Grace Upon Grace

Lately, I’ve been sharing more at my church and other places and talking with more people about my upcoming time in South Sudan. And there are times when it’s pretty overwhelming, but at the end of the day I’m so much more overwhelmed with God’s grace to me through the love and support of my brothers and sisters in Christ.

I have an awesome MST (missionary support team)! I know they are covering me in prayer, have already devoted much time and energy to helping me prepare, and have just been pretty amazing, supportive, and loving sisters in Christ :) I love it when friends randomly text me to see how the process is going and see I’m doing. And I’m thankful for the friends who text or email to help keep me accountable to get my work done. It’s been great to have so many questions from church family who are so caring.

This week in particular has been FULL of encouragement, so I wanted to share my week!

Sunday: I attended a prayer meeting that focuses on missions and it was encouraging to hear people’s hearts for the nations in such specific (if sometimes unexpected!) ways!

Monday: I shared for a few minutes at a class called Perspectives, and it was such a blessing! I was able to share a little about how God has been growing my heart for missions and shared more details about South Sudan and what I’ll be doing. And then a class of about 50 people prayed for me :) After the class was done, I was able to talk to a lot of people and it was just SO refreshing to be in a room full of people who are EXCITED and PASSIONATE about missions.

Tuesday: Had an MST meeting (for another missionary at my church) and had a great time of fellowship and prayer. And I ALWAYS leave feeling energized and convicted after talking with this girl.

Wednesday: Spent time with my youngest niece and nephew and loved every minute of it. I’ve gotta spend as much time with them as I can before I go!

Thursday: Went to my new small group for this season and spent the evening studying the beginning of Acts and talking about transformation, sharing openly about areas we’d like to grow in, and praying for specific people we want to share the Gospel with. I really love my small group :)

Friday: A different small group from my church invited me to come share with them. And after only being there for a little while, I left feeling so loved and genuinely cared for by my church family, many of whom I was just meeting for the first time! They jokingly mentioned they were “grilling” me with questions, but the comment “You sound like her father!” made me feel so thankful for the fatherly concern. After I shared, they prayed for me and as I was walking out the door they already had ideas for a care package of things I might need. I was really touched by their thoughtfulness and example of Christ-like love.

Saturday: I unexpectedly got to spend time with a cousin who hugged me tight, handed me a card and a check, and said she’s praying for me!

At the beginning of this post, I said things were overwhelming. But a more honest and accurate way to describe my heart and attitude last week is anxious and discouraged. But as I look back on the week and I look at this list, I see tangible evidences of God’s goodness. When I choose not to be blinded by my sins of selfishness, pride, fear of man, and lack of trust….the truth of God’s sovereignty is so much more evident.  It’s my prayer that in all circumstances I would choose Christ and praise God for His grace upon grace upon grace.