In about 40 minutes I will be heading up to Charlotte to begin my journey to Bolivia!
There are so many thoughts going through my mind as I sit here waiting on my couch. Of course there are the practical questions like, "Do I have all my paperwork?" "What do I need to do once I get to the airport?" and "What's going to happen once we get down there?" I don't get worried or nervous about anything really, but these are the sorts of questions about the unknown that I just want to know!
Then there is the journey that I took to get to this point. I heard about this trip back in 2009, I think, and knew that this was going to be the mission trip for me. We are going down to teach the local religious and lay leaders about God. Fun stuff that's right up my alley. The thing is though I had no idea how I was going to pay for everything. But I prayed that God would provide and sent off my sponsorship letters. After a few months of praying for sponsors, I went and checked my account a week before all the money was due (as I had every other week the past summer) and I still had $800 left to raise.
I laid there in bed that night thinking "God, I have no idea where I am going to get that money from. But I trust you." God brought the story of Gideon to my mind. How Gideon had raised this massive army to fight the Mideonites but through a series of trials, God whittled the army down to 300 men. 300 men against a MASSIVE army. In the end, that 300 men, along with God, defeated that huge army (Judges 7).
I believe God brought down that army with only 300 men so that all nations could see that it was God who delivered Gideon that day. There was no way that Gideon could receive the glory from that situation because it was practically impossible from his perspective.
The day after I learned that I had $800 left to raise, a lady at my school told me of a letter she sent to her home church asking for support for me. She felt like God was pressing on her heart to do that when she woke up that morning. By the end of the week, I had $0 left to raise. God provided. God received the glory for doing something in my life that there was no way I could do by myself.
That's the attitude I am going into this week with. There is no way that anything good happens as a result of what I do. Because of my sin and brokenness, it will be only God who receives the glory for anything that happens this week. I am not good, but He who lives in me is.
Scripture to think about:
James 5:16
Philippians 1-2
For His renown.
