Whirlwind Season

Good afternoon, friends!

It feels like it’s been so long since I updated you here. It could only be due to the fact that a lot of life has happened in a short amount of time.

December was such a busy month. My team had to finish up project deadlines and then I needed to shop for Christmas presents. Oh, Ethan was able to come along with me to spend Christmas with my family. It was such a sweet time to see him grow closer to my parents and siblings.

Right after new years, Overland Missions put on their yearly conference in Jacksonville Florida hosted by Ethan’s father’s church, New Life Christian Fellowship. I loved being able to see a room packed with missionaries that I was able to meet and become friends with or to catch up with friends I haven’t seen in a couple of years. There is an unexplainable worship sound that came from that room that I cannot explain. I couldn’t pick a more meaningful way to start off this year. If you can, you should plan to come to the conference in 2024! It will be Overland’s 25th anniversary and an absolute party!

Below is a video that my team worked very hard on to produce, document, and edit.

Three weeks after the conference, on February 3rd, Ethan and I got married in Moravian Falls, North Carolina. Moravian Falls is the same place where I had my brain injury in September of 2021. There’s a lot of power in celebrating at a place that could’ve been marked with death in my life. I like to call it a royal slap in the face of the devil.

The day of the wedding was another example of a moment that I can’t explain. A friend told me that a wedding will go by quicker than you can catch it. That it will be a complete adrenaline rush. You can’t really keep up with it. I was reminded to take moments to be conscious and appreciative of what was happening around me. Look at the people laughing, dancing, and talking. That advice was some of the best. At the end of the day, we found ourselves driving away already recounting the memories made. It felt so distant already because so much feeling was somehow packed into such a small amount of time. All that I could feel was an overwhelming amount of love. It was a beautiful weight that just pounded me down. I couldn’t be more grateful. It’s unreal. I’ve truly never felt so loved in my life. I suppose this was just the direct feeling when you see the amount of love that’s been building in so many friends and family’s hearts all erupting simultaneously in the same place at the same time.

After our wedding, we went on a trip to Scotland. We spent time there for ten days. It was beyond beautiful. The amount of history that we absorbed and learned about was unending. The highlands are worth the trip. Unreal. Thank you to everyone who gave towards our honeymoon as a gift for our wedding. It was the best gift.

Now that Ethan and I are a team, we’ll both be writing updates here. It’s so special to have our ministries combined into one. He is now at the World Headquarters with me. He assists in the Fundraising department. He will encourage, coach, and teach new missionaries equipping them financially for their assignment. I can’t wait to introduce Ethan to all my partners and friends back home whom he hasn’t already met.

As far as my physical body goes, thank you to those of you who have been praying for me and for my healing. I am still walking through the healing of a few things in my body. Ethan and I are believing that my spine will straighten and hold, and my brain will continue to be strengthened fully.

Love,

Victoria