Hi Friends!! This trip is approaching so soon! It’s so crazy to think that at the end of next month I will be headed to training camp! As the trip approaches I’m starting to feel a little bit nervous but also super excited. It’s kind of a wave of a bunch of emotions at once. Nevertheless, God is still showing up and reminding me that he is in control and comforting me through the chaos of life. One of the things I wanted to share in this blog today is an experience I had last week.
Last week I brought my car into the shop to get some things fixed. This meant that I was without a car for about three days. Luckily it is pretty easy to get by without a car in Ames. One of these days I closed customer service at Hy-Vee and had to wait for the bus so that I could get home. It happened to be raining but the bus was supposed to be there fairly soon so I figured that I would just wait in the rain and it wouldn’t be that big of a deal. As I was standing by the bus stop in the rain I was feeling kind of overwhelmed with stress about school, work, the cost of fixing my car, fundraising for this trip, and just all of it at the same time felt like a lot.
As I was thinking about all of these things I looked over and there was a girl walking in my direction. I thought that it was kind of odd that she was walking by herself at 9pm in the rain. As she walked by she said hi to me and I waved and said hello back. She walked a little bit past me and then stopped and turned and looked at me and said “I was just wondering if I could pray for you?” I have no words for the feeling that I got when she said that. I said “Yes of course”, and she introduced herself and asked me if there was anything specific she could pray for. I told her about my trip and I gave her some other general prayer requests that I had. As she began to pray, everything that she was saying was just exactly what I needed. I don’t think that she noticed but I started to cry as she was praying. I felt God’s presence in that moment probably more than I ever had before. As soon as we said “Amen” the bus pulled up and I thanked her and then got on the bus and never saw her again. Heather, if this blog somehow finds its way to you, I just want you to know how impactful that interaction was. Thank you.
This interaction was a great reminder of how we should be living out our faith. Deciding to go on this mission trip was a great step, but it just reminds me that I need to be living out the same energy of that decision in my everyday life. God has really been constantly reminding me to take comfort in the plan that he has for me. I think that it’s been amazing seeing the way that God has been working in my heart in just the preparation for this trip.
In another aspect of preparation I have been so grateful for all of the support I’ve received through donations. My heart is so full knowing that I have so many people that love and support me. I am so excited to get to go and spread the love of Jesus to all of the people of South Africa. Continued prayers would be much appreciated as I continue to prepare my heart and work towards 100% of my fundraising goal!
Until the next blog!
-Lex
