My birthday is in a week and a half. I expect it will be rather interesting – perhaps spent on a bus with 51 other World Racers traveling from Siem Reap, Cambodia back to Bangkok as we prepare to leave for the Phillipines. Probably not the most comfortable conditions to spend a birthday in, but who said this year was about comfort? Or perhaps we will be touring the ancient wonder of Angkor Wat. Who knows?
I bring up the subject of my birthday because on occasions such as these, as well as the upcoming Christmas season, always bring up the issue of gifts. (It is crazy to me that Christmas is right around the corner, but I’m sure advertisements and decor are already appearing in stores across the US!) The questions that arise for most of us at this time of the year are along the lines of: “What gift to I give that is uniquely ‘YOU’ and special? Do I buy you gifts just because I am supposed to because of the occasion? How do I shop on my limited budget and still bless you?” These are especially prevalent when the receiver is, like me, difficult to shop for.
My intention for writing this blog is not to advertise my upcoming celebration of becoming a quarter of a century old, but to ask that if you would ordinarily have bought me a birthday present, that you would instead invest that monetary amount into my support account so that I may continue on the race.
Pause. I want to say how incredibly grateful I am to those of you who have been supporting me from the beginning, as well as those whom have recently come on board. Your support is not merely a blessing to me to get to live this Jesus adventure, but it is a tremendous blessing to those I meet along the way. This month we have had the opportunity to live and work at an orphanage – we teach English, help in local small groups and church, love on the children, rebuilt some clothes lines and built a fence around the trash pile, and are providing the children with school supplies and toiletries (tootch care, etc). We get to demonstrate God’s love. All of this, along with future ministries that we will be a part of in the coming months, are made possible by your generous donations. I would not be here without you!
As it stands now, my support account is at $5,610, which means that I will probably be sent home before Christmas. So as we enter into this gift-giving season, as we pause to be thankful for the many blessings we have been given and spend time with those we love, I would ask you to consider blessing me (and the world) with a financial donation.
(also, remember that this donation IS tax-deductible – especially important as the end of the year draws near!)
Thank you again for your support, encouragement and prayers!
We were driving it fast and funky
We were dancing and running free
We were having a wild, wild party
