A Merry Gathering

Absolutely cannot believe we’ve been here 3, check that, 4 weeks! Here’s a glimpse into our schedule & life here… Each week has a theme/lesson plan for the week. The kids class (Family Sync) is learning the same lessons that Neil & I are learning in our class. Mornings begin with prayer, worship, and/or intercession. Eli & Titus get dropped off right around 8:45, and the older 5 head to the Family Sync classroom. We’re all in class until 12:15. We collect our kids and have lunch at 12:30. Classes resume around 1:25. We finish at 3:15, get to work (the kids get a snack & play; the older kids usually help with Titus & Eli too); dinner is at 5:15. We usually hit the pool as a family once or twice during the week, in the evening. Thursdays are laundromat days — we alternate the boys/girls going, and it has evolved to include ice cream 🙂 We are HAPPY to do laundry! (And also, I don’t think I’ve ever given laundromat laundry a fair shot — it is a legitimately awesome alternative! We get four washers going at once, followed by 4 dryers, and all of our laundry is done for the week, in the span of about 2 hours.)

Week one: Orientation; we learned more about the history of YWAMTyler — which is completely fascinating (check out the book “Is that Really You, God?” to read about the history of this movement called YWAM, written by the founder, Loren Cunningham)! The founder of this Tyler base is Loren Cunningham’s cousin. He and his wife spent a couple of mornings in our classroom, sharing amazing GOD stories from over the years. We learned about work duty. We’re each responsible for a work duty M-F — Neil works in the kitchen on dinner prep, and I, along with a couple of dorm-mates ,do housekeeping in our dorm each day. Kids over 13 also have work duty, so Nolan and Savana help tidy up the cafeteria space each day after lunch. Kids under 13 have work duty keeping their classroom (Family Sync room) clean. We talked about critters & creatures to watch out for in East Texas, like fire ants, chiggers, scorpions, and copperhead snakes (mercifully not poisenous…)… We spent some time breaking the ice & getting to know fellow classmates (there are 12 families in our DTS). We learned about the do’s & don’t’s of life in Dorm 3….

Week two: “Knowing God” Our speakers came from YWAM Kona and shared so much wisdom — We dug into the Creation story, and together started gaining a better understanding of just how lovingly our Father created us… I think for me, one of the biggest lessons was understanding that we get to know God best when we experience Him; do the things He does, and we’ll know Him better. I was also humbled this week — I have spent time in the Word — I even took Old and New Testament classes in college, but when I was reading, what was I actually doing???! There is so much depth in this Book, y’all! And I’ve been challenged this week to read a little more slowly and ask a lot more questions, so I can understand more fully what it’s saying.

Week three: “Hearing the Voice of God” Okay, so this week was st-ret-ch-ing, to say the least. My church background had the voice of God pretty limited to the Bible. And while in the last several years I have come to embrace the Holy Spirit and His role in my life (I’ve even been blessed by words & pictures given to others in our church), I have kind of sidelined myself, saying something like “God doesn’t speak to ME in that way.” WRONG. I have a listening problem. Our speakers gave us such practical wisdom, such as slowing down and looking for God in the ordinary; they encouraged us to pay attention to, and listen to that ‘still small voice’ — and act on it. Be ready with a preemptive ‘yes’ when asking God to move in your life, and move through you. He’s probably not going to reveal much to one who is set on a predetermined ‘no’ to His ideas. Each week includes time with our kids in Family Sync. We play games together — this week focusing on the art of listening & teamwork — we have intercessory prayer together, and at the end of each week, we process what we’ve learned throughout the week. I think it was game playing with the kids that stretched me most. There was a particular game that REALLY stretched me… but I think I’ll save that story for another post…

Week four: The Cross. Y’all. I felt like I was in college all over again, but this aging, mom of 7 brain was a little overwhelmed! The work of the cross is flat-out amazing. At the basic level, and in a word, the cross means salvation for anyone who believes. But really, it’s more complex — the Cross means pardon (looking to my past; the cross offers forgiveness), purity (looking within; only God can break the power of cancelled sin), peace (looking up; no God, no peace – know God, know peace), power (looking around; the message of the Cross is powerful!), and promise (looking forward; “Since he did not spare even his own Son but gave him up for us all, won’t he also give us everything else?” Romans 8:32 NLT). Do you know Jesus & the cross? We’re happy to share more… just reach out to us!

Before I go, I just want to share a little more on our weekly schedule… Every Tuesday afternoon is Intercession with the kids in Family Sync; Wednesday is Outreach prep time with the kids; Thursdays, the 5 older kids go with their class on either an outreach or a field trip for the day. Also, for us adults on Thursdays, we have our weekly small group gatherings in the morning (Iron Groups), and the afternoon is time for one of three things: date, large group discussion, parenting class (seriously, I never get enough parenting tips!). Fridays, we have family connect in the afternoon. We are so thankful for our leaders’ attention to all of the details. They’ve been intentional, helping us connect as a class, connect as a family, connect as a married couple, and most importantly, helping us connect with God.

One final note — writing letters and cards is something we do weekly… We’d love to hear from you too! You can send mail to PO Box 3000, Garden Valley, TX 75771

I promise at least one of us will write back! 🙂

So it occured to me today… I really skipped over some of the biggest details in getting to YWAM. We must go back!

Shortly after Titus was born (almost 2 years ago), both Neil and felt the Lord nudging us to hold the details of our life loosely. I think up until late 2017, I had our family living at 86 Ottawa for the foreseeable future; our kids all graduating from Oakdale Academy (our favorite little Classical Christian School); my mom & Neil’s parents lived close; we LOVE our church, Auburn Hills Christian Center, not to mention our incredible & awesome community of friends who are family….

We continued to live life — fully. And prayed faithfully over what we heard, asking the Lord for wisdom and direction. Fast forward to January, 2019. Neil and I took a couple of days and escaped to Grand Rapids. One of the goals for our time together was to spend time together evaluating the previous year, and praying about this year.

I’m not positive, but I think it was Christmas, 2016, when I first heard about my friend Megan going to YWAM with her family when she was 10 or 11. I didn’t even realize it at the time, but a seed was planted in me then. YWAM (Youth with a Mission), is a movement that was started in the late 1960’s by Loren Cunningham. Loren had a vision of waves of young people flooding the nations with the good news of Jesus. The entry-level “class” is Discipleship Training School, which consists of 3 months of classroom & outreach training, followed by a 2 month outreach. I was so intrigued by Megan’s family stepping away from life, and into a short-ish term mission. The word “dreamy” came to mind when I thought of the idea of doing something like YWAM. But really, how in the world could this possible work for our family? The two ginormous hurdles of time and money had me mentally sidelining this dream.

Back to January, 2019… we were getting more confirmation that change for our family was growing closer. We continued to pray, but we also started asking/dreaming/thinking of what was next. This time included me making an email inquiry, followed by a phone call with the director of the Family DTS at YWAM Tyler. I asked the questions I could think to ask. Chad shared his family’s story of their journey to YWAM, and encouraged us to pray about coming. His story encouraged me that if this is what God wants for our family, it’s absolutely possible!

More praying, more conversations, more research, more dreaming, followed by more praying, more…. you get it.

April rolled around, and we still weren’t sure what God had in store for us. Until the 6th. That day, Neil and I had a scheduled conference call with Chad & Crystal Freeman (Family DTS directors). We were able to ask questions together; hear Chad & Crystal’s hearts for YWAM & families; talk about more practical details about YWAM, and the possibility of coming. What became clear over the last few months was that doing something missional and significant before our kids start graduating had made it’s way to the top of our priority list. That evening Neil & I made the decision to go for it! We really felt if we didn’t say yes to this opportunity, this year, that day… we may not ever actually go. (Neil said it was our “Bob Goff moment” — have you ever read “Love Does”? If not, you should! This guy says yes to all kinds of crazy things that scream God’s radical love for us.)

So the issue regarding time was answered. Our first act of open-handedness after saying yes to YWAM was to let go of Oakdale. For the kids, for Neil, for me. Hard. The next big hurdle was the money piece. If our house sold, we would be able to afford YWAM. Our next task was to get our house listed & on the market, ASAP. I started selling “extra” things — furniture, toys, etc… just overall purging our house to get it ready to sell. Finally, everything was in place. We officially listed on April 30.

Our house listed on April 30, and our house sold on April 30.

Full asking price, the projected timing was perfect, and the icing on the cake- our buyers are Christians. 86 Ottawa continues to be a light shining in our neighborhood. Our buyers have dreams of prayer rooms, and a growing family; hosting game nights, and family gatherings. The Lord gave us these perfect buyers who made saying goodbye to our home a thousand times easier.

As soon as we had a signed purchase agreement, this idea of YWAM quickly became our reality. We were no longer saying “if the house sells, then YWAM.” Now, we were saying, “our family is going to YWAM!!!!”

The following weeks were so full — the kids & Neil were still in school; Neil was coaching golf, Nolan was playing golf, Savana played soccer….. and packing & purging continued. (The home inspection went well — there were a couple of minor things, but nothing major, and the appraisal came back just right — Praise God!) The school year ended the weekend before Memorial Day…. and drivers ed started the Tuesday after… And packing & purging shifted into a higher gear with Neil & the kids home. We travelled to South Carolina in June for Neil’s nephew’s wedding, Lucie graduated as an Honor Star from her Stars class at church. We closed on the house on June 11.

Our buyers had given us 10 days occupancy after closing, and we needed every single one of them. The last 10 days held countless trips to our storage unit & Salvation Army. Our older 3 kids were able to participate in REACH 248 (Roots youth group weeklong service around town), and everyone except Titus either attended or served at Mega Sports Camp (basically our church’s version of vbs) in the evenings. We were so thankful for the kids to get good time in with their precious church friends before we left town. Neil and I were also so blessed by breakfasts with friends, dinners with friends, ice cream with family…. lots of good connecting with people we LOVE, before we left (though there were so many more I wish we could’ve spent time with before leaving…).

June 21 (Friday) we pulled out of the driveway. All of our belongings either in a 10 x 20 storage unit, or in our 5 x 10 trailer (or in the van)… We were filled to the gills! There are so many last minute things y’all!!!

Our friends Jason & Megan graciously and generously opened their home to us for the weekend. We went from our now “old” house to a fundraiser for a precious family from church — a park picnic with friends. Then we made our way to the Hover Home for some rest & regrouping (i.e. repacking). Saturday was Breakfast with the Bredows, and open house for my cousin’s son, and ice cream at Cooks with Grammie, a late night visit with our temporary neighbors, the Reids. Sunday we said goodbye first to our AHCC family and then later, at Erma’s, over frozen custard, we said goodbye to family.

We left Michigan very early on Monday, with Knapps Donuts, and hearts full of an outpouring of love from family & friends as we said goodbye.

I’m writing this in hindsight, so I can tell you now that we’re 3 weeks into it, being here is nothing short of the best present ever! We are learning & growing, and being stretched, and recalibrating as a family, and living life in community with a bunch of other awesome families & YWAMers…

About a year and a half ago, the Lord started stirring our hearts; both Neil and I sensed change coming. We started praying specifically for our future. We approached the Lord with hands open to His leading. After several months of prayer, and research, and counseling with friends and family, we made a decision:

Neil & I are taking our family to YWAM (Youth With a Mission) Family Discipleship Training School. It is a 5 month program that involves 3 months of discipleship training (Knowing God) and a 2 month outreach (Making Him Known). The training segment takes place in Tyler, Texas, and begins July 1. This is a large commitment both in time and money. The Lord has blessed us with both- Neil is in transition out of his current job into something new (yet to be determined); the money piece of the question has been provided for in the form of selling our home. We see very clearly God’s direction & leading for our family, and we’re excited for this adventure!

While we’re very excited to GO, we are not so excited to LEAVE… We love our family, community, school and church families & will miss everyone greatly! Beyond the 5 months? We’re not sure. But we are sure that in the 5 months we’re away, the Lord will speak & lead & show us what is next. We would love to return to Michigan to resume life & ministry, but we wait on the Lord for direction concerning house/job on the other side of YWAM. We absolutely covet your prayers as we prepare to go, and go. 

We want to take y’all with us — we feel like this blog is a way to do that! We’ll be posting updates and news and stories as often as we can!

Heard at the grocery store, the mall, maybe a local fast food restaurant:

“Wow, you’ve got your hands full!”

“Are you Catholic?” or the slightly bolder “You must be Catholic.” (Occasionally insert Christian for Catholic)

“Are they all yours?”

“Are there any twins?” (as if an affirmative answer makes seem us less crazy)

“I could never do that!” (code for “you must be crazy.”)

And maybe our all-time favorite:

“Don’t you know what causes this?” (insert wink)

NEIL: Truth be told my wife, Amy, has usually born the brunt of these comments and questions.  But I’ve heard them too. Amy and I are both pretty laid-back, not easily offended. So not wanting to give the wrong impression, we don’t hold these comments against anyone or reply with any clever retorts to questions and judgments.  

So how did we find ourselves in this very interesting situation?  Don’t know, we’re still trying to figure out what causes this!!! Seriously, though, let’s recap…

AMY: Neil and I met the summer of 2002. On the evening he asked me out on our first date, I found out my dad (my world) had pancreatic cancer. My immediate family flew off to Disney (because that is what you do when you find out you have a giant cancer battle in front of you!), and our date was put on hold. Neil wasn’t scared or intimidated by my family circumstances though. Our first date was on my parent’s anniversary… August 18.

My dad pursued various treatments. Neil and I spent every opportunity together. We knew early on this relationship was right. Neil got to interact some with my dad. Neil walked with me through the most difficult time of my life. My dad’s battle ended on September 27, 2002.

Neil and I were engaged at the end of October. We KNEW.
We were married on February 28, 2003.

At the time, Neil worked for a physical therapy practice, and I was working at my family’s motorcycle business. Our family plan was to wait for a minute, and then get started with those babies (it turns out that having babies is easy for us). We thought four would be the perfect number for our family (both Neil and I have three siblings).

Neil: 14 months later…Nolan…17 months…Savana.

It is at this point we realize that the difference between one child (perfect baby) and two (hmmm, no comment) is a quantum leap.  So we decide a healthy gap between #2 and #3 would be prudent.

16 months (Surprise! Some gap, huh?)…Landon…19 months…Lucie.  4 kids and we’re done!

19 months (Surprise!)…Tessa.  5 kids and we’re definitely done!

AMY: While neither Neil or I had done anything permanent to prevent children, we were in fact, trying not to have more kids…I think this was where we really realized that while we weren’t setting out to have a large family, each one of these little people is a GIFT. Two more little gifts have followed Tessa – Eli (on our anniversary) in 2014, and Titus came September, 2017.

NEIL: The amazing thing about life in general, and life walking with the Lord in particular, is that we can plan all we want but it is biblically clear: The God of the universe has a perfect will that cannot be thwarted, regardless of the plans that we make.  He establishes our plans (Proverbs 16:3) and orders our steps (Proverbs 16:9).  

AMY: It’s hard to overestimate the changes and growth in Neil and I over these last 16 years together. Being married and having kids has a way of rooting out all kinds of junk you never knew you had. Having a large family has forced us to be creative with our resources, be intentional with both our money and our time, and increase our faith as we realize just how inadequate we are on our own. We’ve gotten comfortable with using the word “no” on a regular basis, and dealing with sadness on every level because of that answer. We’ve grown into lovers of adventure, quiet moments, and flexibility inside structure….

NEIL: Is our family complete?  Probably. But I’ve learned enough through our journey not to guarantee anything.  I know we are a family established by the Lord. I know circumstances have taught us much about patience, frugality, hard work, teamwork and self-sacrifice.  I know a spirit of adventure has awoken in us. And this I certainly know: Our story has barely begun to be written!

The Greb family welcomes you on this journey with us…