Timing is everything

Sometimes…

Yes I know it’s been a whole country lonnnnng minute since I have written on my SWEET blog 🤦🏻‍♀️

my “proof reader publisher” has already gave me the stink eye😂

But if you read my last post it was about {being still} so that’s where I’ve been hanging out in A since – just “being still”. Not physically, with three active kiddos running in a million directions & a business to run that’s a marathon!!!

But mentally on social media just taking a small chill session 😉when we step back from something that takes up a lot of time we usually can see situations or things that can use a good “tune up” so I have realized taking a break makes for good, fun times and seeing them with out looking through my phone camera and just living life in all its sweetness and pure joy = brings about so many heart moments that you can’t wait to share.

In saying that, writing is always a passion of mine. I’ve always felt like if I write my heart at the moment it’s there for me to read again and again, something I’m giving my sweet girls to have when they have a family of their own. “Sharing” is my favorite thing to give to others, and writing is just a small part of my heart to you sweet ones❤️

So this brings me to this special blog post that living in the moment you never know what can happen,

Have you ever been preparing for something BIG for a year or more and life throws you a curve ball, or you get slammed back in your seat for a minute or two 

You’re thinking to yourself

“how did this happen?”

“why did this happen?”

“ok rewind Lord-did I hear ya right?”

That was me sitting in a airport all by myself (not really God was sitting right with me) not realizing it was real or was this even happening…

My daughter Mattie as a little girl knew missions was something she was meant to do and had dreamed of going for years on a missions trip. So we were preparing for this dream to come true and I was along for this great experience and just sharing love and Jesus to another country…

We had planned…

A year ago we got the green light-we were going to Peru-so very exciting!

We had worked coming together with the rest of the team learning songs, lessons, preparing for vacation Bible schools and guess what-I was over the crafts 🙌 Imagine that! My favorite thing doing what I love in another country (those kiddos were going to get a little vintage/farmhouse style) 😂

We left early that morning to catch our flight in Raleigh North Carolina. My daughter went through the line first, scanned her passport and all was great. She was through, checked her baggage and was ready to go. My turn. I remember standing there laughing and talking to another team member and I noticed that the airline was scanning my passport again and again then he brought over another helper. I wasn’t worried at first because I knew my passport was good through September 2019 so I really wasn’t sure what was going on but then he looked at me and said “I’m sorry you can’t fly to Lima, Peru!!!” At that moment I think my throat and ears closed up or someone took my voice.

Finally he explained in certain countries you cannot fly into their country without a passport that is good for six months after you land and mine being up for renewal in September 2019 made me a NO GO!! We tried everything-no one knew of that law (not even the travel agent had let us know that). I can remember in that moment feeling so very helpless but knowing I needed to see if I could go someway, somehow… the rest of the team checked in no troubles so they made me pull one of my bags. Looking back on the whole story God was in it in every situation and every decision we made, even to the bag I pulled back out of the sea of luggage our team had going, you know he is just GOOD like that! Another one of the team leaders, who was amazing, walked us over to a Starbucks that’s right by the check-in counter and we prayed, knowing that God could work a miracle to let me go so we started calling to see if we could expedite my passport by the following day & get my airline tickets switched to the next day and it just seemed like everything we were trying to do, the door just kept shutting and nothing was going easy. It was not opening for me to go it-just kept shutting-so for two hours we prayed and worked and then it was time for my daughter and the couple that was helping us to board the plane, or they would miss their flight… we walked over to the agent one last time and asked him to swipe it just one last time. He said that there was nothing he could do!!

Realizing at that moment I had to make the decision to send my baby Mattie on…we realized my bag they had pulled had all our clothes in it 🤦🏻‍♀️ The agent was nice enough to let us literally throw her clothes into bags that had not went down into the conveyor belt to be put on the airplane they were the only two bags that were underweight that had supplies to go to the mission field (you can’t say that wasn’t God either). We were able to put all her clothes in those two bags full of toothbrushes and school supplies for her to be on her way and be clothed for the week!!

Many people have asked me “how did you send her and watch her walk away”? That was one of the hardest things I think as a parent, watching my daughter board her first flight, for her first mission trip, walking in between the two sweetest people I have ever met. They were her guardian angels that day. I knew she was going to be fine. It was like God was giving her the strength even though I was crying. I was trying to be strong for her even though she was crying, she was trying to be strong for me in amongst all the chaos. It was like God was just holding us both.

You see that very morning he had given me a verse psalm 29:11

The Lord will give strength into his people the Lord will bless his people with peace…

I had put that verse in my phone notes so that I could use it for the next week thinking that the Lord was going to give me strength on this missions trip and if something came up that we were fearful about that we would have peace just trusting in him!!! Little did I know that within five hours I was going to need all the peace that he could give me and all the strength that this momma needed.

God had another plan and you know I had to sit and say that verse over and over, sitting till my sweet hubby came and I knew, even in my confusion, that His ways were the BEST!

Slowly I rode the escalator back down to the pick up area and sat and cried and sat and cried… I have laughed over telling this story now that it has been a couple weeks but I’m sure I was a sight sitting in the corner crying and with my backpack & my empty suitcase 🧳

(I may have heard security say check on the crying lady in the corner 😂😢😉) just kidding but really that was the longest 4 hrs!!!

Thank goodness for laughter-it sure heals the heart.

My Mattie called me when she reached Atlanta to catch her connecting flight to Peru..

She did great and she asked me where I was and I said “well honey I’m still sitting at the airport, you’re going to be halfway to Peru before he gets me, or I may sit here till you fly back!!!”

Laughing through tears we both agreed this was going to be the best week of her life & on she went❤️ If I had not let her go what many blessings would she have missed out on-she had the time of her life and it has definitely changed my daughter. The love she gave those kids, and just giving of herself, was by far one of the proudest moments as a parent.

I am so grateful for that opportunity that she was able to go and receive a blessing as well. Mattie was meant to go on that trip and experience it all in how God wanted her to depend on him!

Knowing her WORTH she made a huge impact for Him and in turn it made an impact on her life!!

Sometimes God doesn’t give us the answers we want or the timing we want but he always works it out for His good…

As I sat there in the airport, the missions leader called me and was apologizing for the whole situation but he said he couldn’t help but think that God was working something else out because someone on the next missions team to Peru that was going on July 25th had just dropped out and there was an opening and he wanted me on that trip! My mind was totally not working at that moment so I said give me a couple days to think about it and pray and see if I could get my passport even back by then…

So on Thursday sweet ones I am trying again. My passport is here, good for 10 years LOL. I’m going to be ministering to a whole different group, tent revival services and going to the jungle too minister so with that…

I covet your prayers and can’t wait to spread the light and LOVE He has so graciously given me to a different country and know that they’ll be many more blog posts

to be continued…