Provision: Part III (Nate)

In continuation of a theme that seems to be woven into our experiences lately, I thought it would be good to show more of God’s provision for His work through us.

Just before our June trip to Guatemala, a Sunday School class (The Black Sheep) from the morning service at Maryland gave us some cash to use to buy watches. They knew we were going to need some extra supplies, because every time we’ve gone down there has been more kids than we were previously told. The week before our trip, we ended up buying about 45 extra watches after we got an expanded list of kids we would be visiting. The money from The Black Sheep was enough for us to absorb the extra cost of gifts less than a week before we left! Perfect timing.

Talk about a crazy time of year, the week before our trip was our anniversary and Rachael’s birthday. Apparently we were supposed to enjoy these occasions, because we went out to eat for Rachael’s birthday and were surprised when the waitress returned to the table at the end of the meal empty-handed, saying that someone else had taken care of the bill. That’s the kind of church we go to where someone else will see a young couple and pick up the tab for their meal! As if that wasn’t enough, for our anniversary Rachael got to come along with me on an overnight work trip where everything was taken care of for us. Happy 4^th Anniversary to us!

We can travel light.  Really we can.  We can fit all of the things we need for a week in one suitcase (with room to spare, if we’re lucky), which means we can take three other suitcases (and two carry-ons) full of things to give away.  Of course, the airline likes to charge for these extra bags. Fortunately, we were told by Jody, our friend in charge of all-things-service at eXchange, that there was some leftover baggage money from the last time we asked people to sponsor bags, so the extra baggage fees were taken care of.

Finally, we had planned to nest all our baggage on the way home from Guatemala so we wouldn’t have to pay extra baggage fees for the now empty bags. But we were short one huge duffel bag. We asked Rachael’s parents to consider getting her a bag for her birthday.  A day or two after we asked, a co-worker of Rachael’s mom happened to ask her (Becky/Rachael’s mom) if we needed any more luggage.  She had a large bag sitting under her bed that she wasn’t using.  The duffel bag she gave us is approximately twice my size with nice wheels to make heavy luggage almost manageable in a crowded airport. I don’t know how we could have managed without it. 

Each of these stories are neat in and of themselves. But, when we look at them all together, we are blown away by how great God has been to us and how faithful He has been in providing for our needs.  Thanks to all of you who have been and continue to be a part of God’s blessing and provision in our ministry and our lives!

‘Tis the Garage-Sale Season (by Rachael)

It’s that time of the year again! The time of year when I drag Nate out of bed on a perfectly good Saturday morning to  comb through other people’s trash on the off-chance we’ll find something we wouldn’t pay one dollar for but, hey, if you drop price to 50 cents, then you’ve got yourself a deal.  I justify this mild obsession by telling myself (and my groggy husband) that it’s “for the kids.”  Let’s face it–garage sales might not be the best place to go if you’re looking for underwear or lipstick, but kids’ clothes?  That’s a different story. They’re practically brand new!  Actually, sometimes they are brand new.  The tags are still attached to prove it.

A few people (well, just two actually) have asked me about the sizes of the kids at the babies’ home.  I decided it couldn’t hurt to post the kids’ sizes online in case anyone else out there  1.) gets a kick out of scouting garage sales for good deals or 2.) knows some kiddos who grow faster than their clothes can wear out. 

So, the next time you stop by a garage sale and see a cute, size 4, Dora the Explorer shirt that you only wish your 7-year-old daughter (granddaughter, niece, neighbor, or dog) could wear, go ahead and plunk down those two quarters.  After all, it’s for the kids.

The Chicas

Guatemala City has a fairly mild climate. Winter weather there is comparable to our spring and fall weather. 

Alejandra (age 6)—sizes 8-10

Cristel (age 4)—size 5

Isabel (age 5)—sizes 5-6

Mili—sizes 3T/4T

Vicki—size 3T

Celeste—2T

Michelle—2T

The Niños

Jeans.  They always need jeans. I would love to take down a pair for each of the babies.  Actually, I would love to take a pair of jeans to each of the boys at San Gabriel and Elisa Martinez, but sizing and luggage space are two hurdles I’ve yet to overcome.

Jose (age 9)—sizes 10-12 (pant size-9)

Estuardo (age 8)—sizes 9-10 (pant size-8)

Daniel (age 7)—sizes 6-7 (pant size-5 or 6)

Juan Pablo (age 6)—size 8 (pant size 6 or 7)

Marvin (age 2)—size 3T

Josecito (age 1)—size 2T

Moths (by Nate)

I spent a little time figuring out what to do with some of our HSA money yesterday. An HSA is a savings account for our health care money and acts a little like a retirement account. No, I’m not planning on retiring soon- I believe Rachael and I could keep up our pace of life for as long as we’re healthy!

So I was looking at the different areas that you can invest HSA money in– stocks, bonds, mutual funds, rare coins, cd’s, and savings accounts. And I promptly decided that none of them is really worth spending much of my time on. Let’s say I put $2000 from our HSA that we won’t need for at least 2 years in some mutual funds that average 8%, I might make $350 in the next 2 years off of that investment. That could be a good deal if it only takes me 30 minutes to pick a low-fee, good-return mutual fund. But if I spent 20 minutes a day for 50 days a year for the next two years, because I worry about it losing value and whether or not I should sell the fund, then my return on my time goes from $700/hr to $9/hr.

I’m not making investment advice here or even claiming I know how to make $700/hr. What I do want to point out is the power of focusing on what’s important vs. being distracted by worry.

A famous guy named Jesus once said, “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes?” This well-known verse is taken from Jesus’ sermon on the mount (it sounds better than ‘hill’) along with, “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Often these two statements get subdivided into separate sermons, conversations, or arguments. But they were delivered as part of one big piece of communication that Jesus gave when he saw a large crowd and sat down to talk to his followers. Since that time a lot of people have spent years speculating about all the implications of this one speech, and I hope that I spend a lot of time over the rest of my life trying to wrap my mind and heart around what he said.

Today my thoughts on this passage look a little like this:

• Jesus was big on storing up treasure in heaven, not on earth

• “Storing up treasure” sounds a lot like investing to me

• Earth= bad place to invest because of moth, rust, and thieves

• Heaven= good place to invest because it puts your heart in the right place

• Investing can lead to worry, even if it’s just what to eat or wear

• Worry doesn’t add a single hour to your life- it’s more likely to subtract hours

• This stuff sounds great, but what do I do now?

Jesus addressed this with another well-known phrase in the same lesson, “Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”

I think what I’ve incorporated into my life from Jesus’ teachings are these things:

1. God’s Kingdom and His righteousness are first.

   On a daily level, this gets played out every morning when I wake up and take the dog out, praying for the day ahead that I would seek these things first. Which then leads to reading the Bible and more prayer with Rachael. Then I have to exercise my faith that these things (food & clothing) will be given to me throughout the rest of the day. I thank my parents for modeling this from an early age!

2. I don’t have to worry about tomorrow or what I eat or drink.

   This frees me up to plan without worrying! Planning is proactive, but worrying is reactive. I think that when I plan my time well, I keep seeking God’s Kingdom first. In order to store up anything, which Jesus says to do with treasure in heaven, you have to be producing something to store and then have a plan to not expend it all as soon as you produce it. I try to spend the first moments of each day (after the stuff I already said I do) planning how to spend the rest of my waking moments. One guy I’ve flown for does this as far out as 2, 5, and 10 years to make sure he’s going in the right direction. John Maxwell, leadership guru, plans out his entire year during a little planning session at the beginning of each new year. I hope to become an expert planner during my lifetime!

3. My treasure, and therefore my heart, will be stored up in heaven.

   I can go about the things of life, knowing that they are only temporary and that it can all be eaten by moths, get rusty, or be stolen by others. I am free to invest my time, energy, and money in people and projects that I think will help me to store up treasure in heaven!

Right now our focus is on Guatemala. God is moving through our church, through Buckner, and most recently us, to take care of these boys in Central America. We are invested in connecting our community at Maryland with the Kingdom moving work in Guatemala. It’s almost a daily struggle with worry to stay focused on God and how he’s moving rather than to try to make everything line up by our strength or with the little money we have.

Let me encourage you with this, since you’ve made it this far: God makes good promises and he’s got a phenomenal record of following through on them. Jesus said that if we seek first his kingdom and his righteousness that all the other things will be given to you. This is truth and not just some words on a page. May you exercise faith and invest your life fully focused on Jesus- His Kingdom and His Righteousness!