A new adventure begins

In our most recent newsletter, we told about the many changes that has been happening in our life. One included was auditioning for Actors, Models & Talent for Christ (AMTC).  Due to space, we had to give the basics in our newsletter. Here however, is the whole story.
For many of you who know me, (Megan) I have always loved music and have been involved in music for basically all of my life. I have taken Piano, Guitar and Fiddle lessons during different stages of my life. Music has always been a passion of mine. It's what I turn to with I need to relax, focus or just praise God. However in the midst of the passion, there has always been a problem. I HATE being in front of people. When I was very small, I don't remember this being a problem when it came to music. For example, I can remember singing a solo at church once and thoroughly enjoying it. As I grew older that all changed. I'm still not sure what exactly it is that bothers me so much or why it bothers me now when it didn't then. Whatever it was exactly, it became very crippling to me. I only played around people under certain circumstances. Most of the time that meant I was hidden behind people. I turned down many opportunities to branch out and farther my music "career" including some leading positions among the students my music teacher had. In all honesty, nothing has changed. I still don't like being in the "spotlight" although I do make exceptions every now when I feel God nudging me. Which leads me to the auditioning.... for someone who doesn't like performing in front of people, an audition sounds like a contradiction right? It's amazing how God can work in a person's heart. All my life, I can remember times when I would sit and wonder if God wanted me take the talents He has given me farther than the normal daily life. Each time the feelings and thoughts never lasted that long. I never felt like it was more than people trying to pressure me or just a day dream of mine. That is until here recently. Those same feelings and thoughts came back up but this time they hung around longer and hit a lot harder than normal. I began wrestling with it. Was this the Holy Spirit? Or was my heart and mind playing tricks on me? It was hard and unlike normal it it didn't go away. Actually each day and week that went by it seemed to be getting worse. Many times while talking to God, I would remind Him how I felt so unqualified and how I was so clueless in many areas of music. I'd also mention how having a mentor/instructor or someone that would give me training would really help. As time went on, I kept noticing things come up in my life that just seemed to be giving the feeling that I needed to do something more. Until one day, I was driving down the road and randomly turned on the radio... This was unusual because I normally listen to Cd's only. Even when I do turn on the radio, I'd tune out the commercials when they came on. Something this time caught my attention and I started listening. They were talking about an audition for AMTC that was going to be in Kingsport TN soon. They explained a little about how AMTC gives training to people that have talent and a heart for God. I felt like I needed to look into it. However, I wasn't really convinced that this was something God was going to ask me to do. I was out running errands or something so I figured when I got home I'd look it up and see what it was exactly.....well.... as all the other mothers out there could relate, I got busy and my memory failed me. A few more days went by and I was sitting on the couch watching my two girls play when all of a sudden I felt like a huge anvil of guilt fell upon me. I sat there thinking. What if one day the girls began asking me about why I never did anything more with music? How would I respond?...  I was to big of a chicken?  And If I was suppose to be doing something more, how could I teach my girls to follow God no matter what He asked, if I wasn't doing the same?  I just sat there feeling so guilty and ashamed. I didn't understand why I felt ashamed except that my mind went back to maybe God was nudging me to do more with music than I was. So I wrestled with the feelings and thoughts for a bit longer. (My memory was still slipping and I didn't remember AMTC at this point) Then the girls were sick and we had run out of some medicine. I went to Walmart to pick up some and upon leaving, I decided to take a different routine home instead of my usual way. As I was driving home there was a huge billboard for AMTC. This time there was no mistaking the nudge, that I need to look into it. I still wasn't convinced God was asking me to go but I knew I needed to look into it. Once I got home I looked them up. I read all I could and did a ton of thinking and praying over the matter. I eventually came to the conclusion, I needed to talk to my husband, Lucas, and see what he thought about it all.  Well it had been a long day and he was super tired but I decided I'd go ahead and ask him if I could talk to him about something that had been bothering me. He, of course, was willing to listen and I began pouring out everything that had happened and how I felt. After a short time, I asked him a question to only found out he had fallen asleep somewhere in the middle. We were already in bed and like I said before it had been a long tiring day. I didn't wake him cause I knew he had to get up early the next morning and my timing to ask him was poorly timed. I decided since it was still heavy on my heart that I would continue to pray. It eventually came to a point and I decided that I would ask God for a sign. I normally wouldn't do this. However, I felt like this was a big enough decision that effect many areas of my life that I needed to know and have no doubts. The first thing that came to my mind was that my papaw would get saved. I thought that was a great sign and something I was so longing to hear. I thought about it and talked myself out of that one. I  never could find something I felt was perfect to ask so I turned it over to God. I told Him how I knew He was able to pick the perfect sign that would let me know 100% that this was what He wanted me to do. I went to sleep right after that. THE VERY NEXT MORNING, as I was getting breakfast for the girls and myself,  I got a phone call. I answered it to find my dad on the other end. He had called to tell me that when he got to my papaw's house that morning, My papaw told him he had gotten saved that night! I couldn't help but feel like God was laughing and smiling at me. I was so thrilled with the news of my papaw, however, knowing that God wanted me to go audition was another story.. I was terrified. I'd had so been hoping that He wasn't wanting me to do this. I was happy to finally know the answer though.  That following Monday was the audition - talk about last minute.  I was very nervous. I ending up auditioning for singing\acting (everyone has to read a script so I thought "Why not put acting down too and see what happens?").  The whole time, I was there I was praying and reading scriptures that I had previous wrote down to take with me. I kept putting my trust in God and asking for Him give me the strength when I would start to get rushed with all the feelings of nervousness.  Honestly, there is no way I could have done it without Him. I was so relieved when I was finished!  The audition went well except for one small thing that we don't need to mention. :-) (Just a few nervous tears.) After what felt like an eternity, I finally got a callback. I was accepted to go through their program. So what is this program you ask? You can find out all the details on here on their website http://www.amtcworld.com/. The basics are: I will be getting training as well as lots of access to information online to increase my knowledge of the media world and talents. Then in December once the training is completed and I've complete everything I'm are suppose to do,  I will get a chance to perform and display these talents in front of scouts for several different corporations. There is no promises of any jobs after this, just the chance to perform in front of scouts. I'm unsure what God has in store whether this is just for knowledge and personal growth or if He has other plans for me. It is just amazing to see Him working in our lives. We are so excited to see what He has planned out for all this. Please do pray for me because being in front of people is a struggle.  Thanks in advance and I will keep everyone updated as things progress.       (Sorry for the delay in posting but since we sent out our newsletter my papaw went to be with the Lord shortly after Christmas)