Free Falling (August/September Ministry Update)

When you take a leap of faith, that means that you're probably going to do some free-falling at some point, and it is both terrifying and exhilarating, but that's coming from an adrenaline junkie... I remember well sky-diving and that feeling of falling through the air and not knowing with 100% certainty that it was going to end well. Such was how I spent most of my summer, but in a different way.

Once I returned to Michigan, the real work began on raising support. My mom is AMAZING and helped set me up with four different places to speak: two churches, and two church groups. She also threw me a birthday party in which I invited family and friends to hear what I had to say and offered them a chance to ask questions about the ministry I'll soon be doing.

After a long couple of days of travel, my mom met me in the airport! :D

Some of the places I went and the people I interacted with offered me one-time donations, which I gladly accepted and was excited about for covering everything that I buy in Michigan because it's cheaper and/or only available there, including a new computer since my previous one was on it's last leg already and then the screen started going...

Lola is not a huge fan of being held... 

But, up until just a few days before I was leaving for a quick vacation to Nicaragua before returning to Honduras, I was still lacking some of the ongoing monthly support that I would need to complete the work God has for me. Even though I was trusting God to provide everything for me that I needed, it was still scary to feel that free-falling and not being 100% it would turn out as I had expected. I started wondering if I would need to return to the States for more fund-raising.

But, God did provide for me, through an unexpected blessing from someone I had never met before at one of the churches and a relative coming through just a couple days before I flew out.

Spotted a double rainbow while hanging out with my brothers, a reminder that God is faithful.

Now I'm safe in God's arms and have all of the monthly support that I need to pursue God's plan for my life to reach out and help the youth in Ojojona, Honduras. I feel incredibly blessed to be able to do full-time ministry and am so thankful to everyone who has committed to supporting me.

In a few days, I will be back at the Ranch and will launch myself into the work there. I have to organize things to begin discipling the young women that work at the Ranch and begin training the younger horse already at the Ranch. We'll also be looking for two more horses which will also need to be acclimated to the Ranch and may need some additional training depending on where we get them from. That's in addition to helping M get ready for another year of Trade School and J with another year of girls' Bible study and everything else that goes on at the Ranch.

Family photo that was WAY overdo! :D

This rest (which didn't involve as much resting as I would have liked, but that's just how it goes sometimes) was awesome and I'm so grateful for the time I got to spend with family and friends, but I'm also excited to get back to work, too!

Super excited about learning to play my new violin, a birthday present from my boyfriend!

Please be praying:
- That we find the right horses for the Ranch at the right price.
- That I'm able to work with Nissa (the younger horse) and get her properly trained. I've never trained a horse from the ground up before.
- That I'm able to connect with the young women at the Ranch in order to disciple them well.
- That the girls that come to girls' Bible study come with the intent to learn and that J and I are able to teach them in wisdom.
- That I transition back to life at the Ranch quickly to be as effective of a servant as possible.
- That my relationship with my boyfriend continues to bring glory to God.