We are off on our adventure. Chris and I are currently sitting at Denver International Airport awaiting our flight to London. We should be boarding at any time now.
Our most eventful moment so far was when Chris dropped his personal pan pizza on the airport floor....yep, slid right out of the cardboard and onto the carpet (crust down thank goodness) Another passenger walking by yelled, "5 second rule!" Then Chris went on to eat his pizza...he said he trusts God to take care of the germs. I was horrified but I guess my husband has more faith than me in the germ arena. :-)
Anyway, we are off. Please pray for us as we leave. We are excited to go but leave with heavy hearts as our community here is suffering so greatly from the wildfires. Both sets of our parents have been evacuated. My parents are awaiting news of whether their home stills stands. Please continue to pray for all those involved in this tragedy.
We love you and will miss you but are looking forward to sharing our adventures with you.
The Haywoods
Wednesday, June 27, 2012
Wednesday, June 13, 2012
Everything is possible with God
Jesus looked at them and said, "With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God." Mark 10:27
ALL THINGS are possible with God.
As of last Wednesday evening, we needed $1300 to come from somewhere before Friday at noon to be able to get our plane tickets to Uganda. Guess what? It came in.
Every prayer we have prayed so far since setting our hearts to follow God on this adventure has been answered. At 11:45 on Friday we still needed around $900 and stopped for a moment to look at each other and figure out what to do. Do we commit to the tickets and trust God to bring in the remainder of the money before our check got to the travel agent, or do we give up and not go to Uganda?
My husband said, "God has gotten us this far, He's not going to stop now. Let's go for it." So, I sent the email that said, "Book the tickets." Within 3 hours after that email thrown out in faith, $900 came in and then a little bit more came in so that we would have enough for our malaria medicine. God is providing.
Chris had prayed that morning as we were driving, "God, give us this day our daily bread, please provide for us so that we can do what you have asked. Let manna fall from Heaven Lord!" We kind of laughed as he proclaimed the manna part, but then a friend of ours pointed something out to us. When the Israelites prayed for manna, God did provide the manna, but He only provided what was needed for that day. They were not allowed to save it or store it. The manna fell down from Heaven and they used it for that day. It is funny because that is what has happened to us. Every day that we are on the edge of our seats wondering if we will have enough, here comes our manna for the day to provide for what we need in that very moment. God is good.
As we have been preparing there are so many emotions that assault us every day, and sometimes even in the middle of the night I am awakened with the reality that we are going to be in Uganda for 5 months. Sometimes we are filled with excitement and then other moments panic tries to overwhelm us. But I keep thinking that this is what must have happened to some of the people in the Bible that stepped out in faith when God asked them to.
We've been thinking about those known as the people of great faith that are listed in Hebrews 11 and the priests who stepped out into the raging river (Joshua 3:14-17) after Joshua told them that God would stop the water once their feet hit the water. We read about these people and think, "Wow, to have that kind of faith."
I think a challenge for all of us though is to remember that they were just people like you and me. It says in James 5:17 that Elijah, who was known to be this amazing prophet and man of prayer and faith, was "a man just like us." (NIV1984)
We like to ponder if the priests in Joshua who were carrying the ark and then had to take their first step into a river that was at flood stage may have looked at each other like, "Are you kidding me with this?" I know Chris and I have as we've stepped out when God has asked us to. The greatest thing we all need to remember about all these stories though is that they were people just like you and me. Ordinary people serving an extra ordinary God.
I love how in the verses right before the priests are called to step into the river, Joshua tells the people that God is going to do what He is going to do so that "you will know that the living God is among you..." (Joshua 3:10)
We have lived in amazement and awe this past week at the demonstration of God's hand in our lives. We pray that our blog and the stories of answered prayer that God is giving us encourage your heart and help you to see that the living God is among us all, even today.
I have felt the presence of God this week in a way I haven't in a long time. I will be going throughout my day so busy with details and yet over my shoulder or deep within my heart I can feel the peace of His presence pass by me and give me a little nudge letting me know He is near.
We continue to grow in our excitement as we take each new step into this Haywood journey of faith with God. Thank you again to all who were the answer to our prayers this past week. We couldn't be walking this path without you and your own obedience to what God asked you to do.
With love and awe-filled gratefulness,
Aimee and Chris
ALL THINGS are possible with God.
As of last Wednesday evening, we needed $1300 to come from somewhere before Friday at noon to be able to get our plane tickets to Uganda. Guess what? It came in.
Every prayer we have prayed so far since setting our hearts to follow God on this adventure has been answered. At 11:45 on Friday we still needed around $900 and stopped for a moment to look at each other and figure out what to do. Do we commit to the tickets and trust God to bring in the remainder of the money before our check got to the travel agent, or do we give up and not go to Uganda?
My husband said, "God has gotten us this far, He's not going to stop now. Let's go for it." So, I sent the email that said, "Book the tickets." Within 3 hours after that email thrown out in faith, $900 came in and then a little bit more came in so that we would have enough for our malaria medicine. God is providing.
Chris had prayed that morning as we were driving, "God, give us this day our daily bread, please provide for us so that we can do what you have asked. Let manna fall from Heaven Lord!" We kind of laughed as he proclaimed the manna part, but then a friend of ours pointed something out to us. When the Israelites prayed for manna, God did provide the manna, but He only provided what was needed for that day. They were not allowed to save it or store it. The manna fell down from Heaven and they used it for that day. It is funny because that is what has happened to us. Every day that we are on the edge of our seats wondering if we will have enough, here comes our manna for the day to provide for what we need in that very moment. God is good.
As we have been preparing there are so many emotions that assault us every day, and sometimes even in the middle of the night I am awakened with the reality that we are going to be in Uganda for 5 months. Sometimes we are filled with excitement and then other moments panic tries to overwhelm us. But I keep thinking that this is what must have happened to some of the people in the Bible that stepped out in faith when God asked them to.
We've been thinking about those known as the people of great faith that are listed in Hebrews 11 and the priests who stepped out into the raging river (Joshua 3:14-17) after Joshua told them that God would stop the water once their feet hit the water. We read about these people and think, "Wow, to have that kind of faith."
I think a challenge for all of us though is to remember that they were just people like you and me. It says in James 5:17 that Elijah, who was known to be this amazing prophet and man of prayer and faith, was "a man just like us." (NIV1984)
We like to ponder if the priests in Joshua who were carrying the ark and then had to take their first step into a river that was at flood stage may have looked at each other like, "Are you kidding me with this?" I know Chris and I have as we've stepped out when God has asked us to. The greatest thing we all need to remember about all these stories though is that they were people just like you and me. Ordinary people serving an extra ordinary God.
I love how in the verses right before the priests are called to step into the river, Joshua tells the people that God is going to do what He is going to do so that "you will know that the living God is among you..." (Joshua 3:10)
We have lived in amazement and awe this past week at the demonstration of God's hand in our lives. We pray that our blog and the stories of answered prayer that God is giving us encourage your heart and help you to see that the living God is among us all, even today.
I have felt the presence of God this week in a way I haven't in a long time. I will be going throughout my day so busy with details and yet over my shoulder or deep within my heart I can feel the peace of His presence pass by me and give me a little nudge letting me know He is near.
We continue to grow in our excitement as we take each new step into this Haywood journey of faith with God. Thank you again to all who were the answer to our prayers this past week. We couldn't be walking this path without you and your own obedience to what God asked you to do.
With love and awe-filled gratefulness,
Aimee and Chris
Monday, June 4, 2012
We prepare and we run through sprinklers...
 |
| These are 2 of 4 of the huts that house the students who attend the Institute for Childcare and Family. |
Today was a good day here in Colorado, but it was very hot! Maybe God was trying to prepare us for the warmer weather in Uganda. ;) Really though, we had fun today. My brother and family were here visiting and as usual, we had a wonderful time with family. I ran through the sprinklers, got soaked, and was protected by my nephews as we navigated and jumped through the spraying water that was surely after us. It was a sweet time.
As Chris and I prepare to leave for Uganda in a few weeks for a 5 month period, times like today have taken on even more of a special feel. What a gift family is. There is nothing like the sound of a child's belly laugh and the smiles on our adult faces as we watch personalities peek out and express themselves. Joy. It's joy, plain and simple, to sit back and look at my parents, at my brother and his wife, their three children, and my husband sitting around laughing, stepping over toys, and just sharing food and time together.
Leaving for 5 months to go to another country with a very different culture is not an easy decision. A friend of mine said earlier tonight, "When you're called, you have to answer." So true. He and I talked about how times like this in life can be difficult because there can be fear and there can be doubt, but it is better to feel the fear and doubt for a moment as you run towards the goal, then to feel the kind of fear and doubt that comes from a life that has left paths unwalked and unexplored. So often too these paths are difficult to walk. Many times there is some sort of sacrifice involved.
Chris and I are feeling the reality of that and we have been for awhile as we've talked to God about Uganda. We are going to miss our families. We are going to miss you who are reading this. Most importantly though, we don't want to miss God. He's asked us to go to Uganda for awhile to see what His heart has done there and is doing there. Although we have experienced that in some way on our previous missions there, we believe that there is a deeper work that He wants to do in us, for us, and then through us wherever He decides to put us more permanently.
Please pray for us. Pray for us that we are able in every way to follow God where He asks us to go. Pray for the home that we will be assigned as we go to New Hope Uganda. Pray that every need we still have will be supplied in ways that bring God the glory that He so deserves from us as we live a life unexpected and extraordinary.
Until we go, I think at least one more run through the sprinklers is in order.
With heavy, but very full hearts....
Chris and Aimee
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