Hello everyone! It’s been a minute since I have filled you guys in on all that is going on in our world, so I thought I would take some time to share and give an update! We arrived back in the US seven months ago now. We never imagined it would be this long before we were back in England, but God knows what He is doing. We have enjoyed being with family and catching up with friends during this time. Having to re-acclimate to life in America was a little more trying than we imagined it would be, though. We knew we would have culture shock when we went to the UK, but didn’t expect culture shock in reverse when we arrived back here, and for a few months, we felt like we had a hard time finding our place and it felt like so much of the world had moved on without us. I am happy to report that we are finding our place more regularly now and feeling more settled here the last few months. We have been busy working. Billy is still doing remodeling and repairs, both in service to people from the hurricane and other storms, and for pay when people hire him out. There is a picture below of him up on a roof doing some repairs. I spend most of my days at Greenville County EMS again as a 911 dispatcher. Even though our calling is missions, I still enjoy the service aspect of 911 and helping people over the phone and through the radio during this season.
Even though we are still geographically separated from the UK, we still do lots of video chats and messaging with our friends and contacts there, doing what we can from so far away. We are thrilled when receive good reports and news from our friends there. England is still very much home and we can’t wait to be back on UK soil!
We were comforted in our homesickness for England a few weeks ago, when we had not one, but two different friends from the UK visit us here in Greenville. It does our hearts good to hear the Yorkshire accent! We loved getting to show our friend Simon around Greenville, and getting to catch up with him! Denver also came to visit and share at The Dwelling Place and it was wonderful to catch up with him as well.
We are still seeing the Lord move and work in our lives. Billy has continued sharing monthly at The Dwelling Place, and he also shared recently at our home church, God’s Way Church of SC, too. All of the services have been meaningful, and we have seen the Lord do great things. God has been meshing Billy and I together more as well, both in ministry, and as a couple. We have had to take some tests – more to come on those later- but the results of the test have been eye opening. They have made us realize things about each other why the other person reacts and acts the way they do. It has been great for our marriage, so , even though we already felt like we had a good marriage, we are growing even more during this season. we know it will make us even better to serve the people the Lord has called us to.
The Lord has also been working so faithfully in my life as an individual. The Lord has had me stepping out of my comfort zone to minister to people. In England, it is so easy to minister. Walking up to someone on the street or in the grocery store is easy, but for some reason, doing it here in Greenville, has always been more difficult. I am not sure why that is, but it just is. Here lately though, there have been many opportunities to share Jesus in daily life. I have been overcome and wept many times at just how good God is. I am starting to see transformation in places that I thought long ago were beyond hope.
I also recently had the chance to go with my friend, Dianne, and hear Dan Mohler speak. Dan has been such an influence in my life when it comes to my identity in Christ, and who we are as a disciple and follower of Jesus. It was a honor to be able to go and hear him share in person, and to be able to get a quick picture with him.
As far as our progress to get back to the UK, there is so much I can’t wait to share with you! It may look on the outside like we have stalled and just settled back into life here in Greenville, but that is anything far from the truth. There has been so much going on behind the scenes to get us to the UK on a more permanent basis. I wish I could fill you in on all the nitty gritty of it, but there is still a need to keep it under wraps for the time being. I do hope to be able to share more details with all of you soon though! After the past five months of our site being dark, I am happy to report that I will be back making more regular updates on our lives with you soon! Stay tuned to our page and our Social Media for updates.
We love you all and are so thankful for each and everyone of you, that pray for, support, and follow us! You guys will never know just how much it means! I’ll be back soon so stay tuned!
