It has been awhile since my last blog post, but you are in for a special treat. My husband is making his first (and hopefully not last) guest blog post. I hope you enjoy seeing some things from his perspective in this post.
“My flesh and heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.” Psalms 73:26
This may seem like a strange verse to start an update with, but I will explain, and hopefully it will become more clear why I chose it. First, we have to go back a couple months to a school morning in mid-December.
School had already been in session for nearly an hour. Everything was going smoothly. As I walked across my classroom to check on some students working, I stumbled a bit. I thought, “that was weird”, but then moved on. However, a couple minutes later it felt like the room began to move around me, gentle at first, but steadily increasing. After letting the next door teacher know that something was off (so she could watch my students) I headed for the office. A mere 15 minutes later I was desperately hugging the toilet in the office bathroom, overwhelmed by extreme dizziness and vomiting. Within the hour, an ambulance had arrived and I was headed for the Emergency Room. I remember being so miserable that I told Jesus that I was ready for Him to take me. Thankfully, after several hours in the ER with IVs going and tests being run, I began to feel better. I was able to go home that night, although it took nearly a week for me to fully recover. All the tests came back negative and the doctor’s best guess was that a virus had attacked my inner ear, setting off an extreme episode of vertigo (which set off the vomiting). I have not had any more episodes since then.
Through it all I have been reminded how quickly I can become helpless and how truly dependent I am on God for my body working as He created it to work. I don’t believe I ever thanked God for my inner ear and the balance it brought to my life before this.
It is easy for us as humans to admit our dependence upon God in some areas of our lives. This is especially true in areas that we feel are out of our control or that others have brought attention to. However, to realize our dependence on Him for all aspects of our life is a process. God is continuing this process in me.
I have to admit that there is another area of my life that I have often given less credit to God for providing and more credit to myself. That is providing financially for my family. I was raised up with a strong work ethic and the responsibility of a man providing for his family displayed by my dad. He worked hard to make ends meet. My mom was able to make our house a home and pour into my brothers and me without having to work outside the home. I was blessed!
When I was able to start a family of my own I was thrilled to have my turn at providing. I have worked a number of different jobs, but have always been able to bring home a paycheck. Over the years I have given verbal credit to God, but often took pride in my own heart. Two months ago, as I lay on the bathroom floor in misery, I realized how much I have depended on my health for being able to do my job and provide for my family. However, that was just the beginning of this process of me depending more fully on God.
I currently receive a monthly paycheck for my work as a teacher. In a few more months this check will stop and I will be fully dependent upon God for providing financially, through the generosity and faithfulness of others. This terrifies me and humbles me at the same time. No longer will I be able to lay claim to any of it! It will truly be all God and He is faithful! We have seen Him be faithful to provide for our needs when we have fully depended on Him before and anticipate His continued faithfulness in this next chapter of our lives.
As mentioned above, we will be living on the giving of others. We are currently in the process of raising support. One of the hardest things for me to do is to ask others for charity. God is continuing to work on me in this area. However, I am excited to invite others to join with us in God’s ministry to Mexico. Prayer for us and our involvement in His ministry is our most crucial need. Please do it! Financial support is another way to partner with us in what God is doing in Mexico. Some may say “we just can’t afford it right now”. That has been me much of my adult life. However, a few years ago I realized that I will never be able to effectively invest until I fully trust. Once I began to trust Him for providing, then giving became a privilege, an opportunity to watch God provide for our needs as we got to ease the financial burdens of others. I am not saying be unwise in your giving. We have had to give up some comforts in order to be more generous financially, but it has been worth every cent. We are currently able to sponsor (send monthly support to) 6 kids, support another missionary and tithe to our church, all on a monthly basis. This is from a single income family with 6 kids. I don’t say this to brag or make anyone feel guilty. I say it to encourage you, that God can provide, even in your generosity. To those who are already generous with what God has given them, thank you!
In summary, I need God for every aspect of my life, even those areas that I feel like I have got under control. Four months from now, Lord willing, we will be heading south for Mexico. At this point we are planning on moving back into one of the duplexes at Foundation For His Ministry’s Baja mission (where we were before). We will be getting plugged back into the school (which may be going year-round starting next school year) as well as reconnecting with all of the kids we have missed so dearly.
Thank you for reading. I pray that this has encouraged you and that God may be the strength of your heart and your portion forever.
gabe
We have been asked how far along we are in our support raising, and Gabe and I estimate that we have raised about half of the monthly amount we are hoping to raise. The monthly support that people have already pledged should provide for most or all of our day to day needs while in Mexico, so even if we haven't met our goal by the end of June, it is still our plan to head down at that time. We hope to get a bit closer to our goal though so that we can establish some savings for other important things like car repairs, medical emergencies, etc. We are trusting in the Lord to give us what we need while realizing we may not get everything we want. We are okay with that. If you are interested in supporting us financially, please visit https://ffhm.kindful.com/?campaign=1040212 (and don't forget to contact me and let me know so that we can be sure to send you regular updates).
