This week.....

Greetings! What a week it's been! As many of you know, Tim and I went to Oregon this week to visit my family and catch up with some old and new friends. Tim got lots of good pics in...hence the photo. So much to share!

But first, I have to tell you a few stories....
Tim and I have been overwhelmed with the amount of planning and business that has to take place before we leave for the Philippines and like I shared in the last post, things have not been easy. But God has been faithful and this passed weekend my friends, Heidi and Kate, came over and talked some sense into me.....

They could see that I was fried and began to sort through my long list of things that I had to do this month and the next before leaving. And ya know what they did? They delegated. They did the hard part for me....! They began to devise plans as to how to get others to help carry the load. I was in tears. The hardest part of all of this has been to ask others to help because I know that most people are busy....but Heidi and Kate cut my work load ooodles! They volunteered their services and the services of others (they just don't know it, yet!). I was truly humbled and blessed. Thank you Kate and Heidi.

But they also taught me that I cannot begin to think that I can walk this road alone....just with Tim. They shared that it is a joy to be a part of the process and that God has blessings in store for those that help out, too. I am learning not to carry all my burdens on my own.

Then this week, as I said earlier, we went to Oregon and the coolest thing happened! You see, seven or eight years ago, I worked at Starbucks in Gresham, Oregon. I loved that job because I had the opportunity to meet some interesting and amazing people. There was a little Jewish lady with a French accent that used to come in and with her beautiful smile, would order her special latte. She was very particular about that latte, too.

Over the course of a year, we got to know each other to the point of committing to pray for one another. We lost contact and I moved to Canada for good. To be honest, I didn't think much about her in university and the monotony of life settled in.

But then I was recently talking to my mom on the phone and she was telling me a this lovely little lady who was a patient of the doctor she works for. She shared that she felt a connection with this lady and told me more about her.....then it clicked! It was the SAME LADY! I told mom to see if she'd like to come to our dinner we were having with some old friends and then this little lady and I began to e-mail back and forth!

Could you believe it? She remembered me and was able to come to dinner on Tuesday....she still had that same beautiful smile and was filled with the love of Jesus (hence the picture below...see the beautiful smile??)....she shared her faith with me and we had a wonderful time. She committed, once again, to pray for Tim, the Philippines journey and for me. I was so hugely blessed. Leave it to God to be the one who reunites kindred hearts together after so many years and under such circumstances as a Starbucks coffee.

Not only that, but my parents' neighbors and my godparents, the ones I grew up with...babysitting their kids, giving them music lessons, swimming in their pool...they all came, too! And many of them committed to pray for us and even decided to financially help us! We were so amazed at God's grace and my parents were blessed by it, too. Many of them I hadn't seen in 6 years, but they were still so supportive and just a huge blessing. God was showing us that He STILL is a God of miracles and blessing.

At the end of our dinner, my godparent and her family gathered around Tim and me. They prayed the kindest prayers and did some spiritual warfare on our behalf....then they worshipped over us and even helped clean up! What an evening.....
When things get rough (as I will share in the next post), I have to remember this particular day and thank the Lord for His gracious provision and faithful encouragement. Be blessed!