Adkins Adventures

The past few months have been a little crazy around the Adkins home. Ron's acceptance in March to the London School of Theology was just the beginning. Through prayer and seeking the Lord we decided to make the difficult decision to resign from our churches and move toward a ministry with the Francis Asbury Society in Wilmore. The weeks and months leading up to this past weekend have been extremely difficult for Ron and I. I wish that I could have documented all the ups and downs, highs and lows, prayers and answers. But much of it needed to be dealt with on a personal level. I wanted to explain now what is happening in our home and how we believe the Lord has been working all along.

On July 1st we were contacted and told by the D.S. of the United Methodist Church that there was a candidate to take our position and we would need to be out of the parsonage by July 31. Our original move date was June 30th and was extended to give more time for a replacement. Then we had been asked to go through July. Having heard nothing until July 1, we were beginning to wonder.

We spent the next several days packing, making phone calls to secure housing (we had begun this process, but had not found anything as of yet). For reasons we could not explain, each home we contacted someone on, we got the same answer, "sorry I just signed the papers on that house this morning", or "I rented that home yesterday". To say we were discouraged and frustrated would be an understatement. We continued to seek the Lord and trust that He was leading. We had begun this process with the goal of being obedient to Him no matter where it lead us and we weren't about to stop now!

This past weekend we traveled to Northeastern Ohio to spend a couple of days with Ron's parents and to speak at two churches. We were contacted by the D.S. of the UM churches we Pastor while we were there. Due to some very tragic circumstances the candidate that had been selected to begin the process of taking over here was unable to proceed. We were asked if we would be willing to remain on for another year.

We are willing! We are not sure what the specifics of all of that mean, but this is what we do know. Ron will begin his PhD work with LST on Oct. 1st. He will be meeting with our PPRC in the next couple of weeks to determine how the churches can help him to make this work. Perhaps a reduced load here to allow time for research. We are not sure of specifics. Ron will also continue to work with FAS. This 1 year period will allow us to be in deputation mode where we will continue to raise the support we need to make the move and adjustment to Wilmore in a year.

Some may look at this and say, "why did you ever resign from your churches?" Through our seeking we sensed that Lord leading us in that way. We wanted to be obedient to Him! We believe without any doubt that The Lord's hand has been with us throughout this process!

We also believe that He will continue to guide and lead us if we are faithful to seek Him.

Many of you have been praying for us and we are so thankful! If you are interested in getting a prayer card from our family or learning more about the ministry we are involved in through FAS, please let us know!

So...the Adkins Adventures continue! We continue on with Jesus and as my Grandma says, "When God is in your plans, plan BIG!"