I'm going to UGANDA!!!!

I think God's timing is absolutely everything.

Ever since Jr. High I've had a desire to be apart of a short term missions trip. I've never felt called by God to be a missionary but I have always wanted to serve others around the world at some time or another. {Not to mention I adore traveling/want to be a world traveler!!} All throughout high school, opportunities for STM {short term missions} would arise but each time God would shut the doors... as if He was saying, "not now".  Sometimes His, "not now" seemed more like a "not ever" to me but that was when I was forgetting how Jesus works!!

Jump forward to the second Thursday in January.
I had spent the day making bread, working on projects, hanging out with sick ones & watching Foyle's War. Nothing super spectacular about the day... just quiet & enjoyable. Then I found a great deal for Skydiving and got super pumped about it! Especially after I purchased my ticket to go this summer! So, *so* excited to finally skydive & cross it off my bucket list!!
{but no, that's not what this post is about!! haha}

 Then as I was cleaning up my projects & thinking about the aforementioned topic, Eleanna called.
She asked me to elaborate on what God had been teaching me and showing me in the last week or so... but I asked her to give me a few minutes to finish cleaning up & asked her to share what's new with her in the meantime. So she started telling me why she called.

 Her Daddy is going to Uganda for three weeks for missions -as he does each year- and this year is her turn to go with him!! I was so excited for her! She told me how there will be a lot of time where she's by herself while he's in meetings but she prayed & decided that it'll be no problem being alone during that time.
Then she continued to share how the more her family talked & prayed about it, the more they thought it'd be great if someone else could go along too. {Another super God story there but it's not mine to tell and I wouldn't get everything right!!}
 None of her siblings were available to go so her sister Hannah asked her, "who else can you think of?" {And then what I thought was coming because of how she was telling the story, but wasn't sure of}-- she thought of me!! Oh my goodness, wow!! My elation hit the roof and I thought I would burst from so much excitement!! On one hand was absolutely thrilled while on the other hand I was trying to be practical in case it doesn't go through. And then I heard that my Daddy already knew about it and most likely already said yes and I started getting more excited!
So as soon as I hung up with her I called Daddy and he said it was a YES!!!! eeeeeeeeeeeeeeek!! {been doing a lot of squealing lately!! haha}

It's so cool how all  of those years I always wanted to go do something like this and God said no and then literally *out of the blue* He drops it in my lap and says, "you're going!". So so cool! {And seriously- it was a full surprise. I had completely forgotten that her Daddy always goes to Africa this time of year and it definitely hadn't occurred to me that it was her turn to go -- or that I would ever go!!}

The only thing standing in my way now {other than Jesus closing the door again} is getting my Passport and vaccinations-- and you can bet your life I'm already on it! haha

I love how over and over during my life God has shown to me how *absolutely PERFECT* his timing is! There's just nothing like it!! Makes me wonder how I could ever doubt Him in anything! Then I remember that, well, I'm human. And I'm awful dumb sometimes. And Jesus is so patient to KEEP showing & teaching me the same things over & over!
I'm loving these two verses from Psalm 37-- "Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him and he will do this: He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun."
 At the same time, they are incredibly humbling... because I have been shown that even when I don't commit my way to the Lord and don't trust in Him, he STILL is faithful and brings huge blessings to my life that I don't deserve!

All of that is just my side of the story!! So many God stories on her end as well and with all of these God things happening *before* we've even left, it is getting us SO pumped to see what He's going to do while we're there!! {side note: It's funny because a few months ago Eleanna and I really wanted to see each other so we started talking about meeting halfway in Kentucky somewhere... and obviously that wasn't working out. But then God says, "how 'bout y'all just spend *3 weeks* together in *AFRICA* instead?!!" ahhhhhh!!! }

Another smaller "perfect timing" story really quickly.
While in Uganda we'll need to wear closed-toe shoes for sanitary measures-- Eleanna and I both had the thought of how neat it would be to purchase a pair of Toms before we go to wear while we're there. Then, as she said, when we wear them back here in the States, we'll think of that trip, and the God stories,  and how much it taught us.
In a much smaller way but still significant to me is God's perfect timing on this. It seems silly-- they're just a pair of shoes after all, right?
But it goes like this. I first found out about Toms back in 2007-- not too long after they were first available & before they were even popular. Since then, I've wanted to purchase a pair to support the One for One project but never have I had the ability to spend that amount on shoes. Now, as I head out to Africa in a month, I love how I can purchase my first pair with full meaning. More than just helping another person have shoes on their feet; I'm using my feet, and my pair of shoes, to go serve others in a foreign country.


If you think about it, please pray that we will have Jesus' hands and feet to show His love in everyway possible during this trip!!