food for fish

Yeah baby

Here we are!

I'm at the U2 show in Seattle. It starts in 1 hour.

A passion for your name. That is certainly what has happened. More to come later.

Last Sunday I owed my college $3,700 in tuition (last quarter and this quarter). This Sunday I owe just $600 (or $85/week). How did this happen? It started on Tuesday night, I was attempting to go to sleep when I was overcome with how much money I needed in the next few months, which included my tuition and the upcoming mission trip back to Poland ($2500). So, I got into bed with my journal, and wrote down all my options, which included the possibility of going back to work full time and doing school part time. However, the Lord heard my cries, and I believe he appreciated my honesty with Him, because on Wednesday morning I had a $200 donation towards tuition.

Right after getting the news about the donation, I got in my car to pick Alexis up and by random chance, someone had my "bridges" hymns CD on, the words "Praise God from whom all blessings come" played. God taught me a lesson, be honest, praise Him for all things and depend on Him for all things. Well, I forgot that lesson by that night and was overcome again, and realized that I still did not have enough, realistically, to pay for school by the time this quarter is over. So I prayed again, this time with a bit more oomph, and I told God that I knew this is His calling and that although I do not understand my circumstance I know it is Him who called me. Well Thursday I go about my day as usual (which is mostly meetings), and then Pastor Dan tells me that Gil (the vice president of the college) needs to see me, and I thought "oh no". We take the small walk over to Gil's office, but he's in a pre-marital meeting, so Dan proceeds to tell me the news. He's not sure of the exact number, but I had a donation come in, and I said "oh, I knew that, the $200" and he says "Well, another one, a bit larger", and I said "oh cool"… "a very large one…"… "okay" "you have only the last third of this quarter left"… I was floored. On Friday morning I checked my box at school, and in it was a receipt and a photocopy of a check for $2,900. Hallelujah!

So, with that, I was humbled, and I know I really have no control, God is fully in control orchestrating things. So for school I just need $600, and for Poland $2,355 (I've had some PayPal donations come in, thank you bloggsphere!). I have no doubt in my mind that I am out of God's will. My stress level is much lower and my future seems clearer and will be coming faster than I ever though, Amen to that.

I have nearly $6,000 in funds that I need to find by mid July, I'm going to school full time, I have a wonderful young lady that I want to spend more quality time with, and I am trying to find a job that will work around my very inflexible schedule. To make things simple, let me just say that none of the things mentioned above are going well, the only one that seems to understand anything is Alexis. The current project I am working on is winding down, so I'll be getting fewer and fewer hours, thus less money, and more stress.

The logical side of me wants to call this intern program quits, get a job, catch up, and slowly go to back to school, and put off everything by possibly years or more. But my heart is full of a passion and a promise that God is my provider, and that in His will things will work out. I have a supportive girlfriend, food to eat, a place to live, a car, wonderful friends, and God's direction. Yet my faith is small, the world screams different things at me, and the constant heaviness of stress is very tiring.

I received a little bit of support a while back, a $20 check, but the check bounced, of course the person who wrote it is very embarrassed and is in a similar place as me. However this caused me to rethink a lot in my life, because when you actually lose money (the bank charged me for their bad check) when your trying to fund raise, it isn't what I would call encouraging.

So that's my story, I have friends who have just as heavy things going on in their lives, and are in just as much shock over life as me. So it seems right now many of my friends are going through life changing situations. I can only worry about today, for today really does have its own worries.

Tonight is the first wedding of five that Alexis and I know of in the next two months, two of which we are actually a part of in some way. It's a very joyous time, but very expensive (for us at this time), but that's okay, we want to support our friends and family. If everything had gone as I had planned Alexis and I would be in that list somewhere, but thankfully things have gone God's way, and while it means we are waiting, we know we are much more healthy and in God's will rather than just fulfilling our desires. It's great to see this and our prayers are with every couple.

In other news… We have just four months to go before heading off to Poland again. We are right in the midst of fundraising, and we still have more than half of the $2,500 to go for each of us, however I really have no worries about the money. God is telling us so much about the trip and other things are coming together so well that I really don't see the finances as any kind of block. If you would like to donate please click on the PayPal link on the right or for more information just email me (address also at right). Thanks for your prayers.