Now this is tough - but worth it!

I wrote the first part of this post on 1/28/08, a day I was really struggling, but I publish it now to show how faithful God is and how He has provided for us.

There are times

..... when I really would like a normal life.
..... when I wish Gary had a paying job when I knew what income would be coming in
..... when I would like to have the money to impliment our budget
..... when I wish I had savings to rely on when emergencies arose
..... when I wish I had money to put gas in the van this week
..... when I wish I had enough food until we leave next week.
..... when I wish I had the money so bills coming out of our account next week won't bounce

BUT this is the time that God has called us to

.... trust in Him for our life
.... trust Him that the plans He has for us are good and perfect
.... trust in Him for the things we need (Matt 6:33)
.... trust Him as He refines us through this fire
.... trust Him instead of money
.... love Him with all our heart, soul and mind
.... obey Him in what we know He has called us to

I know my doubt is a sin and how I struggle with it. We have been living this way for 3 months now and the Lord has provided. I've struggled with it before (Oh me of little faith). But, it doesn't seem to get easier. When I have seen the Lord's provision for us and for others why do I still doubt?

Now let me fill you in on how the Lord provided. Firstly, after taking our needs to Him, confessing my sin, He so graciously gave me a peace that He would provide what we need.

One of my concerns was the amount of food we had left - I did not need to worry - Over the last week we have been invited out for dinner 4 times!! - I certainly won't complain about how the Lord met that need. Not only did He provide us with excellent meals, but accompanied it with incredible fellowship.

One of our main concerns last week was financial. We know that God is leading us to serve Him, but as of last Wednesday (just 2 days before we left) we had only enough money for 1 tank of gas which would not get us all the way to Pennsylvania. Then we went to church and the Lord had stirred the hearts of His people to provide what we needed. Two of the Sunday School classes took a collection for us and others handed us some money. When we left church that night we had over $550. Not only did God provide for the gas, He gave us money to pay most of our bills. Then on Thursday I received a call from someone who wants to give us $2,500. This money will become available in March - which is just the time that we have to pay for our training, and room and board expenses here at WEC - which, you guessed it, will be about $2,500. Finally on Friday we were given another $100 for our trip here.

Oh and on top of all that we have been lent a GPS system to help us navigate our way around Pennsylvania. This had already proved very useful as we used it to find our way here, to church on Sunday and plan to use it for a run to Walmart tomorrow. And to top it off we were given 8 tickets to Sesame Street World for us to enjoy when training is finished. I can certainly say my Father knows how to give good gifts to his children.

We thank God and you for your gifts, whether it was a meal, $5 or $2,500 we are truly grateful. Thank you also for your prayers.

So I guess over the last 2 weeks I have felt the challenges of the life God has called us to and have experienced God's provisions and blessings and my conclusion is this - this is tough, but worth it.

Michelle