I was THAT person. You know...the one who read the mission trip support letter and promptly threw it in the trash. I rolled my eyes and thought to myself, "Why don't people just save up their own money and pay for mission trips themselves?" As I am typing this right now I am cringing. This is hard for me to admit.
By nature I am a numbers/financial person. I do our household finances, pay the bills, and make a point to save for things our family will be faced with in the future (car repairs, vacations, emergencies, Christmas expenses, etc.) "When people sign up for mission trips they shouldn't ask people for money. They should use their own money to pay for it." Those thoughts went through my head more often than I would like to admit. When we found out the amount it would cost for our mission trip to Nicaragua in March of last year I pulled out my phone, transferred money from savings to our checking account, and proceeded to write the check to pay for the trip. Write support letters asking for funds? Not me. I've got this under control. I am smart and save for things like this. I can handle this myself.
Looking back on those moments make me a little sad. You see, I thought I was doing the right thing. I thought God was looking at me and saying, "Wow. Nancy, I am so proud of you. You were diligent and saved. You did it the right way." How wrong I was.
God has been teaching me a thing or two over the past year. For starters, He has shown me just how small I am. On our journey to Haiti we are staring at a MOUNTAIN before us. A financial mountain that we will have to climb. A mountain that I cannot even see the top of right now. We cannot do this on our own. There is no way I can save up enough money to get us to Haiti and begin doing the work that God has called us to do. The me that once thought "I could handle this myself," is now confronting the me that has to admit there is NO possible way to do this myself. Isn't that just how God works though? When we think we have it all together God reminds us that without Him we are powerless. Without Him we are nothing. He is humbling me daily. And to be honest...I love it.
You see....I now realize what I missed out on. Those letters that found themselves in the trash were an invitation to me. God presented me opportunities time and time again to go overseas and fulfill the Great Commission - maybe not always physically, but by helping send someone financially. If I would have given financially or prayerfully to those people I could have shared in the work God did on those trips. Man, I missed out!
So here I sit. Writing my very own "letter" asking for people to support our family and partner with us. I am staring at a mountain before us. A mountain that I cannot climb alone. I am admitting that I am powerless. I NEED God.
I am hoping that this letter (or in our case blog post) doesn't get tossed away in the trash. I am praying that when you....whoever you are....get a phone call or an email or a text message from me asking to sit down and consider partnering with our family on this journey we are on....you won't think like the old me. I am praying that you will see this as an invitation. An invitation from God and an opportunity for you to fulfill the Great Commission. For some of you that means committing to pray for us once a week. For others that means giving financially. For some of you it means neither. God isn't calling everyone to partner with us. And that is OK. Whatever it may be...I am praying for you.
By nature I am a numbers/financial person. I do our household finances, pay the bills, and make a point to save for things our family will be faced with in the future (car repairs, vacations, emergencies, Christmas expenses, etc.) "When people sign up for mission trips they shouldn't ask people for money. They should use their own money to pay for it." Those thoughts went through my head more often than I would like to admit. When we found out the amount it would cost for our mission trip to Nicaragua in March of last year I pulled out my phone, transferred money from savings to our checking account, and proceeded to write the check to pay for the trip. Write support letters asking for funds? Not me. I've got this under control. I am smart and save for things like this. I can handle this myself.
Looking back on those moments make me a little sad. You see, I thought I was doing the right thing. I thought God was looking at me and saying, "Wow. Nancy, I am so proud of you. You were diligent and saved. You did it the right way." How wrong I was.
God has been teaching me a thing or two over the past year. For starters, He has shown me just how small I am. On our journey to Haiti we are staring at a MOUNTAIN before us. A financial mountain that we will have to climb. A mountain that I cannot even see the top of right now. We cannot do this on our own. There is no way I can save up enough money to get us to Haiti and begin doing the work that God has called us to do. The me that once thought "I could handle this myself," is now confronting the me that has to admit there is NO possible way to do this myself. Isn't that just how God works though? When we think we have it all together God reminds us that without Him we are powerless. Without Him we are nothing. He is humbling me daily. And to be honest...I love it.
You see....I now realize what I missed out on. Those letters that found themselves in the trash were an invitation to me. God presented me opportunities time and time again to go overseas and fulfill the Great Commission - maybe not always physically, but by helping send someone financially. If I would have given financially or prayerfully to those people I could have shared in the work God did on those trips. Man, I missed out!
So here I sit. Writing my very own "letter" asking for people to support our family and partner with us. I am staring at a mountain before us. A mountain that I cannot climb alone. I am admitting that I am powerless. I NEED God.
I am hoping that this letter (or in our case blog post) doesn't get tossed away in the trash. I am praying that when you....whoever you are....get a phone call or an email or a text message from me asking to sit down and consider partnering with our family on this journey we are on....you won't think like the old me. I am praying that you will see this as an invitation. An invitation from God and an opportunity for you to fulfill the Great Commission. For some of you that means committing to pray for us once a week. For others that means giving financially. For some of you it means neither. God isn't calling everyone to partner with us. And that is OK. Whatever it may be...I am praying for you.