Coming to Life Again

Dearest Friends and Readers,
I've decided it's time to join the world of blogging and start one of my own. Not really for the need for anyone to read it, or find it, or even follow it; but solely for the purpose of declaring the goodness of my God in the daily grind of motherhood and my life. I believe with all my heart, everything in my life is for preparation for the future. . . . even if that's simply preparation to reign with my God in heaven!

Psalm 145:1-7
I will praise you, my God and King,
and bless your name forever and ever.
I will bless you every day,
and I will praise you forever.
Great is the Lord! He is most worthy of praise!
His greatness is beyond discovery!
Let each generation tell its children of your mighty acts.
I will meditate on your majestic, glorious splendor and your wonderful miracles.
Your awe-inspiring deeds will be on every tongue;
I will proclaim your greatness.
Everyone will share the story of your wonderful goodness,
they will sing with joy of your righteousness.

Who am I? In short (laugh now if you know me!!), I am a LOVER of JESUS because I am His sister, his bride. My purpose is to bring Him glory and partner with Him to bring the Kingdom of Heaven to earth in order to displace the Kingdom of darkness. I have been given the privilege of doing that in many different ways, in several places around the world, simply by living out the fullness of life and power that comes from Him no matter where I'm at or what I'm doing (Eph 3: 19).
I am the wife of an amazing man of God, Heath Locke. I am the mother of our four beautiful children, Abiel Kay (10), Judah Allen (7), Asher Chaim (4), and Elianna Charis (21 months). I work at home as a cook, teacher, house cleaner, mediator, principal, administrator, babysitter, shepherd, nurse, comforter, companion, friend, and cheerleader!
When I have any time for myself I enjoy many things! I love reading, writing, journaling, hiking, being in nature, exercising, loving on people, discipling, worshiping, singing, watching a really thought provoking movie or true story, being filled up with Jesus, playing speed scrabble, being alone with Jesus.

Our life and marriage has been characterized by radical obedience, adventure, and sometimes insanity!! In case you don't know us, four years ago, we quit our youth pastor position, sold everything and prepared to go to Africa forever! But God had different plans! He took us to Beavercreek, OR to live with strangers who became family! We learned more about true ministry in that 14 months than any time prior. Then we headed to Pemba, Mozambique, Africa for 6 months and unexpectedly to Nelspruit, South Africa for another 6 months, only to come back to the States worn, exhausted and a bit confused. Then God landed us in the farmland of Strathmore, California for a season of hiding, restoration, and preparation. It has been a beautiful time. Now we are sensing the season coming to a close and the doors to our next adventure moving closer, though it is still very vague and undefined.

My hope is that you will enjoy following my life and be able to see that all the big adventures we experience are born out of the glory of God being lived out in the mundane day to day stuff. I'm just a normal person with normal pressures and normal struggles but living with a very abnormal God inside of me, leading me to do abnormal things in life!

Thanks for taking your precious time to read my thoughts and experiences. Blessings in your journey of preparation!