And So We Go

During the last several days, the Lord has done amazing things in the life of the Verners! As of Monday morning, we had only raised $1275 of the $2500 total needed for our upcoming vision trip to Italy. I'll admit that I was getting a little anxious (as I am prone to do), especially since we were only 2 1/2 weeks from the scheduled departure date and we did not even have enough to buy airfare. By Tuesday, it was really starting to affect me and I kept checking flight prices to see if, by some miracle, they had dropped drastically. They had not...

On our way home from the office, I asked Stephen to drop me off at home before going to pick the kids up so that I could go ahead and start dinner (something I don't usually do). I was feeling very down and just wanted to be alone for a while to feel sorry for myself. God had other plans.

Picking up the mail on my way inside, I noticed that there were 2 envelopes that looked to be missions donations. I put off opening them until I got inside and put all my stuff down. I was afraid to get my hopes up too much, but was totally surprised to find checks for a total of $350! Then, I felt the Lord prompting me to check our missions account online and I found another $50 donation for a total of $400 in one day! 

As I stood in my kitchen, I was totally overwhelmed by the feeling of God's love for me. I felt like He said, "Brandy, I know you better than you know yourself and I am more than enough to meet your needs, not only financially, but in EVERY way." I began to cry and praise Him right there. Needless to say, I didn't start dinner the way I had planned. I went and knelt by our bed, opened my Bible, and began to worship the King of the universe, who loves me so much that He orchestrated that time just to encourage me.

The next morning, I found cheap airfare online that was only about $50 more than the total we had raised. When my boss slipped me a check for $50, I felt like that was confirmation that we were supposed to go ahead and buy the tickets, even though the itinerary was terrible. However, before I got a chance to purchase them, prices went up and we were short again by almost $300. I was crushed! However, God sees details that we have no idea about and He is always working even when we don't understand how!

A little while later, I got word that our church was unexpectedly donating $300 towards our trip! I quickly went online and found a great itinerary and the price was $2 and some change less than the total amount God had provided! As I clicked "purchase", I was once again reminded of God's overwhelming love for me. He was not content with us having to rearrange plans to accomodate a bad flight itinerary and instead made provision for something better for us, His children. In the same way, He was not content with us being separated from Him by our sin and so He made the ultimate sacrifice in the form of His Son's death on the cross. God, we are so unworthy, but we're forever grateful!   

It's for that reason that we are willing to go to Italy and give up everything we know and hold dear; to move to a place where we know almost no one, learn a new language, and try to make a difference in a country that desperately needs to know the true love of God. Because Jesus already did that for us when He humbled Himself to become a man and walk among us so that we would no longer be separated from God. The price that we pay is nothing compared to what Jesus paid for us and so even if it costs us everything, we will go...