take heart

First off I’m telling you a story. So buckle up, sit back, and keep reading. its gonna be a good one. 

Here we go. 

 

About a month or so ago, my friends and I decided to do a “mommy & me” spa day in our town.

I thought,”Yes! This is going to be great! People will come, have a good time, and ill be 700 dollars closer to my goal!” We worked really hard to make sure everything was perfect.

I bought all kinds of pretty decorations. I spent time painting and gluing things, trying to make it look “perfect”. We spent all night decorating, trying to get things organized  for the next day. Not gonna lie, I was feeling pretty darn good about this thing. 20 moms registered online, plus their daughters. We were expecting a big crowd.

We were ready for the next day. 

10am rolls around, which is when it was supposed to start. 

3 moms show up all together. 

My heart broke. 

The ones who did show up had a BLAST. We had our hair done, make up, facials, nails, the whole 9 yards. It was so much fun. 

But even though I was having fun, it was hard for me to get my mind off the fact I was expecting to make 700.00, and made 140.00. 

We cleaned up, went home, and I cried.

I cried all night long. My heart felt discouraged, I was frustrated beyond belief. I laid in bed, looked up at God and said: 

“I did my part. You didn’t do yours. I put in the work, the time and the money, and you didn’t hold up your end.” 

I felt completely defeated in that moment. I was so discouraged I didn’t even want to go to church the following morning.

I was ready to give up and throw in the towel. But I’m so glad I didn’t. 

When I finally arrived at church (it was a rough morning) I was speaking to one of my good friends, Cyndi. I was telling her how the fundraiser went, how I felt so defeated, and she spoke to me:

“You know, a lot of times when things like that happen, something great is going to be next.”

In my mind, I was thinking “yeah, okay. let’s see that happen.”

I kid you not, 15 minutes later my pastor said:

“Today is a special day! Today is Ansleigh’s last Sunday before she moves to Georgia and we have something for her!”

They handed me a box of 48 ramen noodles and a card. Charity told me to read the card out to the church, so I did. But I stopped half way through.

I started to cry. 

Tears of joy. 

Tears of thankfulness. 

Tears of sadness. 

Tears of an overwhelming love I felt from my church family. 

The card read:

“We are so proud of who you’re becoming and we want to sow a seed into your ministry. So your family here at MCC would like to donate 1,000 dollars to your CGA account. We love you!”

They also took up a love offering of 133.00 

Someone also gave 300.00. 

Two people gave 50.00. 

Just yesterday I was ready to give up. I was ready to call a quits and just stay home because I felt so defeated. 

Just yesterday I was laying in bed crying, telling the Father how He didn’t do his part. 

Little did I know, the next day I would be over half way funded for CGA. 

In less than 3 hours I was given a total of 1,533.00. 

I can’t imagine how the Father felt.

Honestly, He was probably hurt. I wasn’t trusting him, I was trying to do this on my own.

All I could see was I needed 5,950.00. I didn’t see a God who could move mountains, part a sea, walk on water, or feed 5,000.

All I could see was the next fundraising deadline I had to meet. 

But Grace.

The Father has so much grace for us.

How easy could He have said, “Okay, since you are saying I didn’t do my part, cancel those donations for tomorrow morning. Do it yourself.” 

But He didn’t. 

He looked down and said, “Oh my child. You have no idea what is in store for you tomorrow. The pain you’re feeling won’t compare to the joy thats coming. Just hang on.” 

I didn’t know what the next day would consist of. I had no idea. In my pain he still loved me. When I stopped believing in Him, He still believed in me. 

So now I am currently at 4,109. How faithful is the Lord?! 

I can’t wait for this next season with Him. Its gonna be a good one! 

if you’d like to stay updated on what The Father is doing in my life, subscribe to this blog page! And if you would want to financially partner with me during my time at CGA, you can do so by clicking the “Donate” button at the top of the screen. 

stay tuned for more stories like this. 

love you guys and thank you again for all your support! 

-Ansleigh <3