2 anonymous donors, 1 merciful God

On Thursday, I had someone contact me and offer to match $100 in donations and I met and exceeded that goal within 20 hours (with the majority of those being overnight)! Ever wondered what God's up to? Well, yesterday He was working some LOVE into my paypal account! I felt sooo undeserving of His mercy! But He is SERIOUS about me and Uganda! Another friend was so encouraged with the way God is working in my life that she stepped up and offered to match another $300 in donations!! So, if you have been praying about supporting me through a donation, now is the time! Your $5 becomes $10, your $10 becomes $20, or your $25 becomes $50!! This is so awesome! You can securely pay with a credit/debit card by clicking on the "donate" button on my page. I will have to purchase my plane ticket on Mon or Tue, so PLEASE share the link to my blog with anyone that can help and let's turn this $300 match into $600 :)

Remember the friend-that-I've-never-met that I mentioned in this post? Did I just link back to the previous post as if I were digging through years and years of posts to spare you guys the pain of remembering it? Hahahaha, yeah, I did. Anyways, she didn't want me to share her identity with anyone because she didn't want to be boastful about her donation. It reminds me of the person that just walks up to the Salvation Army volunteer at Christmas and nonchalantly drops a diamond in the bucket. Yep, she might as well have given me a diamond. I have ALWAYS been so independent and God is teaching me that I can't be independent and raise funds for my trip. Jesus is the Alpha and the Omega. He is the beginning and the end. All of our money belongs to Him, and fundraising is His confirmation that you are doing His will. Had I had all the resources I needed when I first put my heart and soul into going on a mission trip, I wouldn't have met all the amazing people I have. I remember crying and crying everytime one of MY plans fell through. What I failed to realize was that these plans are not mine. If you are a follower of Christ, you have no life. You give up your life for Him.

This is the handwritten message that I saw on the back of the adorable purple envelope that I got in the mail: "With God all things are possible!" And you're right, girlfriend, you're right! The note on the inside read:

Christie,
I know God has amazing plans for you. I can't wait to see how God uses you. Please know that I am praying or you. I can't wait to meet you. God Bless.

Although I had been expecting her $700 donation, what I wasn't expecting was to see $1000 on the check instead. I did a full blown "God dance" in the driveway and when I got inside, I broke into the "ugly cry". Of course this prompted Alex to ask me why I was crying. I explained to him, through tears, that someone had just done something really special for me for God and that it made me really happy. He said that if I cried, it meant that I wasn't happy. So people, keep that in mind next time you cry "happy tears" :)

If you guys follow me on Facebook, you have surely read some funny stories about Alex. When my mom moved out of my place and back to our hometown, I took on the role of nanny for Marlie and after-school-carpool-driver for Alex. So most of our precious conversations happened during the drive from his school to either my apartment or his house, both less than 10 miles away. I will forever cherish those conversations and would post them on Facebook in an effort to 1) remember them and 2) share them with friends and family. Since he's out of school for the Summer already, I get to have these conversations all day now. What a treat blessing! Here are a couple of fun things from yesterday that should make you smile:

Me:So tell me something fun about God.
Alex:Does He have eyes in the back of His head?
Me:He made eyes, so yeah, He sees everything. And what's cool is He knows everything too! He knew you were going to ask me that just now.
Alex:Well, sometimes I try to trick Him because I think something but say something different. But nah, He already knows that too, don't He?

and...

Alex LOVES to draw and color, so all day he asked me what I wanted him to draw me. Here were my responses:

1) plane...although it was flying over the "EMPIRATE State Building", it was flying in the direction of Africa






















2) something I'll see in Africa...a yellow lion






















3) the faces of the kids I'll see...he said he didn't have brown so he would have to use a little black. He said that this one was my sweet Moses!






















So how fun was my Friday so far? But believe me, it got better. We went out to dinner at Stix for my friend Jeff's birthday. And although I didn't pay for my meal, I had quite a hard time fathoming paying $25 for a meal, even IF I was sharing it with Melinda and Alex. Do you feel this way about everyday life? I know that in the past 5 months, I have seen the world in a totally different perspective. My heart burns for the things that I really didn't notice before. Things that might have made me sigh in disbelief now make my stomach churn and I tend to stew on them for a little while longer. I find myself wishing people "got it" and felt the way I do about things because how could they not? I have to remember that He judges the hearts of others. I have to remember that EVERYone is a child of God, whether they choose to follow Him or not. I have to remember that He died for ALL OUR SINS. I have to remember that I am just as undeserving as the next guy. But it keeps me humble. I pray that this does not go away. I will always want the wound I have in my heart for those who can not afford to eat, much less afford a $25 meal, to be fresh and I never want to take my life His life through me for granted.

To those who have asked me where I came up with the name "Compass In My Heart", it all goes back to what I wrote below the picture of Africa that I have had posted as my profile picture on Facebook since January. The caption reads "Everybody has a compass in their heart and mine points to Africa. The heart is located over Zambia, where my sweet Moses is but my heart burns for all the little children of the world!!!" Then today, I got asked again and I thought about it in more detail and posted "The compass in my heart points to God, and more specifically to His children in Africa! Where does yours point? If yours points to all the pleasures this world has to offer apart from Him, I URGE you to get it calibrated! Spend some time with Him, He will definitely change your life!!! What do you have to lose if I'm wrong? If I'm not, you have EVERYTHING TO LOSE! Trust me ;)" as my Facebook status. So tell me, where does the compass in YOUR heart point?