2025 in Review

As Advent began, I started looking back over this year and trying to make sense of all that God has done. It has been a full year for our family, our work, and our hearts. When I think about it, three words keep rising to the surface. Striving. Selling. Serving. They describe more of a posture than a plan, and they seem to trace the shape of the past twelve months.

Striving

“Cease striving and know that I am God.” (Psalm 46:10)

As I look back on the beginning of this year, the word that comes to mind is striving. There was so much change happening at once. Leaving a twenty-year ministry assignment. Starting something new without really knowing what it would become. Raising support. Digging through 1,200 church and nonprofit websites to begin understanding the landscape of Austin. Learning to trust God in a way I thought I already had.

Our family felt it too. Sending Micah toward adulthood. Navigating school choices for five kids in four different schools. Living through a home renovation and the chaos it brought. Even celebrating birthdays this year felt different, as if every milestone was quietly reminding us that time moves on and that God is faithful in the transitions.

Through all of that, the Lord kept bringing Psalm 46:10 back to mind. Cease striving. Be still. Remember who God is. Not in a way that dismissed the work, but in a way that reminded me my work was not at the center of the story. Striving was not going to build anything lasting. God’s presence would.

Selling

“In his joy he went and sold all he had and bought that field.” (Matthew 13:44)

At some point in the middle of the year, the striving gave way to something that felt more like selling. Not marketing or convincing, but letting go. Offering something costly because the treasure really is worth it.

Support raising stretched me in ways I did not expect. Naming needs out loud. Asking for help. Sharing a vision that did not have clean edges yet. Trusting that God would provide through the people He brought into our lives. It was uncomfortable at times, but underneath the discomfort was joy. The kind of joy that comes when you realize the kingdom is worth whatever you lay down.

This was also the season when our family began to settle into a new rhythm. Micah graduated and went to Baylor. Emmaline and Owen decided to be baptized. We moved back into our home after months of renovation. We watched our neighborhood relationships deepen. It was a season of letting go and stepping in at the same time, a season where we were selling comfort but receiving something more precious in return.

And then, by midsummer, the miracle happened. Our entire three-year support goal was met. God provided through individuals, churches, and organizations in ways we could not have orchestrated. What felt uncertain in February became an answered prayer by July. It was another reminder of Matthew 13. The treasure is real. The field is worth it.

Serving

“Whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant.” (Mark 10:43)

As the year moved forward, something in me settled. The anxiety softened. The urgency slowed. Serving became the steady rhythm of my days, and I found myself grateful for the simplicity of it.

This was the season of coaching pastors and planters, walking with missionaries on sabbatical, helping churches clarify identity and next steps, building tools that helped ministries respond to disasters, praying in multiple languages with diaspora leaders, connecting Christian institutions, advising founders, traveling to train leaders, and helping ministries plan for 2026. It was also the season of hosting The Way Church’s core team around our dinner table, talking with neighbors on Halloween night, praying with friends in workplaces like Apple, launching a Story Formed Way group, and watching our own kids grow in their faith and courage.

Serving did not feel like a strategy. It felt like the natural overflow of what God had been forming in us all year. Quiet presence. Ordinary conversations. The long obedience of showing up again and again. It reminded me of how Jesus describes the mustard seed in Matthew 13:31-32. Small beginnings. Slow growth. A kingdom that takes root in ways we rarely see in the moment.

What’s Next?

As I look ahead, Proverbs 16:9 has been on my mind. The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps. December was full of planning for Saturate, The Equipping Group, and GAMS, and yet planning has begun to feel less like control and more like trust. We offer our plans. God directs the path.

Our prayer for the coming year is simple. That God would build what He wants to build in Austin. That He would deepen collaboration across churches and leaders. That He would make our family a faithful presence in the city. And that He would let us play whatever small part He desires in His kingdom work.

2025 Annual Report – Greater Austin Mission Society

What follows is a simple summary of the work many made possible. It isn’t polished or comprehensive, but it is a practice run for what GAMS could one day offer our city. Part of my hope for the Greater Austin Mission Society is that we would be both data-informed and Spirit-led, paying attention to the tangible fruit of ministry while staying open and obedient to whatever God brings.

If God allows this work to grow, I want us to learn how to tell the truth about what we’re seeing. I want us to be able to notice patterns, steward insights, celebrate what God is doing, and name the gaps that still need attention. And I want us to do that with humility, knowing that numbers never capture the whole story and that the Spirit often moves in places we could never measure.

So this is a first attempt. It is simple, but it reflects the desire to be faithful, honest, and accountable in the work. Thank you for standing with us this year. You make this kind of reflection possible, and I’m grateful we get to learn our way into it together.

2025 Annual Report