100% Raised!!!
Well guys, this is real! My fundraising journey is over! I honestly can’t tell you what it feels like to see a negative number in the amount I have to raise. I don’t really know what to say other than “thank you!” I never could have imagined being fully funded before I even make it to training camp, but here we are!
It’s so humbling to have such a wonderful community of supporters. I think it’s a testament to who God is when the church comes together to meet a need as you have to fulfill my fundraising goal. It’s one thing to provide good wishes, but it’s another altogether to give financially or to make a commitment to pray for someone. There’s a level of sacrifice that’s involved, and I really value the sacrifices that each of you have made. Giving of ourselves is a wonderful way to reflect the gift that we’ve received from Christ at the cross. None of our sacrifices, whether prayer or money or my sacrifice of my time, come anything close to what Jesus gave at the cross, but isn’t it incredible that God still sees and values our gifts? It still blows my mind that any of us could get to heaven and hear, “Well done, good and faithful servant.” But God in His grace empowers us to live faithfully to Him, and when we fail, He replaces our shortcomings with His Son’s sufficiency. He really is just that good.
At work today, I listened to the book of Acts, and it really stuck out to me how the believers in the early church were so generous with one another:
And the congregation of those who believed were of one heart and soul; and not one of them claimed that anything belonging to him was his own, but all things were common property to them. And with great power the apostles were giving testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and abundant grace was upon them all. For there was not a needy person among them, for all who were owners of land or houses would sell them and bring the proceeds of the sales and lay them at the apostles’ feet, and they would be distributed to each to the extent that any had need. (Acts 4:32-35)
This is the kind of generosity I have experienced. I hope none of you had to sell your house so I could go on this trip, but truly the way that you all have come alongside me has been incredibly impactful. I can’t wait to see how God continues to use your support through the work He does through me when I leave in just 16 days!
How do I feel about launch coming up?
I don’t really know how to feel. To be honest, there are so many unknowns that I can’t really process enough to figure out a conclusive emotion about this trip. I feel like I’m supposed to be excited, and it’s not that I’m not at all excited, but I wouldn’t call that my primary emotion. I had to start saying some goodbyes this week. That was really hard. I’m not very good at goodbyes, despite getting quite a bit of practice. I went to church camp with my youth group a few weeks ago, and on the last night it sort of hit me that I have to leave that community that I’ve put so much work into building in the last eight months. I’m not generally one to build friendships quickly, so it feels like such a loss. I have seen God do so much good in me through the relationships I’ve built there, and I fully intend to stay in touch with several of them, but it’s still really sad to me that we only had a few months together.
That being said, my experience with youth group has made me significantly more comfortable and confident in a faith community of people my age. That means that I am less stressed about building new friendships with the people I’m going to meet in a couple weeks at training camp. I have a better understanding of what Christian teens are like, so I don’t have to be scared of them! That’s progress! I’m so thankful that God has prepared me for the trip in that way. It’s going to be okay.
So the bottom line is, I have mixed feelings, but God is revealing to me how He has prepared me, so I feel less overwhelmed. If He’s already preparing me, He will continue to provide the grace I need for each and every day of the race. I am choosing to let tomorrow worry about itself, which is good because I have other things I need to be doing today. Gotta go do those… bye!
