in case you didn't know

That's Hadley, Sarah's 2 1/2 year old niece for those who are wondering. She's absolutely a.dor.a.bull. I realize that's not how you spell it, but, I wanted you to get the full affect. :)

Just a little update, Sarah landed in Manila about 9:00 a.m. CST on the 27th (10 p.m. Filipino time, I don't know what else to call it) and was greeted by Joanna, Connie and some others and they then flew to Bacolod Saturday morning CST (Saturday afternoon, Filipino time).

Please continue to pray for her as she gets adjusted to all things Filipino and I PROMISE you'll hear from the girl herself soon. And by promising, I mean, I really can't make her but I can call her out on the blog and have you people annoy her on Facebook and whatever else so that she'll update :)

And, yes, I was a big crybaby the day she left, and every day leading up to it. Twas not good. But, it just means I love her a lot :)

I haven't really cried since then. Praise the Lord for that. I have a theory. But I think I need to be further removed from the situation before I write about it. And if you want to read it, you can check out my blog for updates. Shameless self-promotion? I'd say so. I'll still write here but not as often. (Not as often? I've written here like, twice. I'm ridiculous.)

Thank you SO MUCH for all your prayers. They have definitely been felt and I'm sure that's the only reason I'm not holed up in some mental institution rocking back and forth crying out "Sarah!!! Saaaarrrrrraaaahhhhhh!!!" :)

Love y'all!

God's Perfect Timing

I was talking to Sarah about this and she asked if I would post it on her blog, so here you go!

I just had to sit in amazement at God's timing this morning.  I picked up a book months ago entitled "Voices of the Faithful" (inspiring stories of courage from Christians serving around the World) and was reading today's selection.  God knew just what all of us that knows and loves Sarah Hebert needed today, I found it no coincidence that the devotional today was exactly perfect!

"What Saying Yes Means"  -by Jessica serving our Lord in Central Asia

"He who goes out weeping, carrying seed to sow, will return with songs of joy, carrying sheaves with him" Psalms 126:6

"I read this verse when I was going through the interview process to come overseas for a two-year journeyman term. This verse was specifically for me, because I wept more over the decision than any other decision in my life.  You see, adventure does not appeal to me in the least. In fact, the opposite characterizes me. I like to be comfortable, for my life to be consistent and to sit on the couch with my family. Yet God, in His amazing wisdom, decided to call me to go.

The uncertainity of leaving my family and their security made me cry a lot. This struggle was not with going to the ends of the earth, but simply leaving my family.

Then, as I had been doing all that year, I turned to read in the Psalms; and God, once again in His amazing wisdom, gave me this verse.  God promised even though there would be weeping, there would also be rejoicing.

Since the beginning of my journey, God and His Word have been so faithful. I still miss my family and weep often. But every time, God reminds me that the seed I have to sow is worth it. He reminds me that there will be songs of joy. I look forward to the day when we'll all rejoice around the throne. In the meantime, I've got some sowing to do. Many people still need to hear the story.
No matter the cost, we together need to share Christ with lost people around us.

~Heavenly Father, be especially close to those young women who have left families in order to minister in international lands. Keep them content in the knowledge that You are with them and won't leave them. Help me today to be a witness to others, no matter what the cost. Amen

As most of you know Sarah flies out at 9 a.m. in the morning.  God blessed her with an amazing last weekend in Conway with friends here and He has continued to bless her with a fabulous time back home in Mississippi with her family and friends there.  I've enjoyed looking at pictures and videos posted of her laughing and enjoying good times. He is pouring down grace, mercy and strength to her and for that we are so grateful.  As this young woman shared in this devotional, it. is. not. easy. BUT God is FAITHFUL!!  And there is hope and comfort for our hearts in that statement alone!  Please pray for Sarah's family as they say their "see you laters" and for Sarah as she takes the biggest step of her life...stepping on that plane in the morning. 

We love you, Sarah, and will pray continually for you as you follow our Lord and Saviour to the uttermost parts of the earth. Thank you for opening your heart to loving, your ears to hearing, your feet to following, and your whole life to serving Him!
~Toya
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nnai5kc36bs&feature=related

Antioch's "See YOU Later" Weekend ~written by Toya Aultman

The lives of many at Antioch Baptist Church in Conway, AR have been touched by the humble life of Sarah Hebert.  We were all blessed to have her as a part of our "family" while she was attending Central Baptist College, and my family was especially blessed as she literally became a part of our family.

She has left a lasting legacy on many hearts and lives, young and old here in Central Arkansas.  She has lived a life here worthy of imitation. A life that lived out Colossians 3:14, because above all, she loved.  Her humility, her hunger for God's Word, her prayer life and that precious servant's heart was not only encouraging, but also challenged us all!  Its like when you see someone with really great posture you sit up straighter. Well, she made us sit up! All of us!

We have shared a weekend of tears, no doubt, but we also shared so much laughter and giggles!  Oh the memories made! I thank God for this very bittersweet weekend!!  One of the most precious memories for me this weekend happened last night.  The very last folks had left our house and it was just Sarah, Jason and I here...this was like 1 a.m. or something crazy like that.  Well, Sarah and I were sitting in the floor bawling and squalling and Jason comes in, kneels down on the other side of her to tell her bye.  He hugs her and holds her as she is sobbing; and as he gets up to leave he kisses her on top of the head and tells her that he loves her and is so very proud of her! I'm telling you, just about too stinkin' precious for this heart of mine to handle!!!  I love him so much! And I love the fact that he loves my best friend and prays for her and is proud of her for going wherever God leads her!  (all of this said he did text me this morning and said to tell her bye, he didn't want to wake her before he left because he's scared of her in the mornings!! LOL!! And all this time we thought she was scared of him??!!!!)

Now as we have had our time to hug on, pray with, and encourage her anyway we know how, we pray for Bethel Church in Fulton, Sarah's home church.  First of all, we thank you! We thank you for being a church that raises up young ladies willing to lay aside all and follow our Lord!  We thank you for sharing Sarah with us these last few years. She has been a blessing to us and we pray God rewards your church with many more years of raising up young men and women like her.  Our Heavenly Father loves to show off when we are obedient to Him and He showed off in this life! Her heart is plenty big for both of our church families and now it will grow even more as we both share her with a new church family in Bacolod.  We will lift you up as you all begin the goodbyes and BCCBC in Bacolod, we pray for you all as you welcome her and love on her!

To the Hebert family, words will NEVER be enough to thank you for the blessing of sharing your "baby" with us.  We are praying for many laughs over the next few days as she prepares to fly out.  The tears will be there too, trust me, we had some ugly cries here; but one thing I've learned...God IS FAITHFUL!  He will pour down grace and mercy on each of you and give you just what you need when you need it! 

Now, Sarah, go turn this world upside down for Him!!!!  We. Love. YOU!!! And you will always make our heart smile!!

it's like...really soon.

Hey everyone! Rebekah here. I've been meaning to blog for the past month but then something would happen and it was like God was telling me, "Nah, you don't need to blog right now." He speaks to me like that. It's pretty amazing.

I write to you today as someone who has not cried ONCE over Sarah leaving in the past...3 weeks. Maybe 4. I don't know exactly the last time I cried because of this whole situation, but it's been a LONG while. LONG. WHILE.

And honestly? That is amazing.

I say it's amazing because the day that Sarah was commissioned back in April?

Cry baby.

The Monday after that?

Yes, squalling like a one year old that just got their shots. On the way home from work. While trying to sing. (Me...not the one year old. Can you imagine a one year old singing on the way home from work? That's funny isn't it? :))

It wasn't pretty.

Speaking of shots - Sarah always tells the story how she didn't cry when she went to get her shots for kindergarten. Seriously...if you're ever around her and mention shots, she'll probably bring that up. I'm not kidding. I wish I were. She was super cute back then.

Anyway, that Monday on the way home from work was probably the worst cry I've had. It was AWFUL. I'm not sure I've ever cried that hard. Puffy red eyes and a splotchy face and all that mess. Ug. Lee. Cry. (I say that like I have a pretty cry. I don't. I'm not blessed with that spiritual gift). And honestly I'm sure it was for no reason at all. I probably thought about something random and just started crying.

So you can see how I'm amazed that I haven't cried about this in at least 3 weeks.

You know what I like to think of it as?

God showing Himself a big 'ole HUGE GOD in my life.

You're probably thinking, Rebekah, get a hold of yourself, you're talking about crying (or rather, not crying).

Yep, you're right. But I've discovered over the past 8 months, God's 'love language' to me is showing up in the little details of life. Reading a verse in Bible study and then randomly finding a keychain with that verse on it. (Isaiah 43:1 anybody? He's redeemed us? He knows our name? We're HIS? YES PLEASE!). That's just one of the hundreds, dare I say, thousands of ways He has shown himself.

Where am I going with this?

You see, it hurts when I cry. I don't particularly like to cry. I don't mind it, but you get that headache the next day and your eyes are all puffy and feel like they're being held together by glue, ugh, nasty. So, when God allows me not to be a big ole ball of tears over Sarah's leaving? I see that as a blessing. And it's not because I don't care, I think God just wants to show me that I can trust Him with Sarah's leaving. I know that sounds silly. Trust God? Any good 'Christian' knows to trust God. Well...it's hard sometimes, we think we can do better or know better and the next thing you know you're not trusting. That's a whole other post.

All that being said. Things are good at the moment. Sarah leaves in 16 days. Now...if I come back and blog about how I had another ugly cry on the day that she leaves? Please don't throw this post back in my face because I will really dislike you, and I don't think that logic will hold then. I've learned from the book of Ruth that you can weep and walk forward. You can be weeping and trusting God.

The important part is the trust.

Pray for Sarah and all her Arkansas friends as they say goodbye this weekend. There will be a lot of crying.

A lot.

Toya, another contributor that we've heard from, created this video. Sweet, sweet video. You probably will need some tissue. Although, I've watched it like 5 times and haven't cried.



Crying? Okay, read the rest of this.

I kind of downplayed this, but another reason I haven't been all wah-wah-wah is definitely the prayers y'all have lifted up on behalf of us. Thank you for those. They are felt. They are powerful. And they are needed.

Y'all are awesome! God is awesome. PLEASE continue to pray! Because, you really don't want a basketcase blogging do you??

:)

Still crying?

I'm sorry. I don't...know what to tell you. God sees your tears! Weep, cry, but walk forward trusting Him! :)