Such providence

Tonight, I am somewhere in between South Africa and Vietnam. I'm caught waiting, to catch my breath and be productive with nursing school, papers, assignments, exams, and stress, the list goes on. I have now been home from South Africa for 4 months and in 1 month I leave for Vietnam. So much going on and so much has happened in order to prepare for this next step. I came home from South Africa and immediately started working in order to rebuild the funds and work towards my $6,350 dollars I had to raise. God had a different plan (as always). Instead, my car broke down, my cell phone stopped working, and my laptop was hanging on by a thread. That's funny God, I thought I needed those things in order to work "hard" and go to Vietnam. As hard as I thought I had worked, my back account was going in the wrong direction of my goal. I wasn't anywhere close. Somewhere between Thanksgiving and finals, I made the decision to send out support letters to friends, family, peers, people like you. It's not something I love to do because it's really hard for me to ask for money, but I did it, humbly. And boy, was I humbled! I literally cried over the first envelope I opened for $150. It was the first tangible moment where I felt like there was hope that things would turn back around. God began sending in funds from all over the place. Large checks. Bigger checks than I had ever seen before. Where was this money coming from?!? I just literally, could not believe it and I was overjoyed at every thank you note I had the opportunity to send out. With each one, I prayed that God would bless them more than they had blessed me and I truly believe He will.

There was a time over Christmas break where I literally asked God: what did I ever do to earn such generosity? I had so much doubt in my heart. But back in May, I truly believe He told me He would provide for both trips. I believed him then and I know now. He did provide and I will be boarding that flight on February 11th, 2012 to go 20 hours in the opposite direction than I had gone before, to seek His face among the children and families of Vietnam. God will use me in ways I cannot fathom and I am sure, I will return a changed person. Transformation is a beautiful thing.

So, from the bottom of my heart, thank you! For all your encouragement, blessings, prayers, support, love, and presence. I have grown tremendously and I haven't even left yet.