Woah.

Psst... to give you can click on the "Support hb" link to the right or click here.

Reflections on Raising Support

It's crazy to me that God uses something as uncomfortable, awkward, and at-times frustrating as raising support to bless me. To teach me and to grow me. To make me depend on Him.

The majority of the time I feel like raising support is so overwhelming. For two reasons.

One. The obvious. Asking people- friends, family, strangers, for money is hard. Especially when I look at the amount to be raised. (So, wanna support me? <--- See??? Awkward. Uncomfortable.)

This photo accurately depicts my reaction to
receiving support.

But reason number two; it isn't so obvious. It's been much more of a surprise and kind of feels like a kick in the gut. In the best way possible. Two is that it is so overwhelming to see how many people have come behind me. How many people sacrifice every month to invest in God's kingdom through me. How many people are now connected to and a part of the story that God is writing here at UW- Eau Claire.

God uses something as trivial as money to draw me closer to Him. And to show me that He loves me. I feel His love when I scroll through my account, looking at all the names of those who support me. I feel like a giddy little kid when I log on and see a new gift, or when I get to share with someone how God is using their support in students' (and my) lives. I know that He has provided every donor, every gift, and that it is His pouring His grace on me. He is proving His faithfulness over and over again.

So support raising can be uncomfortable and awkward... but it can also be fun, encouraging, and delightful. Just this week I made a bunch of phone calls and it was wonderful getting to reconnect with people, sharing what God's been doing and listening to how they've been growing as well. So not only do I get to feel blessed by God through the money side of raising support, but also through the relationships with people that I wouldn't get to experience as deeply otherwise.

I love my job! Bring on the awkward if it also means I get all the good stuff!

Dells Or Bust!

Can I just say how stinkin' excited I am for this summer?!

Yes, it will be warm, and sunny, and snow-less. But what I'm really looking forward to is spending the summer in the Wisconsin Dells with 50 college students and 6 other Nav Staff for our Summer Training Program. So, if we haven't talked lately, or you just need a little life update, you can play catch-up here:

Basically, I'll be moving to the Dells for a couple months [mid May through the end of July]. During this time I will be equipping students in discipleship and leadership training, reaching out to the many international students that come to the Dells every summer, and helping the program run smoothly. I'm not really sure what my summer will look like... except that I know that where 2 or 3 [or 50-some!] are gathered in His name, God is there. And I know that when young people gather to know Him better, He works. It's going to be hard. I'm probably going to cry on a weekly basis. But it's going to be so good!

As you can imagine I may be blogging about this from time-to-time. Especially this summer when I'm in the midst of it and have all kinds of stories to tell. So I hope you'll excuse me if I get really excited, because I just know that it is going to be a powerful summer, and I'm expecting the Holy Spirit to move in some big ways.

And maybe you'd like to join me in this adventure? Prayer is so needed! Here are some really practical things you can join with me in lifting up to our Father:

• Affordable, clean housing for the staff (2 families, 2 single guys, and myself)
• A place in the Dells where we can meet for big group events 
• That I am able to reach 75% of my next year's budget for EDGE by early May since I won't be able to support raise over the summer [If you feel led to give, you can visit my staff page]

Thank you all so much for all your prayers and support. And excitement along with me! I'll make sure to keep you all updated. Until then... 

Little Steps

A couple years back I went to Romania over Christmas break and worked in some orphanages. I (being me) kept a blog for that adventure as well, and recently went back and read some of my earliest posts about fundraising.

It is humorous for me to read my Junior self talking about having to raise $2800 and how much of a daunting task that was. God was SO preparing me for this time in life where I am asked to raise more than 10 times that much! It is so neat to see how I was learning little steps of trust and seeing God provide, to see how I watched my percentage slowly rise and actually get to 100%.

It's funny how God works, uses events in our past to teach us and prepare us for the present. How He is using today to prepare us for tomorrow. As I look back on my fundraising past, I remember having to raise a few hundred for a trip to NYC, then around $1000 for Mexico, then the daunting $2800 for Romania... and how all the while God was just building up my trust, showing me that He could and would provide, no matter the amount.

And now I get to see Him show up again, only this time it's magnified beyond all my past experiences. God is so good! How precious that He wants so badly for me to know this lesson, this idea of absolute and total trust and dependence on Him, that He patiently teaches it to me over and over again! In the past it has been little steps, but as I am learning and growing, He is asking me to take leaps and bounds, and all the while trust Him.

[In case you're curious, this post was a good reminder about the need for people to send, and this one was fun to read as I can relate to it now, but just at a much higher level!]

Giving: Radical

As I have been raising support for this grand new adventure God has for KC and I, I have been learning so much about giving. We have had to study what the Bible says about giving, have heard countless God-stories of our fellow EDGErs and the experiences they are having with support raising, and have been reading books on God and finances. 

So I've been learning a lot. 

The first little tidbit I'd like to share with you is this quote from the book Radical by David Platt [a great, but difficult-to-swallow read, btw]. In his book, Platt speaks of living a radical life, not a comfortable American-dream life. A rich guy talked about selling his possessions and giving away his money in this way:

 “I WONDER AT SOME POINTS IF I’M BEING IRRESPONSIBLE OR UNWISE. BUT THEN I REALIZE THERE IS NEVER GOING TO COME A DAY WHEN I STAND BEFORE GOD AND HE LOOKS AT ME AND SAYS, ‘I WISH YOU WOULD HAVE KEPT MORE FOR YOURSELF.’ I’M CONFIDENT THAT GOD WILL TAKE CARE OF ME.”

Am I living in such a way that I am believing that God will wish I had kept more for myself?