GO!

After a great deal of prayer, talking with our leaders and several others, we felt we were supposed to trust God to take care of the finances and just go.

We had no idea when the funds would be available, but we packed our bags, packed up our car, loaded everyone in it and drove over 1,000 miles in faith. 

It’s funny how things work out. We arrived at our destination 1 day early. This meant paying an extra night of rent. The money was not in our account yet, so we called about it and were advised it could be there as early as Monday morning or as late as the next week. We weren’t sure what to do. We had made the trip in faith and were believing for the provision. What we did know was that God is faithful and He can do anything. We had our food money and return trip gas money, so, we prayed about it and we went ahead and payed for our first night.

Now, paying for that first night took money away from our food budget, but we believed that IF we were gonna do this, we needed to trust and that meant completely. Sometimes we have to step out of the boat to experience the miracle of walking on water. God gave us little confirmations along the way. For example, when we paid that first night there was a mix up with the room and the manager comped us the entire week of parking and fees. Why would we need the parking and fees comped if we weren’t going to be staying? ;) If you pay close attention, you will see that God speaks to us, even through circumstances.

The next morning we checked our accounts. No money. It was Sunday and it was unlikely that the funds would be added to our account that day. Monday was supposed to be our first day in the park. We came down with friends and we had planned our days to coincide and we still had no money for the admission. So, we updated everyone that was praying and believing with us and we decided to make the absolute best of our day. We went and walked around Downtown Disney, we went swimming, twice, we hung out with our friends. We had spent most of our food money on the last night’s rent and had spent the rest on the rent for Sunday night.

“Why would you do something so foolish?! You have children that are depending on you!”

Like I said, it’s funny how things work out. Three months ago I decided to finally start going to our monthly women’s meetings. An incredibly wise woman said something that struck a chord with me. She was talking about how as parents, when our children want something, we tend to do everything we can (within reason) to provide it. We don’t just tell them to pray and ask God for it, then sit back and watch how He provides it. We are willing to do that for ourselves, but not our children. Why? What are we protecting them from? God is unfailing and He loves to give us good gifts. Why are we keeping them from seeing God miraculously provide for them? That is where our faith is strengthened. She said “Don’t protect your children from God.” So what better way to help them build their faith than to include them in this with us?! We did something we have never done before because of those words she said. See, even though I didn’t know it at the time, God had led me to that experience to give me the encouragement to do what we would need to do in this situation. We shared the truth with them. We didn’t shield them from the obstacles that we were facing, instead we faced them together. They knew our situation. They knew what we were believing for. They prayed with us. They believed.

Sure, it was hard. It was really hard. In fact, it was the most terrifying thing I have ever done. As a parent and as a person, I have always done it on my own. I have always exhausted all means within my own ability before going outside for help. Paying this next night of hotel would exhaust our means. We had no way of knowing when the money would come. We were not just praying for God to push through the financing through the means we had in place, we were asking for miraculous provision.

“From where?”

That is the best part. We had NO idea where from. We simply prayed and trusted.

“So you knew He would provide and you never doubted?”

I would love to answer “Yes, we had no doubt at all.” but that would not be completely honest. See, we are human after all and faith doesn’t always come without a fight. Sure, we had those lies and doubts whispering in our ears… “What if He doesn’t provide?” “Did we come all this way for nothing?” “Did we do the right thing?” But at this point we had no hope, no options, nothing outside of God and His ability, and He definitely has the ability! ;) So, we chose to trust. We chose to believe. For the first time, we pressed in and didn't give up.

We had been wondering what we were gonna do for food that day when a friend invited us to check something out. It was a short presentation and we would get a $100 gift card just for doing it. We were super excited. We figured we could either use that to extend our hotel another night or for food for the rest of the trip. We even had a fantastic lunch provided for us just for attending. That was one meal off the list of expenses. ;)

That afternoon we got a phone call, it was an offer to pay for one night of hotel, as a loan, to get us by for another day. We said we would pray about it and call back. In the meantime, God was busy working on something BIG!

Where to Begin...

Over a year ago we began planning a family trip to Disneyland. We planned on going with some dear friends to do the Star Wars 5k and get in some park time. So, we ordered our park tickets, we figured out our airfare, we booked our hotel, we made our plans and hung our hat on how we thought everything was going to happen.

Now, I am a planner. My husband is a planner. What I mean by that is, we don’t just do “flighty” things. Even when we do something spur of the moment, we pray about it, we get our ducks in a row and we make sure we have a backup plan in place. That is exactly what we did for this trip. You know what they say about the best laid plans… They often go awry.

Two – three weeks before our scheduled trip, complications began to crop up and our original plans began to fall through. We were thankful that we had a backup plan and immediately began implementing it. We also began praying daily over our trip and reached out to leadership and our prayer chain for prayer.

It all began with the flight. See, we had enough credit with the airline to more than cover the cost of our 5 round trip tickets, so there would be no out of pocket expense. We were told, back when we began getting everything lined up, that we could use that credit to purchase all of our tickets, so when the time came to finally book them, we called up, flights already researched and rates confirmed. We told them what we needed and when it came time to settle payment, we told them we wanted to use the credit to cover it. It was then that they informed us we couldn’t use the credit.

Say what?! Here we are, a few weeks out and now you are telling me that we cannot use the credit?

Okay fine. We’ll drive. That means leaving earlier and cramming the drive into one day on the way back so we can be back on time for our obligations, but we are invested already and we are doing this, so it will have to work.

Naturally complications with the mode of transport isn’t enough so bring on the next wrinkle.

At the time we began planning the trip, we had planned how we would cover the cost of the trip, but those plans did not work out. So naturally we jumped on our back up plan. (Again, thankful for having a backup plan.) We sent in all the paperwork we needed to get the funds from an investment. We had all of our ducks in a row, all of the paperwork completed and all of the documentation we needed and we had it submitted in plenty of time to allow processing and disbursement in time with a safety window for any “unexpected delays”. Or so we thought. Best laid plans…

Two weeks out:

Hotel booked… Check

Travel dates figured out. Driving options researched. Route planned.

Gas cost covered. Check.

Number of days in the park planned… Check.

Meals planned… Check.

Waiting on remaining funding.

We continued praying daily for covering for our trip, funding to be finalized and peace while waiting. We again asked leadership at church and our prayer chain for prayer. This is where the battle with doubt and fear began. We still felt sure that God would make a way, so we kept plugging along in faith.

One week out:

Hotel booked. (Still not paid.)

Travel (driving) set and covered.

Number of park days and which days determined. (Still waiting for funds to order.)

Meals planned and covered.

Checked the hold up with funding. Apparently USPS has dropped the ball. Now we have to wait for delivery. Called investment company to verify that they can expedite and have the deposit made in time based on delivery date estimated by USPS.

Realizing we should have had a backup plan for the backup plan.

We increased our praying to multiple times/day, we included the kids in prayer with us and decided to just begin to thank God for the funding, even though it wasn’t in place yet. We updated our leaders who were praying with us and for us and spoke with several people about whether or not we should still go. We felt that we were not supposed to give up on this and they confirmed how we were feeling. Together we prayed for and believed that God would make a way. That our investment thus far would not be lost and that He would provide a way, whether through the natural or supernatural.

"Say what? Natural or supernatural?"

By that I mean, we agreed and believed that God would either speed up the processing of funding or make a way where we didn’t see any other option. Now, I know this may sound crazy, but that is where faith comes in. Faith is believing in, or in this case for, what we cannot see.

So, we packed our bags in faith that funding was coming and would be in place in time.

One day out:

Bags packed. 

Food packed. 

Car packed.

Still. No. Funding.

USPS cannot find our paperwork, they believe it will be delivered to the investment company two days after we leave, which would be the first day in the park and two days of hotel costs later. We called the investment company, they confirmed that they could process the paper work and deposit the funds the same day. (They have already pulled the funds and set them aside for deposit.)

So now it comes down to a decision… Go or cancel the trip…

Have You Ever?

Done something so big that other people might think you were crazy? I’m talking about a leap of faith so improbable that few would ever even consider supporting you let alone join you in believing for the miracle of an answer to your prayer?

Well, y’all, that is what we did this week. We jumped.

It wasn’t a small leap like “jumping” over a puddle because you don’t want to get your favorite shoes wet. It was right off a cliff. No net in sight.

Now, if you know me, you know that I am, rather fiercely at times, independent. Not from a place of pride, I will ask for help without hesitation when I can, but rather from a place of necessity. This last year God has been working on healing my heart and changing my belief in this area. He has continually brought answer to prayer by showing us we aren’t alone and we don’t have to do it on our own all the time.

First He has shown us that we always have Him and we can most definitely rely on Him. He is unfailing.

“God is faithful, who has called you into fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.” – 1 Corinthians 1:9  

“Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in you. Show me the way I should go, for to you I entrust my life.” – Psalm 143:8

“But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation.” – Psalm 13:5

Second, He has shown us that He loves to bless His children. 

“If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!” – Matthew 7:11

He has shown us that if we ask, with faith, in accordance to His will, He blesses us with what we are asking for.

“If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.” – Matthew 21:22

“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.” – Matthew 7:7

Now, sometimes we do have to ask more than once and sometimes what we are asking for is not what is best for us. This year we have seen so many prayers answered. We have been given things we had been asking for for years, we have been given things we have only asked for once, we have been told “no” and we have been told “yes” and either way we were blessed by His love and faithfulness. 

So what about this cliff jumping experience?

Well, it is a long story so I will share it in pieces.

It all began over a year ago, with the best laid plans...

Celebrate the Little Things..

I like to set aside time to stop and celebrate the little successes, not just the big ones. ;) So today is being dubbed "Success Saturday". Celebrating each little success fuels our drive to keep going and is a fantastic form of encouragement.

Today, I finally met a goal that I have had for a long time..

I got to take my kids to see a REALLY good Star Wars film in the theater! (Seriously, let's be honest, the 3 prequels weren't the best...)

So I guess that means I really got to reach TWO goals! :D

See... A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away...

Well, not really that far away, it was actually in this galaxy. BUT it was a long time ago, relatively speaking.

I was no where near where I wanted to be health/fitness wise. I was uncomfortable in my clothes and in my own skin. I was unhappy with the way I felt, the way I looked, and my ability, or IN-ability, to be as physically active as I wanted.

I bought this super cute Star Wars dress with the "dream" of "someday" being "skinny enough" to wear it and not look like the Michelin man or a lumpy tube of toothpaste.

 

I hung that dress up on the wall as a goal and motivation. Needless to say, it gathered a LOT of dust while I tried everything I could find to get myself where I wanted to be.

I tried pills, drinks, fad diet after fad diet and nothing got me any closer to my goal. In fact, I got further and further away from it.

UNTIL I found my awesome coach, Megan. I did a few of her quick workout videos and went back and fourth on whether or not I wanted to sign up for a challenge group.

Steve's health was the push I needed and a year and two months after I combined an awesome workout program with dense nutrition and a simply eating plan, I finally got to wear that little dress!!!

I was terrified when I took the tag off this morning and put it on. I was worried that I hadn't done enough work. I was afraid that because I'm not at my final goal, I wouldn't be comfortable in it. I was afraid I had failed. Big time.

But guess what? It wasn't as bad as I thought. I was super cute! Sure I can look at it and pick out the areas I still want to work on, but I am so happy with how far I have come!

It all started with the decision to commit to myself and a few simple changes that carried out daily got me to this goal. ^_^

Why did I share all that?

To say this: Don't give up! You can totally do it! :D