So God has been teaching me so much about faithfulness over the past few weeks. I've been beginning, regretfully slowly, the process of raising support for this incredible journey. I have never been confident in my ability to ask people for donations and financial support. I suppose it's because I grew up thinking everything I have I had to work for. But lately God has been reshaping my ideas about things that are mine in this world.
I've been realizing what a blessing each day is and how much of what I claim to "have" was simply given to me by a most gracious and loving Father. I have a family, friends, a home, and life all without any doing of my own. I get food and shelter every day with little of my own efforts. My heart beats and pumps blood all around my body every day, sustaining my LIFE without me even thinking about it. My very life is a gift, and everything around me is a blessing. Woah! So I suppose asking for my community to support me with gifts and donations is no different than how I really live life right now- as a gift.
I believe in being a good steward of my gifts, and doing everything to the best of my abilities and working very hard for the gifts I am given. But what an eye opening idea that everything in this life is given to me, and I can be free from feeling guilty about asking for support. One of the most powerful stories in the New Testament for me has been reading the passage in Mark 2:1-12.
"A few days later, when Jesus again entered Capernaum, the people heard that he had come home. They gathered in such large numbers that there was no room left, not even outside the door, and he preached the word to them. Some men came, bringing to him a paralyzed man, carried by four of them. Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus by digging through it and then lowered the mat the man was lying on. When Jesus saw THEIR faith, he said to the paralyzed man, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”
This story is so powerful because Jesus chose to heal the paralyzed man based on the faith of his FRIENDS! It wasn't about how much the man wanted to go to Jesus, or how deeply the man wanted to be healed, or if he even believed that Jesus was the Messiah. It was the faithfulness of the friends to carry their paralyzed friend to the top of the roof, relentlessly claw through it and lower him at the feet of Jesus.
I have been so overwhlemed and encouraged by the love and support of my friends. Jesus is teaching me so much about friendship and what real love looks like. My roommates have been the biggest supports for me, getting others on board to support me. My family has also been a huge advocate on my behalf, and I am completely overwhelmed. You, my friends, have been a lifeline for me when I couldn't crawl to the feet of Jesus myself, you all have carried me there and I have no doubt will carry me there again. I am humbled at your faith in Jesus and your love for me. Friendships like this change the world, and I am so blessed to be a part of the incredible things God is doing. Thank you for your support, both prayerfully and financially in me. And thank you most of all for having faith that moves the mountains in my life! God Bless! You are loved more than you know!
