So okay for starters, God is good, yeah? We know it, we feel it, we say it; but there’s something about those days when you see it in such a huge way that it takes your breath away. It’s funny how we never react to CRAZY AMAZING things the way we think we would. It reminds me of the movie The Pursuit of Happyness (sic) where Will Smith spends his time trying to be happy, like the people who walked around smiling all of the time. When he did reach his happiness though, he wasn’t smiling as he thought he would…he was bawling….like ugly crying haha. It’s so real though because when something amazing happens, my reaction in never what I’d imagined “OHHHH if I could just get that thing I would just scream!” But instead I cried, or I laughed, or I smiled. God does that to me… but it’s even weirder. He’ll bless me so crazy and I’ll dance or I’ll shout or I’ll be at a lost for any verb at all.
Lately these sort of miracles have been rolling in on me. Raining down on me. POURING out on me. I feel blessed, but my reaction to these great blessings are not as I’d thought; I’m just stunned completely. Oh, how He loves us so.
So I wanted to share the rain with you, in hopes that shaking out my umbrella (yes, I need an umbrella because the love God’s pouring on me is so heavy) and splashing the water around and getting you wet. So if you’re looking for some rain read on….
*IN THE MIDDLE OF HIS WILL:
I’m writing this sitting in an airport on my way to Atlanta to begin the mission adventure of a lifetime. God did it! He brought me here. Every worry, every setback, every problem that positioned itself has been called down to make room for this moment: me, waiting for a plane being exactly where God wants me to be. Sometimes I am unsure of whether I am where God wants me to be or not. But every uncertainty that arises when it concerns going on the World Race, He calls it down with PROVISION. Confirmation lately has taken the shape of anonymous donations, gifts from squad mates, plane tickets, gear needed for the trip, and ENCOURAGEMENT from the most unexpected people. Everytime I wonder if this is right, God sends me a big “yes!” with a crazy blessing. I feel the rain.
* EMPTY TO DO LIST:
Now, as much as I want to go through every single blessing because I am so excited about it, as much as I want to tell you about a beautiful teammate who bought my plane ticket, or a dedicated believer who prayed with me and gave or found someone to give me a lot of gear, or the donations of THOUSANDS of dollars that I woke up to from people I didn’t even know, or the support and constant action on my behalf I saw in my team and my squad, as much as I want to share every detail of how this all happened, I’ll have to paraphrase (Hello, run-on sentence). Otherwise, I’d be writing a book and that’s probably not what you were looking for here. I’ll just tell you that I started with a massive list that I had no idea how it could be done due to finances and circumstance, but EVERY SINGLE THING has been provided. It’s amazing really, like, I’m serious, it was sort of like a movie; waking up each morning watching God move. It’s pouring down out here.
*FUNDRAISING
So, there’s this little known fact that fundraising has not been peaches and cream for me…more like overcooked steak and uncooked carrots. It’s been a fight, but let me tell you…God is good. The way He provided actually made me stop blinking for 2 hours, yes, I’m serious (see me in a staring contest). So shocked and in awe not only at the gifts but where they were coming from, might I add it was all at the very last minute so it made it real fun. People I hadn’t asked were giving, people who don’t even know me, people who had to fundraise for themselves, it was crazy! And not only have they been giving they’ve been giving BIG! Man, I need some rain boots!
*PRAYER
This is a good one, because this was a blessing I didn’t even know I needed. Well I knew, but I didn’t know, you know? When I prayed about what to do about all of the everythingness that had to be done if I was in fact going to go to 11 countries in 11 months, I felt like God wanted me to pray with other people. Now, I didn’t really go for that at first, but once I did I felt so blessed. The encouragement through the prayers changed my mindset; built my faith really. Once that faith was strengthened, that’s when the rain poured so hard I gave up on being dry… instead I splashed in the puddles and stuck out my tongue and asked for more rain J
Its funny how it feels to be blessed, it’s good of course, but in some ways overwhelming. God is a God that will knock your socks off and get you all wet. So Let it Rain…let it rain on you and on me, and whenever you’re ready feel free to join me… I’ll be dancing in the rain.
Love. Peace. Joy. Blessings.
Alyssha
