Taking a Leap of Faith
Hi Friends,
We hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving celebrating the goodness and faithfulness of God! It’s hard to believe Christmas is just around the corner and 2018 is coming a close! With this being our last newsletter for the year we wanted to share some BIG and EXCITING news with you!
Have you ever felt like the Lord was asking you to do something that made you extremely uncomfortable? Have you ever felt like He was asking you to trust Him in a really big way? Did you wrestle with wanting to stay in your comfort zone because taking a journey into the unknown made you nervous? But in the end you decided the risk would be worth it? If this resonates with you then you understand the journey we are about to embark on.
Beginning January 1st of 2019 Tom and I are taking a leap of faith, leaving the comfort of salaries and benefits in the marketplace to follow the call of God into full-time ministry! Now let me be clear, we believe that when we become born-again believers we are immediately enlisted into full time ministry. If you are a follower of Jesus Christ there’s no such thing as part time ministry. The Great Commission wasn’t given to just a few anointed preachers, it was given to YOU and I! You are called to minister and be an ambassador of heaven within the sphere of influence the Lord has given you and placed you in. Tom and I have been faithful to be a witness in the workplace, in the church, in the grocery store, at the gym, etc. Everywhere you go is a mission field! And guess who God wants to use to manifest His love to those around you? YOU! The harvest is plentiful but the laborers are few. We encourage you to say yes to being a laborer for God! Be bold in your faith and touch the lives of the people around you!
With that said, Tom and I have both been working in the marketplace all of our adult life, but have been sensing the Lord asking us to lay down our jobs to pastor and disciple on a full time basis. After we sought the Lord in prayer I was the first to step down from my job earlier this year. I have always had a need to feel secure and know where our finances are coming from. I’m not a fan of not knowing how the Lord is going to provide. I’d much rather Him provide through a conventional job with a predictable salary and health benefits. However, I felt the Lord wanted me to know that I am not the provider, He is. So I took a step of faith and obedience to give myself full time to the administration of our church and ministry. Just a few weeks ago it was time for Tom to do the same. For Tom following the leading of the Lord into the unknown has always been much easier than it has for me (just being real). Ha Ha! He trusts the voice of the Lord and doesn’t need multiple confirmations like I do. This time when he told me he felt it was time, I asked if he was willing to wait for the Lord to confirm it to me. He said yes. That night I prayed and asked the Lord for confirmation and told Him I would say yes when that time came. It was literally the next day at a conference when a man that does not know us told Tom, in my presence, that it was time to be full time and he sowed money into us at that very moment. For a brief second I was tempted to throw out another fleece and ask the Lord to confirm it again, but I took a deep breath and with a cheerful heart I said, “That’s good enough for me Lord. My answer is yes.” I didn’t want my fears to hols us back from fulfilling the call of God on our lives. It was time to jump!
Tom gave his employer his resignation notice a few weeks ago. By the way, I want to acknowledge and say Thank You to my husband’s employer in this newsletter. I know you would prefer to not be mentioned by name but you know who you are. So if you are reading this, words cannot express our immense gratitude for your tremendous love and support over the years! You have been very influential in our lives and we would not be where we are or be who we are without you playing a key role in our lives! We are forever grateful to you! So with that said, we look to 2019 with excitement, anticipation, and yes a bit of nerves (mostly my nerves, lol), but fixing our eyes on Him! On the One who is able to do exceedingly, abundantly, beyond all we could ask or imagine! I personally knew this time was coming, I just didn’t know when. What I do know is that I wanted the posture of my heart to be yes before He even asked.
Saying yes is not always
easy, especially when the risk seems great, but it’s the only way we
want to live our life. Jesus said in John 10:27, “ My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me;” Though
He doesn’t always tell us where we are going, and He rarely gives us
the full blueprint with detailed instructions, we rest in the fact that
He is trustworthy and will guide us every step of the way. Proverbs
3:5-6 says this, “ Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding.In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight. ” That’s where we’re at. Choosing to trust Him with all our heart and not lean on our own understanding.
What will we do you ask? We will continue to invest time into Kingdom Gravity Ministries.
Go where the Lord sends us to minister, preach the gospel, equip the
body of Christ and church leaders domestically and abroad. We will also
continue expanding the School of Dream Intelligence. Our pilot
semester has been a huge success! We have seen tremendous breakthrough
and growth in the students lives, and we look forward to how the Lord
uses this school to equip and empower His sons and daughters in the
coming year! We will also give ourselves to developing leaders, to
shepherding and discipleship, and equipping and training of the body at East Gate Community Church. There’s so much the Lord has laid on our hearts for both the community of East Gate and Kingdom Gravity. We don’t know what it will all look like, but we are excited to follow Him on this journey!
I will close with this… The Apostle Paul said, “for we walk by faith, not by sight [living our lives in a manner consistent with our confident belief in God’s promises]”
(2 Corinthians 5:7 AMP) This is how we want to live and walk out our
faith, living in a manner that is consistent with our confident belief
in His promises. We encourage you to do the same! If the Lord is
stirring your heart about something, asking you to take a risk or make a
change, don’t look at what you see in the natural, at what makes sense
in your logical head. Look to Him and walk by faith. Take that leap!
Remember this, “Now
faith is the assurance (title deed, confirmation) of things hoped for
(divinely guaranteed), and the evidence of things not seen [the
conviction of their reality—faith comprehends as fact what cannot be
experienced by the physical senses].” (Hebrews 11:1 AMP)
Lastly, we want to extend you an invitation to come along on this
journey with us. We ask that you pray for us as the Lord lays us on
your heart. Feel free to check on us and encourage us along the way!
And if the Lord lays it on your heart to sow into us instructions are
provided below. We sincerely appreciate your prayers and
financial support! Thank you for believing in us and helping us do the
work the Lord has called us to!
With love,
The Ledbetter’s
“Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I
send, and who will go for Us?” Then I said, “Here I am. Send me!” –
Isaiah 6:8 NASB