Let me start by saying, GOD IS AMAZING! Really, that is all I would need to put to make this post totally complete :). However, this is a testimony of God's greatness that needs to be told with attention to detail.
This adventure began over a year and a half ago. It all started when I went to Washington last spring to help Shane and Cindy Turner. I spent a while getting to know this wonderful family by living with them and teaching, doing house work, and holding one of the cutest babies in the whole wide world!!! Around this time they told me of a dream they had to travel the United States in a bus and tell the world about Jesus and God's plan of salvation. Of course I was very excited for them and the journey God was going to take them on. They also shared with me their desire to visit Martin and Rachel in Thailand.
As most of the people close to me know, I love mission work and I feel God has placed a call on my life . I have dedicated my life to the service of God. This means....I am willing and ready to go wherever He happens to call me. I have prayed the end of Isaiah 6:8 many times over. *Isaiah 6:8, 'And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?" Then I said, "Here I am! Send ME."'* Praying a prayer such as this can be very frightening for me, as well as for my family.
After Shane's told me of their desire to visit Thailand, I started to feel God move in my life. I knew that He was preparing my heart for Thailand. I was not sure how everything was going to work out, and I had NO clue why Iwas feeling this way. Of course I thought it would be amazing to travel with them but I also knew it was probably not an option. However, God kept prompting my heart. Almost every day I would hear someone talking about Thailand; friends, family, the news, and books. My time in Washington came to an end and it kept happening. In fact, it was almost stronger. Feeling like God was calling me to trust Him with my life I left it all in His hand and prayed "Father, Your will not mine be done".
Around Christmas time last year I got a very exciting phone call. It was Cindy wanting to know if I would be interested in traveling with them to Thailand. I knew this was what God had been preparing me for. It was going to mean missing Christmas with my family again, and I was really struggling with that reality. But, I knew God's plan was so much greater then mine. Long story short, we did not end up going. The timing was not right for Shane's, or Martin's. The disappointment was strong, but getting to spend Christmas with my family was very exciting!
In January I enrolled into Sinclair Community College for nursing. My job of many years was coming to an end, and I needed a path for life. I was very excited because nursing school has been a huge dream of mine since I was a very small child. God blessed me with good grades and many new friends. While this time of my life was very exciting, it was one of the hardest times I have every had in my relationship with God. Actually, I am still working though some really hard things. Nevertheless, God is faithful. He send some really amazing people into my life to help me work through these things.
So a few months back I was eating lunch when I got a phone call from Cindy. She wanted to know if I would still be interested in going to Thailand with them. Of course I was!!! I feel like God has been directing me this way for a long time. Its so very exciting to see His plan become a reality before my eyes!
All the details are coming a long amazingly. It looks like I am going to be headed out to Washington around the end of September and coming home sometime before Christmas! I am so extremely excited to see what God has in store for the coming months. As I set out on this new adventure please keep us in your prayers!!!
