July 10, 2026 Update
Greetings, friends!
We spent ALL of the last two months finishing up our house remodel, spending as much time as we could with our Hewitt church family, packing, and preparing to move. I have also been traveling to Oklahoma, central Texas to the Highland Lakes area, and Louisiana, speaking and interviewing there as we have been trying to raise support.
As of July 3, we have finally made it to Lubbock. Thank you for all your support! Your words of encouragement, love that you have expressed, physical help, and gifts have meant the world to us! Sara is very pleased with the house selection, and we are hard at work putting everything in its place, and getting it ready to function for our family and our studies. If you would like our address, please send us a message and we will send it to you.
We have attended a Sunday and a Wednesday service at the Sunset church of Christ, and we have been very encouraged by them. We plan to plug in and become an involved part of the church for the next two years. We have already met a few classmates with whom we will be starting classes in August, and a few of them even helped us unload when we arrived!
It was a bittersweet farewell at my job. They threw me a lovely celebration in my last week. There are many good people there who took an interest in me, and I in them. My manager was excited to see us make this change. My coworkers were very supportive through the entire process. The encouragement from those at my job saying “You will do great; you’re perfect for that” indicate how the last few years have hopefully had an impact on them, and not just from my Christian example. I pray and believe that they could see there is something honorable, respectable, and joyful about a life lived for God. As a supervisor, my Bible-based manner of leading showed as I submitted to authority above me, showed mercy and grace, pursued justice, and worked diligently with those who would listen to help improve their lives at work and at home. I invited them to know my family. They saw my imperfections, but even through that they could see a life dedicated to Christ.
I don’t share this reflection to say that I did good. I share it to encourage each of you in the secular working world to be a Christ-follower even when it is hard. Your peers may not tell you now, but they will be thinking similar thoughts of you as they shared with me as I left. Lead with integrity, follow with integrity, do your best, and put people’s deeper needs above your own superficial ones. Love people, even at your work or school. Many seek fulfillment in their work, but you can lead them to seek fulfillment in Someone greater than that.
Over the course of this month, we will be unpacking, taking care of the administrative things involved with moving, and preparing for Sunset. In the midst of that, I am visiting a close friend in Missouri who just lost his dad, and we will be participating in the annual Texas Normal Singing School held on the campus of Abilene Christian University. It is an intense week of classes and practice for those who wish to develop their skills in leading a congregation in effective, connected worship, and there is also a program for those who wish to improve their song-writing skills. This will be its 80th year! For more information, check out singingschool.org
We are also looking to get Diga, our 7-year-old, involved in the local Trail Life troop which meets at the Green Lawn Church of Christ just a few blocks from us. This is a Christian-based alternative to Scouting America organizations.
Many of you have been asking. “How is the fundraising going?” Well, I am happy to announce that it has really come together the last couple of months, and we have achieved our goal for support! God has shown us in no uncertain terms through the fundraising and the encouragement we have received after preaching sermons and participating in interviews that we are going the direction He wants us to go. I cannot state enough the amount of amazement and thankfulness we have! We have gone from nervous trust to witnessing Yahweh’s providence. Our entire experience has been surreal. God is great, and will make a way for His children to do the work that He has set before us (Eph. 2:10). Thank you all for being a part of this work that we are undertaking! This is only the beginning to – Lord willing – many, many years of effective work in His kingdom!
We are now selling our house on the open market. Lord willing, we will break even on this project. We had bought it as a fixer-upper, but the project stalled after I got too busy with work, and it was not in a sellable condition. But with the help of our friend Lanny Reed at R3 Reed Construction, my dad, and some painting help from friends from work and at Hewitt Church of Christ, it is now listed! If you know anyone looking for a 3 bedroom house in Waco, we’ve got one!
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1br5iUdLhM
https://www.homes.com/property/213-virginia-dr-waco-tx/hrbgy0nlt64cf
Now, may God richly bless you all, and keep you in His care.
If you get a chance, please come see us at any time! You might even plan to visit Sunset for the Vison Workshop this coming January 27-29!
Dustin and Sara Gonzales 
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