Over my long-standing relationship with Christ and all the time I have spent in church I have heard story after story of the ways God has shown up and provided for his people. While he has never allowed me to spend a day hungry or go to bed cold he has always provided for me. He has always shown up and blessed my life beyond belief. He has given me those little (and big) mercies and he has provided things for me that I would have never imagined in life.
Someone told me to keep track of all the little mercies and ways that God has shown himself to me as I prepare and continue into this trip.
First I want to thank all of my friends and family that I called shortly after my acceptance call with tears in my eyes and a frog in my throat that shared the excitement with me in that moment. Thank you to the friends and family that have listened to my story and that have come alongside me as I start up this next chapter in my life.
If you know me you know I have two fur babies. My dogs are my babies. They have been my whole world. Leaving them is going to be one of the hardest parts of the year that I am gone. I thought long and hard about who to ask to watch them for the time I was gone. Who would be crazy enough to tuck my puppies in every night and talk to them in a crazy puppy voice?? Well, I found the absolute perfect couple… or they actually found me. I am so incredibly grateful for their willingness to take two dogs (both over 75 lbs) and love on them while I am gone.
I currently have a 2 bedroom home packed full of teaching supplies, decorations for evry holiday ever created, dog toys and supplies, clothes, and just a whole lot of junk. As I am planning to sell the majority of what I own in order to help raise money for my trip I would also like to keep some of the larger items and a tote or two of clothing so I will not have to completely start over when I come home. A beautiful and selfless couple has donated a decent size storage locker for me to keep all of my things in while I am gone. Who even does that?! God, that’s who. Through other people he has yet again provided where I needed it.
Another blessing I received was through a complete stranger. As you can imagine buying enough gear to live off of for a year and then also buying the small ultralight kind that fits in a backpack can be expensive. In order to help with this I have been scouring used backpacking gear sites. After asking a woman on one of the sites if she would be willing to come down on a $200 tent she was selling. I mentioned I was trying to save money for an upcoming missions trip I needed it for. She began asking me more about it and I soon found out that she had daughters that had also gone on missions trips through their church. She wanted to help! (WOW) She told me to send her $25 and she would have it shipped out to me that week. What an absolute blessing. With tears in my eyes I didn’t know what to type… I didn’t know what to say. Someone that knew nothing about me was so willing to give me such a blessing.
I have a friend who teaches wine and painting classes as well as owns her own art studio. I was discussing with her how writing support letters made me nervous. My pride can at times get in the way and keep me from accepting the help that I need. She so graciously has offered to host two parties for me, letting all the proceeds go towards my trip. She has made flyers, mockup paintings, and she has advertised her little hiney off! What a complete and absolute blessing to share her gift in order to support my calling.
For my painting party, I needed a location to host it. I had looked all over and couldn’t find a place that would include tables and chairs and fit all the people that I wanted to invite. After I made some phone calls and talked to some people about it what I was looking for I came upon a couple from my church that had an event center. After talking to them about my plans and what I needed the money for the offered me the space for half the normal price. What a kind soul!
Yet another blessing is some friends that have a large plot of land that they rent out for weddings, groups, and other events. They have so willingly donated their property to me for a day in order to have a hog roast to raise money. They have given me the opportunity to raise a huge chunk of money in order to share the love of God with some people that may otherwise never hear it. They have a business on the property that they have agreed to advertise through and continued to bless me with a large donation!
Another blessing has been a friend that has stepped up and been pulling together anyone and everyone together to donate items to auction off at the hog roast. While this is something that I had in mind it made me incredibly nervous to do because I didn’t want to bite off more than I could chew. She has taken this on fully and had such an amazing response from people. I cannot believe the selflessness she has shown in putting it all together for me.
To go along with the last part all the people that have donated of their time, their services, or home businesses that will go towards the auction and raffle at my hog roast. The way that people, some that don’t even know me, have so willingly given of their wonderful time and money I will never be able to thankfully.
There are so many other people that have also given of their time and resources to help me in raising money, praying with me and just loving me through all of my questions and fears leading up to my launch date!
