My, my blogger friends...so much to update you on and my apologies for my delay in keeping you all up to speed. Toby and I are rocking along and are thrilled about the path God has put us on. Our lives are full.
Let's take it back a few...years...When we moved back to Alabama from Tennessee, we knew that God had called Toby to go back to school to earn his theology degree and that He wanted us to "work in a church." That was about all the guidance we were given at the time, so we worked at it as best we could. After four or five months, God led us to South Coast Church...the perfect family of believers for our little family. The relationships, encouragement and purpose we have found there are incredible and could only be ordained by sweet Abba's plan. When we first moved back to Mobile we were looking for a pastor job, looking for someone to give us authority. After all, God did say He wanted us to work in a church, so we did everything in our power to make that happen...including cold calling random churches on a Google search asking for a job. While we did get some interesting responses, there was nothing down that road but closed doors. Once we surrendered that our plan wasn't getting us anywhere, a new verse became our focus:
"For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted." Luke 14:11
So, when we landed at South Coast we decided to do it God's way...novel idea. We decided not to pursue a "job" or even a position of influence, but to sit back and let God open doors for us. The church was meeting in an elementary school gym at the time and we started helping wherever we could. We showed up for set up on Saturday nights and cleaned toilets, set out chairs, and scraped goo off the gym floor. After a while, our pastor John asked Toby if he would help collect the offering. Later they asked me to man the first time visitor table, then they asked Toby to help count the offering and eventually to present the welcome chat before the sermon. We never once asked for authority, but actively chose to take the position of servant. We kept our eyes open for any opportunity to help...to take the trash out, to tear down the service on Sunday afternoons, to help with the kids during meetings. And wouldn't you know, God's way works. Over time, Toby and I were asked to take on more and more responsibility and we found such great purpose and thrill in being able to serve in that way. Eventually, we were asked to coordinate the small groups for the church and we have LOVED it. We love getting to know people, calling people into leadership and seeing them stretch themselves beyond what they think they are capable of. We love watching people's lives change. We have seen people exposed to the truth of who God is, some for the first time, have their entire perspective on life shift, and then immediately bring their friends and family to hear the good news. We have been so honored to serve the Lord and the family of South Coast Church.
Most recently we have been given even greater assignments. In the fall of 2012 our pastors, and dear friends, came to have dinner with us one night. We had no idea that would change it all for us. Before they left for the evening, we had been prompted with the next step on our journey. Over the following months, Toby accepted the position of Executive Pastor and was ordained by the church, and I began serving as the church accountant. Keep in mind that Toby is also still working a full time job as an engineer, but our paths and direction were made so clear at this crossroad. God had used nearly 10 years of education, training and experience to prepare us for this next step. Toby has received countless hours of training and experience in running large organizations, developing and growing teams, teaching leadership skills, and motivating others...all necessary skills for an executive pastor. I was a CPA before I chose to stay home when Haley was born. Now all of the skills I learned in bookkeeping, auditing, and management are coming into play for His Kingdom.
We are thrilled to work together for the advancement of the Kingdom of God and are so humbled and honored to walk the path that God has spent years preparing for us. And just so you know, Toby has no plans to leave his engineering job in the near future and only lacks his thesis on his Master's Degree. We are trusting God to provide all that we need (including time management) and are following His guidance one day at a time.
So what about the kids? Our sweet babies, Haley (4) and Jake (1) have always been home with me. It is a gift I will treasure for all of my days. In this season where I am easing back into the "working" world, Abba has been so, so good to all of us. My work schedule is incredibly flexible, and I am free to work whenever I can. God has provided the world's greatest nanny to love on my kids at home two days a week. She adores them, they adore her, they play outside, and go for walks. She even does some laundry and dishes. She is a God-send...literally! This season has been a good transition for the summer when they will both attend a Moms Day Out program three days a week. Haley is thrilled, and I know they will do great. Haley starts big kid school in August. I had to lay down my homeschool world and surrender that God knows me and my family better than I do, and He has led us to the most amazing school. There is still no news to report on the adoption, but thank you to all of you who have prayed and asked about it.
So that's the latest and greatest on our family and for now, here's a little peak into our world...
The Locklar Family | A Day In The Life from Hampton Road Studios on Vimeo.
Thank you to Matt and Ashley Hampton at Hampton Road Studios for capturing this season of our lives so beautifully. This video will be a treasure to me forever!
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