Shannon Absher December 2011

Answer to a “get to know you” question:
1. What is your current occupation? What do you enjoy about it?

My current occupation is being on staff with Student Venture, the middle and high school ministry of Campus Crusade for Christ. But given the priority that this organization puts on family, my “ministry assignment” is primarily being a full-time mom now, while giving 6-8 hours each week to other ministry-related work. With our current role being more with the Student Venture national office now, I am currently helping to lead and develop our staff women. I love being a part of what God is doing in women’s hearts and lives so it’s been fun…and at times challenging…to be able to do that both with my work and with my role at H20.

Blog Entry

I think the thing God is teaching me the most about lately is surrender. What it takes for me to get there is not generally a pretty process… but what I find, over and over again, is that it is the path to joy. Real, abundant, life-giving joy.

Some of you may know Jeremy and I have been trying to get pregnant. After years of struggling with infertility and a failed adoption earlier this year, we were in a place of seeking God’s will for our family. Do we try again for adoption? Do we try to get pregnant through the path of medical intervention that we were told we would need? After some time of seeking God, we believed He was leading us to try for pregnancy, but through a more natural route.

Our first month to officially start trying was last month. An idealist to my core, I didn’t expect so many different things to go “not according to plan” during that time. I was trying to hold it together and continue to trust God but at every turn I was met with yet another discouraging “sign” that this would not end successfully. Tension was building and my attempts at keeping it together and “staying positive” failed pretty quickly. One night I finally let go and broke down. I found myself sitting on the edge of my bed crying honest tears of disappointment. I admitted feelings of being alone, of feeling hopeless and discouraged. I saw my unbelief for what it was and confessed it to God. He helped pry my fingers loose from these tightly clenched fists and led me to a place of total surrender.

Looking back now, I can see the fight that was in me to try to control this process. I think the years of unfulfilled longing and hope for pregnancy had been unleashed in the wake of possibility and it was a scary thing to be faced with the reality of my own lack of control. As much as I was genuinely convinced of God’s good heart towards me and His perfect plan for the building of our family, I was still in self-protection mode with this very vulnerable desire. Could I really trust Him with this part of my heart??

Well I guess it was my surrendered heart that He was after because on the heels of that, I experienced the deep and abiding joy of His presence and nearness. Through His word, through dear friends, and through well-timed songs on the radio, I heard His voice very clearly. He reminded me that I am not alone in this, that He is with me. He reminded me of my value to Him as His daughter, that He delights in me, and that His loving gaze is fixed on me. And He reminded me of His goodness, His promises, His faithfulness, and the blessing of knowing Him more through the hard, disappointing, and painful trials of this life. Tasting the sweetness of His nearness I was reminded once again that there is truly no greater gift that He could give me than the gift of knowing Him more.

I resonated so much with this from “Jesus Calling”:

“You have learned to thank me for hard times and difficult journeys, trusting that through them I accomplish my best work. You have realized that needing me is the key to knowing me intimately, which is the gift above all gifts.”

I heard recently that the definition of joy is knowing that God is with you and that He delights to be. I’ve been reminded that joy does not rest on circumstances turning out a certain way. I have experienced the joy that comes with knowing – truly knowing – that God is with me. I am stronger knowing that whatever comes my way we will face it together, his hand in mine.

Control is rooted in fear, pride, self-protection, and self-sufficiency – all things that come from a heart that is not fully trusting God, or His good heart towards us. It is the thing we as women struggle with the most and goes all the way back to the fall of Eve. So I am most thankful for His gentle way of using the painful things in life to lovingly draw me into a more intimate, experiential knowledge of Himself and His goodness. It truly is the gift above all gifts to know Him, and to therefore live more fully surrendered, more free, and more fully open to His will, His plan, His way – whatever that may be. Because when we know Him, we can trust in His promises, and we can therefore be confident in hope, knowing that whatever disappointments life may bring, the end of the story is GOOD.

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. Romans 15:13

I remember my affliction and my wandering,
the bitterness and the gall.
I well remember them,
and my soul is downcast within me.
Yet this I call to mind
and therefore I have hope:

Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed,
for his compassions never fail.
They are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.
I say to myself, “The LORD is my portion;
therefore I will wait for him.”

The LORD is good to those whose hope is in him,
to the one who seeks him;
it is good to wait quietly
for the salvation of the LORD.
For men are not cast off
by the Lord forever.
Though he brings grief, he will show compassion,
so great is his unfailing love.
For he does not willingly bring affliction
or grief to the children of men.

Lamentations 3:19-26, 31-33

Prayer Requests:

The interesting turn of events came the day after Thanksgiving when I found out I actually DID get pregnant! We are so excited but obviously cautious with it still being early. Please pray with us for the health of this pregnancy and also that I would walk closely with God during this time, experiencing His peace in the midst of the unknown.

We would also love your prayers in our transition to church planting. Many of you may know about the calling we believe God has placed on our hearts to plant a church. With Jeremy being close to finishing up Seminary, that time is very nearly approaching. Our plan has been to make that move around a year from now but we are open to His timing, and still seeking His direction regarding location. Because we are wanting to partner with the Acts 29 church planting network, we are going to be working through a 6-month internship process with an Acts 29 church in Orlando, starting in January. So…that means we are having to change our church home. We will dearly miss being a part of the H2O church Sunday worship but will still be involved with the church and our existing relationships there as I will still be helping with Radiant ministry, particularly with our next Encounter.