As I’ve shared here, we have plans for an African summer, something we were all excited about and something that we knew God wanted us to do. However, as we tried to raise the $8000 we needed for our trip, we came up empty handed every.single.time.
So we did what any good Jesus lover should do. We prayed. I felt like God told us to move out of our little place. I felt like He said that we moved in here for a temporary sabbatical season. That season is over and yet we’re still in this place. I felt like He said, to truly be in the new season of our lives, that we needed to physically move out.
I love how God prepares our hearts to hear Him. I don’t know how many times I told Jeremy prior to this that I didn’t want to pack our stuff and move out. The thought of coming back without a place to lay my head was too much, and I simply didn’t want to do it. We took a day to pray some more but we knew that we knew that moving out was what He was calling us to do. It was a risk, a walk into the unknown, a step of faith.
That was Tuesday. Wednesday I sent out an email newsletter indicating our need of $8000. Thursday we told the kids about moving out and gave notice to our landlord. Thursday night we received an email from someone whose name I didn’t recognize. (I later realized who he was. It wasn’t a total random connection.) He said he had the funds we needed to travel. I almost deleted it, because I thought it was spam. I didn’t. It wasn’t. He gave every penny we needed plus some to Ten Thousand Homes. Here’s the crazy thing. He’s not even on our mailing list and neither of us have no idea how it ended up in his inbox.
I wish I could take the time to tell you the other side of this story, his side. It’s equally incredible. God was working in him, in us, both to step out and take a risk, and as we are, he is meeting all of us in ways that are not logical, not explainable, other than God is good. I am completely blown away.
For those of you who are into the details, our itinerary looks something like this…
June 18th – We are pulling out of town and driving up to Connecticut. We still own a house there, so we’re going up there to see friends and do some work on our house (saves us money from hiring someone). We’ll see friends along the very long 30 hour road trip.
July 1st – We’ll fly out of NY to S. Africa. Our tickets are changeable, because we honestly don’t know how long we’re supposed to stay.
July 17-30 – I’ll be in Uganda! So, so excited about this opportunity!
I know that was long, but I felt I needed to share, especially for those of you who are following my risk journey. I encourage you today to step out into whatever He might be calling you to. In the risk, in the faith, you’ll find He’s closer than you can imagine and His plans for you are always with your best in mind.
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