really over and I can never have it back. Even more, my family is scattered in four different states, with four different lives, and that is hard! I've always envied the families that live close to each other once they are all grown. But somehow I've known that would never be us...though I wish it was! I guess God just made us all with different dreams and goals, which is exciting...until you realize that pulls us away from each other, at least physically. Part of me always thought, though, that we'd come "home" and it would be the same. Now, none of us are really sure where home even is. Sure, home is where the heart is...but what if your heart is torn in different pieces? Ahhh the adjustments to be made. I know a new normal will come soon. I know everything will be all right. I know we'll all find ways to stay in touch and WILL be together again. But for tonight, while I'm surrounded by boxes and uncertainty...the past is more appealing than the future! :-)

Still, I AM excited about the future! God provided AMAZINGLY for me! I have a furnished apartment, above the home of some members of my church, with a kitchen, bathroom, living area and two bedrooms...all free of rent and utilities! I AM excited to live on my own. I'm excited to unpack and get settled. And I'm thankful that God provided this in a way that shows that HE gave this to me. What a wonderful reminder that He loves me and will take care of me. He didn't have to do this. He could have given me plan "b", and He would still have been good and gracious. But He chose to give me this wonderfully cute apartment, and I am so incredibly thankful and encouraged! Any time I doubt, all I'll have to do is look around to be reminded of His provision. I can't even begin to tell you how HUGE this has been.

So that's where I am tonight. Funny that Romania isn't mentioned in here at all. Maybe because I don't want to think about moving again! :-) More about that later. But that's all I have tonight...from this echoing house...

Excuses, Excuses...

I am alive!
My computer died (I lost everything...but I have a cool new computer!), and couldn't remember my password to access my account. Ridiculous, I know...but that's what I get for saving my password on my computer instead of actually KNOWING it. I did, however, figure it out tonight, so I'm back.

So much has changed since April. And I don't have time to write about it tonight.
I'll sum it up with this:
My brother is married!
My parents live in Michigan now.
Our house has been sold.
I need a place to live!
My support is at 71%!!! WoooHOOO!!!
VBS was AWESOME and I loved being a space cadet...but I missed teaching the kids.
God is faithful.
The easiest part of my life is behind me.
I recite Philippians 4 to myself a lot these days.

So that's kinda where I am. I should update like this more often! It takes a lot less time! :-)
Hopefully...it won't be long before I post SOMETHING again.

Of Great Worth in God's Sight

I know, I know, I’m a horrible blogger! I’m just going to stop promising to do better, because it probably won’t happen…though I do hope that it really will when I get to Romania!

I’m not going to really write much about the last month or so. It’s been really busy and good, and my last prayer letter was an update about that! If you don’t get my prayer letter but would like to, just email me (kabernathy@abwe.cc) and I’ll be happy to add you to the list! So that’s that. Moving on…

A few weeks ago most of my Romania team was able to get together for a few days in Nashville, TN. We were only missing one family from our whole team! It was a great time. I enjoyed being with them, hearing about their lives now, and also talking about what it will look like when we’re all in Romania together. We prayed a lot, ate A LOT, talked a lot and laughed a lot. So coming back from those few days together left me anxious to raise the rest of my support and get TO ROMANIA!!

You can imagine my disappointment, then, this last weekend when we sat down and added up my support from the last month (March-the crazy busy one that I hoped would be so helpful!) and discovered that my support level had actually gone DOWN instead of UP. Now, you might not know much about raising support, but I think you can probably figure out that isn’t a GOOD thing. You can imagine how discouraging that was. Over all, through this journey, God’s been really gracious and has protected me from discouragement. But last weekend was an exception. I really was discouraged.

Monday morning, I discovered 1 Peter 1:3-4. I don’t even remember why I looked at those specific verses. I think someone wrote them somewhere, or something. Anyway, I started thinking about them. They aren’t new verses to me. But this time Peter’s choice of words stood out to me. My faith is worth more than gold, more than the money that I am so desperately seeking. My faith is worth MORE in God’s sight. It is more necessary, more important. FAITH is of great worth. That isn’t really how I’ve been living these past few months. There’s never really been a doubt in my mind that God could provide all the money I need right away if He wanted, but for the first time I really thought about the fact that He’s more concerned about me having the faith I need to go to Romania than He is me having the money I need to go to Romania. So maybe He isn’t giving me what I THINK I need right now because He’s developing in me what He KNOWS I need. Something to ponder. I’ve been rolling it around in my heart for the last couple days. And I sense the discouragement fading too, as I’ve realized what I should have already known, but somehow lost sight of.

So be encouraged, friends! God is working to develop your FAITH, because it is precious and of great worth to Him. And so….we continue to take steps of faith, yes?

Prayer Letter

I don't have time to write much (I'm getting ready for a busy next few days before heading to work!) but I thought I'd at least post the prayer letter I sent out this week. My schedule for March is also at the bottom. If you DON'T receive my prayer letters but would like to, please email me: kabernathy@abwe.cc

Dear Faithful Supporters,
Over the last month, God has done “beyond what we could ask or even imagine” (Eph. 3:20). He continues to graciously reassure me one step at a time that He is with me and that HE is at work, preparing me to go to Romania in His own time. Let me share with you a few of the exciting things He’s done in the last few weeks!

*My trip to County Line Baptist Church in Dayton. THANK YOU for praying and encouraging me as I faced that scary first hurdle. I could sense your prayers and became LESS nervous as the week went on, which was pretty amazing. The people at County Line were so supportive and encouraging. I enjoyed my time with them and appreciated their enthusiasm about God’s work in Romania and their commitment to pray. They were a wonderful first church. They also voted to take me on for monthly support, which is very exciting as well! Thank you again for praying!

*Continuing individual support. I’ve had several new commitments in the last few weeks, including one by my own youth group! They secretly raised money for me for several months and were excited to be able to support me for the whole two years I am in Romania! I also had a young elementary school student at my church give me a hand full of change and a few crumpled up dollar bills to help get me to Romania a little faster! It is times like that when I know God is reminding me that HE is working on people’s hearts, and that He hasn’t forgotten me. I’m beginning to see how exciting it is when I depend completely on Him to provide! At this time, I need 100 more churches or individuals to support me for $16 a month. EVERYTHING helps!

*More opportunities to speak in churches! I currently have six churches scheduled in the month of March! THANK YOU for praying, and please know that God is answering your prayers! March will be a very busy month, so please continue to pray for me and for the churches I have the chance to visit. This is still a very uncomfortable thing for me to do, but I’m learning how much God delights in weakness as He shows His strength. My speaking opportunities range from ten minutes to a full hour and will take me all over Ohio. I look forward to sharing with you the ways that God uses your prayers!

Waiting is never fun or easy. The only answer I have when people ask when I’ll go to Romania is “when God wants me there”! But I’m reminded of men like Abraham, Joseph, and David. God used waiting in their life as a time of preparation, and I can see glimpses of how He is doing that in my life also. Is He doing that in your life? Be encouraged. The God who asks us to wait is the same God who asked Joseph to wait. He knows what He’s doing. And He’s worthy of our trust.
Thanks for your continuing prayers and encouragement on my behalf!
Because He Lives,
Kristie Abernathy

Schedule for March:
March 8th: AM Bible Baptist Church, Bedford, OH
PM Grace Baptist Church, Cedarville, OH (Meeting with missions committee)
March 9th: Berean Baptist Church, Pickerington, OH (Women’s missionary meeting)
March 18th: Maranatha Baptist Church, Columbus, OH
March 21st -22nd: Calvary Baptist Church, Chillicothe, OH
March 28th -29th: Memorial Baptist Church, Columbus, OH

Little Pieces of Happiness

I could write a lot about a lot of things (which is why I should update more, and consequently, why I DON'T update more! The longer I put it off, the more overwhelming it seems!), but instead I'm just going to (hopefully!) write a little about some happy, encouraging things that have happened in my life lately.

*My visit to County Line Baptist! Thank you all for praying. I actually got LESS nervous as the week went on, and I know that was only because of God's grace and the prayers of His people. It was a good first church. The people were so kind and encouraging. They were also genuinely interested in what God is doing in Romania! Even though I was originally told they wouldn't be able to take me on for monthly support, they voted later that week and DID decide to support me monthly for the full two years! Thank you, Lord! How encouraging!

*My youth group. They are one of the reasons that I know I'm still home and they're one of the GOOD things about still being home. I love them and spending time with them. They also surprised me, and collected money secretly for several months to be able to support me monthly for the full two years that I'm in Romania. How cool is that?!? I group of teenagers in Columbus, Ohio, will be part of God's work in Romania! I love it! And I love them and their enthusiastic support of me. The picture is of them.

*My supporters. They amaze me. I've had two in the last couple of weeks who have raised the amount of their support. I also had a little girl give me a bag full of change a couple of dollars to help send me to Romania. She'd worked hard for that money, and you know what? I can't wait to tell her how God uses that! How sweet and exciting. I love kids. One of the things I love hearing most is that GOD is nudging people on my behalf. Such a good reminder of what I already know, which is that this is His work, not mine, and He is truly worthy of my trust. This also puts me CLOSE to having 50% of my support which is HUGE!! It's all downhill from there, right?? :-)

*My VACATION!! A week from today (yessss!!) I'll leave to spend 5ish days in Kansas City, Missouri with some wonderful friends. I can't tell you how much I'm looking forward to face to face conversations, laughter, and rest. God has blessed me with so many wonderful friends...it's just hard when so many of them are spread out all over the world. But I'll get to spend next week with three of them, and I feel like it's Christmas or something! It will also probably also be the last time I see them before I leave. Can goodbyes be beginning already??

And so those are some of the good and encouraging things in my life. I'm also aware, though, that so many of God's people are hurting and struggling right now. I've had too many of those phone calls and emails. I was reminded this morning, though, how short and unimportant MY life is in the grand scheme of things. May we not just "bustle about in vain" or "heap up wealth" but may we use each day of this "breath" of a life in a way that will matter after we're gone (Psalm 39).

By Faith

"And by faith we'll walk as You walk with us."

This is a line from "Speak O Lord", a song written by the Gettys (if you don't know their music, you really should!) which we happened to sing in church this morning. I love the whole song, but that line in particular was a good reminder as 2009 begins. I found myself praying "That's it Lord...as long as you keep walking with me, I'll keep walking by faith." I'm not going to lie...2009 looks pretty scary to me right now when I think about it for very long. But, as I said in one of my first blog posts, God has taken me one step of faith at a time, and I can look back at the past and trust Him with the future. Amen? :-)

One of the scary next steps comes next Sunday as I do my first church presentation in Dayton, Ohio. It really is a scary thing for my introverted, shy little self, but this is what I WANT, what I've WAITED for! I have the opportunity to share with people all over the place about how God has worked in my life, and what He is doing in Romania. I'm prayerfully trying to see "pre-field ministry" really as ministry as I begin this next phase. I also have three churches scheduled in March, which is great as well! Please pray that God gives me courage. Pray that the words that I speak are His words. Pray that I'm an encouragement. And please pray that God will continue to raise up churches and individuals who want to be a part of what He is doing in Romania.