Well Christi and I are going to Israel! It is amazing simply to think about! To walk where my Lord walked, to see the places where He worked miracles, and to spread the Good News in the flesh! Amazing!
But the journey the Lord took us on to reveal this gift to us, caught me by surprise! It has changed Christi and I forever, and we want to share that with you. Everyday is a revelation of His goodness!
It began in November. God asked Christi and I to do something we would have never done on our own. In the depths of our prayers, God spoke. Our response, was "yes," but then we tried to set the time for our obedience. Well, you can guess how that went over...God impressed upon us both, "obey now" no planning, no preparing, simply "obey." We did, and God was who He is...Good! His provision in our obedience and the "inconveniences" we faced was beautiful. Our children started to see God was the one meeting our needs! On the way to school, Connor was playing with my wallet, found a gift card, asked how it got there, I said that someone had given it to us! His response was not, "cool," but "God provides." In the middle of our obedience, the Lord revealed patterns in our lives that needed correcting, and made His correction JOYFUL to endure! November was truly one of the best months of my life thus far. It reminded me how much freedom there is in letting go of my hold on things, and obeying the Lord as He commands!
Well, towards the end of November, I received a phone call from Christi's uncle, Bill. Bill told me that He, his wife, and his son and wife were going to Jerusalem in March. Another couple was supposed to go, but had to back out, and the Lord had laid us on his heart. If we were interested he would send me information on the trip. Honestly, my first thought was, "Lord, is this from you?" I told him sure and he sent me the information. As Christi and I shared, we both felt like it was worth pursuing. Bill sent us the information, the trip sounded life-changing, but so did the cost! In October and November, God has asked us to obey Him in ways that effected our saving ability. (Well worth it!) As great as this sounded, we couldn't afford it. Bill replied with that old pastoral saying I had said a million times, "if God is calling you, don't let finances be a problem." Now, you would think we would know that, but having been on both sides of that comment, it is way easier to say than to act upon! We were offered a scholarship that would take care of about 10% of the cost for each of us! A great gift, but still the cost was beyond our reach. So we prayed.
I remember asking Christi... If God gave us a box with plane tickets and an all expense paid trip to Israel, what would our reaction be? A Joyful "Thank you!" We agreed, that although we didn't know how, this was exactly what God was doing. So, as it is written in James, I emailed Bill back and said we were in "Lord willing."
Then
our planning began. We both agreed. We would ask no one for money - Not a church member, friend, anyone. If our family asked what to give us for Christmas, that would be the one place we would tell them. If they would like, it could be used towards Israel. We decided we wouldn't be that couple who calls, writes and asks others to sacrifice so we can experience God's blessing. This would make it tough, but we said, "God will provide." So
we planned! We had a friend that offered to let us use buddy passes, Christi could pick up sub days at school, this would be our Christmas to one another, I had a wedding I was performing...little by little we believed God would give us opportunity to earn the money.
Boy did we sell God short! His plans were bigger than ours and His view of Himself more accurate too!
The second or third week of December the scholarship arrived at the church, but then there was a second check for us to use towards Israel as well. No one we had ever met, not anyone Bill knew either! Then, the very next day my phone rang. My sister asked to meet for breakfast. Someone had given her an envelope for me for Israel, and she wanted to deliver it! She had two envelopes actually. I gave them to Darleen, my secretary, and she put the amounts in the funds for our trip to Israel.
On the Saturday before Christmas, I received a text from my secretary. She needed to know the amount of the trip, so that she could make a payment to the organization organizing the trip. I shared the amount, she replied with "exactly that amount?" My heart jumped ( Christi and I were at Bill's house visiting with her grandparents!) "Yes...has enough been given to pay for it?" She replied "yes" with some leftover to go towards airfare! We couldn't believe it! God had literally GIVEN us this trip!
We started looking for airfare the week after Christmas! Prices had jumped by almost $500! If only we had believed God and booked the flight sooner. We were going to have to provide for some of this! We hated we had waited to faithfully act, but realized this was a small portion to give in light of the great blessing we had been given. So, we booked the flight on New Year's Eve.
On New Year's day, we were approached by a precious individual, who said God had laid it on their heart to give us this envelope. This person, knew about the trip, but not any of the back story, and surely not about our booking the flight and the cost increase! No one knew! The contents of the envelope...$500...
My heart was overwhelmed, even as I write that gift was like the icing on a beautiful cake the Lord was gracefully sharing with me and Christi. He is so good! He provides!
So from now until we return from Israel, Christi and I will be updating this blog with ways we are noticing we are In His Hands! While in Israel, we will journal and upload photos so you can be a part of this blessing with us. When we get back, we will share in depth at Church and with family what we experienced and the lessons God revealed to us while we were in Israel.
