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!