Yay there are about 27 days left until I leave for training camp in GA and then off to Nicaragua!! I am getting very excited to depart and meet all of my teammates. After sending out all of my support letters God has really provided for me and rewarded my trust and faith in him. My Grandpa continually reminds me of Proverbs 3:5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart, lean not on your own understanding, in all your ways acknowledge him and he will make your path straight. This verse always stuck out to me as some simple verse that I learned in Sunday school, but as I have gotten older and had to rely on the Lord more I have come to realize what a powerful verse that can be. Trusting in the Lord and acknowledging him in all of your ways can be extremely tough but if you focus on the Lord he will provide the rest. In raising this support and preparing for the trip I have learned to keep this verse close and let it, my friends and family be a great encouragement to me. None of this trip would be possible without God, my family, friends, church members, and others who have reached out to me. I feel so humble and blessed to recieve so much. I will use these blessings to lift up my team and those whom I serve in Nicaragua. All that God has given me will be used to exalt his kingdom and I will acknowledge him in all my actions.
In further trip updates I am quite close to my financial goal and am working hard to get in the rest of my funds. Last weekend I put together a yardsale to raise support for the trip. I didn’t have a lot of things to sell but I called people I knew and asked if they would like to donate items for me to sell. I recieved a lot of support and collected a lot of items. Then with the help of some of my close friends and my family I priced all of the items, made signs and set up tables for the big day. I posted a note along with a donation box at the cash table alerting people to the purpose of the yardsale and that all proceeds would go towards funding my trip. People were fairly responsive and it gave me another opportunity to share with others what Christ has been doing in my life. It was great to find encouragement from complete strangers and I raised about $20 in my donation box. From the yardsale I earned about $500 dollars which was uplifting.
Currently I am just preparing for the trip and getting stuff together. Thank you to everyone who is continually supporting me I appreciate it greatly. Check back here for further updates. 🙂
Wow!!! $500 from a garage sale! Something I should have done! I have a bunch of stuff that I’m going to have to pack and get rid of in time to go. Hmmm…..
We’re excited to meet you too Melissa!!!!
Yah I randomly thought about doing it one day when I was at work. I had the next 3 days off of work so I set it up and it was actually kind of fun because I got to spend time with my friends and prepare for my trip at the same time. I would really encourage you to try if you have the time :)!