Hi! Thanks for taking the time to read my post for this
week!
I have great news, I prayed and felt God telling me it was
time to make my first payment towards my trip. I will tell you more about that
in a little while. I am still trusting that He will bring in $2,000 more before
I leave, but now it's definitely official. In 38 days I will be packing all of
my belongings into a backpack and traveling 1500 miles to spend five months
with people I have never met. To be honest, it's a little intimidating. I have
all sorts of emotions going on right now, happy, sad, anxious, nervous, ect.
But, all of these emotions are what make it exciting to me. I know that God
will protect me and be with with me throughout the whole experience. A few days
ago, I received an email from the registrar at DP. In her email she said, "Please
be aware that the enemy wants nothing more than to discourage and distract you
and to ultimately keep you from coming." At first, I was like great that's
all I need right now, on top of all my emotions I'm going to have Satan trying
to convince me I shouldn't go. Then it hit me, I should be honored the enemy is
so worried about the impact God is going to make in Belize that he will try to
keep me from going. Realizing this has only strengthened my trust in God and
His plan for my life. If I weren't doing His will, the enemy would not have
anything to be afraid of. I know this means there will be tough times ahead,
but those things will only make me stronger. In my devotion on Monday night,
the verse was Ephesians 5:19-20, "...sing and make music from your heart
to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything."
Reading on in my devotion it said the "everything" includes
hardships. At first when I read that part, that we are suppose to give thanks
even for the hardships, I was confused. As I continued to read, it went onto
say that, "If you are in God and thereby completely surrounded by Him, you
must realize that it (hardships/evil) has first passed through Him before
coming to you. Because of this, you can thank Him for everything that comes
your way." After reading, the song
"Strong Enough" by Matthew West came to mind. In the song it says,
"You must think I'm strong, to give me what I'm going through." He
will never give us more than we can handle, 1 Corinthians 10:13, and what He
has given us has already passed through Him. He's checked it out and made sure
it was something we can withstand. So, as the days till I leave decrease, let
the enemies attacks increase because I know I have got the greatest Warrior on
my side, and He will never leave nor forsake me, Det. 31:6, Heb. 13:5-6. I also
know I need to trust Him for the financial part. He has already provided so
much that I should not even be worried about not raising enough. For a while
the thought still lingered in the back of my head though. I have been keeping
all of my money in a savings account waiting to raise all of my funds before
paying any of the school or buying any of the supplies I will need. God spoke
to me and I felt Him saying that's not what true faith is. I knew He was right.
I made my first payment of $1725 at 11:54 Monday morning. When my dad came home
for lunch he told me there were at least four more houses we could clean to
raise more money! What a quick turn around from God! I also spoke to my aunt
who has been selling my coasters and rings at her shop and she said she's got
about $75 for me, and then my mom got a facebook message from one of her
friends offering to throw a Thirty-one fundraiser and donate all of the
proceeds!! So many wonderful things have been happening and I am truly grateful
that God has blessed me in the ways He is! I am also grateful that I am able to
share them with you week after week!
Thank you again for all of your prayers and support!
I will post a link to
the Thirty-one fundraiser. If you are not able to view it, feel free to contact
me for more information!
Brittney
Hebrews 13:5-6