Preface: Make it all the way to the end or you won't realize how good the Lord truly is.
This blog is the follow up to my last blog about $11 on the 11th. If you missed it, Please click here and read that first.
Okay now that we are all up to date, let the story continue…
On the 11th, I was actually in transit from Idaho to Texas road tripping with my dear friend Mary! (More on this adventure later :)) We packed up my jeep and headed towards Texas where Mary was going to spend a few days before flying back to Idaho.
This meant that the actual day of the fundraiser, I was going to be driving across the country, in and out of cell phone service, leaving EVERYTHING to the Lord. I was so anxious to check my World Race account as soon as possible, but they don't update on the weekends and it even takes a few days to process donations. Mary was only in Texas for two days, so I cherished my time with her before she flew back to Idaho. While I was off enjoying friendship, the Lord was still at work.
After two days of fun in the sun, the time came for me to say goodbye and take Mary to the airport. We were heading to the airport from a way I had never gone before, so we were using my phone's GPS. My phone made a notification noise and Mary said, it looks like Miss J left you a voicemail. I responded, "hmm, that's weird, it didn't even ring. I'll call her back later." And we continued on our way following the GPS to the airport. (IMPORTANT)
I walked Mary into the airport and I was freaking out that she was going to miss her flight. Although she is usually the timely one, it didn't seem to bother her that the security line seemed to stretch for miles. I hugged her goodbye as she stepped into the line at security.
And that was it.
I had to be strong for Mary otherwise she would have missed her flight, but as soon as I was outside the airport doors, the tears came. That was the last of Idaho. That chapter was closed. The Lord blessed me with so many incredible friendships and memories there, but now it was time to move on. Move on to the World Race.
I got back in my car and composed myself. I picked up my phone and listened to the voicemail from Miss J. The message talked about how excited she was for my upcoming mission trip. I had the next hour free just to sit in traffic on the way home, so I decided to call Miss J back. Our conversation was great! She shared how excited for this next chapter in my life. She said that as a part of $11 on the 11th, she wanted to support me financially. She shared how only a few people can actually go and be the hands and feet of Jesus around the nations; other are called to support, encourage, enable and many other things.
This was the most divine phone call ever. If my phone wouldn't have sent Miss J straight to voicemail, I would have probably just ignored the phone call and continued to use the GPS and remembered to call her back days later. If Miss J would have called later I would have already been back with my family enjoying the evening with them, cell phone away. But the Lord knew. He knew a voicemail would have to be returned. He knew that I had an hour in traffic to talk. He knew that I was going to need encouragement. He knew that I was sad that my Idaho chapter was closing. He knew just what I needed. He loves me so well.
It was incredible that literally as I closed one chapter of my life the Lord was waiting to welcome me into the next chapter with loving open arms, full of support and encouragement! He is good!!
I arrive at home and was so excited to finally check my World Race account! WHOA! I thought! What a blessing that so many people contributed! I began to add up all the contributions from $11 on the 11th.
11+22+5+11+11+100 and the list when on! When I hit equals, I about fell out of my chair. The total came to nearly $2,350 and there were still several donors who were mailing there checks that weren't included. It literally did not make mathematical since for all those $11 to suddenly equal that much!! I thought the Lord would provide, but I had no idea He would provide this much!
I kept the total a secret to everyone except my mom. We watching as things continued to trickle in. 11 here, 20 there.
It seemed that things started to level out and donations slowed. I was sitting at 2,424. I thought come on Lord! You are leaving me hanging! That's when we remembered that there were two out standing checks for sure. I was so anxious thinking, will we make it to 2,500?? My mom and I both contacted those two people asking if we could at least find out the amount so we could inform everyone of the final count.
And that was when Miss J (ironically one of the outstanding donors) texted me back, telling me she had forgot to place the check in the mail, but it was for $300. Boom.
Total = $2,724.
The Lord is so funny. When I was so worried thinking that He was leaving me hanging, coming up $75 short, He said, no I am not. In fact I am going to exceed what you need. TRUST ME. MY TIMING IS BEST. So I wrote out my thank you's sharing that final number, stuck them in the mail and thought, wow, God is good!
BUT WAIT!!!!
A few days later the other donor who had an outstanding check got back to me saying that they still had $20 waiting for me. The Lord just wanted to put the cherry on top of it all! And to think that I thought He was going to leave me hanging?!?!
New Total = $2,744
So I contacted my anonymous donor and let them know the incredible news! I let them know that the Lord was so good and He provided the full matching amount!
And this is when the Lord blew my socks off.
My donor was so excited and in awe of the incredible work the Lord did, they stated that they would like to match the full amount, not just up to $2,500.
If I hadn't been floored by the Lord already, I now was. I was simply speechless.
All I know if that there is no need to doubt the Lord, He provides, He ALWAYS does. He doesn't come up short, that just isn't who He is. He is incredible. He is sooo good.
So the FINAL total for $11 on the 11th is $5,488.
Thank you to everyone who enouraged, prayed, or gave financially as a part of $11 on the 11th. What a blessing this entire fundraiser has been. Watching the Lord do work truly brings great joy to my heart!
Oh and remember the loaves doubling? The feeding of the 5,000? How about 5,488 instead?
Praise the Lord. He is good. ALL the time.
Love,
Brittany
