Wasn't I just saying….???

Wasn't I just saying that God's way always turns our better than our way?? Yes INDEED I was!!! He is truly amazing. Let me share a few more incredible blessings from the last 48 hours - ways that God has worked when I wasn't even looking or expecting!! Truly… when we seek HIM FIRST, all these things are added unto us! (Matt 6:33)

First off - I've arrived safely in England for our 9th ARME Bible Camp… (see pictures above and below!) I'm the first team member to arrive. (And hopefully not the last!) The rest of the team flies in tonight and tomorrow. And then Thursday the big troops start coming. We're expecting over 500 for this event. In fact, if I didn't already say so, our registration was sold out a month ahead of time - which is the second time we've had to close registration down early. Praise God!!! I know God has big plans for our time in the United Kingdom.

However…let me back up about 48 hours. That would be Sunday afternoon back home.

I was answering e-mails, trying to tie up last minute details for this trip and packing for England. And I got this "out of the blue" comment on my Facebook page from a complete stranger asking if there was any way that I could come to Germany after ARME to speak and share. So I wrote her back and asked what she was wanting…I also told her I didn't think I could do it because of the change ticket fees and it being so last minute. Well, this woman was serious about her request! Long story short, God worked out the details, and my way is now being completely paid (by this dear sweet woman whom I will soon meet in person) for me to come and spend 6 days in Germany after ARME. I'll be speaking multiple times for their congregation in Darmstadt Germany, and will also get to visit some of the sites where Martin Luther was during the Reformation. Since I often talk about "Revival and Reformation," I think this is amazing! But the amazingness doesn't stop there. On top of that, Gerda (our sweet host) offered for Raluca to stay and spend the week with us as well. Raluca will have just finished the Youth in Mission Conference there in Germany. We have not met in person yet, although we've been close friends for awhile. A few months back Raluca was trying desperately to get a ticket to come to the last portion of our ARME UK event, so we could meet and all be together. However, God knew best and didn't give her peace about it. So she didn't end up getting the ticket and instead decided to stay for the full Youth in Mission event in Germany. She had pleaded with me to come to Germany to see her while she was there, but there was no way. My flight home took me home through Paris where I hoped to at least see a few sights. But, alas things didn't work out for me either with Paris plans. NOW… literally hours before I'm to leave for England, I am completely re-arranging my itinerary to go to Germany and Raluca is able to join me. Complete miracle!!!! (Can't wait to meet Gerda and give her a big hug in person!!) I'm also excited to get to share with more brothers and sisters in Christ about the passion of my heart.

Next in order, God got me to the airport and on the plane for England. This was a miracle, because for some reason I thought I was scheduled to depart at 6pm. I'd looked at my ticket and that's what I saw. So I checked in my bags yesterday afternoon, then went to run errands with my dad and get my taxes taken care of (which I haven't had time to do yet because of the marathon I've been on)! Well just as I was arriving at the tax place, I looked at my boarding pass and saw that boarding began at 4:30pm. It was 4:20pm. WHAT???? I couldn't believe my eyes. However, as I was nearing the tax place I told Daddy to give me a second and I ran in. Believe it or not the lady got my taxes done in less than 10 minutes. (That's how simple they are to do!) And we were on the road rushing back to the airport. (Thankfully we weren't far away!) Now I was praying that the security line wouldn't be long because I now had 20 minutes before my plane departed. I rushed into the airport and no security line! PTL!!! I got to the gate, boarded…with 10 minutes to spare.

However, this is where it gets better. When I'd checked in, I'd asked for exit row seating since I'm tall and I knew the night would be long scrunched up next to someone. But they said they'd charge $120 for an exit road seat. No thank you! As it turned out though, God had me covered. On my long flight across the ocean I had two seats all to myself so I could stretch out all I wanted. On the last flight they let me sit in exit row for free because no one was there. So I had one of the most comfortable seating flights I've had in a long time. God is good.

Another thing God did for me was keep me from losing some money. I had gone to an ATM to get some cash before I left the last US airport. I took out a certain amount and was gonna stop, but felt prompted to withdraw more. I ended up counting the two batches of money that I had withdrawn and the first batch was $60 short. However the second batch was $60 over. So if I hadn't gone back to withdraw more, the next happy ATM customer would have inherited an extra $60 bucks and I would have been wondering WHAT HAPPENED!!!

The whole long flight across the ocean, the airlines played all these crazy wild science fiction thriller movies. I was quite disturbed that they would play this type of stuff publicly for EVERYONE to see. Anyway, I wasn't listening and I wasn't trying to watch, but every time I'd look up there's wild fights and magic and scary looking things going on. However, I kept praying for God's presence and protection and despite this, I felt like God's spirit was with me so close during the entire flight. Above and beyond just being with me, He gave me some amazing inspiration during the ride across the ocean…I just praise Him!

Now I'm here…and I know this is only the beginning of this great adventure for ARME UK!

And so begins the next few weeks of adventures. Getting here was "perfect" and I know that if God started the journey with me, He will be with me the rest of the way! ;-) Isn't He wonderful??