the number 2 list of definitions for support according to the dictionary on my macbook:
• give assistance to, esp. financially; enable to function or act
• provide with a home and the necessities of life
• give comfort and emotional help to
• approve of and encourage
• suggest the truth of; corroborate
• be actively interested in and concerned for the success of
I was blown away and humbled as I read this list and could literally think of how I have received support in each of those ways from so many family members, friends, and strangers over the last few years of my life and more specifically the last few months as I began getting ready for the world race. In so many ways I have been assisted financially, provided places to rest my head and food to eat, I have been comforted and loved, I have been encouraged and spurred on, I have been reminded of the truth when I was blinded by worry, and I have experienced so many who have come along side me and shown their utmost concern for my well being. …All the memories that just flooded my mind as I typed that brought me to tears.
I am beyond blessed and so utterly thankful.
The Lord has littered by life with people who overflow with his love and generosity and I am even more blessed with the privilege of having many with in my immediate family and even more with in my circle friends. I often take their presence in my life for granted, but I hope so much that I do that less and less as the days go on. When I began the process of support raising for this whole sha-bang, I thought I would start the usual way by sending out some letters to friends and family members.. I honestly don't think I really knew of any other way to start, but I type that now having not mailed out a single letter yet and having nearly half of my support raised. Seriously, I had this plan over and over again of writing a letter and sending it out, I set a goal of "by the end of january" and then "by the end of february" and so on and so on, but each time I would sit down to write it, I just couldn't. I mean I'm talking severe cases of writers block. I felt confused and restless during that time because I knew that I "needed" to do that and I couldn't figure out whether I was just being dumb and needed to focus more time and energy on it or what was going on. But now I look back and am so grateful that I was never able to write anything during those times because through it the Lord has shown me so much about His plans being greater and more magnificent than anything we could plan ourselves.
SO, here's how the Lord did it and is doing it: (there's a good many stories so this is going to come in multiple blogs, but here's a few to start with)
1. Everyone loves a good t-shirt: There's this great company called fund the nations that I found out about through the world race that helps racers raise money by making tshirts at a low cost, allowing us to sell them and make money. This was the first "big thing" I did and I'll be honest it was slightly nerve wracking at the time because of all the logistical things that went along with it, but I'll be more honest, every time I would get slightly frazzled because of it all the Lord would throw His provision in my face and tell me quite plainly… calm down. For instance, I was worried about how many shirts I would even be able to sell.. and then He provided me with 8 fraternities and sororities who allowed me to come and speak at their meetings, 3 of which ended up purchasing almost half of all the t-shirts I sold and 2 of which ended up just donating funds. And then there's the amazing group of people who I've met and become dear friends with through Campus Crusade for Christ who left and right were buying t-shirts and donating above and beyond what I was asking for… time and time again these remarkable individuals knocked my socks off with their generosity.
2. They gave me life and they continue to give me life- My Parents: I have the immense pleasure of having 3 of the best parents I could have ever asked for. My mother and step father continuously dispense grace upon grace out to us kids and my Father is one of the most giving and generous along with strongest people I know. Despite their own ideas on how they'd like to see my life play out, they have supported me over and over again in my crazy adventures and plans. They have granted me so much freedom and have enabled me to live in ways I couldn't with out their support. On top of providing me shelter and food for my entire life (which would be enough to be completely thankful for) they have blessed me with incredible amounts of financial support, and all with out any pleading or convincing on my part but simply out of their belief and faith in what the Lord is doing in my life and the journey He is taking me on. The Lord has blown me away time and time again through my parents as I would always get a wee bit nervous to talk to them about these crazy plans of mine and even more nervous to ask for their support with it and every time as I would enter into these conversations the Lord would speak
peace over my nerves and show me the work He had already done in preparing their hearts, not only in being okay with me leaving but also in their desiring to be a part of supporting that. [Mom, Rick, Dad… thank you, Thank you so much.]
3.The Flooring guy: So my mom and step dad had been saving up for a while to get our staircase turned from carpet into hardwood floors, and earlier this year they were excited because they could finally afford to get it done. Right around this same time my mom got hit with some serious illness and was stuck at home; being her chatty self she spent a few of her days talking with our flooring guy about life, getting to know his story a bit and sharing with him some of her's and our family's. Well, my mom progressively got worse throughout the time and so after a few days my step dad had to start staying home with her too. He's a pretty sociable guy also and so he began to get to know our flooring guy as well. They got to talking one day about life and everything that was going on with my mom and he starting sharing with my step dad how he had moved here from Romania and few years ago had been diagnosed with cancer, and a year after the diagnoses had been healed by the Lord through the prayers of his friends and family, a pretty awesome and encouraging story to hear in the midst of everything that was going on with my mom. My mom, however, continued to get worse and eventually the decision was made that she was going to have to undergo a pretty intense surgery to help remedy the problem, and right around then the flooring guy was wrapping up his work on the stairs. One day right before he was getting done my step dad got him a glass of water and was just chatting with him about everything and all the sudden he said "hey, I've been praying and thinking about it and I'm not going to charge you for my work here", [this was an "excuse me, what?" kind of moment]. He went on to say how he really wanted to bless our family during this time and what not and my stepdad began to thank him but say that it was unnecessary that everything was covered and would be fine expense wise but he was persistent in not wanting to be paid for it. SO then my mom and stepdad began to pray about what they should do with this extra money they had all the sudden been blessed with and during that they remembered that he had told them he was from Romania and that I would be going to Romania on the race and decided that they would put the money towards my race and let him know that the money he had so graciously given them would be put towards bringing the Good News back to his home. So the next week when I got home I got a surprise as my parents told me they all the sudden would be donating significantly more than they had originally said they would be. Please marvel with me at the intricacy and beauty of all that was orchestrated in all our lives to make them overlap there, it was truly this time of all our stories crossing and the Lord's story being completely in the midst of it. bahhh, so crazy.
the Lord is so good, and there's more stories of His goodness to come…
