LateJanuary 2009

For I Know The Plans He Has For Me…

…or at least some of them… :)

I will try to make everything make as much sense as possible. But PLEASE don’t be afraid to ask any questions you may have. I might not have all the answers right now, but I will do my best to provide you with answers! :)

First Things First! :)

As I have shared before, Sharon, David and I were all seeking God's heartbeat as to what He is pointing us to for the future - whether short term or long term - so we could figure out what our next steps were to be, so we fasted from Monday though Sunday, in order to be able to be as close to Him as possible.

Before I get into all my stuff, I’ll tell you that Sharon and David got their answer as to where they will be going after Elevate (the school they are in now) and 24:14 (the church planting school that they will go through next).

THAILAND!

The plan now is for them to finish up this year in Elevate and start 24:14 this coming September. They will finish that up in April of '10, and if all goes according to schedule, will be in Thailand by the end of that summer!

So they are super excited! And I'm excited for them!

Now it Gets Jumbled… :)

Friday night during our first session, God told me that I was to sit down and write out a list of all the time periods Monday thru Sunday that I absolutely cannot work due to prior obligations (when Sharon and David are at school, LifeGroup, Urban Children's LifeGroup, church times, etc), and then I am to go out and get a job in retail. Then He kept saying WalMart - and in all my life, I have NEVER had a desire to work at WalMart, so I was really hoping I was not hearing correctly! ;)

Side Story

Saturday afternoon, as I was telling Sharon about all God has been revealing, when I got to the part about WalMart, she started laughing. I asked her why, and she told me to go ahead and finish everything and then she'd tell me.

When I finished, I asked her what was funny and she said that she and Zhiping (pronounced Zee ping) (this is the Chinese lady that works at WalMart – the one I talked about in the last newsletter, where her, her husband and daughter came over and had dinner with us one Saturday evening – the night Sharon had the healing of the burst blood vessel.) were talking Tuesday while she was ringing up Sharon’s purchases, and out of the blue – Sharon said they had not been talking about me, family or jobs - Zhiping says, “Vanessa! Your niece! She need come work with me at WalMart!"

Sharon said that she thought it was one of the most random things she had ever heard, so she just said "Well, ok." and put it out of her mind. But as soon as I told her what God had told me, she saw that it was just another confirmation for me! :)

Back to the Story

God told me that it was so important and wonderful that I had had the opportunity to continue working for American TeleCenters the past seven months, because it had given Him the opportunity to really ground me and grow me in Him, His word, and all He has for me. It gave me the opportunity to be completely away from the secular world - because I am ALWAYS at home - I work at home, I watch the kids at home, and I spend time with the family at home - and when I'm not at home, I'm doing church activities. So everything in my Texas life, up to this point, has completely revolved around my "family" family, and my church family.

What He told me is that the unsettledness and the restlessness (I hope those are words and that I am spelling them correctly! :) ) that I have been experiencing are from this desire He has begun to stir in me to get out and begin to make relationships with the world. I wasn't ready for that before now, because before now they would have influenced me more than I would have influenced them - but now He said I'm ready to make an impact! :D And I am soooooooooooooooooo excited about that!

Full Circle

Friday night, God had given me some stuff to pass on to Sharon, and as I was speaking to her and then praying for her, God continued to say “Full Circle.” I didn’t know what exactly He was talking about, so I just continued on with what I did know. Then all of a sudden, it hit me: Sharon and I had come full circle! From the January night in ’07 at the Passion conference when God first told Sharon that they were to start preparing because they were going to be going, right back around to this January night in ’09 where He was beginning to completely bring about the fullness of the plans He started back then.

Also at the Passion conference that year, I was first introduced to Invisible Children (www.invisiblechildren.org). Sharon and I had a long conversation that night at Passion, as I explained to her all I had seen during the breakout session that day pertaining to the children in Uganda, and how they had been telling us how they needed so much help over there! And I told her that I totally understood the need, but I knew that God would never call me to that, because I could never leave my mama, I could never leave my family, I could never leave these kids, I could never leave my house, I could never leave my job, I could never leave Georgia... Well...I guess we all know the rest of that story... :) He certainly does have a way of taking our excuses right away from us, doesn’t he?

Then this past Tuesday, Sharon was telling me all about the Restoration Gateway (www.restorationgateway.com) project that a couple from Antioch have started. Basically, they are building a community there, starting with a medical facility, and then they will begin to build “pods.” A pod will hold 8-10 orphans, and two house parents – Christian American female and one Ugandan widow - so that the children will be brought up with the morals and values and beliefs of the American, but will also get the fullness of their Ugandan heritage! As Sharon was telling me about everything going on over there, I got so excited! I was thrilled that these children are finally being given a chance to have some semblance of a normal life, and a family!

As I stood at World Mandate Friday night, God kept putting Uganda on my heart, and I kept praying for the nation and all that is going on through Restoration Gateway! And then Saturday morning, it was back!

During Friday night and Saturday morning’s sessions, they kept flashing different countries names up on the screen, with a little bit of information about what’s going on in that country, the population, etc. And all of the countries had been from Asia and Europe. So...as I stood there hearing Uganda over and over and over, I finally made a deal. I said, “Lord. I know that I am not supposed to be making deals and bargains with you. And I’m not making a deal as to whether or not I am supposed to go – cause I know I’m supposed to go somewhere. But Lord, I really need to know if I am hearing Uganda because that is where you want me to go, or if I am just being extremely emotional because I have such a heart for children, and my heart has always had a soft spot for these children. Or maybe it’s you that gave me the soft spot back in ’07 when I first heard about them, cause you were preparing me for this moment. But I have to have clarity. So God, if you want me to go to Uganda, then put Uganda up on the screen! Cause then I’ll know it’s meant to be, because that would be totally out of character from all of the other countries that have been listed! It’s in Africa and it doesn’t fit the “Asia and Europe” mold! So if it comes up on the screen, I will have no doubt!”

About 15 seconds later, Uganda popped up on the screen. It was the last country that came up on the screen. It was the only country that was not in Asia or Europe. It was my sign from my God confirming where He is sending me! :)

I feel that God is telling me that I will be working in one of the pods with the orphans! Which makes me sooooooo incredibly happy because my heartbeat has always been children! I just never knew it would be Ugandan children! :)

He also spoke to me and said that no time is better for me than now. This is my time. Because I don't have HUGE responsibilities of my own - I don't have a husband, and I don't have children! I have nothing to hold me back! :) So, here am I! Send me! :)

Follow Up

*I went this afternoon and applied at WalMart, so I am hoping that I will be hearing from them soon!

*Davis has not had any more nightmares since the last ones I reported to you! Thank you for your prayers! The prayers of the saints are powerful!

*Even though it is great to know what God has planned for us all, it is also quite bittersweet, because now we know when the end will be. So we know exactly how limited our time together is. And as hard as the year in Georgia was for me as they were preparing to leave – those of you who know me well know the horrible, barely functioning time I was having – I fear that it will be even worse now that we have all been around each other day in and day out for what will be two years when they leave. I am trying to enjoy every moment more now than I ever have before. Treasuring every hug and kiss. Every “I love you” and every sweet smile. I know that y’all feel it too, but I can’t even begin to tell you how imbedded in my heart these children have become.
Which is the other thing that lets me know I truly am following God on this one. If I had it my way, I would have gone to Thailand too, just so I could stay with them. I knew I was supposed to go, so if I had to go, and it was my choice, I would have gone where I could have continued to be with my precious babies! But God is going to restore my heart, and He is going to give me the opportunity to have a part in the lives of children that have never had the families we have. Children who have never felt loved or cared for. Children who feel utterly abandoned and hopeless! And that’s what keeps a smile on my face and a song in my heart! :) I will be able to do some good! God gave me a huge heart when it comes to children! And now He’s preparing me for the opportunity to really put it to use! :)

I think that’s all this time…

Crazy, huh? It’s not 10 pages!!! :) But then, I just sent you all the updates last week, so it’ll be a while before the next one! :) I appreciate all your support and all of your prayers! More than I could ever express!

The only other matter I wish you to specifically be praying for is financial stuff. It’s overbearing if I begin to think about it, but I trust that God has this planned for me, and that everything will come together. So please just pray that I will completely trust Him in that and I will totally leave it in His hands!