The Psalms are FULL of lyrics speaking of giving thanks to God! Over and over again, you will see the words "give thanks to the Lord, for He is good!" and, "Give thanks to His Lord, praise His holy name!", and "His steadfast love endures forever!" We have so many reasons to praise God, and it is so important that we remember to do so. When we thank Him, not only are we praising Him for His good works, but we are reminding OURSELVES that He cares for us, provides for us, and loves us!
Today we are doing just that since earlier today we got the email from Encompass that we are FULLY FUNDED for our trip to Argentina!! It has been so incredibly exciting to see who God used to support us, and how quickly this came to pass! We had anticipated a deficit in our expenses upon our return (that was when the trip needed to be paid for fully), and God chose instead to provide fully for us in just one month!!
To end this post, I want to leave some verses from one of my favorite Psalms that speaks of thanksgiving to God:
"I will extol you, my God and King, and bless your name forever and ever. Every day I will bless you and praise your name forever and ever. Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised, and his greatness is unsearchable. One generation shall commend your works to another, and shall declare your mighty acts. On the glorious splendor of your majesty, and on your wondrous works, I will meditate. . . All your works shall give thanks to you, O LORD, and all your saints shall bless you! They shall speak of the glory of your kingdom and tell of your power, to make known to the children of man your mighty deeds, and the glorious splendor of your kingdom." - Psalm 145:1-5, 10-12
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
Sunday, June 10, 2012
Yard Sale Success!
Happy Sunday everyone! I am currently nursing a pretty bad sunburn on my neck and shoulders from my time in the sun yesterday, but other than that, I am ECSTATIC to share with you about our yard sale the other day!
Martin's mom, Brenda, offered to host a yard sale for us a few weeks back to raise money for our trip. We were both thankful for her offer and excited to see how God would provide. I was praying that we would make $100, maybe $200 from this yard sale. I had even shared with some friends a few days before the yard sale that I was just hoping for a small success, and my friend Karrah had prayed that God would provide in a major way through the sale. From that, I was thinking, maybe we could get to $500. And even that seemed like a long shot to me!
We had so many wonderful friends and neighbors donate items to the yard sale, so much that when I showed up Saturday morning, I didn't recognize about 85% of the stuff that was in Brenda's front yard! We were beyond blessed by the amount of furniture, brand-new, and gently-used items that were donated. We were told by many of the people who came by that ours was the best yard sale in town that day!
And now, the most exciting part of this update: God took my meager request for a couple hundred, and blessed us immensely by bringing in $1,640!!!! That's more than 1/4 of our total expenses for our trip! God really likes to take our simple requests of trust and provision and show up in BIG ways!!
The majority of our total amount came from Brenda selling her hardwood flooring. I was skeptical at first that anyone would be coming to a garage sale looking for hardwood flooring, but one of Brenda's neighbors knew of a friend who was looking for some, and called up his buddy to come over and check it out. Since it was brand-new, still in the box, and we were selling it for less than half the price of what you would buy at Home Depot, we sold $930 worth to the guy!! And it was a blessing to him in return, as he was originally unable to afford hardwood flooring. His wife was so happy, she cried when he brought it home. Isn't it exciting how God works?!
We are so thankful to everyone who donated items, prayed for our yard sale, and came by! God took the biggest amount I envisioned possible from the yard sale and TRIPLED IT. And I am convinced that this is a direct result of so many of you praying for a succesful sale. Thank you all! We are thrilled to say that after this yard sale, we will be at 75% of our funding!! God is good!
Blessings,
Ali
Martin's mom, Brenda, offered to host a yard sale for us a few weeks back to raise money for our trip. We were both thankful for her offer and excited to see how God would provide. I was praying that we would make $100, maybe $200 from this yard sale. I had even shared with some friends a few days before the yard sale that I was just hoping for a small success, and my friend Karrah had prayed that God would provide in a major way through the sale. From that, I was thinking, maybe we could get to $500. And even that seemed like a long shot to me!
We had so many wonderful friends and neighbors donate items to the yard sale, so much that when I showed up Saturday morning, I didn't recognize about 85% of the stuff that was in Brenda's front yard! We were beyond blessed by the amount of furniture, brand-new, and gently-used items that were donated. We were told by many of the people who came by that ours was the best yard sale in town that day!
And now, the most exciting part of this update: God took my meager request for a couple hundred, and blessed us immensely by bringing in $1,640!!!! That's more than 1/4 of our total expenses for our trip! God really likes to take our simple requests of trust and provision and show up in BIG ways!!
The majority of our total amount came from Brenda selling her hardwood flooring. I was skeptical at first that anyone would be coming to a garage sale looking for hardwood flooring, but one of Brenda's neighbors knew of a friend who was looking for some, and called up his buddy to come over and check it out. Since it was brand-new, still in the box, and we were selling it for less than half the price of what you would buy at Home Depot, we sold $930 worth to the guy!! And it was a blessing to him in return, as he was originally unable to afford hardwood flooring. His wife was so happy, she cried when he brought it home. Isn't it exciting how God works?!
We are so thankful to everyone who donated items, prayed for our yard sale, and came by! God took the biggest amount I envisioned possible from the yard sale and TRIPLED IT. And I am convinced that this is a direct result of so many of you praying for a succesful sale. Thank you all! We are thrilled to say that after this yard sale, we will be at 75% of our funding!! God is good!
Blessings,
Ali
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