Craziness. That's what state my life has entered into. Let's start from the beginning: A week ago I laid on the floor discouraged and slowly losing hope in need of a pep talk. We had 100 shirts to sell and I felt like this process of raising money had been going on forever with our end goal farther out of reach then I had expected. If you haven't seen the calendar recently, let me make you aware that it's already the middle of April. I was shocked. I leave in six weeks! So I laid on the floor feeling like I was in way over my head. I was graciously reminded that I was relying on myself and not God. That I need to trust Him to provide and this is not about what I can do. It definitely wasn't the easiest thing to hear.
I went home this weekend for my cousin Nikki's wedding. The craziness began... and God began to do what I thought was impossible. Friday I made presentations to three high school classes each hour and sold way more shirts than I expected. Then I ran home for an interview with the News Herald. At the end of the interview, I was surprised with the news that the story would be out the next day and was in the running for the front page main story. Wow, another blessing from God. After, I immediately left for a youth group event and was able to talk with the youth pastor about fundraising events and sell a few shirts. The night didn't end as well as it began however. I got a call that my grandma was in the ER and rushed over (mind you this is the night before the wedding). (She is doing much better and thank you for everyone who has been praying for her.) The next morning my body decided it was time to wake up at 7:30am. I checked my phone and had emails from people wanting to buy shirts and I remembered the newspaper article came out that morning. Sure enough, a giant picture of myself was front and center on the News Herald. I'll admit I was a little embarrassed at seeing this picture of myself everywhere and the whole day I felt like people were staring at me. I got ready and made my way to see the bridal party and get my hair and make-up done for the wedding. (At this point, there were clear skies.) I was given my list of behind-the-scenes things to do and then headed over to the hospital to show off my good looks to my grandma before she went into surgery. By this time, I had tons of emails coming in about shirts from the article in the paper and time was no longer going to be on my side. I delivered shirts up to point of being late for my wedding duties. Fortunately for me, the wedding planner was just as busy because a storm decided to show up (this is an outdoor ceremony). The wind picked up and so did the chaos. Tables and speakers were falling over. Vases were breaking, and the chairs were blowing away... this all happened about a half hour before guests were to arrive. But once the bride arrived, the wind halted and the ceremony was a success (in the end they got married and that's what counts). Sunday was another early morning. I had shirts to deliver, people to meet, and churches to attend. A pastor contacted me after reading the paper about making a donation to our cause. He said their church had been praying for a way to support orphans as Mother's and Father's Day are approaching and that he believed we were an answer to that prayer. I had been frantically running around all weekend and was constantly trying to keep myself from having a mental breakdown. I was running late to this church and kept telling myself I was okay in order to maintain my composure. When I sat down in the pew surrounded by a congregation I didn't know, I looked down at my bulletin that had been handed to me and read "Be still and know that I am God." Right after, the pastor brought me on stage and handed me a mic (this was not what I thought would be happening). I just started crying. The craziness and chaos was in His control. Everything that I thought I had to do to raise money is in His control.
This whole experience is so much bigger than me. We have raised a little over half of the funds to buy the beds, and I still need around $1,500 for my part of the trip. With six weeks left, I am still. God is in control. This process is teaching me to trust and lean on Him. I know somehow the money will be raised because I know this is what God wants. This has humbled me and shown me love and support from different communities. All this hard work will pay off and soon I'll be playing even harder in Africa. Six weeks. Let the countdown begin.
PS- We raised over 1000 dollars in that one weekend and are now down to about 20 shirts. God is so good.
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