So, brief recap of Part 1: Crazy things were happening to me and stress, doubt, fear and worry were taking over. I was starting to feel the pressure of my next fundraising deadline, when my pastor, Mark Shorey, sent me a text and said they had the check from the church’s donation ready for me to pick up.
ARE YOU KIDDING ME! Not only did I reach my $10,000 goal just in time for the deadline, but I also reached my $13,000 goal, which is not due until the end of September.
I cannot even begin to tell you how awesome my church is! They are truly the friends that have become family. They are the most incredible group of human beings I have ever had the pleasure of serving with. There will be a separate blog post on how much my church has seriously influenced and impacted my life during the last two years.
Fast forward to that next Sunday… I had the great opportunity to speak at Rush Springs First Assembly of God. My cousin’s in-laws, Mike and Debbie Bates, are the pastors there. I was able to share about my upcoming trip and how the Lord has prepared me for this next adventure. They took up a love offering for me and once again, I was blown away by the generosity of God’s people. The so graciously presented by with $675!
Is that not awesome!?
Later that same night, a couple from my church, Deena and Gordon, hosted a Bon Voyage Luau for me at their house. Deena greeted me with a grass skirt and flower leis because, of course, I had to dress for the occasion.
We played a quick game, enjoyed delicious food, and had to time visit. Those in attendance were pre-assigned a topic/area to pray over me for the next 11 months. With their prayer cards tied to a lei, one by one, my friends came up and literally covered me with their prayers. They prayed for:
- finances
- God’s favor
- relationships
- health
- authority
- peace for my loved ones
- wisdom & discernment
- safety & protection
- compassion & salvations
- firm faith & no fear
And finally they commissioned me to GO! Isn’t that awesome!?
I could not have imagined a better way to be sent out! To top it all off, not only did Deena and Gordon so graciously host the party, but they also blessed me with a generous amount of personal spending money for adventure fun days!
But wait… there’s more!
The next weekend, my lovely cousins and friends planned yet another going away party for me. Saturday afternoon, over 40 of my friends and family packed into my cousin Shanna’s house, where I’ve lived this past year.
They all wrote me cards and notes to open during the next 11 months. Some for certain holidays and others for a specific situation or feeling like open when you want a hot dog, or open when you can’t sleep, or open when you need to be reminded you made the right decision. I seriously have enough cards to open every three days!
We played a fun trivia game about the countries I’ll be going to. People pledged to give a dollar amount for every question I got right. I had some help from the audience and managed to answer 15 questions correctly raising over $1,200!!
Please believe me when I say that THE LORD IS GOOD AND HE WILL ALWAYS PROVIDE!!!
In the midst of the craziness, I have been able to see God work and move on my behalf in so many ways… ways that I never could have imagined!
