Following the Cloud

Back in 2008 I started a Blog about my journey to Iraq called Following the Cloud. In the Old Testament God guided the Israelites in the form of a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. In order to get where they were meant to be all the Israelites had to do was follow God's Cloud. It is the same for us today. It sounds so simple, but just like in the time of the Israelites the Cloud of God's presence is not predictable. There are times when He moves quickly and times when He has us wait... and wait... and wait.

I LONG to follow God! I LONG for His plan for my life and to be in His presence constantly in a way that I cannot express with words. I fall and I stumble and sometimes I don't understand God's will for my life. It is definitely an adventure following Him step by step. As I sit here reading my old blog I am able to rejoice in the faithfulness of the Lord in my past and the way that He guided me to Iraq and then guided me to Fort Hood. Even in my confusion or reluctance to follow, His plan has been perfect. Each move has been in His perfect time and for His perfect and Good purposes.

This last Friday, after much waiting, God finally began to move and revealed His next step in my life to me. After much prayer by many people and after many circumstances lining up perfectly, I was notified that as of this next month I will be leaving Fort Hood Texas in order to become the new Community Director of Youth Ministry at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, TX!!! I am scheduled to leave to Lackland right after I take our kids to camp during the first week of June. After which Bethany Carter will be taking over as the Director of Middle School ministry.


I cannot even describe the joy that I felt when I got this news. I have been praying for military families in San Antonio for the last three years and have always had a longing in my heart to someday minister there. It is humbling to know that God has called me to go and be His hands and feet in that community as I join Him in developing a Youth Ministry program there. It will continue to be an adventure following the cloud day by day and week by week as we start ministry from scratch. I cannot wait to see what God has planned!!

At the same time this has been one of the most difficult moves I have ever made. It is all happening so quickly and I am leaving so many people that I love very deeply. As I think about the last two and a half years I am overwhelmed by the ways that these students have blessed my life and how the Lord has used them to change Me!! I love these middle schoolers and high schoolers more than I can express and I deeply wish that I could continue to witness daily the way that God is shaping their hearts. I will just hold firm to the promise of God found in Phillippians 1:6 that He who began a good work in my middle school and high school friends here will continue to perfect them until the day of Christ Jesus!!

Please Join me in praying for: 
-The Fort Hood Ministry: 
-That this would be a smooth transition for our leaders and middle schoolers
- That the Lord would continue to strengthen our Fort Hood Community Director Steve Carter and his wife     Martie as they navigate this new season of ministry.
- That I would finish well over the next three weeks and would remain focused on the present.

The Lackland Ministry: 
-That the Lord would go ahead of me and already be preparing the hearts of Middle Schoolers, High Schoolers, Leaders, Chaplains, Community Members, School Administration, Command Group Members
-That I would draw near to the Lord and minister out of the overflow of my relationship with Him and not out of my own strength.

Friday Night at Middle School Club after my tearful announcement to my Middle School friends about my upcoming move. Ugggh I already miss them so much!!! 

I want more of YOU GOD!!!

I sit here listening to this song:  

This weekend I was in South Padre Island for our Young Life Regional Staff Retreat. At the end of such an eventful year it can be easy to get burned out and count down the days til the summer break. It can be draining being on the front lines of ministry spiritually battling daily for the souls of our kids. But having the privilege of retreating and having a prolonged time of rest and instruction with my Commander my Lord Jesus Christ is overwhelming. My soul was filled this weekend and I was reminded of the calling that God has placed on my life to be a witness to the things that He has done in my life and the lives of those around me. He has not called me to be perfect... thank goodness cause I am not. He has not called me to be the female Billy Graham or Corrie Ten Boom. He has called me to be Bekah and I need to rest in that reassurance that He loves me even when I fail or am tired. I feel like the last few months have been an emotional roller coaster. 


In December our Fort Hood team found out that our contract on Fort Hood to do ministry was going to change come May 31st. What that change was going to look like was still uncertain and how our lives and ability to do ministry were going to be affected was also unknown. I have struggled with trusting God to hold me and guide me even in the uncertainty. The only thing that He has told me as I beg Him for direction is "Dig In!" I immediately knew that I needed to press in with the middle schoolers and high school leaders that the Lord has placed in my path here at Fort Hood. I have been following the Lord and investing in them, teaching, encouraging and challenging them more than I have in the last two years. It is almost as if I feel an urgency to equip them with truth before this summer. I know that God has a reason behind telling me to do this and I trust that He has my friends in His hands and has mapped out every step of their future and will never leave or forsake them. I have been doing this all while struggling to trust God with my own future. 


This weekend in South Padre as I stood on the beach alone in the middle of the night, I watched as the waves continually crashed against my feet. As each wave crashed against my feet the sand continually got sucked out from beneath them and I slowly but surely began to lose my footing. I was reminded that the Lord must be my firm foundation. I must trust that He is in complete control. I must be standing on the truth of His word and promises even as each wave of uncertainty slams against my feet. I have come to realize that as God says "Dig In!" He is not just talking about in ministry. He means those words for me as well. I need to dig in and not be moved though the earth may give way. I need to trust that He will protect my feet and guide them one step at a time. He only reveals what is necessary!! Boy am I being trained in patience.


This week is a pivotal one in God revealing the future He has for me. 
I ask for you to PLEASE join me in prayer!! Pray that doors would be opened. That I would trust in God and cast my cares on Him. That His Will would be DONE on Earth as it is in Heaven. That I would desire His will for my life and not my own!! 


As soon as I know the next step You all will be the first to know!!! 

"He brought me up out of the pit of destruction, out of the miry clay, 

And He set my feet upon a rock making my footsteps firm." 

Psalm 40:2 

"I will lift up my eyes to the mountains; From where shall my help come? My help comes from the Lord, Who made heaven and earth. He will not allow your foot to slip; He who keeps you will not slumber. Behold, He who keeps Israel Will neither slumber nor sleep." 

Psalm 121:1-4