I never wanted to raise my own salary. If I’m honest with myself, that’s one big reason I didn’t go into full time ministry sooner. So when I started raising support in July, I was both terrified and eager to see how it would go.
Well, here I am only 4 months later, and the Lord has literally opened up the floodgates! He has provided way above my meager expectations, all to His glory. This whole preparation process has been one huge opportunity to grow in faith and trust in our sovereign God. And let me tell you, He does NOT disappoint!
Last week, by His great provision through the generosity of many, I reached 75% of my recommended monthly support! That means I received the green light to purchase plane tickets!!
Once I filled out the appropriate forms, my dear friend Margaret and I started contacting travel agents.
And then yesterday, we PURCHASED PLANE TICKETS!!!!! Hallelujah!!
This is feeling very real.
"But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be provided to you." Matthew 6:33
Transitions
Tomorrow is my last day at my job as a Private Lands Wildlife Biologist. It’s a job I love, with coworkers and clients that I love. Transition is always difficult, especially when you’re going from something you love TO something you love.
God has always been faithful to provide me with rewarding and challenging work, cozy homes surrounded by His beautiful creation, solid church communities, and dear friends. I know I can trust Him to continue to provide these things and more as I make sacrifices in order to serve Him with my whole heart.
But I’m not the only one making sacrifices. I’m asking my loved ones, family and friends, to sacrifice as well. I am very aware of this and desire to cherish every moment with them until I leave. Please pray with me for God to strengthen and encourage these beloved ones during a painful time of change. Praise the Lord for technology to keep in touch!
Tomorrow after work I will start packing my house in earnest. I dislike moving. A lot. When my living space is messy and disorganized and mostly in boxes, I feel similarly on the inside. Please pray for me to be continually reminded that my true place of peace and rest is in Christ alone. That place is wherever Christ is, which is EVERYWHERE.
"And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or farms on account of My name, will receive many times as much, and will inherit eternal life." Matthew 19:29
"12 For just as the body is one and yet has many parts, and all the parts of the body, though they are many, are one body, so also is Christ. 26 And if one part of the body suffers, all the parts suffer with it; if a part is honored, all the parts rejoice with it. 27 Now you are Christ’s body, and individually parts of it." 1 Corinthians 12:12, 26-27
The Body of Christ
Did you know that there are travel agencies out there who exist to support missionaries? I didn’t!
God equips all of His children to serve in the kingdom, and no member of the Body of Christ is unimportant. Missionaries couldn’t do what they do without the people who fill myriad support roles. And ALL believers in Christ are missionaries, because ALL of us are called to carry the gospel into a hurting world.
18 And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. 19 Go, therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to follow all that I commanded you; and behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
Matthew 28:18-20