It's time to Shine

Today is travel day for our Never the Same Missions team, and this year we are going to San Jose, Costa Rica. We are on our way to the airport and even as I sit here on the bus, I still cannot believe that I am here. Just a few months ago I was content with not coming on this trip and happy to make 4th of July plans with my local family and friends. But God clearly has other plans for me. 

It was a struggle to get here for me financially and emotionally. Thankfully God did not give up on me and used all of my fearfulness and anxiety to show me even more of His greatness. One of the areas is my life that I feel that God is always pointing at is my independence. If I’m not attentive, over time my independence begins to take over and I start thinking, “I can do this all by myself.”  When I start letting that thought rule my days, fearfulness and anxiety soon follow. Independence that is seperate from God is empty and lonely. The pride of that kind of independence isolates you and that makes you vulnerable to anything. 

My cure for this is to reach out. I know that if I tell my close family and friends how I feel and explain my struggle, immediately I have peace. The truth is I am not alone and the second that I reach out to someone it is confirmed. I pretty much wrote off coming on this trip but a nudge from God had me talking about it in my small group. Slowly I began to tell others and before I knew it I was raising funds. For me the decision not to come was made out of fear and that’s not how I want to live my life. As I prayed more about this, I really felt that God was calling me to Cost Rica. And He confirmed it over and over through words of encouragement and through the support of my loved ones. 

All this to say that God is good and God dreams bigger dreams for you than you could ever imagine because He wants you to live life out of abundance and big faith not fear. He not only fulfills just what we need but then He goes above and beyond and pours out even more blessings on top of that, so that we are overflowing! Can you imagine living life in overflowing abundance?! 

It’s amazing. I’m in awe. 

Thank you to my friends and family for all of the love and support. Thank you for the prayers, the encouragement, and the financial support. My heart is overflowing. I cannot describe to you all the gratitude that I feel and how much I appreciate each of you. Truly your support is so felt and I pray that God blesses you ten fold. 

I’m looking forward to many coffee dates after I get back to Phoenix, so that I can share all the great God stories from Costa Rica! 

Please continue to pray for our team. 

-Shine