"No eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the human heart conceived, what God has prepared for those who love Him."-- I Corinthians 2:9
As I read this verse yesterday it just sent chills down my arm. It is true in many aspects of our lives, but often we are too busy to stop to notice all the things God is doing around us and often we don't even give Him the credit and glory for all the amazing things in our lives. I am really working on being more aware of this and when I read this verse, all I could think of is my upcoming mission trip to Kenya. I can't even imagine or think about what God is going to do or how He is going to use us for His glory but I know He will because that's what His word promises when we are doing it because we love Him. It is so exciting!!
On that note, I just looked at my calendar and realized that we leave for Kenya in just 10 days!! Wow, I am having a flood of emotions. Excited, nervous, anticipating, praising God, but also having doubts. Not in this being His will, but just letting the human side of me come out. Am I good enough to do this? Do I know enough to teach others?
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| Here is my friend Traci when she went on the mission trip in 2010. |
This is my very first mission trip, and quite a big one to start off with I might add. God always seems to do things to the extreme with me the last 10 years of my life, and I think it is because He really is working with me to change me to be less like myself and more selfless.
Yesterday our pastor said something that is so true and I have said so many times that I thought I'd share it here also. He was talking about how so often we think we need to wait until we know more scripture to quote, or have done more Bible studies, or have put in more hours at church before we think we can take God's message of hope out into the world. Just like the doubt that creeps in telling me maybe I'm in over my head, that human side or maybe its the enemy trying to tell us to wait until we are "more" or "better," when in reality we are probably more effective being just who we are at the moment we are in. Does that make sense? God can use us wherever and whenever if He so chooses, so if we feel Him calling us to do it, why should we wait?
I am still just as bit of a work in progress as most people. I still have struggles and sin I deal with, but I know Jesus is the only thing that gets me through each day and I can't imagine not having or knowing that truth. I guess this is why I want to go to Kenya, to give this message of hope to these kids, most of whom don't even have parents. Seems to me there is no better reason to need some encouragement!!
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| Here is a photo the team took in 2010 with all the kids from the VBS. |
When I think of this, I am definitely excited about our trip and realize the "why" of wanting to go on this awesome adventure. It makes me realize it will all be worth it, all the fundraisers and begging and work we have put into trying to come up with the money to go. (This part has been WAY out of my comfort zone, so I will not miss this part.)
I still need your help though. If any of you reading this (and I'm really not sure many people do), but if you do and you read my first post about the last fundraiser we are doing, I was hoping to sell 165 tickets. Apparently, my idea was not the same as God's because to date we have sold 36 tickets and we are supposed to do the drawing on July 31, so that's just over a week!
Even though I am a little disappointed, I'm going to keep trusting that God has a better plan and a reason that some of the fundraisers we've done haven't gone so well, while others have been great. I mean, to date we have raised more than $2800 for me and more than $1,000 for my sister, (and she has raised some money on her own also), so that is a lot of money we've been able to raise with God's help!! So by no means am I saying I'm upset about what we've done. I just really hope we at least get to sell 50 tickets by next week. Either way, I will just keep trusting there is a reason.
On that note though, there is still time if you want to donate money and be entered into the drawing. We will give away 2 coach purses, one to each individual name we draw out of our bucket. The only thing you have to do to get your name on a ticket is to donate $20 to our account. (You can do this by clicking the link below.)
If you aren't interested in the purses, we will still take donations of any amount. Every little bit helps. I had someone send me a donation in the mail the other day and she acted like $20 was not a lot to send! It meant all the world to us to get that $20. So no amount is too small!! So if you just want to send us a donation, you can always mail it to: 4511 Fox Meadows Lane, Mansfield, TX 76063.
With my trip being 10 days away, I also wanted to ask that you all would be sending prayers our way for our trip, for safe travel, and for everything to go smoothly. We will be flying into London's main airport during the Olympics, so I'm sure we can use all the prayers we can get on this. Also, please just pray that we just show them God's love during this trip.
Thanks again for anyone who is reading this and thanks for all of the prayers and support everyone has given us!!
I will leave with one last photo I got from a friend who went in 2010. It is one she took on the safari they do after the VBS and it is just so beautiful that I think it says it all.
