Thursday, September 18, 2014

You say Goodbye, I say Hello.




Life is full of Goodbyes and Hellos. They are not always sad or difficult, but sometimes they are. I remember the last goodbye I said to my sister. I had no inclination that it would be our last goodbye. It was in the basement of my parent’s house following an amazing Christmas. The snow was coming, as it always does in the WV hills and my family needed to hit the road before the storm blocked our path. One last hug, one last “I love you sis” and we were off. The goodbye wasn’t sad. It was a see you later. Little did I know that it was our last goodbye on this earth. Natalie passed away a week later. Through my tears I still say, “See you later sis.”

Other goodbyes come with mixed feelings, because we know what is coming after the goodbye; hello. In October of 2007, I was introduced to the wobbly-legged, beautiful new ministry named Extreme Nazarene. God said “Rachel, join this madness,” and I did. Seven years ago, I said hello. It was scary, fun, marvelous and intense. As the ministry’s legs found sturdy ground, experiences urged her to run. So we ran. We ran after those God was calling to go to South America and those missionaries ran after the lost and dying. Thousands of salvations have been won and the once wobbly fawn is now a strong handsome mother of 90 churches; churches that did not exists 7 years before!

And now it is time for me to say goodbye. This one’s hard. Extreme family, you are amazing people. Your love for God and others has forever changed who I am. I will never be the same, because you were a part of my life. And I wish you greatness! I wish you God sized vision and dreams. I wish you Kingdom sized success in all that you do to reach the ends of the earth with Jesus as your guide.

Now, I say Hello! Hello to some amazing new adventures! The first is the birth of Rachel Kuhn Ministries. God has placed on my heart a passion to inspire and equip His people to follow after him with all they are! So, Hello, to preaching and teaching and revivals and workshops and whatever God sets in my path. This also means, Hello to paper work, 501c3 processing and all that jazz! Pray for us as we take the next several months to set all of this up.

Some of the best “hellos” are more like “Hello, again!” I am excited to announce that I will be headed back to MVNU, not as a student this time, but as the Assistant Director of Admissions! Hello campus, hello students, hello faculty and staff! I am praying for you all; and praying that my transition into the place will be a blessing to you.

I find that often goodbye and hello are paired. As we leave one adventure, there is another just beyond the horizon waiting; waiting to say “hello.”