The article was originally supposed to come out the Thursday right after Orphan Sunday, which I thought was perfect. Only, we got bumped to the next Thursday (which was the 14th, so they are still available to pick up). I was upset. I really don't want to admit this because I know those who work on these articles are wonderful Godly people who are pouring themselves into this paper that brings so much Glory to God. Only, I'm irritatingly human, which means I have meanness in me still. Bleh! I masked the irritation rather well, and, was grateful that our story was in the paper none-the-less. Even in my weakness, I was grateful to be used in whatever way God chose through the article....perhaps a more honest analysis would reveal that I was trying to be grateful...
In the mean time, I knew I was spiritually tapped. I'm the director of an educational co-op, I home school our 4 children, I'm mentoring/discipling 4 teens/young women, and we're trying to get both our home study and dossier paperwork completed. I've taken a semester of leading Bible studies off, so I'm struggling to keep up with daily alone time with God. This is a recipe for one very spiritually tapped girl - that was me! I knew I needed to go to the Women of Faith Conference this past week, but the tickets that were available were just too expensive. Even the cheap tickets were too much for us right now, to be honest. Then a friend asked me to go with her, so I sent out an email to everyone I knew who may be going, and asked them to let me know if anyone couldn't go to the conference and had one of the cheaper tickets available. More than a week went by with no news. Just a day before the conference, I marked it off my calendar because I hadn't heard of a ticket available. As I'm marking it out, my phone rang. Someone was giving me a free ticket. YAY! My friend ended up going with someone else, and in my heart I so wished I could go with my mom. We don't spend much time together due to our littles loving my parents so much and desiring their attention. As I was getting ready for the conference, so wishing I was going with my mom, I got a phone call from my neighbor. She was working the doors at church as a greeter and had been given 2 tickets by someone entering the conference. She offered them to me. The conference was at 7pm, and I called my mom at 6:20pm and asked her to meet me at church in 40 minutes! I met my neighbor and gave her my ticket, then she gave me the two tickets. When mom realized why I had asked her to come to church, she was so thrilled. She had secretly wanted to go too, but wasn't sure about the cost and if her responsibilities would allow her to go. So, we all got to go for free. Our seats were 4 rows from the front middle section. I usually don't care about the location, but my attention was fully directed at the speakers since I was so close. God spoke to me both Friday and Saturday during the conference, He filled my soul, and I am SO very grateful that God provided me, my mom, and my neighbor with tickets to this wonderful conference.
While I was at the conference, I picked up some of the Outlook papers to hand out in my neighborhood. I looked at others picking up the article, and God opened my eyes. I realized that if our article had gone out a week before, as planned, all of these women wouldn't have been able to pick it up so easily and read the article about us since the Outlook comes out every Thursday. My heart sank but was encouraged at the same time. I realized that God is working on our behalf even when I don't realize it. Even when I was upset at the change, God used it for His good. WOW!
Here's the link to the article:
http://www.southeastoutlook.org/news/features/article_70d2ca74-4c74-11e3-9453-001a4bcf6878.html
I'm so grateful that even in my unbelief that He was working on our behalf through this article, as God came through and possibly 300 extra people picked up the article that wouldn't have gotten to read it had it come out the week before.
I'm so grateful that even in my unbelief, as I marked out the Women of Faith Conference schedule from my schedule, God had someone calling with a ticket ready for me. Then, He even made a way for my best friend to go with me.
You're amazing, God. You know right where we are, and you meet us there.