God Provides

It is just amazing to me how God provides and how creatively he does so. Our only hesitation with joining MissionNext was our financial burden. We were not wise with our money when we were younger and we racked up quite a bit of debt. We have felt frustrated that these poor decisions have haunted us and prevented us from  more readily being able to serve in missions. We felt concern about asking people to support us at the level of support we require in order to keep up with our monthly payments or better yet, pay down our debt. While we were thrilled that God would use us to serve him and further his Kingdom through MissionNext, we didn't know how we could raise enough support and as quickly as was needed to fill the very immediate need MissionNext had for a web developer. 

One day I was looking through the employment ads and found a position for a Director of Operations for a social media marketing agency. It sounded like a great position but  it wasn't a position I had served in previously so I didn't have high hopes for the position. Typically, if you don't have that same title or something similar people think you can't perform that position. So, I didn't expect much. I rather hastilly, sent off my resume for the job, not really expecting to hear back. In fact, when called for the interview, I looked back and realized there was actually a list of application requirements I had never fullfilled. This is very out of character for me. I always very carefully apply for positions with the utmost attention to detail. The other issue was, I REALLY didn't want to return to the "corporate world". Working for ourselves and achieving true work-life balance was so much more healthy and rewarding for me. So, leading up to the interview, I spent a lot of time in prayer and discussion with Byron. I wanted to be sure that this position wasn't just me not trusting God to provide and taking the matter into my own hands. Did I not believe that he could provide the financial support for Byron and I to serve as missionaries? After much prayer, I realized this WAS God providing for our needs to Byron could start working NOW. Instead of taking six months to focus on raising financial support and then starting, Byron could begin now. The interview went incredibly well and after a few days, I was offered the position. It also perfectly met our current financial needs. After a few week of working in the position I also realized I was learning some critical skills about social media that would help me better serve MissionNext. I love when God uses the answer to prayer to accomplish many things, not just one. 

While I love the way, God works and the way he blesses us in ways we'd never be able to plan out ourselves, I won't say it's easy. I hate the hour each way commute and I hate being away from my family as much as I am. I am working 50+ hours per week in my new position plus 10-20 hours per week on MissionNext marketing projects. I am looking forward to the day when we have enough support that I can serve MissionNext full time. However, I love seeing how much progress Byron is making already on web and technology projects for MissionNext and I love that God is not only providing for our current needs right now, but also growing me and teaching me. We serve an amazing God and his blessings are incredible.