Almost at the Top

   For the past oh, maybe 8 months, I've been running and trying to make time go faster so I can see Kenya again...but suddenly things have shifted and now I feel like I'm back-peddling and saying "Hey wait!  I'm not ready!"  How does that even happen?  I've been home working and preparing slowly but surely for 8 MONTHS!  Somehow that wasn't enough time to sort through all my junk (literally and figuratively) and be ready to leave.  At the same time, I feel excited and amazed that I actually get to do what I've dreamed of since I was a kid.  

   It's such a strange feeling...kind of like being almost at the top of a roller coaster.  Part of me wants the painfully slow click-click-click towards the top to STOP!!!  But part of me wants it to go faster and I lift up my arms in anticipation of the wild ride I'm about to take!!!  I know it will be worth the terrifying ride to the top and I would be horribly disappointed if they stopped the ride, told me I couldn't handle it, and made me get off before I reached the top.  I like roller coasters, in case you didn't know :)  It's totally worth the initial fear to feel that alive afterwards.  In fact, I do believe a Cedar Point trip is in order before I leave. haha!

  Hopefully I'll be done fundraising and be ready to leave by the end of August or early September.  At this point I'm at about 50% of both set-up and monthly budgets-which is AWESOME!  So I still need about $11,000 in set-up and $430 in monthly pledges.  If those seem like big numbers still, you've never seen my God provide-that's like the coins under the seat cushions to him.  Even pledges of $10 or $20 a month add up quickly, and God makes it extremely clear that he loves gifts that are a sacrifice given with joy.  My favorite donations to receive are those that logically should not be given...people who defy the world's financial advice and give knowing they will not see a financial return on their investment, but a spiritual and heavenly return.  It makes me so excited to see people give boldly, trusting they have heard God tell them to do so and trusting that he will provide for them like a good father.  God is so faithful!  Thank you all who have already given and if you want to check out how you can give, go to http://www.bethanyinternational.org/give/ways-to-give. 

   I had a dream about a week ago that I somehow was already in Kenya and there were people standing around waiting for me to get moving and do my job.  I was confused and a bit panicked, and thought, "This can't be real...it's not time for me to be in Kenya yet."  But I took a deep breath and decided it didn't matter because I was there and I had work to do.  I sort of rolled up my sleeves and got to work and I felt joy grow inside of me as I worked.  It felt amazing to be doing what I was created to do, and I thought, "I guess I'm ready for this after all."     Amen, may it be so!