If you look at the city this blog is listed under then you will see:
I MADE IT TO LAUNCH!!!
Yep. About a week ago there was a $2,700 deficit in my fundraising the week leading up to launch. I was emailing AIM back and forth and was confident that I would be able to raise the funds through facebook and a garage sale. Well, the week went by and there was no movement in my funding status. So I got an email that basically said, if I wasn’t able to bring the money to launch (IN HAND) then I would not be able to come to Atlanta. Well… here I am! But I guess you want to know how I got here…
Rewind to Saturday:
At 11:30 am I get the email from AIM. About an hour goes by of me being depressed/crying/starring at the email unsure how to answer. Until finally a lightbulb goes off… I SHOULD CALL A SQUAD MATE!!!
I decided to call the lovely and amazing Kay Em Evans. Kay shared stories of how God was providing for other squad mates… and then she got real with me. She asked, “Well, Karli, you say you know God can provide this fundung, but have you been praising Him like He already has?”
Cue instant conviction.
We started a prayer vigil and instead of asking, “God please come through with this…” we prayed, “Thank you God for providing this…”
It’s crazy how that slight change from thinking God could do something, to knowing, prasing, and THANKING God for doing something, comepletely changed my spirit.
Fastfoward to Sunday (24 hrs before I had to hand over $2,700 to AIM):
I was already scheduled to talk with Celebration Baptist Church about my trip and was hoping for some members of my congrefation to be convicted to support me. After the first service I was ready to show people the World Race video and had put together my “sales pitch.” As people come up to me after the service not a word leaves my mouth and they are handing me checks and cash for my trip. Clearly of God and not of my doing. The second service goes the exact same way. After the two services I had nearly $1,700 raised.
I was feeling a lot better, but still had $1,000 left with the clock ticking. I posted on my squad’s facebook page to give them a little update. A few minutes pass and one squad member posted that she would bring $100 to launch for me. *my jaw drops* Then another says she would also bring me $100, then another pitches in $50, and so on and so forth. By 11pm that night I met my second of four deadlines! I am now 50% for my total trip!
Lesson Learned:
I’ve always been the type of Christian to “trust” God, but in my back pocket I’ve got my plan B ready to go. This was my first time stepping off a ledge in faith, and guess what… God caught me. I am blessed to be with my amazing Y-squad, but even more blessed to have a faithful and loving God who has everything worked out ahead of time. And it’s okay if I don’t see everything He’s working on behind the scenes, but I need to always be praising Him for it.
Well, now I’m off to Puerto Rico! God Bless!
