Please Pray

Please pray for me as I am headed to speak at a girls' teen camp! I can't wait to spend a few
days encouraging then in the Word!! I won't be posting until the weekend:) Thrive this week...

Free To Give - Great is HIS Faithfulness: Part 2

I want to pick back up on the Free To Give series...focusing on how Great is His Faithfulness! If you are just here for the first time you can see part one of the story here. Here's the rest of the story...

So, after a heart change from the Spirit and practical advice from Dave Ramsey...we began to wet our feet in living completely debt free. It has been a journey. Trial and MANY errors! But, through it all...we did NOT use credit. God always provided just enough...and most of the time MORE than enough.

But, an experience rocked my world in February 2010. God brought a woman in great need to my life and her family brushed mine for a few mere hours and God did a work in my heart and our family through God's provision to her. You don't need to know the specifics...but it grew my faith and my trust in the Provider and Lover of my soul in such a powerful way. He performed a financial miracle in our lives that reminded me that God does not need our money (sacrifice) but a pure and contrite heart that gives cheerfully in faith!

At that point, Jay and I began to pray like crazy over every single financial issue in our lives...knowing that God desires to bless us SO THAT we can be a blessing to those around us. Not to hoard it. Not to love on it. Not to waste it. Not to become distracted by it. To be a blessing. Remember Abraham? He was blessed SO THAT others would be blessed through him.

In March, Virginia needed braces. Did we have $3,000 to pay cash for braces? Um...NO. What did we do? PRAYED! Yep, we told the girls about our need, we knelt each night together beside the bed and prayed SO hard for God to do a miracle. We did not tell anyone of our need or amount. We know too many people who would give to us out of compulsion. We knew God would supply...just as He did for the men and women of the Bible and in Christian History (We love us some George Mueller, Amy Carmichael, etc.).

God totally provided! On the very first appointment we were blessed by God to be able to write a check for the exact amount! He provided a timely large check for a large portion of it (praise God!) and we had the rest in our small savings account. Our whole family rejoiced in the answered prayer that God provided for Virginia's braces. Every night we had prayed over the need and waited on God to provide!!

Then, about 2 months later in June, both of our cars had check engine lights on. In Georgia, you have to pass emissions by the time you get your renewal for tags. So, we had to take our cars to the mechanic to be fixed. To make a long story shorter...the total cost for that ONE month was $1500. Did we have $1500 in some kind of savings account? Did we have that in our checking account? NO WAY!

We got together as a family and prayed so very hard. But, God did a few things differently this time. First, He had already been moving our hearts to live to be free to GIVE. So, at the beginning of the month we had already begun to cut, cut, cut, cut. Everything was under examination and prayer. And not only did God change our budget, He changed our American mindset. This is how it happened...

Jay's birthday was June 27th. We had to get both cars in shape to pass emissions. The first set of repairs on my car was $600. We prayed and prayed...and when Jay looked at our account we had enough to cover that amount. Then, the light was still on. Back to the mechanic. The estimate...$600 more dollars. Hmmm...what is God up to?

Jay listened to what they said about the car and what needed to be fixed. The mechanics even offered to let us pay a little now and the rest when we got it (how amazing is THAT?) since we ALWAYS pay in cash. We thanked them for their kind offer, but felt in our spirits that God would provide...if we waited on Him. Jay got the car back (without repairs) and we waited. God had not provided a way yet. What would we do? How could we get it fixed? No one even knows our need....not family, not friends, not our church. Only God.

Then, God reminded us that there was another way...should He ask it of us. What if we didn't drive that car? What if we lived like most of the world and WALKED to work...which is church too(only 3 miles), grocery story (less than a mile), etc.? What if we just used Jay's car (which doesn't have air...but most of the world doesn't even know what air conditioning would be like!) and left that one in parked until God provided the cash? Would we trust Him even then? Would we wait on His timing? Hmmm.

So, we prayed and waited and cut more of our "wants" out of the budget. A few more days went by and Jay sat at the computer looking over the month and God worked the money in the account to not only be able to pay the $600 for my car, but the $300 more for his car to pass (tomorrow's story!).

This time was different from the braces when a large portion was given to us. That is a miracle! I love it when God moves His people to GIVE and bless others! It's so fun and so wonderful.

But, this last one was more intimate. It was just between us and God. No one knew our need. No check came in the mail. No extra money mysteriously floated our way. It was by His hand alone that this miracle happened in our account.

It wasn't anything we did. It wasn't anything another did. It was only God. He wanted to see how much we would trust His faithfulness to provide EVERYTHING for us. And then, in doing that He changed our hearts to see that if He doesn't provide for that then we will do without it...until He does provide.

It might be hard (walking 3 miles to work in July!). It might be uncomfortable. It might be scary. It might be lonely. It might cost a great deal. But...giving up a few creature comforts in this world for treasures in Heaven...there's no comparison. None.

God didn't ask us to walk to work...this time. He didn't ask us to go without at all. He did ask us to wait, pray, and have FAITH. The American dream says do it NOW, your way, and on your own. And sadly for far too many years that was how I saw finances. Just do what you gotta do. That's why we have credit cards...and loans...and mortgages...right?

If we are going to FREE to GIVE, then we gotta stop giving all our money to the bank for interest. We gotta free up the income God graciously provides, those who have jobs, to provide for our needs and then become a blessing. We are merely a steward of God's resources...not the owner. (That's Dave Ramsey talking there!)

This may be a harder call for many of us than making our own laundry detergent and household cleaners. This was one of the hardest and most humbling journeys of my life (outside of parenting!). And yet...it has been the most JOYOUS!! It has changed my heart about prayer, the power of the Spirit to work in our lives, and the faith I have in God. It's been nothing short of amazing!

I share this with you to encourage you. I was asked to share with my church and I told them these stories. I want to shout the faithfulness of God all day long in our lives! These past few months have changed me. They have grown my faith in God. They have brought our family into a fresh power of the Holy Spirit through prayer and utter dependence on God alone for our needs. They have refined us and convicted us...and help us shed the trappings of this world a little more.

We have not arrived in all of this. I was never so happy to see the July 1st payday! But, God provided...

All.

By.

Himself.

I love you Jesus!!

Great is HIS faithfulness - Part 1

I want to share a few stories with you that have literally brought us to such a fresh and powerful place of total dependence on our Lord. I am only now able to share one of these as God has once again opened the doors of heaven and provided for us.

We have been amazingly blessed that God sold our house 3 years ago in two days, for cash, at the price we wanted. AMAZING in a market that was beginning to crumble! At that time, God granted us the privilege of being debt free. We sold our home, paid off our minivan, all medical and credit card bills...and moved into an apartment. We thought we were headed to live in Africa at the time...but God had other plans. He moved in our hearts the desire to live completely debt free...forever.

This my friends, was a new and unfamiliar idea. See, in my flesh, I deal with impulsivity. I am spontaneous, energetic, passionate...and want to tackle the day all at one time! I want to do it now! That is great when it comes to follow the plans God has for your life. Not so great when tackling that day brings Vera Bradley purses...that need a matching wallet, keyring, luggage, folder, and stationary. You think I kid :)

In my flesh I see something...and I RUN hard after it...TODAY...no time to waste...go for it! Like when my husband went out of town on a mission trip to Mexico. I took those 10 days to paint the ENTIRE OUTSIDE of my house and the garage!!! I'm talking scraping, power washing, cleaning gutters, sanding, painting shutters, trim, and the WHOLE house a completely different color. BY. MY. SELF.  In JUNE!

Ask my friend Shannon...she was there as I teetered near disaster on a ladder painting. I looked so horrible that one of my neighbors didn't even recognize me in my husband's clothes with a baseball cap on...painting my HOUSE! That is the kind of woman my husband got yoked up with:) You should have seen him pulling into the driveway...priceless!

But, this impulsivity can be quite a challenge for my very level headed, business major from Auburn husband. Can I give you a for instance? Want to walk down memory lane with me a bit? Good...

Jay and I are just married (13 years ago last Monday!!!! Love, love love him!!!) and for some CRAZY reason my wonderful husband (who was going to be a CPA before he was called into the ministry!) decided to let ME be in charge of the budget. Ahem...I know.

Well, for a while I tried desperately to manage our checkbook, keep up with pesky debit card receipts, and try to pay bills. Months into this disasterous wonderful arrangement we had, we get a very thin little envelope from the bank. In it was a kind little letter saying that we were in overdraft and that they had ever so kindly decided to charge my account that didn't have any money in it...MORE money. Yeah...I never really understood that logic either. But anywoo...

My husband promptly calls the bank and finds out that we are over $200 in overdraft!! Now, when you are in seminary, newly married, and making a combined income of $16,000 a year $200 is a LOT of money!!! Actually, it's a lot of money no matter who you are!

So, he comes to me and asks me to sit down and let him look over my checkbook register. Oh, I don't even want to tell you this story...but I must. You won't get how amazing my God is...unless you see the amazing weakness of this vessel.

I take out my checkbook register and hand it to him. He opens it and is silent for a little while with a puzzled look on his face. He turns to me and he says, "why are all your debits in whole dollar amounts?"

"Well, I just round the transaction. See, if the amount of the purchase was $5.20, I just put $5.00. But, if the purchase is $7.80 I would round up to $8.00," I explained innocently.

"WHAT!!!!!!"

Yeah...that WHAT could have been heard clear to Africa. He was in total shock...and not all together happy at that moment. Then he demanded to see the statements the bank had been sending. (Uggg...I am cringing at myself!) I handed him a folder stuffed with UNOPENED envelopes that I supposed must have been statements...though I wouldn't know because I NEVER opened them:)

From that moment...my husband went up to the bank and paid the $200 and then closed our account. We had to move banks. There was no recovery from something like that. And then...he took over the money. But, I still didn't have any heart change. I just figured I wasn't any good with money. I entered into the blissful land of ignorance of all things money and went along my merry way.

Now, we have never had money. We have almost always lived on one income (except when I worked and he went to school before I had Anli). So, I never spent big...just impulsively. That wrecks havoc on a budget, my friend! So, each month we were a bit off here, a lot off there...use the credit card for medical bills, car repairs, and co-pays. If we didn't have it...I just charged it. They were all what I thought were "necessities." And never once did I consult my Provider in prayer. I just did it.

Years and years go by and we grow further and further into debt. Nothing like the statistics Dave Ramsey quotes, but too much! It was sucking our income and we were in bondage to the lender...like Scripture warns. We couldn't give more...because the credit card interest and bills were wasting away what God had given us. It was a trap...and I felt more and more convicted.

THEN, I read an amazingly convicting book by Wayne Coleman called "Obedience: The Key to Prosperity." It ROCKED my world! I would sit reading it (I was helping Wayne find a publisher at the time) and literally just cry. I would read portions of it to Jay and literally want to sink into the grave. I was undone.

He used Scripture to convict my heart of lack of prayer, lack of trust in God, and selfishness. It was a huge turning point in my life. Then...Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace entered the picture and gave common sense ideas to living debt free forever. From that time on...our lives have been different.

Credit cards were NEVER allowed into our lives again. "What do you do?" you might ask. How do you deal with car repairs? Medical issues? Unexpected expenses? I can now truly tell you how!

Pray.

I mean for real, desperate, on your face with your kids kind of prayer. That has unleashed the POWER of the Holy Spirit in such way that we have been changed forever. We can't go back. We have tasted and seen how God provides and moves mountains and does miracles...that we just can't ever go back to the bondage of the world. It's exciting!!!

So, now you are caught up. You know my weakness in order to glory in the strength of Christ through this. I am going to share a few amazing stories with you over the next few days. But, you had to start here with me in order to see that if God can change this girl...He can do it for you! His Word promises it!

But, be aware! It is NOT easy. It is NOT popular. Satan wants you to run hard after the American dream! He wants you in bondage! And he does NOT want you to trust God and pray...no way! But, it is possible to live debt free...forever!

I can't wait to share these stories of HIS faithfulness!

Red Tent Project Update!

I am so excited!! Today, my sweet friends Julia and Elizabeth from church brought a huge bag filled with the envelopes and inserts for the precious girls in Ethiopia! I couldn't believe how beautiful they were and I loved the fabric!! I had only found solid colors...so I was thrilled they had used some fun colorful fabric.These are just a few of them!!

If you missed what the Red Tent Project is...here is a reminder from my family blog.

We will be shipping off the shipment to the coordinator this week and they will then be on their way to the girls in Ethiopia who are in the older girls transitional home. I know there are many of you who contacted me about helping with this project...and I think it will be an ongoing need. I can give you the information of my contact if you are still interested in a fun and AMAZING summer project! It's such a blessing to be a blessing...

Thriving 365,

Frances

My First Giveaway!

I am so excited to have my very first giveaway! Recently I posted about Watoto and the ministry they have in Uganda. I ordered a shirt for Jay as a Father's Day gift to not only get a really cool shirt for him (and I got one too!) but to financially support Watoto.

So, when I got my order (2 days later I might add...they are so awesome at this ministry!) there was an extra shirt in the box. Then, I found a precious note from Megan who had been to my DFM website and found the post I wrote on Watoto. She graciously sent me an extra shirt and I want to share it with you (since I have already been sporting my Watoto shirt that I ordered!).

Here's the deal...I want to do a giveaway for this awesome shirt and get the word out about Watoto and their heart for loving orphans and widows in Uganda! Here's what you can do to win this shirt:

*Go to Watoto's website and then come back here and share what ministry touched your heart the most in the comment box.

*Link this giveaway to your blog and then let me know in the comment you make too.

Then, you can be entered twice:) This is super cool since this Justice shirt is NOT on their website to be ordered! So, if you are touched by this ministry to orphans and widows in Uganda and want to show that this summer...enter this contest and I'll send it out to you!

The giveaway will be closing Tuesday, June 29th. I'll announce the winner and get your email so that I can send it to you next week! Here's a look at the shirt...it is a ladies' large.

Front:

Back:

Enjoy!!!

Compassion...

Last week, Shannon and I had a WONDERFUL time working the Compassion booth at the first night of Atlantafest at Stone Mountain. We rode together and enjoyed some time to just catch up together. God had given me an idea to really connect people with sponsor children by wearing our kids photos clipped to our shirts so that people could see our kiddos! It was really neat that we both got to tell our stories with others and encourage them to take a step of faith and show Jesus' love to a child in need.

Since we were the first volunteers of the event...it was just the two of us...and we had NO idea what we were doing:) But, our friend James showed up and we were in charge of getting everything ready. We got to go through all the packets for the kids and arrange them...fall in love with all of them...and set the whole booth up for the rest of the week. We talked to lots of people and even had the privilege to see two of the priority kids find a sponsor.

OK...cool God story! As we were organizing all the kids by their countries, then alphabetizing all the countries, and then making sure that every country was represented on the table...we got a first hand peek at ALL the kids. James told us to make sure that the "priority kids" had a special spot. Neither of us had any idea what a priority kid would be. He told us that they are kids who have been waiting longer than 6 months and some of them over a YEAR for a sponsor!!

Many of them were older kids and many with HIV. Our hearts were just breaking for these kids. And Shannon found a cute little priority fella that she wanted to sponsor and he had been waiting the longest for a sponsor. She couldn't get in touch with her husband in time...so she put him back out on the table. THEN...a couple who had been coming by a few times decided to sponsor him!! God had put that little one on Shannon's heart for a reason!! It was SO cool.

Then, the rains came and we had to shut down the booth (it was almost at the end of the concert anyway!) and headed home. It was an incredible night! I am so thankful I got to share it with my friend Shannon...we laughed (at ourselves!) and had the best time talking to people, sharing our sponsorship stories, and just serving those who need it the most.

If you haven't sponsored a child with Compassion, won't you go to the icon above and check it out? And if you would...could you pray about taking a priority child? You can ask specifically for them. PLEASE pray and see how God might connect your family with another. It's awesome and we are SO blessed by our two kiddos! Go ahead and check it out...

Ultimate Adventure Camp!

This week we are having out annual Ultimate Adventure Creative Arts camp and having a BLAST!! This camp is really the start of our summer musical that we do each year. We are there from 9am - 2pm each day and we do all sorts of creative things together.

We have a wonderful art teacher who does all the crafts...which are all props and set design. So, the kids learn all about what it takes to create a great set...and they even get to do the promotional materials for around the church. It's just so awesome to involved them in every single part.

We rotate to different areas doing solo practices, drama practices, props and set design, and dancing. They eat sack lunches with us and then we go to Bible study which is my part! This year our musical is about suffering for the sake of Jesus...or what we THINK is suffering. It talks about real people of the Bible that truly suffered for their faith and how God encouraged them and was always there for them through all of it.

So, this year our Bible Study time is on the persecuted church. We are taking material from Kids of Courage which is a division of Voice of the Martyrs. The first day we did an awesome underground Chinese church service. The kids broke up into three groups and then they had to follow cryptic codes to find their Good Book and copy verses from it to bring to the meeting in case we were raided by the secret police (Mr. Jay!). Then they had to get their next clue to find out where their flashlight would be and then crawl and sneak their way through the recesses of our church to a small room none of them had ever been to before. It was completely dark and we sang together...worshiping God. We talked about and prayed for the persecuted church of China...and even learned part of the song Jesus loves me in Mandarin. It was AWESOME!!!

One of the parent told Jay today that at the table last night they were praying and their daughter prayed for almost 5 minutes for her brothers and sisters in China...TEARS!! God is just so amazingly good!! Being with children totally shows me God and a true heart of faith. Love it!!

Today, we traveled to Tanzania Africa to a small city called Kigamboni (which is one of my favorite places!)where we would experience church African style! Now, Jay and I both have been to Africa...and I have been twice and worshiped in African churches. So...I was a bit partial to this day myself:)

The kids had to work together to walk 10 miles (OK it was just around the parking lot!), ride the ferry (smooshed together like real Africans) and then find me under a huge tree where we sat on the ground in the almost 100 degree heat and praised God together. Every child brought something to our service. Some girls had babies strapped to their backs, others had baskets of cups and snacks for when they arrived, some boys carried the Bibles, and other strong boys carried the water for us to have when they arrived.

On the ferry to Kigamboni...they had to ride for a while all together!

We sand and the kids even got up to dance with me at the end! I am so in love with Africa...

The kids did great...and they learned that most of the world does not worship with air conditioning, lights, sound systems, projectors, childcare, cushioned seats, several services with any type of music you want, or yummy coffee brewed fresh as you enter. It was great for the kids to feel the heat, sweat, deal with the bugs, and sing together and worship God. We ended praying for our brothers and sisters in Africa and how many of them are suffering because they love Jesus.

Tomorrow we travel to North Korea and find creative ways to share the Gospel in one of the most closed countries in the world. I just can't wait! We are also doing a mission project through Voice of the Martyrs to send an action pack full of simple clothes and needs to be send to Christians in the Middle East.

What a great week! What a huge blessing to learn about Jesus with these cuties! And...since my hubby is the children's pastor...we all get to spend the week together! Thank you sweet Jesus for your amazing blessings! We love you so very much!