Lessons in God's Provision :)

In DTS, it is not at all uncommon to have worship at least one night a week, however last night, our worship looked a little bit different. We were told to spend the afternoon asking God if there was anything He wanted us to give away and then bring it with us that evening so as to spend the evening worshiping God by giving! 

As I prayed, God brought a few of my fellow classmates to mind who hadn't yet raised all their support for being here so I brought a few financial gifts for them, but He also brought my guitar to mind- and THAT I was not quite as ready to give up. So I pushed the thought aside and headed off to worship night with my checks in hand and my guitar safely in my room. 

When I got there, the leader opened by saying: "If any of you forgot anything in your room, feel free to go get it at any point during the night". Needless to say, that got me squirming! I was becoming increasingly convinced that God wanted me to give up my precious guitar and was in the middle of deciding whether or not to be obedient when my friend, Jesse called me into the middle of the circle to receive a gift from him. I had no idea what to expect but was completely blown away when he left the room and returned with his beautiful, hand-crafted guitar in hand. I knew firsthand what an incredible sacrifice it was and all I could do was stand there speechless :) As soon as the joy of receiving such a priceless gift subsided, I was incredibly humbled as I realized that the guitar which God had told me to give away was still sitting in my room. How could I have not believed that God wouldn't have some sort of plan for me? He knew how much I love guitar and music and He already had a replacement picked out for me- He just wanted me to be obedient.

Bashfully, I ran up to my room and got my guitar, then confessed to the group how God had told me to give my guitar away, I had dutifully ignored Him, He had blessed me with an even nicer guitar nonetheless and I was now finally being obedient. Better late than never right? 

Throughout the rest of the night, I watched as people sacrificed things of great monetary and sentimental value and God faithfully blessed them with even greater gifts in return. In addition to my guitar, I received two pairs of nice shoes, a bracelet and a skirt. This night will hopefully remain engrained in my memory for awhile as a reminder of God's amazing provision. He is so faithful to take what little we have to give, multiply it, and give it right back to you, blessing all kinds of people along the way. If He calls you to give, you can trust that it is absolutely the best thing you could be doing with your possessions :)  

Turns out, His timing was perfect as usual for teaching me this lesson, as I found out today the cost for my outreach to Haiti. Because our team is so small, the cost is significantly more than I expected (considering it is being divided amongst a smaller group of people, and we can't get group rates as a general rule with a team of 7). The total cost will be $3500. At the moment, I have about $2500. So now, I get to experience God's provision as He brings in the remaining $1000 between now and the time I leave in a month :) 

Please pray and ask  God if He might be calling you to be a part of this provision. If so, please make any checks out to YWAM and mail them to 11141 Osborne St. Lake View Terrace CA 91342 with a note attached indicating that they are for me. 

Either way, stay tuned for the continuation of the amazing story of how God in His infinite imagination, meets all my needs :)