Defining who we are

Aaron and I have had a lot of long talks these past few months. The kind of talks that become a turning point in your life/ relationship. We've realized that we have over committed ourselves to too many people, ministries, jobs, etc. We've had plenty of input from others about what we should do with our life. Some of it has been solicited advice and some has not. And we've come to the realization that we can only do what God is specifically laying on our hearts and putting in our lives. And because of that we've decided that we need to make a missions statement for ourselves. Much in the same way that a business has a missions statement. You can also call this a vision or a purpose statement. But the basic idea is that we need to decide as a family what our values are and in what direction we are headed. There are so many "good things" we can do. And my wonderful dreamer of a husband can think of a thousand great ideas a week for more "good things" to do. And we could probably find a Bible verse to support many of these ideas. The fact is, however, that we are only two people. We know that with God's power we can accomplish anything, but we still can't do everything. So we need to be clear about the "anything" God has for us. So we can stop feeling guilty about the "everything" we aren't doing. It is our hope that friends and family will show us grace in this area. If we don't follow you to the mission field of China, or sponsor your 5k run to end world hunger, it's not because we don't care about you, or Chinese people, or hungry people. And it's not because we think that God doesn't care. It's simply because we are only two people, with only enough time and money to do what God has specifically prompted us to do.
And when we do complete our missions statement and set some clear goals we'd love to share them with you. Not because we want you to do exactly what we are doing, but because we want to be a testimony to the way God works through each of us in unique and individual ways. And we really, really, really do love to hear how God is working in your life or your family's life. It shows us more of God's heart and His character when you share with us.