... Let The Next Chapter Begin

Isaiah 25:1 Oh Lord, you are my God. I will praise You. I will give thanks to Your name. For You have been faithful to do great things, plans that You made long ago.

I had a coffee chat a few days ago with a dear lady that has recently moved to Abu Dhabi and joined our church. I just love when God takes such a simple get together and turns in into a time of deep encouragement to those whom He loves.

Where will you go after Abu Dhabi? How long are you staying? Aren’t you ready to come back to America? How long will you continue to teach there?

These are all questions that we hear more often than not. And more often than not, our answers were vague. Because sometimes when you follow Christ, the future is a bit vague. We knew, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that He called our family to Abu Dhabi in September 2014… but for how long, who knew? We sure didn’t. What would come after Abu Dhabi? Would we just pack up and leave and return back to our 8-5 jobs in the states leaving behind all that we had learned and gained here in the UAE? Our time here has certainly had its ups and downs. But I can’t put into words the work that we have seen our God do in just the short few years that we have been here. It has been such a time of deep growth, encouragement, and strengthening of our faith.

At the beginning of this school year 2016-2017, Zach became pretty certain he was finished teaching when the year was over. But what would we do? We can’t stay in this country unless we have a visa to be here and you can only have that if you are employed. We love this country. We love the people. We have settled and this has become our home. We are in our routine of life and daily being encouraged by what the Lord is doing. But like every expat (non-native) who enters this country, we can’t stay here forever. Eventually you have to move on. No expat retires here. It’s not possible. It’s kind of a scary thought when your husband, who has only ever taught, comes to you to say he is finished teaching. Um. What? You can’t. You have to teach. It’s what you do. But no. The Lord confirmed to him, and eventually to me, that his teaching career is over. It’s time for something else. But what?

As most of you know we have become very involved in our local church body. By the grace of God, Zach has had the opportunity to preach a few times. And as humbly as I know how, all I can say is, “wow.” Whenever he is sharing what the Lord has prepared him to share, it’s so normal for him. It’s like second nature. I am so, so deeply encouraged as his wife to see this unfolding. To see that the Lord is preparing him to shepherd a church one day.

A few weekends ago, he preached a sermon on Habakkuk. Now, I have heard of this book of the Bible but I’m not sure I can say that I have actually ever read a word from this book of the Bible. After he preached, it was mindboggling how many ways the Lord confirmed his sermon. A dear friend had been reading Habakkuk earlier that week and had used one of the verses as her “life verse” recently. Another dear friend was, unfortunately, in a car accident and was able to use the sermon of Habakkuk and “cling to God” through this time. There are at least 4-5 more stories of these that have deeply encouraged us that it was indeed the Lord speaking through Zach during Friday morning.

So. Where to now? A certain individual had brought up Zach going to seminary quite a few times. But oh, we were certain that was not where God was leading us. We have such a heart for the Middle East. When we say we love living here, we love living here. We love the opportunities we have here for the Gospel. We love the relationships that have been built across different cultures. I could go on and on. But the point is, it was so clear when God brought us here, we were certain it wasn’t time to pack up and leave already. After a month or two of saying no to seminary, we realized we had not even spent time in prayer, asking the Lord if that was in His plan! Sometimes, we just think we know what God wants and we go with it, without ever even praying about it. So... we spent time in prayer and just like the peace we received about moving to Abu Dhabi, the same peace came over us both about seminary.

Off to seminary we go.

That’s right. God has confirmed that the next step for our family is for Zach to pursue seminary. It’s a huge step, no doubt about it. We will have to prepare just like we did when we came here… sell all of our belongings, get set back up when we arrive, etc. It will be no easy task as now we have an extra child to bring along! But we know God is faithful, and where He leads, we go.

Which seminary you may ask. That’s a good question. Zach has applied to both Dallas Theological Seminary and Bethlehem Seminary. DTS actually has a campus in Atlanta so it’s possible we may end up close to family. So for now, until we hear from admissions, we will head to Georgia, Texas, or Minnesota. After seminary? Who knows? Only God. We would love to return back to the Middle East, but we will seek the Lord when the times comes as to where He would send us. Maybe in the states, maybe to another continent. That piece is for the future and we are not concerned with that piece of the puzzle for now.

My coffee meeting. It was one of those where it was so encouraging that I left on such a spiritual high. We shared stories of how we were called to Abu Dhabi and how we have seen God’s faithfulness while we were here. As I retold our story of coming here, I was reminded so deeply of God’s providence and hand on our lives that it was certainly His plan. And the ways He provided? Wow. It gave me peace that He will continue to provide as we take this next step of faith, move back to the states at the end of the school year (July-ish), and follow His lead.

He is ever-faithful. Of this, I am certain.

How can you pray for us?

·         Full time, flexible job for me (Michelle) to be lined up before we leave

·         That our exit of the country goes smoothly… there’s a lot that has to be closed and in a certain order. It can get pretty frustrating.

·         The Lord would give us direction on which seminary to pursue

·         Finances would be met without going into debt (as we have been able to get 100% out of debt while we have been here)

·         That Braxton and Weston would settle well wherever we move

·         Faith and trust in Christ would be strengthened through this

Blessings everyone!

Gallmans