It is worth waiting for!

I was blessed to be off work for a week! It was nice, relaxing and fun, then when Monday rolled around I found it hard to get back to work. Now I am back in the swing of things and that includes this blog. :)

I have been waiting for what to write, then while going through some old poems I wrote in high school I came across the poem I wrote after I came back from my first mission trip, to Mexico in 2007! That trip had a tremendous impact on me. It was on that trip where I heard the Lord say, "Follow Me on the mission field".

I will never forget that night! We had finished the "mission" part of the trip and after dinner we went to the beach on South Padre Island. Our youth pastor told us to get alone with the Lord to hear what He wanted to tell us. With the waves wetting my feet on the shoreline I heard the Lord say He wanted me to serve in the mission field. I was okay with that because I enjoyed myself so much serving on the mission trip and I could see myself doing this work for the rest of my life!

As I stood there on the beach He asked me to give up everything. I was okay with that, I don't need much to live off of. Even the thought of laying down my life for the Lord was okay to me. But then the thought of being separated from my darling dog Baby was too much! (I laugh at this now, haha!) But after struggling with the Lord I gave her to the Lord and this peace washed over me!

After gathering back together our youth pastor asked us if any of us felt called to the mission field and a few of us nervously lifted our hands. :) Telling the Lord yes to missions was one thing because it is a conversation between me and Him; however, to share that news with others was a little scary even though they were my brothers and sisters in Christ! Nevertheless our youth pastor shared his excitement with us, and when we got home I timidly sought out missions. It wasn't that I was scared, I just didn't know what the next step was.

In 2008 while serving as a counselor at a kids' camp the Lord told me Rwanda was my mission field! Then in December of that year I was sponsored to go to TWMS2-The Worlds Mission Summit 2. While there the Holy Spirit lead me to a missionary couple who had served in Rwanda for years. It was awesome to be able to speak to them and learn more about my country! After this mission summit I asked the Lord what to do next but didn't get a clear answer. I had my eyes set on Rwanda but I just didn't see how I was going to get there.Then I had a time where I grew weary of not knowing what to do next. For a while I got spiritually dormant and the Lord had to shake me awake! After that shaking I sought out an organization to go to Rwanda with and the wheels were turning! I sent them my paper work, my referrals and I had an interview set up. I was excited that something was finally happening! Then one day I didn't feel peace about going with this group and knew this was not the path the Lord wanted me to go.

More waiting and praying! All this time my faith was growing and the Lord was teaching me. I went and got my passport in 2013 knowing I'd need it. 2013 is also the year new neighbors moved in down the street. I brought them cookies and introduced myself and told them I am waiting to go to Rwanda and for the next door to open.

In the beginning of 2015 I was reading a Christian book series and the main character felt that God was calling her to Africa so she went and got her shots in preparation. Then it dawned on me that I hadn't gotten my shots! So I studied and sought out which vaccines I needed and used most of my tax return to pay for them in March. I praise God for providing the money because they had a higher price tag than I expected!

Around May my dear neighbor friend comes to me to tell me she talked with her missions pastor asking how I could get to Rwanda! He gave her an organization name and she gave it to me: Visiting Orphans, now named Go Be Love. This was wow! I looked at their website and saw they had a team going to Rwanda in July! I filled out my form and e-mailed the team leader seeing if there was a way I could get on his team. He said I had to get my references checked out and other paper work first so I had to wait. There's that waiting again!

Well, they had a team leaving at the end of December staying until the first week of January. I set my sight on that team and my how God worked! I needed about $4,500 for my trip and I only paid $170 of my own money. God provided the rest through donations and a garage sale!  All that money got raised in 2 1/2 months! The next 4 months of getting to know my teammates and getting prepared were amazing. Then getting to Rwanda and ministering there was AMAZING! I watched God work and I made friendships with my teammates, another team that was there and Rwanda. The whole time in Rwanda I felt like I was home. :)

It is 2017 and I am still waiting for the door so I can go back to Rwanda to stay. Yes, still waiting, but I'm not just hoping the days away. My relationship with God is the best it has been yet! My faith in leaving is deeper than it has ever been because of what Abba Father has been telling me, and I content myself with the work He has me doing now. Oh yes, there are days I am homesick, but Abba gets me through it.

Looking back, my journey so far has been a blast and is making me even more excited for what is to come! I am looking forward to sharing with you what is next with Rwanda.

Whatever it is that the Lord has promised you don't let it go especially if you are in your waiting stage! Listen to what Abba Father wants you doing now while you are waiting and work towards what He has called you to.

“God is not a man, that He should lie,

Nor a son of man, that He should repent.

Has He said, and will He not do it?

Or has He spoken and will He not make it good and fulfill it? Numbers 23:19